* 
 
 TREATISE 
 
 Concerning 
 
 HEAVEN and HELL, 
 
 Containing 
 
 A RELATION of many WONDERFUL THINGS 
 
 THEREIN, as heard and feen by the Author, 
 
 The HONOURABLE 
 
 EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 
 
 Of the SENATORIAL ORDER of NOBLES in the Kingdom 
 
 of SWEDEN. 
 
 Now Firil Tranflated from the Original Latin. 
 -This is a rebellious people which fay to the Sccrs, See not. 
 
 Ifai. XXX. 9, 10. 
 
 Where there is no Vifion, the people perifli. Prov. xxix. 18. 
 
 I have multiplied Vifions, and ulcJ Similitudes, by the miniftry of the Pro- 
 phets. Hof. xii. 10. 
 
 For the invifiblc things of Him from the creation of the world ate clearly feen, 
 being underilood by the things that arc mad;. Rom. i, 20. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED AND SOLD BY' JAMES PHILLIPS, GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STP.EEr. 
 
 AND SOLD ALSO BY 
 S. LEACROFT, CHARING CROSS; T. MILLS, BRISTOL; AND E. SCORE, EXETER. 
 
 M DCC LXXVIII.
 
 ••n
 
 
 THE 
 
 R E F A C E 
 
 O THE 
 
 Following Translation. 
 
 ESIDES the more general provifions made by the Father 
 of Lights for the inftrusflion of his church and people 
 in divine things, under the publick difpenfations of the 
 Law and the Gofpel, He has alfo been gracioufly pleafed, at 
 fundry times and in divers manners, as occalions and the needs 
 of the church might require it, to make extraordinary difcoveries 
 and revelations to particular perfons, either for more private or 
 publick ufe, and to anfwer various ends of his wifdom and good- 
 nefs : and indeed, were it fo that all things proceeded according to 
 one invariable rule of government in his adminiftrations, in grace, 
 in providence, and alfo in the natural world, without his interpo- 
 fing any particular afts of his divine authority and power, God's 
 government of the world would be lefs attended to and believed 
 in, his cognizance of human affairs be queftioned by many, and 
 fuch a fettled famenefs in the courfe of things be conftrued into 
 a blind fatality. Nor is it eafily to be conceived by us, how one 
 unchangeable mode of proceedings could be adapted to the pre- 
 fent condition of mankind, as free agents, under their continual 
 fluftuations and deviations from the rule of obedience, their 
 backflidings, rebellions and apoftacy ; and accordingly we read 
 -how the Lord varied his particular dealings with the Ifraelites, 
 
 a according
 
 [ ii ] 
 
 according to their ftates and circumftanccs refpecftively, for 
 dircdion, for warning, for corrc<flions, &;c. by viiions, by voices, 
 by figns and wonders, and by the million of angels, to reclaim 
 and convert them : and this is fo far from arguing any variable- 
 nefs in God, that it evidences his unchangeablenefs in mercy 
 and goodnefs, by accommodating his dealings and difpenfations 
 to tlie needs and requirements of his poor frail creatures, agree- 
 ably to th.it his declaration ; " I am the Lord, I change not, 
 " therefore ye fons of Jacob are not confumcd." Mai. iii. 6. 
 
 How things went with the Antediluvians in regard to divine ma- 
 nifellations, the facred records give us but little intelligence; but 
 thus much we may collecft from them, that in the line of Seth, 
 as contradiftinguilhed from that of Cain, there was a church of 
 devout worfliippers then on earth, in which Enoch was highly 
 favoured of God, and a man of renown, whofe prophetick wri- 
 tings continued in the church down to the times of the apoftles, 
 as appears from the Epifllc of Jude. In t!iis line of Seth (from 
 ■what is mentioned of Enoch and Noah) we may conclude, that 
 the church of God, before the general apoftacy brought on the 
 flood, was inftruded and conducted by particular revelation from 
 heaven ; and that an intercourfe between angels and the holy 
 men of thofe early days (called the Sons of God) was no un- 
 frequent thing. 
 
 c3n the call of Abraham heaven was again opened to man in 
 the way of divine communications externally, and he was taught 
 of God the things that be of God, by the minillry of angels ; 
 fo that what we now call extraordinary difpenfations were then 
 the ordinary way of conveying divine knowledge (i) : and from 
 thefc more immediate dilcoveries of himfclf to the patriarchs 
 we apprehend it was, that God ftiled himfelf the God of Abra- 
 ham, the God of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob. 
 
 Nor was the delivery of the law, as a ilated diredory to the 
 Ifraelites for duty and worlhip, intended to fuperfcdc particular 
 revelations from heaven, or communications with angels ; nay, 
 the promife of an angel to " go before them in the way" was 
 
 ( I ) Sec Bromley on extraordinary Difpenfations, at the end of liis Jf'ay to t/}e 
 Suliat/j of Rejl. A book whicli I much rccommcnJ to the reader. 
 
 imrae-
 
 [ iii ] 
 
 immediately annexed to it (2) -, and the prophetick difpenfatiow 
 under the law appears as a fupplement of fuperior excellency to 
 the law itfelf, by expounding and illuftrating the typical parts 
 of it, in reference to that miniflration of righteoufnefs by Jefus 
 Chrill, which fliould far exceed it in glory. Thus the law and 
 the prophets made together, as it were, but one difpenfation ; 
 and al] ferious Jews looked upon divine manifeftations, by pro- 
 phecy and vifion, as fuch flanding tokens of God's fiivour to- 
 wards them, that any occafional ceflation of them was con- 
 fidered as a mark of the divine difpleafure : thus the Pfalmift ; 
 ** We fee not our tokens, there is not one prophet more (3) :" 
 and hence it was that the feers or true viiionaries were held iir 
 fuch honour by the godly of that church. Thus, " The word- 
 *' of the Lord was precious in thofe days ; there was no open^ 
 " villon (4) :" " her prophets find no vifion from the Lord (5)." 
 And it is obfervable, that from the time of Malachi to a little 
 before the advent of Chrift, during which period prophecy and 
 vifion ceafed in the Jewifli church (at leaft in perfons of a publick 
 charaifler) was the moft horrid degeneracy of that people from 
 all things ficred and moral ; inteftine divifions, bribery, and 
 libertinifm diffufed their poifon through church and ftate ; 
 the very temple was often polluted with the blood of hoftile 
 fa(5lions ; and the high priellhood bought and fold, nay, the 
 nomination to it fubmitted to heathen princes, who conferred 
 the fame on the higheft bidder : thus fulfilling the truth of So- 
 lomon's words (6) : " Where there is no vifion, the people 
 " periHi ;" meaning thereby, that where there is a ceflation of 
 all divine communications, the fenfe of religion decays, and all 
 things tend to ruin. 
 
 When the time was fully come, as foretold by the prophets, 
 for the Sun of Righteoufnefs to arife with healing in his wings ; 
 for God to manifell himfelf in the fleili to deftroy the works of 
 the Devil, and to fupply what was lacking in all preceding dif- 
 penfations ; then the heavens were again opened, and coeleflial 
 communications renewed with men ; an angel foretold the birth 
 
 (2) Exod. iii. 20. (3) Pfal. Ixxiv. lo. (4) i Sam. iii. i. 
 
 (5) Ifai. iii. 2. (6) Prov. xxix. 18. 
 
 of
 
 [ iv ] 
 
 of him, who fliould be the harbinger to this Prince of Peace; 
 the fame heavenly mefienger was lent to the highly favoured 
 Virgin with a falutation on her miraculous conception of him ; 
 and a hoft of angels proclaimed the joyful news of his gracious 
 advent; angels minillcred unto him during his abode on earth, 
 and announced his refurred:ion from the dead. But when all 
 was finiflied relating to our adorable Redeemer's minirtry, fuf- 
 fcrings, and life in the fledi, and that the difpenfation of the 
 Holy Ghoft took place according to this promife, were all ex- 
 traordinary difpenlations then to ceafe ? By no means ; for this 
 very publick folemnityon the day of Pentecoll was attended with 
 a gracious promife of their continuance in the cliurch to future 
 generations, as declared to all prefent by Peter, who, on quoting 
 the prophecy of Joel (7) concerning the fame vouchf.ifemcnts, 
 applies them to the times of the Gofpcl difpenfation ; " For 
 " the promife is to you and to your children, and to tliem that 
 " are afar off (8)." And they certainly continued with the 
 apoftles, as more particularly appears from the vifions of angels 
 by Peter, Paul, Philip, and John the Divine, plainly evincing, 
 that they were not fuperfedcd by the giving of the Holy Ghoft. 
 
 Such as are no friends to the belief of extraordinary gifts and 
 communications, have laboured all they could to confine them 
 to the times of the apoftles ; but in fo contradiding the current ' 
 teflimony of the church hirtory, they ihew much prejudice, 
 and little modefly. The apoll:olical fathers, Barnabas, Clement, 
 and Hermas (vvhofe writings were reverenced as of canonical 
 authority for four hundred years, and were read, toc^ether with 
 the other Canonical Scriptures, in many of the churches) con- 
 firm the truth of prophecy, divine vilions, and miraculous gifts 
 continuing in the church after the apollolical age, both by their 
 teftimony and experience ; and to pals over many other venerable 
 names (among whom Tertullian and Origen are witnellcs of 
 eminence to the fame truth afterwards) Eufebius, Cyprian and 
 Ladlantius, ftill lower down, declare, that extraordinary divine 
 fnanifeflations were not uncommon in their days : Cyprian is 
 very exprefs on this fubjedl, praihng God on that behJf, with 
 
 (7) Joel ii. 28, 29. (8) Ads ii. 39. 
 
 reipedl
 
 [ V ] 
 
 refpeJl to himfelf, to divers of the clergy, and many of the 
 people, ufing thefe words : " The difcipline of God over us 
 " never ceafes by night and by day to corredl and reprove j for 
 *' not only by vifions of the night, but alfo by day, even the 
 " innocent age of children among us is filled with the Holy 
 ** Spirit, and they fee, and hear, and fpeak in ecftacy fuch 
 " things as the Lord vouchfafes to admonifli and inftrudt us 
 *' by (9) :" and it was the fettled belief of the early fathers of 
 the church, that thefe divine communications, for dircdion, 
 edification, and comfort, would never wholly ceafe therein. 
 
 That extraordinary gifts became more rare in the church 
 about the middle of the third century is allowed by Cyprian 
 himfelf, and fuch other both cotemporary and fubfequent 
 writers, as at the fame time teffified to the reality of them ; and 
 they account for it from the encouragement given to the per- 
 nicious dodtrines of Epicurus, and other materialifirs at that 
 time, which difpofed many to turn every thing fupernatural and 
 fpiritual into mockery and contempt. In the next century, 
 when the profeffion of Chriftianity became eftablifhed by Con- 
 flantine as the religion of the empire, and millions adopted it 
 from its being the religion of the court, the fafliion of the 
 times, or the road to temporal emoluments, then Chriflianity 
 appeared indeed more gorgeous in her apparel, but became lefs 
 glorious within ; was more fplendid in form, but lefs vigorous 
 in power ; and i'o what the church gained in fuperficies, flae lofl 
 in depth. She fuffered her faith to be corrupted by the impure 
 mixtures of heatheniHi philofophy, whilft the honours, riches, 
 and pleafures of the world infinuated themfclves into her af- 
 fecflions, flole away her graces, and lb robbed her of her beft 
 treafure, infomuch that many have made it a doubt, whether 
 in the times here fpoken of, Paganifm was more chriftianized, 
 or ChriiHanity more paganized. 
 
 In this condition of things, no wonder that we hear fo little 
 of divine vifions and extraordinary fpiritual gifts in thofe days : 
 for however outward men are apt to glory in the pompous ap- 
 pearance of a vifible church, yet the true fpiritual church may 
 
 (9) Epift. i6. 
 
 b be
 
 [ vi J 
 
 be conlidered at that time, and Indeed ever fince, as in her wil- 
 dernel's llate, withdrawn from the multitude to keep herfelf 
 unl'pottcd from the world, and to preferve a holy intcrcourfe 
 with her Beloved, in a life and converfation becoming the 
 Gofpcl of Chrift ; nor were her heavenly vouchfafements lefs 
 than before, but only lefs proper to be divulged, as lefs likely 
 to be received, or to be received only with derifion, as were 
 the dreams of Jofeph by his brethren. We always mean to 
 except under this diftindtion many excellent perfons mixed with 
 carnal profefTors in common life, yet walking in all good con- 
 fcience, fearing God, and working righteoufnefs. Nor is any 
 thing here faid with a dcfign to fuggeft, as though the eftablifh- 
 ment of Chriftianity in the Roman empire were without its 
 great beneficial effeds ; for it was a means appointed by Pro- 
 vidence for fpreading the knowledge of the Truth over a great 
 part of the known world, whereby great numbers under very 
 dcfedlive and corrupt adminillrations of it were converted from 
 the error of their ways, and by palling through the outward 
 forms and ordinances to the inward power, became burning and 
 fhining lights in the church : befides. Divine Truth is of a 
 diffufive nature, like the precious ointment upon the head of 
 Aaron, that fell down to the fkirts of his garments. Thus the 
 Chriftian religion, in the weukeft: adminiArations of it, was not 
 without good influence on the nations that received it, by civi- 
 lizing their manners, improving their fyftems of morality, re- 
 prelhng their enormous vices, and regulating their polity by 
 more wholefome laws and inllitutes. 
 
 To trace the Chriftian religion in the various revolutions of 
 its progrefs, from its firft civil eftablhhment down to the pre- 
 fent times, would be the province of an hillorian j we (hall 
 therefore pafs over all the intervening periods of it, to confider 
 the fubjeft before us in the way both of fcriptural and rational 
 enquiries in relation to ourfelvcs. And here it muft be owned, 
 that the belief of all extraordinary or fupernatural difpeniations 
 is at a very low ebb with us, and that from feveral aflignable 
 caufes, two or three of which fliall here be noticed. 
 
 And firft, from an undue exaltation of man's natural rational 
 faculties and powers, as the fufficient teft of revealed Truths ; 
 :, I and
 
 [ vii ] 
 
 and this grofs error has prevailed more among men of humart 
 learning for this paft century, than perhaps ever before ; to 
 which It is owing, that almoft every thing in religion has been 
 run into queftion and controverfy, and that a general difhelief 
 of all things fupernatural has in a great meafure banifhed faith, 
 and introduced Sadducifm amongft us, to the denying of all 
 fpiritual vifions" and apparition of angels as things incredible, 
 
 Secondly, This doubting and unbelief in things of a fpiritual 
 nature has fpread to a greater extent among all claffes, from 
 an exceflivc attachment to worldly intereft, and the love of 
 money in the trading nations of Chriftendom, through the vaft 
 incrcafe of commerce and navigation in the lafl two centuries^ 
 whereby the affedtions and purfuits of fuch great numbers have 
 been fo engaged on the fide of hlthy lucre, as to turn an em- 
 ployment, in itfelf innocent and ufeful, into the occafion of 
 lln. Hence a fordid avarice, and making hafte to be rich by 
 frauds, extortion, and injuftice, which lays an invincible ob- 
 ftacle in the way of faith ; fince we are told, that every one that 
 would name the name of Chrifl, as his Saviour, mufl firft depart 
 from iniquity. 
 
 Another great hinderance to the belief of all communications 
 with the world of fpirits, is a life of pleafure, which the apolHe 
 calls a ftate of death (lo), as it chains down the mind to the 
 objetfl of the fenfes, and things of outward obfervation, and 
 totally indifpofes it for the confideration of things inward and 
 fpiritual : and this is not only the cafe of the voluptuous and 
 libertine part of mankind, but of thofe alfo, who, from an 
 indulged levity and diClpation of mind, abandon themfelves to 
 vain paftimes and amufements, are carried away with every wind 
 of fafliion and folly, or, like the Athenians, fpend their time 
 in nothing elfe, but either to tell or to hear fome new thing. 
 Should an apoftle reveal any thing concerning heaven or hell to 
 perfons thus indifpoled to receive his report, is it not to be 
 expe<a:ed that they would reply in derifion, like the philofophcrs 
 or Athenians before mentioned, at the preaching of St. Paul ? 
 " What will this babbler fay ?" Nor can it be expecfted that the 
 
 (lo) I Tim. V. 6. 
 
 contents
 
 [ viii ] 
 
 contents of the following volume IhoulJ meet with a more 
 favourable reception from fuch. All things relating to the 
 other world, and the condition of departed fouls, are of a moft 
 interefling nature, and call for great ferioufnefs and awful at- 
 tention ; and they that bring not with them minds fo prepared 
 for the confideration of thefe fubjefts, however they may boaft 
 of their reafon, they are not as yet qualified for judges in thefe 
 matters. And this leads to an obfervation or two on the fubjed 
 of reafon. 
 
 There is nothing more talked of and pretended to than rea- 
 fon, and yet nothing in which people of every rank and age are 
 lefs agreed in ; that which generally pafles for reafon being of a 
 vague, uncertain nature, varying according to the tempers, in- 
 clinations, and circumltances of men. Thus it happens, that 
 the reafon of one of thirty years of age is feldom the reafon of 
 the fame perfon at fifty ; the reafon of the majority is not the 
 reafon of the minority j nay, in every profefTion, art, and fci- 
 ence, men reafon differently, and often oppofitely, except where 
 reafon has leatl place, as in mathematicks, geometry, and arith- 
 metick. And yet there is a right reafon in all things, where 
 men are qualified to find it out ; but thefe are few, and \vc fee 
 by far the greater part perpetually wrangling, difputing, and 
 contradiding one another in relation to right and wrong in mofl 
 things ; and the main caufe of it is the want of fimplicity, and / 
 a right difpofition of the will and affedions, which are abfo- 
 lutely necefiary, in order to a right judgment : but whilft men 
 dignify their paffions, humours, and falfe interefts with the 
 venerable name of reafon, it remains in them no other than the 
 operations of their prefent ilate of mind on the errors, preju- 
 dices, and wrong principles they have before imbibed, and 
 which they are refolved to maintain with the moll words, and 
 fuch arguments as they are mailers of j and hence it is, that we 
 have lb many criticks, politicians, and divines, which arc utter 
 Grangers to the truth of the matters they take in hand. 
 
 But reafon has alfo its fpecifick differences and meafures, 
 according to the nature of the fubjed to be inveffigated ; thus 
 ethicks, phyficks, and metaphyficks have each their refpedive 
 principles, and confequently a dillind kind of reafon, and he 
 
 that
 
 [ ix ] 
 
 that is a good proficient in the knowledge of one, may be very- 
 deficient in another. Thus every part of knowledge hag its 
 ftandard, adequate and proper to itfelf j lb natural things are 
 known by natural reafon, and fpiritual things are difcerned by 
 a fpiritual light ; and this diflinflion is founded on the authority 
 of Scripture, in which we are told, that " the natural man 
 *' receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are 
 '* foolidinefs unto him ; neither can he know them, becaufe 
 they are fpiritually difcerned (ii) ;" that is, the animal or 
 foulifh [4u'x,<)t©-] man, with all his natural faculties and endow- 
 ments, cannot of himfelf attain to the knowledge of fpiritual 
 things, they being too far above his reach, and therefore it 
 muft be given him from above, or he cannot have it : nay, fo 
 contrary are they to the propenfities and apprehenfions of his 
 fenfual fallen nature, that whilft he prefumes on a fancied fuf- 
 ficiency in himfelf to comprehend thefe things, the deeper he 
 plunges himfelf into the darknefs of human ignorance concern- 
 ing them, and the more accounts them foolifhnefs ; and thus 
 God is faid to make foolifli the wifdom of this world, by leaving 
 fuch to their wilful blindnefs, who chufe darknefs rather than 
 light. 
 
 Nothing is here faid to depreciate the external rational know- 
 ledge, even in its loweft fphere, when joined with the fear of 
 God in men of humble minds ; for this alfo is the gift of God, 
 and is not only helpful to us in all the purpofes of this life, but 
 in due place and fubordination fubfervient to the divine life; it 
 is the abufe of this knowledge only that falls under our cenfure, 
 as when natural knowledge and human learning are employed 
 to unfettle mens minds with refpecl to the things of the other 
 world, and to rob them of the precious hopes of a glorious 
 immortality through the redemption that is in Chrift Jefus. All 
 fuch kind of fophiftry, mifi:aken for reafon, is no better than 
 vain deceit, and fcience falfely fo called, and all that exercife 
 themfelves therein are diflurbers of the peace of mankind, as 
 well as enemies to the church of God. Nor can we here for- 
 bear to pafs a reproof on all thofe, who, whilfl they profefs a 
 
 (ii) I Cor. ii. 14. • ^ 
 
 c reverence
 
 [ ^ ] 
 
 reverence for the Gofpel Revelation, patronize at the fame time 
 the infidelity of the Sadducees, as touching angels and fpirits, 
 and all extraordinary difpenfations : for to deny all communica- 
 tion with the fpiritual world, whether by vifion, or any other 
 means, naturally leads to atheifm ; and their pernicious reafon- 
 ings in this way have had dreadful eifedls upon the prefent times, 
 by weakening the lenic of religion and confcience in the lower 
 clalfes of the people. The belief of an intercourfe with the 
 other world, according to the truth of it, keeps alive and che- 
 rifhcs faith in the immortality of the foul in all ranks of people, 
 and familiarizes the mind to its exigence feparate from the body ; 
 and it is not to be doubted, that fuch gracious vouchfafements 
 were granted to the Jews under the Law, and have been con- 
 tinued lince to the church under the Gofpel, in aid and alhilance 
 to men's faith in the written traditions of both difpenfations : 
 fuch being the goodnefs of the Lord in compaflion to the weak- 
 nefs of our nature, and the dulnefs of our minds, which ftand 
 fo much in need of frelh, awakening incitements to call off our 
 attention from earthly to heavenly things. And therefore we 
 cannot but lament, that any men of name in the church, though 
 little deferving of it on this account, have gone fo far beyond 
 this line, as to alTert, that all extraordinary gifts and fupernatural 
 difpenfations have totally ceafed fmce the third century ; but 
 we have no authority for this but their own, and therefore do 
 upon much better grounds alTert, that extraordinary gifts and 
 vouchfafements never did nor will ccafe in the church, till that 
 which is perfecfl fhall come, that is, till fuch extraordinary 
 become ordinary difpenfations, and angels ihall converfe with 
 men as familiarly as they did with Adam before the fall : and. 
 in the mean time we confidently rely upon the divine promife, 
 that the fame Lord, who " gave fome apollles, and fome pro- 
 " phets, and fome evangelifls, and fome payors and teachers, 
 *' for the perfetfling of the faints for the work of the minillry, 
 " for the edifying of the body of Chrifl," will fulhl the fame 
 promife, " till we all come in the unity of the fiiith, and of the 
 *' knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfedl man, unto the 
 " meafure of the llature of the fulnefs of Chrill (12)." 
 
 (12) Eph. iv. II, 12, 13. 
 
 But
 
 [ xi ] 
 
 But it may be faid here, that fee-ers of vifions are not men- 
 tioned along with prophets, ficc. in the foregoing quotation 
 from the apoftle ; and therefore, as the firft are principally re- 
 ferred to in this preface, it will be here appolite to obferve, 
 that the name Prophet in Scripture is not confined to the gift 
 of prediition or foretelling things to come, but fignifies one to 
 whom any divine manifeftation was made for the ufe of others ; 
 and as this was generally by vifion, fo we read that prophets in 
 ancient times were ufually called Seers, that is, fee-ers of vifions j 
 thus in I Sam. ix. 9. " Before time in Ifrael, when a man went 
 ** to enquire of God, thus he fpake. Come, and let us go to 
 " the Seer ; for he that is now called a Prophet, was before 
 " time called a Seer." And afterwards, in the fame chapter, 
 Samuel calls himfelf a Seer. And in 2 Sam. xxiv. ri. we read» 
 " that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, Da- 
 " vid's Seer." Of fuch honourable repute was the name Seer, 
 or vifionary, in thofe times. When therefore the apofi;le gives 
 it in charge to the church, not to defpife prophefyings, we have 
 no warrant to exclude vifions from the general charge, efpecially 
 as we are well informed from ecclefiaftical hiftory, that the 
 cufi.om of communicating to the church the vifions of holy 
 perfons, particularly fuch as were of authority in the miniftry, 
 continued down at leafi: to the days of Cyprian, the good bifliop 
 of Carthage, who fpeaks of manifefi:ations by vifion throughout 
 his Epifi^les, and alio of his own ; for he was a man of many 
 vifions, and among others had one concerning his own martyr- 
 dom, and the particular manner of it, which happened accord- 
 ingly- 
 
 St. Paul (Heb. xii. 22.) fpeaking of the fuperior excellence 
 
 and bleflednefs of the New Covenant, fays, " But ye are come 
 ** unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, 
 " the heavenly Jerufalem, and to an innumerable company of 
 " angels," &c. By which words, we cannot fuppofe him to 
 mean lefs, than that by Chrifi:, the mediator of this better 
 covenant, a more free intercourfe with heaven, and a more 
 intimate fellowfhip with faints and angels, is now opened for 
 us, if we debar not ourfelves of this blefled privilege. What 
 then hinders our converfing with angels now, as the patriarchs 
 
 and
 
 [ xii ] 
 
 and prophets did of old ? what but our own fault and unfitnefs 
 for fuch glorious company ? Why do we not now fee them 
 dcfcending and afcending between heaven and earth, as Jacob 
 did on the typical ladder ? Why, but for our own unbelief, our 
 fotti(hnefs, our earthly-mindednefs ; from which deep fleep, as 
 to the things of God, if we were truly awakened, wc ftiould 
 fee caufe to own in the words of the fame patriarch, when he 
 awaked from the vifion of the night ; ■' Surely the Lord is in 
 " this place, and I knew it not (13)." Heaven is as near to 
 the heavenly, as the foul is to the body ; for we are not fcparated 
 from it by diil:ance of place, but only by condition of ftate : 
 thus when Eliflia was furrounded in Dothan by the Syrians, his 
 fervant faw not the chariots and horfemen [the angelical hoft] 
 that furrounded his mafter for defence, as Elilha did. till the 
 Lord opened his eyes. Juft fo it is with us ; unbelief and fin 
 keep us from feeing the things that are about us and near to us, 
 and alfo from giving credit to the reports of thofe who are in 
 the experience of them. 
 
 The f.uTie apoftle, who cautions againfl defpifing prophefyings, 
 does alfo give us to underiland, that angels were not to difcon- 
 tinue their vifits to men in future times of the church, as where 
 exhorting us not to ** be forgetful to entertain ftrangers ;" he 
 adds, " for thereby fome have entertained angels unawares (14)." 
 Now there would be no encouragement nor argument in the 
 latter part of the verfe, unlefs the fame might happen to be the 
 cafe with us alfo. But wherefore fliould we doubt, that thofc 
 blelTed friendly beings ftiould take delight in cxercifing th ir 
 good will to men by many kind offices both vifible and invifible, 
 according to the good pleafure of our common Lord, as by 
 preferving us in many dangers, protcdling us againft the aiTIiults 
 of evil men and evil I'pirits, and by counfelling, warning, and 
 helping us by various ways and means we know not of? We 
 ought not fo to doubt of this, as w^e are apt to do, nor wonder 
 at it ; '• For are they not all miniftering fpirits, font forth to 
 *' miniller for them, who fhall be heirs of falvation (15) ?" 
 We ftiould rather wonder that good men, wheh they walk out 
 
 ^13) Gen. xxviii. 16. (14) Hcb. xiii. 2. (1-5) Hcb. i. 14. 
 
 to
 
 [ xiii ] - 
 
 to meditate in the field, as Ifaac did (i6), fhould not often 
 mec-t thofe coeleftial ftrangers to join them in fweet converfation 
 on heavenly things, and be accompanied by them in their jour- 
 nics, as Tobias was. But whether manifclted to us or not, fure 
 it is, that we are more indebted to them for their kind affiftance 
 and miniflrations than is generally believed, as evidently appears 
 to have been the fcnfe of our church, heretofore at leaft, as thus 
 exprefled in her collect for St. Michael and all Angels. " O 
 ** everlalling God, who hafl ordained and conftituted the fervicc 
 *' of angels and men in a wonderful order, mercifully grant, 
 ** that as thy holy angels alway do thee fervice in heaven, fo 
 ** by thy appointment they may fuccour and defend us on earth, 
 ** through Jefus Chrift our Lord." 
 
 As to the argument offered by thofe, who maintain the total 
 cefTation of thefe and other extraordinary difpenfations on the 
 eftablifhment of the Chriflian religion, or its protedlion by the 
 civil powers ; viz. that the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, 
 together with its fettled ecclefiaftical ceconomy, are fufficient 
 for falvation, and the welfare of the church, and therefore what 
 is more is needlefs, and not to be expedted ; for if men now 
 will not believe Mofes and the prophets, Chrift and his apoftles, 
 fo neither would they be perfuaded, though one fhould rife from 
 the dead. Be it anfwered, firft, that the oppofers of extraor- 
 dinary difpenfations do here take for granted the very point in 
 queftion, viz. that they are ceafed, which it is impofTible for 
 them to prove ; nay, we appeal for the reality of them to the 
 authority of univerfal ecclefiaftical hiftory, as alfo to the records 
 of every particular church and nation in Chriftendom, not to 
 infift on the teftimony given thereto in numberlefs books, tra(fls, 
 and narratives, fome or other of which have fallen in the way 
 of every perfon of any reading and converfation : what credit 
 is to be given to or withheld from them refpedlively, is another 
 matter of enquiry ; but that all fhould be invention and forgery, 
 requires a higher degree of credulity than is fufficient for be- 
 lieving the greater part of them -, and as to the reproachful 
 epithets of monkiHi and legendary, fo liberally beftowed on well 
 
 (i6) Gen. xxiv. 63. 
 
 d attefled
 
 [ 3civ ] 
 
 attefted narratives of this kind, by fuch as refolve to believe 
 nothing but what they can fee with their eyes, or touch with 
 their hands, they are not to be regarded, where the grounds of 
 credibiUty and evidence are the points in queftion. Many of 
 the Roman Cathoiick writers ftand confelfedly chargeable with 
 an over credulity ; and it is to be wilhed, that many of the 
 Proteftant writers were Icfs cenfurable than they are for incre- 
 dulity ; and the medium between both thefe extremes will be 
 found the proper ground from whence to take the cleareft view 
 of thefe matters. Sure it is, that we are at this time very dan- 
 geroufly infedled with doubting and unbelief, as to things fuper- 
 natural ; and that the general idea of reformation amongft us 
 means rather a departure from certain Popilli errors and fuper- 
 ftitions, than any advances in true faith and godlinefs. 
 
 Secondly, As to what is alleged for the futhciency of the 
 ordinary means of grace under a legal eflablifhment of religion 
 for faith and falvation, may we not afk fuch bold pronouncers, 
 by what commiflion they take upon them to determine con- 
 cerning fufficicncy in this matter, and who gave autiiority to 
 teach, that the Lord is become more fparing of his benefits and 
 gifts to his church than in former times, nay, than He has 
 promifed to be towards it ; or do they fuppofe, that what is 
 called an eftablilhment of religion by the civil powers,, is equi- 
 valent to the extraordinary gifts beftowed on the primitive Chri- 
 ftians ? Wherefore fhould they go about to limit the loving 
 kindnefs of the Lord by their own fcanty mcafure of futiiciency, 
 fincc it is his ufual way to give not only for mere neceiiity, but 
 alfo for deledation ; his gracious attribute, not only to be good, 
 but abundant in goodnefs in all his works both of nature and 
 grace, where men render not themfelves unqualified for the 
 •fame : and He that giveth one talent, is as ready to beflow ten 
 talents on a due improvement of the former ; for ih He giveth 
 grace for grace. 
 
 Thirdly, The inference they draw againfl; tlie ufefulnefs of 
 miraculous gifts, and other extraordinary difpenfations, from 
 thofe words of Abraham, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus, 
 " If they hear not Moles and the Prophets, neither will they 
 " be pcrfuaded, if one Ihould rife from the dead," is not at all 
 
 conclufive
 
 [ XV ] 
 
 conclufive in this cafe ; as that faying appears to rei!pe<fi fuch 
 only as have hardened themfelves in unbelief, by departing froin 
 faith in the written Word, under the ordinary means of falvation j 
 and not fuch as are weak in the faith, but not obdurate, as was 
 the cafe with the difciples, who, though under our Lard's own 
 teachings, yet, through the dulnefs of their apprehenfion, feemed 
 to need fome mighty work to make an impreflion on their feeble 
 minds : and accordingly, when Jefus was on the way with them 
 to raife Lazarus from the dead. He fpeaks of the enfuing miracle 
 as ufeful for them among others, and takes fatisfadrion on their 
 account, that He was not prefent with Lazarus in his ficknefs 
 to heal him : *' I am glad for your fakes, that I was not there, 
 " to the intent that ye may believe (17) ;" that is, by feeing 
 him raifed from the dead. So then we are to make a wide 
 diflindlion between an evil heart of unbelief, as where men, 
 through an incorrigible attachment to finful courfes, or by 
 taking pains to confirm themfelves in infidelity, are proof againfl 
 evidence fufficient for their convidlion ; and where they are in 
 unbelief through prefent inattention, diftraftion of mind from 
 worldly hinderances, dulnefs of apprehenfion, and the like 
 caufes, but without any wilful oppofition to the truth. In thefe 
 laft cafes extraordinary means have often falutary effedls, by 
 calling off the mind from its wandering, by alarming and con- 
 verting the finner from the error of his ways. Hiftory fupplies 
 us with numberlefs inflances of this kind ; and, among others, 
 I fee no caufe to doubt what is recorded of Bruno, founder of 
 the Carthufian order, viz. that he was converted on the follow- 
 ing occafion. As he attended the corps of a certain ecclefiaflick 
 (who had been a followed preacher) to his grave, the deceafed 
 raifed himfelf up from the funeral bier, and pronounced himfelf 
 condemned by thejuft fentence of God; upon which he was 
 interred without the folemnity of Chriftian burial, and the eifeft 
 upon Bruno in particular was, that he became imprelled with 
 fo piercing a fenfe of his own danger, that he retired from the 
 world, and devoted himfelf, during the remainder of his life, 
 to a religious retirement and vigorous difcipline. 
 
 (17) John xi. 15. 
 
 From
 
 [ xvi ] 
 
 From what has been obferved on the foregoing fubjccft, we 
 fliall conclude, that the fame Lord, who in times paft fent his 
 prophets, wife men, and fecrs, and gave extraordinary tokens 
 and warnings to awaken a carelcfs world to a fenfe of its danger, 
 has not wholly ceafed in thefe laft ages to manifeft his power 
 and goodnefs for the fame end, in various in fiances, to cooperate 
 as afhfting means with the more general and ftated provifions of 
 his revealed will, for our incitement and benefit : and though 
 fome, through their unbelief and obduracy in fin, refufe to 
 profit by any methods of his goodnefs, whether ordinary or 
 extraordinary ; yet many others may not be fo far departed from 
 the faith and fear of God, as to continue unreclaimable by his 
 more particular and alarming vifitations. Thus we read, that 
 many were converted on feeing the miracles which Jefus did, 
 whilil the Scribes, Pharifces, and Rulers endeavoured to ftifle 
 their report, and remained wilful unbelievers to the end ; and 
 we well know what like oppofition we have to cxpedl from men 
 of the fame leaven to every thing that may here be advanced in 
 favour of extraordinary manifcltations : but were their names 
 and number greater than they are, it would have no weight 
 with us, being no ftrangers to their little length and breadth, 
 and their want of depth, and ready to meet them in the field of 
 argument, as well as prepared to anfwer every objedlion they 
 have to offer; wilhing them at the fame time more modefty for 
 their own lakes, than to diftate to the church wha^is fufficient, 
 and what is needlefs to the purpoles of lalvation, without fcrip- 
 tural authority. In the general divifion I am fpeaking of, there 
 is a clafs of modeft well-meaning men, who are no further con- 
 cerned in the matter before us, than to juflify the ways of God 
 to man, upon a fuppofition that all things are left to one fettled 
 fcheme of things and means, as not feeing any thing beyond it, 
 who are eftablilhed in the faith under the ufe of ordinary means, 
 and have no invincible prejudice againft the extraordinary, but 
 only think them not granted in thefe ages of the church : and 
 ■with fuch I have no controverfy ; but addrefs myfelf only to 
 thofe, who declare open war againft all fupcrnatural mani- 
 feftations, whether they are in the profefllon of Chrillianity or 
 not. 
 
 And
 
 [ xvii ] 
 
 And here I muft arte all fuch, to what purpofe is this your 
 "oppofition to the belief of any fre/h difcoveries of the other 
 world ? Is it not a fubjeft of the higheft importance to us to 
 know, ^vhat and wlicre we fliall be to all eternity after a Ihort 
 palfage over this bridge of time ? Are there not different degrees 
 of evidence in thefe matters j and fuppofmg that your convidlion 
 were at all times fo full in relation thereto, as to exclude all 
 fliadow of doubting, yet are there not infinite particulars and 
 circum fiances relating to the world of fpirits, which may ferve 
 as an inexhauftible fund of frefh difcoveries, many of which 
 may have been revealed to others, though not to us, and for us 
 to receive from them ? How comes it then, that you are fo void. 
 of all reafonable curiofity, as to prefer ignorance to information 
 in thefe things, nay, to fludy objecftions to the belief of them ? 
 VVere any prejudice allowable in this cafe, it (hould rather be 
 for, than againll them, efpecially where they have a tendency to 
 promote faith, virtue, and godlinels. If any knowledge is to 
 be coveted, furely it is that of the laws, ways, and accommo- 
 dations of that good country, which we hope to go to and live 
 in for ever. Befides, fuch extraordinary manifeftations are greatly 
 conducive to the good of this world, by laying before us frerfi 
 motives and encouragements in our way through it, to ftrive 
 lawfully for the high prize that is fet before us in a better, and 
 by roufing every power and faculty of the mind by frefh news 
 from heaven. If we believe the Scriptures, we muft allow of 
 fuch an intercourfc between heaven and earth in former times ; 
 -and if it be lefs frequent now, it is owing to the infidelity and 
 apoftacy of the times, for God's goodnefs endureth the fame for 
 ever, and good fpirits are equally defirous of holding commu- 
 nication with men now, as formerly ^ but then there muft be 
 a fuitablenefs for it on the part of the latter, fomething of that 
 innocence and fimplicity of life, which in ancient times ferved 
 for the bafis of fuch fellowfhip. 
 
 But neither are inftances of extraordinary difpenfations fo very 
 few now, as moft are apt to imagine ; for among the many 
 eftimable and excellent men and women in the Chriftian church 
 now that hold faft found doftrine, walking in the fear of God, 
 and in all good confcience, there is a feled: company of the inner 
 
 e court
 
 [ xvlii } 
 
 court worHiippers, to whom the Lord revealeth his fecrets, and 
 maketh known the hidden things of his kingdom. Some of 
 thefc are favoured with fecret communications for their own 
 fiikes, or for the benefit only of fome few others. Tlicy are 
 generally perfons of a retired life, little known of their bre- 
 thren, and foraetimes, like Jofeph, perfecutcd by them ; an 
 inflancc of which kind has been well attefted to me by a pcrfon 
 of veracity, who knew the party, viz. a gentlewoman of for- 
 tune i who having declared at different times that fhe converfed 
 with angels, her relations applied to a late chancellor for a 
 ftatute of lunacy againft her; and though fhe was allowed upon 
 examination to be reafonable and of found mind in all other 
 things, yet, upon her confefhng this article of her charge, flie 
 was ordered to a private madhoule, and her fortune committed 
 to the management of her relations. May it not be alTced here, 
 if they, who can favour fuch profecutions, are not to be fuf- 
 pevi^ed of thinking that the Seers of old were at times befide 
 themfelves ? Can we be at a lofs then how to account for our hear- 
 ing fo feldomof fuch extraordinary difpenfations in thefe times of 
 unbelief, when it is become fo dangerous to own them, or at 
 leaft when the recital is likely to meet with nothing better than 
 mockery and derilion ? 
 
 But v/'hatever cautionary referves may be juftifiable, nay, pru- 
 dent, where the manifeftation appears to refpe<fl only the party 
 to whom it is made, or for private ufe to fome few others, 
 according as difcrction may diredl ; yet, where it is evidently 
 given for publick notoriety and ufe, as in the cafe of this author; 
 more efpecially if by exprefs command ; here the pcrfon is to 
 be confidered as ftanding in the prophetick charafler, and there- 
 fore is not to confult with fjefh and blood in this matter, nor to 
 regulate his meafurcs by human prudence; but to deliver Ivis 
 meifage boldly, and leave the event to God, left he fuffer for his 
 difobedience, as Jonah did, and be obliged to deliver it at lall. 
 But it may be afked here, if it be not reafonable to expedt that 
 every fuch mcflage from heaven Ihould have the atteftation of 
 a miracle to evince the truth of it ; to which it might futlice to 
 anfwcr, in the words of Job (i8), that '* the Lord giveth not 
 
 (18) Job xxxiii. 13. 
 
 " an
 
 *' an account of his matters." This however is certain, that 
 wherever He fends a meffage, He alfo gives power fufficient 
 with it to convince, or to condemn the rejeiStion of it. Our 
 Lord, in the days of his fleili, wrought miracles, fometimes to 
 convince the underflanding, fometimes to take away all excufe 
 from the hardened and impenitent, and fometimes He refrained 
 from, doing them, to prevent the greater condemnation of ua- 
 believers ; thus He is faid not to have done many mighty works in 
 Galilee, becaufe of their unbelief. 
 
 But the foregoing query may be further urged into an ob- 
 jedtion of fuch apparent flrength, as may be thought deferving 
 of a more particular anfwer. Thus it may be afked, If any 
 particular revelation for publick ufe and benefit, either in the 
 way of inftrudtion, diredlion, or warning, refls only on the 
 credit and authority of the revealer, are we not liable to much 
 deception in the matter ; and though the meflenger may be a 
 true one, yet might not our receiving him as fuch give encou- 
 ragement to pretenders and impoftors to affume the like charafter 
 in order to deceive, and to come with, " Thus faith the Lord," 
 in their mouths, when the Lord hath not fpoken it ? In this 
 cafe, what rule have we to go by, and how iliall we tread firm 
 on fuch flippery ground ? To this it is replied, that as in old 
 times there were falfe as well as true Prophets and Seers, fo 
 nothing hinders but there may be like counterfeits now o'days ; 
 for in this mixed world of good and evil, where men fland in 
 their liberty of fpeaking and acting, no infallible provifion 
 againft hypocrify and impofture can take efi^eft, but the enemy 
 will fow his tares in the fame field where the good hulbandman 
 has fowed his wheat, and Satan will at all times transform him- 
 felf into an angel of light. Every thing has its contrary here, 
 where good and evil arc fet one againft the other ; but then help 
 and means are provided for our direftion and fafcty ; if ofi^ences 
 are many, fo alfo are our defences ; if errors are manifold, there 
 are diverfities of gifts to detedl and refute them ; and if the 
 father of lies and his cmifiaries arc bufy to deceive us, the good 
 Spirit of God is ever ready to lead us into all Truth : fo that 
 we have not only light in the Scriptures, but through fuppli- 
 cation and prayer may alfo have Light within us from above for 
 
 the
 
 [ XX ] 
 
 the difccrning of fpirits, and for our fccurity againrt: all the 
 powers of darkqefs. ^\'c are not therefore to rcjcrt truth and 
 error indifcriminately in whatever forniK they may appear, be- 
 caufe the latter may wear a like garb with the former ; but try 
 the fpirits, and hold fall: to that which is good, herein imitating 
 the filhers mentioned in the Gofpel (reprefentative of the wife 
 in ChrilVs kingdom) who, " when they had filled their net 
 ** with fifh of every kind, gathered the good into veflels, and 
 *' caft the bad away (19) :" nay, the moll illiterate Chrillian 
 walking humbly in the fear of God, and working righteoufnefs 
 according to his beft knowledge, never was nor will be fufFered 
 to fall into any fatal delufion : fimplicity and uprightnefs of 
 heart place him under the protecftion, of the Almighty, and he 
 is in the elfence of truth, though without the formal ideas of 
 it ; for *• all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to fuch 
 " as keep his covenant and his teftimonies (20) ;" miftake he 
 may, but cannot dangeroufly err, for his very errors arc inno- 
 cent, and love fandlihes all he thinks, fays, and does. Thus 
 the pure in heart fee God in all things, and from all things reap 
 benefit without hazard of lofs j whilrt the perverfe and ungodly 
 " change even the truth of God into a lie (21), by turning that 
 which was defigned for their good into the occafion of their fin. 
 But to refumc the fubjedl : If it were allowed to be a juftifiable 
 caufe for the rejedting every extraordinary difpenfation that comes 
 fupported by credible evidence, bccaule fome may falfely pre- 
 tend to the fame, the objedion would be of equal force on the 
 fide of numbers againft lillening to their eftablifhed paftors and 
 teachers, becaufe fome among them are ignorant, fome unfound 
 in dodlrine, and fome handle the word of God deceitfully; and 
 though this muft be allowed to be a pitiable cafe where it hap- 
 pens, yet the falvation of the confcientious worfhipper does by 
 no means lie upon any fuch hazard, for ordinary and extraor- 
 dinary means are all one with the Lord, and rather than any 
 fincerely pious and feeking foul fliould perifli for lack of know- 
 ledge, He would fend, if need were, an angel from heaven to 
 be its teacher ; but all fuch have an unerring guide, even the 
 
 (.19) Matt. xiii. 48. (20) Plal. xxv. 10. (21) Rom. i. 25. 
 
 good
 
 good Spirit of God, and " them that are meek ihall He guide in 
 ♦' judgment, and luch as are gentle, them fliall He learn his 
 *' way (22)." 
 
 , Lartly, It is to be obferved under this article, that all who 
 profefl'edly oppofe every kind of communication with the world 
 of fpirits, do not only deny the authority of the facred records, 
 but alfo fet afide that evidence which is given to the truth of 
 this matter, by the concurrent teflimony of every age and nation; 
 fo that matter of fadt is againft them, and proves all their pre- 
 tenfions to reafon and philofophy to be vain, whilft they go 
 about to invalidate all authority, except that of their own fenfes, 
 and I may add, even to render that doubtful likewife ; nay, I 
 have heard one of this fceptical clafs declare, that he would 
 not believe the teftimony of his own fenfes in fuch a cafe. It 
 is well known, that the Heathens believed thcmfelves to be under 
 the care of their gods through the miniftry of genii or tutelary 
 fpirits, and held the exiftence both of good demons, and of 
 evil or caco-demons j for dark as their difpenfation was, they 
 had fliadows of truth among them fufficient to keep alive their 
 belief of the foul's immortality, and they have tranfmitted down 
 to us in their hiftories m'any inftances of fupernatural vilions 
 and apparitions, and of warnings by dreams ; fo that many of 
 our modern unbelievers have lels of faith in things of the other 
 world than the very Gentiles, feveral of whom have declared 
 themfelves indebted to good and vifible agents for the wifdom 
 of their laws, for many valuable difcoveries in phyfick, for 
 warnings, predidtions, and extraordinary deliverances (23). To 
 give only one faying of Cicero, among many, to the fame pur- 
 pofe : " I know not," fays he, " any one nation, polite, or 
 " barbarous, which does not hold, that fome perfons have the 
 ** gift of foretelling future events (24)." 
 
 But I chiefly conhne myfelf here to coeleflial vifions, anfwer- 
 able to the following work, and which are by no means to be 
 confidered on the level with apparitions, whether of ghofts 
 departed, or of fpirits of any other order, thefe laft being of a 
 far inferior kind to the firfl: ; and yet it will not be going far 
 
 (22) Pfal. XXV. 8. (23) Cicero dc Dlvinatione. (24) Ibid. Lib. i. 
 
 f out
 
 [ xxii ] 
 
 out of my way to fpeak a few words of the latter. There is 
 a climax in God's works of nature, or a fcale afcending from 
 the loweft to the highell: of them, till they terminate in the 
 great adorable Original, who is the Alpha and Omega of the 
 univcrfe. From thefe gradations, difcovered or difcoverable in 
 the natural world> we may from analogy (which is our befl rule 
 here to go by) conclude, that the like progreffion takes place 
 in the fpiritual worlds, and that there is not that wide chafm 
 between one and the other that is generally fuppofed, but that 
 the moft refined part of the material meets the grolTeft part of 
 the immaterial fyftem of beings, vifible thus ending where in- 
 vifible begins ; and confequently, that there are fpirits very near 
 us, though not difcernible by us, except when according to 
 certain unknown laws of their cxiftence, or the particular will 
 of the Lord, they become manifefted to us, either vifibly or 
 audibly -, and highly credible it is, that all nature is peopled 
 with them in its feveral regions of the air and earth, and its 
 fubterraneous dwellings, according to their different clallcs, fub- 
 ordinations, and allotments. Milton finely expreffes himfelf 
 on this fubjed: as follows : 
 
 -Think not, though men were none. 
 
 " That heaven would want fpeiflators, God want praife : 
 
 *' Millions of fpiritual creatures walk the earth 
 
 " Unfcen, both when we wake, and when we fleep," &c.' 
 
 Now to argue againft their exigence from their being incon- 
 fpicuous, is an abfurd conclufion for men who pretend to phi- 
 lofophy, efpecially when all know what a new world of animal- 
 cula, invifible before, has been difcovered to us by the improved 
 microfcopc : and who will fay, that the natural eye of man is 
 incapable of fuch further aflillance, as may enable us to ditcern 
 the fubtle vehicles of certain fpirits, whether confifling of air 
 or ether ; certain it is, that either by condenfation, or fome '| 
 
 other way, they can make themfelvcs vifible, and converfe with 
 us, as man with man ; and fo innumerable are the inrtances 
 hereof, as alfo of their difcoveries, warnings, predi(5lions, &,c. 
 that I may venture to affirm, with an appeal to the publick for 
 
 the
 
 [ xxlii ] 
 
 the truth of it, that there are few ancient families in any county 
 of Great Britain, that are not pofleffed of records or traditions 
 of the fame in their own houfes, however the prevailing Sad- 
 ducifm of thefe times may have funk the credit of them, as 
 well as in a great meafure cut off communications of this kind. 
 
 Thefe fpirits are of both forts, like men on earth, good and 
 bad ; as to the latter, they are the agents of Satan, to promote 
 the interefts of his kingdom, and, like their chief, " go to and 
 ** fro in the earth, walking up and down in it (25)," feeking 
 whom they may deceive and dellroy. Thefe are enemies to good 
 men, and the willing affociates of men of evil difpofitions, over 
 whom they have great power through the confent of their will,, 
 but none otherwife, pradtifing upon their minds and underftand- 
 ing ** with all deceivablenefs of unrighteoufnefs in them that 
 *' perifli, becaufe they received not the love of the truth, that 
 " they might be faved (26)." This power of enticing, prompt- 
 ing, and inftigating fuch as become their willing captives to all 
 kinds of evil ; and the heinous fm of the latter, in freely fur- 
 rendering themfelves into their hands to be prad:ifed upon, llands 
 confeffed even in the form of proceeding in our courts of judi- 
 cature in the cafe of atrocious delinquents, it being part in the 
 charge of indiftment, that they did fuch and fuch things at the 
 infligation of the Devil, inferring it as the aggravation of their 
 crime, that they could chufe the fervice of fo bad a mailer. 
 
 To continue infenfible of our danger from evil fpirits, whe- 
 ther from ignorance, inattention, or the difbelief of them, is 
 one of the foreft evils that can befall us, and is in the church 
 at this day a mifery to be lamented with tears of blood, as it 
 leads to a fatal carelefnefs, expofes us to their fubtle devices, 
 and gives them an advantage over us every way. Nor are they 
 an enemy lightly to be accounted of, being watchful, diligent, 
 and full of llratagems for our ruin ; and they have moreover a 
 hold on the corrupt part of our nature, and well know how to 
 ufe it, being furnifhed with traps of all forts to catch the un- 
 wary, and with baits adapted to every vicious appetite and incli- 
 nation ; having a great part of the honours and riches of this 
 
 (25) Job i. 7. (26) 2 ThefT, ii. lo. 
 
 world.
 
 [ xxiv ] 
 
 T\orld at their difpofal, through the power and intiuence of 
 thofc that are fubjedl to them : and tlierefore it behoves us to 
 be well furnifhed for this part of our fpiritual warfare, and to 
 put on the whole armour of God, feeing thofe we have to do 
 with are not to be fubdued with carnal weapons ; for here, as 
 the apolHe tells us, " we wreftle againft principalities, againft 
 " powers, againft the rulers of the darknefs of this world, 
 •' againft fpiritual wickediiefs in high places (27)." But we 
 come now to fpeak of better fpirits, and more to fatisfadlion. 
 
 If there be legions of fpirits about and near us to deceive, 
 tempt, and annoy us, can we doubt of there being as many 
 appointed to ferve, help, and defend us, according to their 
 feveral clafles and offices in this our world ? The conclufion is 
 natural from parity of reafon, and the law of oppofites, accord- 
 ing to which the Great Governor of the world has contrafted 
 evil with a counterbalance of good ; confequently, fuch bene- 
 ficent beings there doubtlefs always have been, and are, in readi- 
 ncfs to fuccour the fallen human race by their friendly mini- 
 itrations, and to fill up the diftance in the fcale of created beings 
 between men and angels. The darknefs of the Heathen world 
 moft certainly did not feparate them from the care of that good 
 God, who is loving to every man, and whofe mercy is over all 
 his works ; and though their condition might not admit of 
 communion with angels, but in rare inftances, yet the good 
 offices of thefe kindly atfedioncd minifters in their refpedlivc 
 provinces, might, in a fort, be angelical to them anfwerably to 
 their difpenfation, and ferve as the loweft ftep in Jacob's ladder 
 for their communication with the heavenly world : anil by what 
 is handed down to us by authors of credit concerniii.'; commu- 
 nications of this kind to eminent perfons in the ancitut Heathen 
 world, as Socrates and others, whether by checks and warnings, 
 impulfcs, dreams, voices or vilions, we are not at liberty to 
 doubt of an intercourfc between good fpirits, and the well dif- 
 pufcd Heathens of all ranks, as a difpenfation not fo unfrequent 
 as many fuppofe ; feeing that the inftances of this kind amongft 
 ourfelves, that come to publick knowledge, bear no proportion 
 
 {27) Eph. vi. 12. 
 
 in
 
 [ XXV ] 
 
 in number to thofe that are concealed from us. This, however, 
 we arc afTured of upon the befl: authority, that " many fliall 
 " come from the eaft and from the weft" [in the Gentile world] 
 " and fit down with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom 
 " of heaven ; and that many of the children of the kingdom" 
 [profeflbrs of the truth] " Ihall be caft out (28)." 
 
 Though we now ftand in a far higher diipenfatlon than the 
 Heathens, and are called to an innumerable company of angels, 
 and to the fellowfhip of the Holy Ghoft, yet we are not there- 
 fore to fuppofe, that all intercourfe with good fpirits of an in- 
 ferior order is now ceafed amongft us j as many, who have not 
 yet attained to the glorious privileges of the Gofpel, and the 
 immediate guardianfhip of angels, may neverthelefs ftand in- 
 debted, under God, to the miniftry of fuch good fpii'its for 
 many important fervices, both in their fpiritual and temporal 
 affairs ; nay, they may be to all of us in the natural world what 
 the good angels are in that which is purely fpiritual, and by 
 their great knowledge in the laws and po\vers of this mundane 
 fyftem, and by various impreflions on our animal fpirits and 
 faculties, may contribute much to our relief, comfort, and 
 prefervation in many difficulties, diftrefles, and dangers ; and 
 perhaps few that take a ferious review of the moft remarkable 
 occurrences of their paft lives, will not be led to afcribe much 
 of afliftance to the inftrumentality of fuch invifible friends ; 
 nay, who can fay, that they are not conftitutcd fubordinate agents 
 on various occaftons in conducing the fcheme both of general 
 and particular providences ? There is nothing in this fuppofition 
 that offers violence to reafon or religion ; and fure it is, that we 
 have abundant credible teftimonies to wonderful difcoveries made 
 by them of a very intcrefting nature both to individuals, and 
 alfo to fociety, as of concealed writings and treafure, of mur- 
 ders, confpiracies, and other matters leading to the adminiftra- 
 tion of juftice both diftributive and punitive {29), as is well 
 known of all converfant with men and books ; (o that to give 
 the lie to all fuch relations as credited by the learned, the wife, 
 
 (28) Matt. viii. 11, 12. (49) See, in particular, MifccUanies, by 
 
 J. Aubrey, Efq. F. R. S. 
 
 g the
 
 [ xxvi ] 
 
 the good of all clafles, muft appear nothing Icfs than impudence 
 joined with infidelity. 
 
 It lu\s been made a common objecflion to the credibility of 
 niiiny apparitions, that they have been either filcnt, or not de- 
 livered any thing worthy of fuch extraordinary vifits ; and, con- 
 fequcntly, that fuch vilions were no other than the eft'edl of 
 hnagination and f\ncy, as not anfwering to any ufe or purpofe. 
 To which be it anfwered, that the ufe of fuch vifits may be 
 very important, though nothing fliould pafs in the way of con- 
 verfation between the parties during the interview ; as firft, by 
 convincing the fpedlator of the reality of fuch beings as fpirits, 
 and fo removing doubts concerning a future llate, as by pre- 
 paring him for the return of fuch vifits to further purpofe. 
 Secondly, by affetfting the confcience with a tender fenfe of 
 duty, or with remorfe for pail offences, and imprefling the mind 
 with awful thoughts of its own exiftence in a feparate ftate. 
 Thirdly, by giving us to know, that we are the objedts of regard 
 to beings in the other world, and vifible to them when we think 
 not of it, which may ferve as a means to reftrain us from inde- 
 cent and offenfive liberties in our moft retired hours, when the 
 more weighty conhdcration of the Divine Omniprefcnce may 
 not be attended to, and fo lofe its proper effecfl upon us. 
 
 But here we are called off from anfwering more objeiftions on 
 this fubjeft, to obferve, that this laboured oppofition to the 
 belief of all intercourfe betwixt us and the other world, too 
 often proceeds both from a pradical and a fpeculative kind of 
 atheifm, and confequently the diibelief of a future rtate. Hence 
 proceeds that countenance given to fome late writers in favour 
 of infidelity, as alfo that dreadful aportacy amongft fo many in 
 thefe lall; days, of exalting I know not what natural religion, ia 
 order to lelfen the authority of Divine Revelation ; whereas it 
 may truly be afiirmed, that all fuch refillance to or departure 
 from the faith under the light of the Gofpel, however it may 
 be covered, or coloured with the name of natural religion, is 
 nothing better than atheifm. () wretched men, here fpoken of, 
 what are you doing ? What but the greatelt pollible injury to 
 your own fouls ? What but robbing yourfelves of every comfort 
 that reafon and religion can fupply to make this life a blefiing ? 
 
 And
 
 [ xxvii ] 
 
 And all for the miferable, mad hope, that when you die, you 
 ihall be of no more account than a dead dog in a ditch. If 
 there be any folly, it is yours ; if any infanity in the world, you 
 are polleired of it : for if there be a God, you make Him your 
 en^y through your unbelief; if a heaven, what lot have you 
 to hope for in fuch inheritance ? If a hell, how will you efcape 
 it ? And here alfo let it be afked, what is your charafter and 
 eftimation in fociety, if true members of fociety you can be 
 called, who have no pledge to give of your obedience and fide- 
 lity to government, as acknowledging no faniSity in an oath, 
 which is infeparably connected with the belief of a future ftate ? 
 Thus void of faith, void of confcience, void of honour (for 
 what is honour without confcience) what have you left for a 
 fupport to the flendereft virtue, what have you to engage the 
 fmalleft confidence from man ? Can any firm bond of compadt 
 or friendfliip find place in that heart, which has no intereft in 
 Hereafter to care for, and wherein every motive and meafure 
 mufl; take its rife and diredion from the love of felf, and the 
 love of this world ? In this cafe, it is more for our comfort to 
 go by our hopes than our fears ; and therefore one would be 
 willing to believe, from tendcrnefs to human nature, and alfo 
 from charity, that the number of thofe who arc in this horrible 
 degree of infidelity is but fmajl j but however that may be, it 
 will be proper to obfcrve here, that to the many general caufes 
 of infidelity, fome of which have been briefly touched on before, 
 as the undue exaltation of natural reafon, a life of plcafure, and 
 confirmed habits of vice, we may add the fpirit of controverfy 
 and difpute long ago introduced into the church by the artificial 
 logick of Ariftotle, and encouraged and kept up in the fchools 
 as a neceffary part of education in theology, to the engendering 
 perplexity and doubting on every fubjeft, and keeping back the 
 mind from fixing in any fettled principles of religion. The 
 feveral churches of Chriftendom have confefledly been long in- 
 fefted with this poifon of fierce contention and debate, to the 
 banifhing of fweet peace and brotherly love, whilft a pretended 
 zeal for truth has lervcd for a cloak to that " wrath of man, 
 ** which worketh not the righteoufnefs of God." But fuch 
 carnal weapons ill befit the Chriftian warfare ; all fuch kind of 
 
 driving
 
 [ xxviii ] 
 
 ftriving for vi(ftory among ourfelves gives advantage to the ene- 
 mies of our holy faith, and caufes the Phililtines to rejoice. The 
 bcft way of healing differences is by compofednefs and gentle- 
 nefs of mind, and the Truth of the Gofpel of peace is moft 
 fuitably offered, and moft readily received by humble men, %nd 
 fuch as are of a meek and quiet I'pirit. It is obvious to remark 
 in this place, that Deifm, Sadducifm, and Athcifm did never 
 more abound amongft us than fince the itch of controverfy and 
 wrangling, on all occafions, has filled the world fo full of falfe 
 reafoning and perverfe difputings ; nay, the contagion has de- 
 fcended to private life, and turned much of our converfation 
 into contradidiion and a ftrife of words, and introduced a bold 
 behaviour and an afluming talkativenefs, ofFenfive to all modeft 
 perfons ; infomuch that we are now in general fallen under that 
 reprehenfion of the apoftle applied to the contentious, who 
 " come together, not for the better, but for the worfe (30)." 
 
 After what has been replied to objedlions againft the credi- 
 bility of extraordinary manifeflations, and alfo offered as con- 
 cerning fome caufes of unbelief in this cafe, we are here led to 
 declare not only our belief, but full affurance, that extraordinary 
 communications, however now Icfs frequent than formerly, are 
 ftill continued to feveral particular jnembers of the different 
 churches, though not publickly revealed by them ; and that 
 they arc not to be conlidered only as a particular privilege, but 
 as making part of the ftate of certain perfons (not all) of emi- 
 nent purity and piety ; and to be inwardly convinced of this 
 ourfelves, is to make fome approach to their ftate ; for however 
 we may come fliort of them as to like vouchfafcments, yet both 
 in the ordinary and extraordinary gifts and graces of the Spirit, 
 we are led, not only to rejoice with them, but by mutual fel- 
 lowftiip do participate with them in the bleffing ; for as in the 
 natural body, fo alfo in the myftical body of Chrift, the inferior 
 as well as the fuperior members jointly contribute to the nou- 
 rifhment and welfare of the whole, by a circulation of that 
 which every one fupplieth, fo that the higheft cannot fay to the 
 loweft, I have no need of thee. Thus the mecknefs, the pati- 
 
 (30) I Cor. xi. 17. 
 
 ence.
 
 [ xx'ix ] 
 
 ence, ftnd the humLlc condefccnflon in fomc, may countervail 
 the high illuminations and fplendid miniitrations of others, 
 whilft a common fcnfe of their mutual dependence and relation 
 joins them all in the unity of the Spirit to the edifying o^ the 
 church in love ; and therefore where any, whether in the ftated 
 office of the miniftry, or others, go about to vilify or obftrud: 
 the fucccfs of any extraordinary way that has a manifeft ten- 
 dency to promote true godlinefs, they would do well to confider 
 and fland in awe, left they be found to oppofe themfelves to a 
 work of God ; for neither can they be fure that we are not now 
 come to the near approach of that glorious ftate of the church 
 fpoken of in fo many places by the prophets ; when the Lord 
 fhall do great things for her in the latter days by a revival of his 
 work in righteoufnefs and peace, fhall pour out his Spirit upon 
 all flefli, reftore the old paths of heavenly communications, and 
 make his Sion a praife in the earth. However unpromifing the 
 times are, yet, praifed be God ! we can draw comfort from the 
 promifes of better days, even under the " prefent falling away, 
 " and the revelation of the man of fm foretold (31)," to pre- 
 cede the day of the Lord's coming in the power of his Spirit, to 
 fancflify and cleanfe his church, and to purify unto himfelf a pecu- 
 liar people zealous of good works ; trufting in hope that this time 
 is near at hand, i.e. that he that fliall come, will come, and will 
 not tarry. And though there has been for a feafon a withholding, 
 in a meafure, from Sion the ordinary confolations of the Spirit, 
 in the way of a judgment work [under grace] for felf-condem- 
 nation, humiliation, and fubfequent glorification, yet we arc 
 affured that fuch judgment is lent forth unto vidory over the 
 remainder of indwelling fm : for there is a judgment unto 
 righteoufnefs, as well as a judgment unto condemnation ; and 
 accordingly in the former fenfe it is faid, that " Zion fhall be 
 ** redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteouf- 
 ** ncfs (32) ;" fo that her tribulation is for purification, and 
 exaltation ; as it is faid in another place, " For a fmall moment 
 ** have I forfaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather 
 •* thee, faith the Lord, thy Redeemer (33) :" and as to the 
 
 (31) z TkcfT. ii. 3. (32) Ifai. i. 27, (33) Ifau liv. 7. 
 
 h reflitution
 
 [ XXX ] 
 
 reftitution of her gifts, graces, and extraordinary dIfpenfAtions, 
 lignificd by precious ftoncs, under her figurative denominatioa 
 of the Lord's houfe or temple, the prophet proceeds thus : 
 " O thou affliifted, tofled with tempcft, and not comforted, 
 ** behold, I will lay thy flones with fair colours, and thy foun- 
 '• dations with fapphircs, and all thy borders with pleafant flones; 
 " and all thy children fhall be taught of the Lord, and great iLall 
 '• be the peace of thy children ; in righteoufnefs ilialt thou be 
 *' eftabliflicd (34)." 
 
 The above is but a fmall part of the glorious things that are 
 fpokcn by the evangelical prophet, of the city of God, the fpi- 
 ritual church under the Gofpcl difpenfation in the latter days, 
 when Ihe fliall have filled up the meafure of her perfecutions 
 and fufFerings both from her open enemies, and alio in the 
 houfe of her friends. And we truft that the time draws very 
 nigh for this glorious difpenfation of the New Jerufalem to take 
 place ; and particularly, among other important confiderations, 
 from indances of extraordinary communications from above, by 
 vihons and otherways, to godly men and women of different 
 churches within this laft century, and who may be confidered. 
 as the harbingers or forerunners of it. Nor did ever any extra- 
 ordinary revolution come to pafs in the church of God, without 
 previous notices of it firll given to fome chofen veffels for a 
 teftimony to the times, to ftrengthen the weak in faith, to com- 
 fort the afflicted, to alarm the carelefs and impenitent, or to 
 anfwer other good purpofes of the Divine Providence and good- 
 nefs. 
 
 Liftances of the kind above mentioned of both fexcs are 
 ready at hand to offer, and which were received in their day, 
 according to the dignity of their charader, by fuch as were 
 qualified to profit by their meffage and minill;ry ; but, as is 
 ufual in thefe cafes, they were rejedted by the greater part, and 
 their names are here paffed over, as it is one dcfign of this pre- 
 face to guard, as far as pollible, againft giving occafion for cri- 
 tical cavilling and difputej it being futhcicnt for the main intent 
 of it, to recommend and enforce, to tlie bcfl of our power, the 
 
 (J4) If-'- liv- iij 13- 
 ' credibility
 
 [ xxxi ] 
 
 credibility aud authority of the following treatlfe by the ho- 
 nourable and learned author Emanuel Swedenborg, a native of 
 Sweden, of eminence and diftindlion in his country, having 
 had an honourable employment under the crown, and being of 
 the firft fenatorial order of the kingdom ; of refpefted eftimation 
 in the royal family during the late reigns ; of extenlive learning, 
 as his voluminous writings demonftrate ; and as to private life 
 and characfter, irreproachable. Something more particular, as 
 to his perfonal characfter, has been fpoken in the Preface to the 
 Theofophick Lucubration, printed and fold by M. Lewis in Pater- 
 Nofter Row ; and Mr. Swedenborg's Letter to a Friend, giving 
 a particular account of himfelf and family, annexed to that 
 Preface, is pofliixed to this, the original of which is in my 
 hands. 
 
 It mud be owned, that the following treatife contains fo many 
 wonderful particulars relating to the worlds of fpirits, warranted 
 for truth by the ocular teflimony of the writer, according to his 
 folemn affirmation, as would appear impoffible for man in this 
 mortal body to come at the knowledge of, but for the like 
 inftances delivered down to us on the authority of the facred 
 records, and the promife therein made to the church of the 
 continuance of fuch manifeflations in it : and the vilions of our 
 author muft appear to us the more extraordinary, when we ccn- 
 fider that they were of the moft exalted nature, as not being 
 exhibited objcftively to the bodily organs or external fenfcs ; 
 nor yet merely intellc(ftual, by reprefentations in the mind, but 
 purely fpiritual, whereby fpiritual beings and things were ad:u- 
 ally feen and perceived by his fpiritual fenfes, as one fpirit 
 beholds another, and anfwcring to thofe expreffions in Scripture, 
 of " being in the Spirit," and of being " caught up by the. 
 ** Spirit ;" as likewife to that rapt, trance, or ecftacy of the 
 apoftle, during which he fays, " whether he was in the body, 
 " or out of the body, he could not tell (35)." 
 
 The fime queflion that will be afked here has been briefly 
 noticed already, viz. Jf a teftimony to fo extraordinary a dif- 
 penfation docs not require the extraordinary feal of miracles to. 
 
 (35.) 2 Cor. xii. 2» 
 
 render
 
 [ xxxii ] 
 
 render it credible ? To which be it furtlier anfwcred, that many 
 of the prophets worked no miracles, and yet were believed 
 upon their own private tcllimony ; and that we Dclicve many 
 things of the higheft confequence in religion upon human 
 authority, where the perfons tranfmitting and delivering them 
 appear properly qualified and circumftanced to give credibility 
 to what they relate. But this argument has been confidered in 
 the Preface to the Theofophick Lucubration before mentioned ; 
 and from the reafons adduced, and fuch as are ready to be fur- 
 ther produced, if called for, we look upon our author's tcfti- 
 mony as worthy of our acceptation in this matter, and venture 
 to rely on his known integrity and piety, and his difintcrefted 
 -and indefatigable labours to inllrudl the world in the moft im- 
 portant truths relating to falvation, at the cxpence of his for- 
 tune, .<in;i the lacrifice of all worldly enjoyments, during more 
 than the laO: thirty years of his life. And if we further refledl, 
 that the whole fcope and tendency of his writings is to promote 
 the love of God and of our neighbour; to inculcate the higheft 
 reverence to the Holy Scriptures ; to urge the neceiTity of prac- 
 tical holinefs, and to confirm our faith in the Divinity of our 
 Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift : thefe confiderationj, I think, 
 may be allowed of as fufficient credentials (as far as human 
 tertimony can go) of his extraordinary mifllon and charafter, 
 and as convincing marks of his fincerity and truth ; efpecially 
 as we have to add, upon the credit of two worthy perfons (one 
 of them a learned phyfician, who attended him in his laft fick- 
 nefs) that he confirmed the truth of all that he had publifhed 
 relating to his communications with the world of fpirits, by 
 his folemn teftimony a very Ihort time before he departed this 
 life in London, Anno Dom. mdcclxxii. 
 
 Reader, might it not feem a wonder, if a perfon of fo ex- 
 traordinary and apoftolical a chara(fl:er fhould better efcape the 
 imputation of madnefs than the prophets of old ? And accord- 
 ingly fome have given out, that he was befide himfclf, and in 
 particular, that it was occafioned by a fever which he had about 
 twenty years before his death. Now it is well known by all his 
 acquaintance, that our author recovered of that fever after the 
 manner of other men ; that his extraordinary communications 
 
 commenced
 
 [ xxxiii ] 
 
 commenced many years before that time, and that his writings, 
 both prior and fubfequent to it, entirely harmonize and proceed 
 upon the fame principles with an exa<5l corrcfpondence ; and 
 that in the whole of his converfation, tranfidlions, and conduiib 
 of life, he continued to the end of it the fame uniform, excel- 
 lent man. Now if to write many large volumes on the moil: 
 important oP all fubjedls with unvaried confiftency, to reafon 
 accurately, and to give proofs of an aflonifhing memory all the 
 way, and if hereto be joined propriety and dignity of characfter 
 in all the relative duties of the Chriflian life ; if all this can be 
 reconciled with the true definition of madnefs, then there is an 
 end of all dillindtion between fane and infane, between vvifdom 
 and folly. O fie upon thofe uncharitable prejudices, which 
 have led fo many in all ages to credit and propagate flanderous 
 reports of the bell: of men, even whilll they have been employed 
 in the heavenly work of turning many from darknefs to light, 
 and from the power of Satan unto God. 
 
 Were an angel from heaven to come and dwell incarnate 
 amongfl us, may we not fuppofe that his converfation, dilco- 
 veries, and conduct of life, would in many things be lo con- 
 trary to the errors and prejudices, the ways and falliions of this 
 Avorld, that many would fay with one confent, that he is befidc 
 himfelf ; and where any one of our brethren, through the di- 
 vine favour, attains to any high degree of angelical illumination, 
 and communications, may he not expedl the like treatment ? 
 I forget the name of the philofopher, whofe precepts and lec- 
 tures were fo repugnant to the difiblute manners of the Athe- 
 nians, that they fent to Hippocrates to come and cure him of 
 his madnefs ; to which melTage that great phyfician returned 
 this anfwer : that it was not the philofopher, but the Athenians 
 that were mad. In like manner, the wife in every city and 
 country are the fmaller part, and therefore muft be content to 
 iufter the reproachful name that in truth belongs to the majority. 
 This has been the cafe of all extraordinary meficngers for good 
 to mankind, and the world is not altered in this refpeift. But 
 it may be faid, that though it be thus with the ignorant and 
 profane, yet men of education and learning will form a more 
 righteous judgment of the matter, and be determined impar- 
 
 i tially
 
 [ xxxlv ] 
 
 tially according to the nature of the evidence ; and it would be 
 well if this were fo j but in general it is far otherwife. Human 
 learning, confidered merely in itfelf, neither makes a man a 
 believer, nor an unbeliever, but confirms him in truth or error, 
 according to his prejudices, inclinations, orintereft; at leaft it 
 is commonly fo : and therefore we find, that in all ages fuch 
 among the learned as devoted themfclves to fupport the credit 
 and interell of their particular profelTions, were always the moft 
 violent perfecutors of the truth ; for though truth has its con- 
 veyance through the intellectual part in man, yet it never gains 
 its effeft, or operates as a principle, till it be received into the 
 atfecflion and will ; and lb man is faid in Scripture to be of an 
 underftanding heart. So that knowledge is productive of the 
 greatell good, or the greatefl evil, according to the ground or 
 difpofition in which it refides j when joined with piety and 
 humility, it adds both luftre and force to truth ; when joined 
 with the corrupt paflions of our nature, it is the moft violent 
 perfecutor of it : and this was the cafe with the Scribes and 
 Fharifees, and Dodlors of the Law ; no greater enemies to Chrifl 
 than they ; the pride of reputation for learning, and the autho- 
 rity of publick teachers, unfitted them for becoming learners 
 at the feet of the lowly Jefus ; and therefore to them were di- 
 re(5led thofe words of our Lord : " How can ye believe, who 
 " receive honour one of another, and feck not the honour tliat 
 *' Cometh of God only (36) ?" Giving us hereby to underftand, 
 that the dominion of any wrong paflion over the mind, will 
 prove a certain hinderance in our way to divine truth. 
 
 Great as our lofs is by the fall, yet fomething of that cor- 
 refpondent relation, which originally fubfiiled between the 
 human foul and divine truth, is ftill remaining with us (through 
 grace) otherwife we (hould no more be capable of receiving it 
 when offered, than the brute hearts, which have no underftand- 
 ing i but then, that all may not be lofl by wilful fin, and we 
 rendered thereby incapable of converfion, we mufl be careful 
 not to iet up idols in our hearts, nor fuller any falfe intereft to 
 miflead us, as thereby the mind is tinftured with prejudice againil 
 
 (36) John V. 44. 
 
 tlie
 
 [ XXXV ] 
 
 the truth, and the underftanding receives a wrong bias,, and- To 
 we become like the falfe wife ones fpoken of in Job (3.7), who 
 ** meet with darknefs in the day-time, and grope in the noon day 
 " as in the night." This difference in the itate of the heort and 
 the affe(itions, occafions the difference we fee both in the unlearned 
 and learned of equal natural and acquired abilities, that whilll 
 fome readily receive the truth in the light and love of it, others 
 are always dilputing, and always feeking, witliout ever coming 
 to the knowledge of it. 
 
 As there is correfpondency, or a mutual relation between 
 rightly difpofed minds and truth in the general, fo likewife 
 there is a particular correfpondency or congruity between certain 
 minds and certain truths in particular, producing an aptitude 
 in the former to receive the latter as foon as offered, and that 
 by a kind of intuition without reafoning ; and hence it comes 
 to pafs, that fuch as have a remarkable fitnefs for this or that 
 particular clafs of truths (which we ufually term genius) are 
 lefs qualified for any confiderable proficiency in certain others. 
 Thus the mathematician feldom excels in metaphyfical know- 
 ledge i and he that may be very expert in fyflematical divinity, 
 is oftentimes a flranger to myftical theology ; one member thus 
 fupplying what another lacketh, whilfl all may learn thereby to 
 efteem and love one another, and praife the Lord for his diver- 
 fity of gifts for the common benefit of his church. Let not 
 then fuch as walk in tlae fimplicity of a naked faith, without 
 needing any other evidence ; let not fuch, I fay, cenfure in the 
 following book what they do not underftand, or cannot receive, 
 as it may be of ufe to others, who are led more in the way of 
 knowledge than themfelves. We judge not them, nay, love 
 them ; wherefore then fliould they come fhort of us in charity ? 
 Are we not brethren, and travelling to the fame good land, why 
 then fliould we fall out by the way ? Even the Scribes could 
 £iLy, as touching Paul : " If a fpirit or an angel hath fpoken to 
 *' him, let us not fight againft God (38) :" and who can fay, 
 that what this our author delivers to us, as from vifion and. 
 revelation in. the other world, is not the very truth ? 
 
 (37) Job V. 14. (38) Ails xxiil, g. 
 
 Let
 
 [ XXKvi ] 
 
 Let it be obferved here, in regard to tlie enfuing work, that 
 though the narrative part of it Ihould appear to the reader of 
 doubtful authority, yet the dodlrinal part, where confirmed by 
 plain Scriptures, certainly merits his ferious attention, nay, 
 many things therein, touching which the Scriptures are filent, 
 carry weight and internal evidence along with them in the judg- 
 ment of impartial minds ; and though they claim not a place 
 among the Credcnda of religion, yet will often be found ufeful 
 to illuftrate them, as alfo to enrich the mind, to familiarize 
 heavenly things to the thoughts, and to wean the affcdtions from 
 the toys and vanities of a miferable world lying in wickednefs. 
 It is allowed that our author does not, in all places throughout 
 his writings, follow the commonly recei\ed interpretations of 
 the Scriptures J but fo neither do all churches, nor all expofitors 
 in the fame church. Though as to life and godlincfs, and con- 
 fequently what pertains to lalvation, the Scriptures are fuffici- 
 ently plain, yet with refpeft to many dithcult and myfterious 
 parts of them, they continue wrapped up in a venerable obfcu- 
 rity, to be opened according to the needs and ftates of the 
 church to the end of the world ; and we doubt not to affirm, 
 that the highly illuminated Swedenborg has been inftrumental 
 in bringing hidden things to light, and in revealing the fpiritual 
 fenfe of the lacrcd Records above any other perfon, fince the 
 church became poirclTcd of that divine treafure. In the prefent 
 dark night of general aportafy has this new liar appeared in our 
 northern hemifphere, to guide and comfort the bewildered tra- 
 veller on his way to Bethlehem. 
 
 It is further to be remarked on our author's writings (of 
 \vhich the following treatife is little more than a twentieth part) 
 that the rcprefentation he therein gives us of the heavenly king- 
 doms, fets before us that world of defires fo objeftively to the 
 human intelkvft and rcafon, nay, even to our fenfible appre- 
 henfion, as to accommodate the defcription of it to the clear 
 ideas of our minds, whether they be called innate, acquired, or 
 ^as he pronounces them) influxive from the fpiritual world. He 
 gives us to know from autopfy, or his own view of it, that 
 heaven is not fo dull a place, as fome fooliibly fuppofc it, who 
 having no ideas of it, io neither delire to have any, and this 
 
 through 
 
 I
 
 [ xxxvii ] 
 
 through a fuperflitious fear in Ibme of profaning the fubjecfl by 
 any affociation of natural ideas ; whereas nature, in the Itate of 
 man's innocence, was conftituted a fair reprefentation of the firft 
 or lowell heaven, and will again bear the fame refemblance in 
 the millennial kingdom (39) ; and though it be now fadly cor- 
 rupted and deformed through the entrance and dominion of fin, 
 yet as far as we can feparate the evil from the good, fo far it 
 adumbrates to us co^leftial things ; nay, even the art and inge- 
 nuity of man, as difplayed in works of nature, is a ray of the 
 divine fkill manifefted in the human mind. Thus Bezaleel and 
 Aholiab are faid to have wrought curious work, for the fervice 
 of the fanftuary, by wifdom and underftanding given, them from 
 the Lord (40). If then we receive innocent fatisfa^ftion here 
 from viewing beautiful houfes and gardens, why fliould we be 
 fo averie from thinkinsr that there are coeleftial manfions and 
 paradifes in the kingdom of our Father ? Does mufick delight 
 us ? why may we not hope to be entertained with more ravi filing 
 harmony from the vocal and inflrumental melody of the angels 
 in heaven ? How cheering both to the mind and fenfes, and alfo 
 helpful to pious meditations in good men, are the fweetly vari- 
 egated fcenes of nature in the prime of the year ; and can we 
 be unwilling to believe that correfponding heavenly fcenes are 
 provided for the delegation of departed happy fouls in the land 
 of blifs ? Efpecially when we underfland (as underftand we may) 
 that all that is truly pleafmg, beautiful, and harmonious in 
 nature, is by influx from the fpiritual into the natural world } 
 in which latter, archetypal glories are faintly reprefented to us 
 by earthly images. It was a profane faying of a late well known 
 jefter and epicure, who was alfo a noted performer on the dra- 
 matick ftage ; that " as to heaven, he had no great longing for 
 " the place, as he could not fee what great pleafure there could 
 
 ^* be in fitting (41) on a cloud, and finging of pfalms." 
 
 But had that impious man refledled, that heaven or hell mufl 
 be the everlafting portion of every one in the other world ; and 
 
 (39) Sec Paradife Rtjiored : Sold by Robinfon in Pater-NoJJer Row. 
 
 (40) Exod. xxxvi. I. 
 
 (41) The expreflion here left out is fo grofs, and unbecoming the fubje£l:, that 
 we forbear giving it to the reader. 
 
 k had
 
 [ xxxviii ] 
 
 had he been acquainted with our author's writings, he wou^Id 
 not have treated the glories of the place with luch ludicrous 
 profanenefs ; but have thought, and Ipokcn, and lived better 
 than he did : nay, he might have wilhed his lot to be there, 
 even from a principle of epicurifm in a certain fenfe ; for all 
 fpiritual beings niufl: have Ipiritual fenfes, and if in heaven, 
 thofe fenfes mull be gratified with delights adapted thereto : but 
 where any one is fo grofsly fenfual, as to place the fupreme 
 felicity of a fpirit in fuch gratifications as fuit only with the 
 corporeal part of our prefent degraded nature, may it not be 
 faid of fuch a one, that he has degraded it llill lower, even to 
 the level of an afs in his under/landing, and to that of a fwine 
 by his afFedions ? The work before us will help fuch a one to 
 very difTcrent conceptions of the heavenly kingdom, even as to 
 thofe particular beatitudes which are moft nearly accommodated 
 to the ideas of fenfe ; and he may alfo therein learn, that all 
 the relative duties, all the fecial virtues, and all the tender 
 aflecftions tliat give confillencc and harmony to fociety, and do 
 honour to humanity, find place and exercile in the utmoU: purity 
 in thofe delegable abodes, where every thing that can delight 
 the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain tlic imagination, or exalt 
 the underftanding, confpire with innocence, love, joy, and 
 peace, to blefs the Ipirits of jull men made perfedl, and to 
 make glad the city of our God. 
 
 Such, dear reader, and fo excellent are the things here offered, 
 for thy entertainment and inilrudion by this wonderful traveller. 
 But if, after all, thou canfl not read him as the enlightened 
 Seer, and the extraordinary mefl'enger of important news from 
 the other world, read him as the Chriftian divine and {i\gc in- 
 terpreter of the Scriptures ; read him as the judicious moralifl, 
 and acute metaphyiician ; or read him as the profound philo- 
 fopher ; or if he cannot pleafe in any of thefc characters, read 
 him at Icail as the ingenious author of a divine romance : but 
 if neither as fuch he can give content, I have only to add ; Go. 
 thy way, and leave the book to thofe that know how to make 
 a better ufe of it ; and fuch, I truft, are not a few among the 
 fcrious, being willing to hope, for the honour of our country, 
 that if fuch a ludicrous rtprcfentation of hell, as pafTes under 
 
 the
 
 [ xxxix ] 
 
 the title of, The V'lfions of Dq7i ^levedo, could make its way 
 amongfl us through no lets than ten editions, there will not be 
 wanting in the land a fufficient number of perfons of fober 
 reflexion and contemplative minds, to give all due encourage- 
 ment to a work fo well calculated, as this is, to promote true 
 wifdom and godlinefs, by credible teftimony to the realities of 
 the world of fpirits, and to the refpedlive ftates and conditions 
 of departed fouls. 
 
 As to the perfons concerned in tranflating and condudllng the 
 publication of the following extraordinary work, I may venture 
 to fay, that they deferve well of the publick, as far as the moft 
 dilinterefted pains and benevolent intentions can juitify the ex- 
 preffion ; and though we are far from obtruding the contents 
 of this book on any, as demanding an implicit faith therein, 
 yet we cannot but zealoufly recommend them to the moll: ferious 
 attention of thofe who are qualified to receive them, as fubjedts 
 of the greateft importance, high as heaven, and deep as hell, 
 and comprehending all that is within us and without us ; as a 
 key that unlocks all worlds, and opens to us wonderful myfleries 
 both in nature and grace ; as difplaying many hidden fecrets of 
 time and eternity, and acquainting us with the laws of the fpi- 
 ritual worlds j as leading us from heaven to heaven, and bring- 
 ing us, as it were, into the company of angels, nay, into the 
 prefence chamber of the King of Saints, and Lord of Glory. 
 In a word, whatever is anofl defirable to know, whatever moil 
 deferving of our affedlions, and whatever is mofl interefting ia 
 things pertaining to falvation ; all this is the fubjeifl of the fol- 
 lowing volume. 
 
 We are not unprepared for the oppofition that may be cx- 
 pefted to any frefh difcoveries of truth, efpecially, as has been 
 obferved before, where the credit or interelt of any conliderable 
 profeffion or body of men is concerned. Eflablilhed dodlrines 
 and opinions are confidered as facrcd, and the fandlion of cuflom 
 gives them the firmnefs of a rock with mofl ; as is known to 
 have been the cafe in phyfick, aflronomy, and natural philo- 
 fophy, in which, truth, though fupported by the evidence of 
 demonftration, has fcarcely been able to make its way in a cen- 
 tury. Befides, the pride of learning is flrong on the fide of 
 
 eflabliflied
 
 [ xl ] 
 
 •eftabllfhcd inflltutes, and for men to part with what they have 
 teen building up with much ftudy and pains for a great part of 
 their lives, is a mortifying confidcration ; they are flartled at 
 the thoughts of becoming thus poor, and fome would be as 
 willing to part witli their fkins, as with their acquifitions of 
 this kind ; and hence it is, that we read of fo many martyrs to 
 error and folly in all ages. Thefe things confidered, we are not 
 to wonder that our author's publications have met with no 
 better encouragement hitherto in his own country (as is ufually 
 the cafe with prophets) we being informed fome time ago by 
 a worthy merchant refiding at Gottenburg, that but few of the 
 ■clergy (as fir as had come to his knowledge) had then received 
 them ; and that the Reverend Dr. Beyer, a learned man, and 
 profellbr in divinity in that univerfity, had fufFered much per- 
 secution for adopting and propagating the truths contained in 
 his writings, and was not fuffcred to print his explication and 
 defence of them in Sweden. But to the honour of our con- 
 ilitution, we can as yet call the liberty of the prefs (and a 
 liberty within the bounds of decency may it always be) as the 
 privilege of Englilhmen, and therefore may reafonably hope for 
 better fuccefs to our author's writings in this land of freedom ; 
 not that we expedl any encouragement on their behalf from our 
 pharifees and bigots of any denomination, for they are the fame 
 every where; but our hopes are from men of unprejudiced 
 minds, dead to felf and the world, of a fimplified underfland- 
 ing, and fuch as are friends to wifdom wherever they find her ; 
 in a word, whofe fpirit harmonizes with truth, and whofe 
 hearts are unifon to heavenly things. 
 
 I cannot think of concluding this preface without fpeaking 
 fomewhat particularly to a point of doiflrine, the knowledge of 
 which is the more neceflary to the reader for the right under- 
 ftanding of the author's writings, as in the vaft variety of fub- 
 jefts and new difcoveries that he prefents to us, it has a principal 
 connexion with moft of them; nay, is the true key in his hand 
 that opens the fccrets of the vifible and invifiblc worlds, explains 
 man to himfclf, and alfo reveals the fpiritual fenfe of the Sacred 
 Writings. The dodlrine I am here fpeaking of, is that of cor- 
 
 refpondency
 
 [ xli ] 
 
 refpondency or correfpondence, which are terms nearly of the 
 fanie fignificution. 
 
 Correrpondence or correfpondcncy, in a philorophical fenfe, 
 is a kind of analogy that one thing bears to another, or the 
 manner in which one thing reprefents, images, or anfwers to 
 another ; and this dodtrine, as it refers to things in heaven and 
 in earth according to their mutual relations, is given us in the 
 following adage of the renowned Hermes Trifmegiftus — Omnia 
 qua in ccelis, Junt in terris ierrejli'i niodo ; omnia quce in ten-is, funt 
 in ccvlis cakjti modo. 
 
 This natural or material world, in which we live as to the 
 body, proceeds derivatively (in a fenfe confident with the Mo- 
 faick account of the creation) from the fpiritual world, and 
 fubfiils by continual influx from it ; it is as a fpiritual thing 
 formed into a palpable and material thing, as an eflence cloath- 
 ing itfelf with a form ; or as a foul making to itfelf a body. 
 Therefore this world, and all things in it, as far forth as they 
 fland in the divine order, do correfpond to heaven and heavenly 
 things ; but now (through the fall of man) {landing in evil as 
 well as good, tlie dark, evil, or hellifli world has gained a form 
 in outward nature. Hence it is, that fo many evil men, evil 
 beafts, and poifonous things, together with all the diforders in 
 the natural world, bear its imprefTions and properties, and make 
 this world a kind of torment-houfe to us. Man, confidered in 
 himfelf, is a little image of heaven or hell, and alfo of this 
 outward world, which no other being is ; and therefore he is 
 the moft wonderful of all God's creatures. At death he puts 
 off" his part in this material kingdom, and palTes into one of the 
 other two, being its fervant to which he obeys or unites him- 
 felf here by his will and aft'edlions ; and therefore he is com- 
 manded to fet his " affections on things above (42)," as they 
 conftitutc the band of union betwixt heaven or hell, and the 
 foul of man. Thefe three worlds are called Principles, as firff, 
 the light or heavenly world ; fecondly, the dark or hellifli 
 world ; and thirdly, this natural or material world ; and man's, 
 jeafoning faculty ilands in the center of the three, and i-eceives 
 
 (42) Col. iii, 2. 
 
 1 impreffions
 
 C '^lii ] 
 
 impreflions from each, as it turns to one or other of them ; 
 then fpeculates on the materials it derives thence, and contends 
 for or ngainll right and truth, even as the affe<5tions arc let, for 
 thefe bias, lead, or bribe it ; and therefore, if reafon be not 
 enlightened from above, under the condudl of good affedtions, it 
 is a meer mercenary, ready to enlift on any fide. 
 
 The human nature was fo almoft univerhilly corrupted at the 
 time of our Saviour's advent in the flefh, that unlefs Jcfus Chrift 
 had come into the world when He did, to reftore the heavenly 
 principle of light and grace, or truth and goodnefs, through 
 the medium of his humanity (all immediate communication 
 between God and the foul being well nigh ceafed) the humaa 
 race muft have perifhed, by falling irrecoverably into the evil 
 principle, to the utter cxtindlion of truth, and the lofs of all 
 free will to good j but by the entrance of this Divine Friend 
 into the human nature. He opened the fhut gate of communi- 
 cation betwixt heaven and earth, God and the foul, and fo 
 became our great Mediator and gracious Redeemer. But ftill 
 we are at liberty to receive or reje(ft Him as our Sanftification and 
 complete Redemption, for man can only be faved confiilently 
 with choice and free will. 
 
 Men had lofl; the true original language of nature (which 
 exprelfed things according to their qualities and properties) 
 before the flood, even fo much of it as had remained among the 
 pofterity of Seth and Enoch for a confiderable tinie ; and this 
 ignorance they fell into on their lofing the knowledge of nature 
 in its correfpondence to divine and heavenly things ; for nature 
 in its proper order, as obferved before, is the book of God, and 
 exhibits Spiritual things in material forms. In the room there- 
 fore of this was fubdituted a language by letters and reading in 
 books, to help him this way for attaining to divine knowledge, 
 as rudiments leading thereto in our prefent flate of ignorance, 
 in which literature is miftaken by moll: for wifdoni itfelf ; how- 
 ever, to fome the door was and flill is open for immediate hea- 
 venly communications, but what through uabelief, earthly mind- 
 ednefs, and other fid impediments, few at this time are quali- 
 fied for fo high a privilege. 
 
 The
 
 [' xliil ] 
 
 The early ancients after the flood had feme knowledge of 
 correfpondency derived down to them by tradition, though 
 without any perception of it in themfelves ; and it remained 
 longeH: among the Egyptians, of which their hieroglyphicks or 
 facred fculptures were a principal part ; but by degrees they 
 became fo far corrupted and blind, as to lofe fight of the thingo 
 reprefented, and to worfliip their reprefentatives or images. 
 Hence the original of their foolifh idolatry of beafts, birds, firties, 
 and vegetables. Our enlightened author, had he lived longer, 
 defigned, as he told me, to give us the key to the ancient hiero- 
 glyphical learning, faying, at the fame time, that none but 
 himfelf could do it ; but of this the world was not worthy. 
 
 The knowledge of correfpondences is now almoft entirely 
 loft, efpccially in Europe, where even the name is little under- 
 flood ; and this is one main caufe of the obfcurity of the Scrip- 
 tures of the Old Teftament, which were chiefly written by the 
 rules of this fcience ; nay, man alfo, as an image of the fpiri- 
 tual and natural worlds, contains in himfelf the correfpondences 
 of both, of the former in his interior, and of the latter in his 
 exterior or bodily part, and fo is called the Microcofm, or Little 
 World. Thus for example ; all the organs of his fenfes, his 
 features, bowels, and veffels, even to the minutefl vein and 
 nerve, correfpond to fomething in the foul or fpiritual part. 
 On the other hand, the aft'edlions and paflions of the mind 
 reprefent themfelves naturally in the face and features, fo thaS 
 the countenance would be the natural index to the mind, were 
 men in a ftate of fimplicity, without guile and diflimulation ; 
 and yet, as matters ftand at prefent, fo much ftill appears of 
 the mind in the correfpondent features of the face, as to ferve 
 for a type, fignature, or impreflion thereof. Thus love, hatred, 
 hope, fear, joy, forrow, alTent, contempt, furprize, &c. do 
 naturally, and often involuntarily, manifefl themfelves in the 
 vifage ; in like manner the will, by the adlions and motions 
 of the body ; the underflanding exprefl'es itfelf in the fpeech, 
 and the afl'edlions in the found or voice ; and all thefe by influx 
 from within, and correlpondencc from without : and as the 
 features correfpond to the afl^edtions, fo does the eye to the 
 intclled:, the nofe to the faculty of difcerning, and the ears to 
 
 attention,
 
 [ xliv ] 
 
 attention and obedience ; accordingly wc ufe the word quick- 
 fighted, to lignify a ready apprehenlion -, and penetration or dif- 
 cernment is ibmetimes exprefled by J'melimg a thing out ; and ta 
 heaj-kcn in Scripture means to obey. Be it likewifc obferved, 
 that the heart correfponds to linccrity of love ; the loins, &c. 
 to conjugal affedlion ; the bowels to commileration ; the hands 
 and fingers to operation, 6cc. and fo much of the language of 
 nature ftill remains, as to cxprefs by thefc outward reprefen- 
 tativcs the corrcfponding powers, paflions, and affcdtions of the 
 foul, which influences and aftuates thefe feveral members and 
 parts, as every one experiences. And as the body in its feveral 
 parts and ortices corrcl'ponds to the foul and its operations, fo 
 docs the foul in its feveral faculties and powers to the heavenly 
 world in all things good, and to the hellifli world in all things 
 evil. Thus wifdom, love, purity, innocence, £cc. have refe- 
 rence to the ca'leftial kingdom, as being communications by 
 influx from thence, and therefore it is tliat heaven bears a near 
 analogy to man (as landing in his right order) and is called 
 bv our author, The Grand Man : for the human form is the 
 moft pcrfcifl of all, and accordingly, God aifumed it in con- 
 defcenfion to man, reprefents Himfelf to us by it, and manifclls 
 Himfelf in it, at times, to the holy angels ; fo likewife the 
 angelical focieties, according to their diftinguilhing qualities 
 and excellence, bear a particular relation to this or that part 
 of the human form. Thus, as our author informs us, one 
 focicty correfponds to, or is in, the province of the head, and they 
 are fuch as excel in wifdom ; another to the heart, being fuch 
 as excel in love ; and fome to the arms, as being of fuperior 
 ftrength, and fo on. Thus, as the body correfponds to the 
 foul, (o the foul in its true rtatc and order correfponds to hea- 
 ven, and heaven to God, wlio is the only original fountain of 
 gcodnefs and truth, of all bleflednefs and perfection, from 
 whom thevdefcend, in their difl^crent kinds and degrees, through 
 the heavenly and fpiritual worlds down to this lail: and lowell 
 fbrm of creation, the earth in wliich we now dwell. 
 
 The earth likewife, in its different kingdoms, animal, ve- 
 getable, and mineral, correfponds to things in the fpirituaJ 
 avodd. Thus, not only the bcafts of the held, and the birds 
 
 of
 
 [ xlv j 
 
 of the air, according to their different properties, have a rcpre- 
 fentative meaning in Scripture, but alio trees and plants ot' 
 various kinds ; lb in particular, thofc of the aromatick kind, 
 as alio the olive, the vine, and the cedar, do figure divine giftb 
 and graces, and other rare endowments in the human heart 
 and mind ; and in like manner, gold, filver, precious ftones, 
 and other p:u-ticu1ars of rich furniture in the tabernacle and 
 temple, are mentioned in Scripture with a correfponding refe- 
 rence to goodnefs, truth, purity of affedtion, holinefs, &c. and 
 fo the wifell; interpreters expound them, and this not by arbi- 
 trary fignifications, but as outward proper figns of things inward 
 and fpirituol. Thus all nature is a theatre of divine wonders, 
 reprefentative of the invilible world to fuch as are of a right 
 underftanding and difcernm.ent, as our author has exemplified 
 in a thouland inrtances. It is hoped, that what has been here 
 offered on the fubjedt of correlpondency, will be found uleful 
 to fuch as are in a difpofition to give the following book'^an 
 attentive perufal. 
 
 From the great variety of important fubjedis and difcoveries 
 to be met with in our author's writings, I cannot refrain from 
 obferving on one more, as deferving our particular regard, as 
 alfo to prepare the reader for what he is to meet with in this 
 volume, viz. the dodlrine of the intermediate Hate of departed 
 fouls, called here, T/je JVorld of Spirits, as being that in which 
 they all meet after death (except a vexy few, who pafs diredlly 
 to heaven or hell) in order to th.eir lafi: preparation for final 
 blifs or mifery. This dodtrine has long been received in the 
 church, and revealed to many by their departed friends ; but 
 having been much disfigured and milVeprefented, like fomc other 
 truths, by erroneous' additions and lucrative figments in the 
 church of Rome, it was not admitted by our liirfi: reformers, 
 v.'ho, inftead of reforming the do(ftrine, totally rejefted it under 
 the opprobrious name of a Popilh purgatory ; however, it has 
 been retained by moll of the fpiritual, otherwife called myltick, 
 writers in all churches, and 1 have feen a judicious defence of 
 it by the Hon. Archibald Campbell in our own ; but the book, 
 I believe, is fcarce. Sure it is, that as far as our author's credit 
 ■\nd authority extend, the truth of the dodlrine will not be 
 
 ni queftioned.
 
 [ xlvi ] 
 
 t 
 
 queflioned, as he relates, that he had frequent rapts or tran- 
 Jlations of fpirit to that intermediate world, and had there feea 
 and convcrfed with moft, if not all, his departed friends and 
 acquaintance, befides a great number ot others, to the aniount oi 
 very many thoufands. In this intermediate world, which he calls 
 a ftate of vaftation, the good fpirits are gradually purified from 
 all the rtains and defilements of fm which they had contja-fted 
 in this naughty world, whilll the good principle predominating 
 in them takes full polfeflioa of all their faculties and powers, 
 confirms them in good habits, and rciiders them meet to be 
 partakers of heavenly joys ; on which they are tranflated to 
 iieavcn. On the other hand, the bad fpirits are gradually di- 
 verted of thofe fupcrficial and apparent virtues, and all that 
 adventitious, external good, v/hich before had ferved as covers 
 to the evil principle within, which now predominates without 
 referve or controul, confirming them in their evil habits, and 
 their repugnancy to all good ; whicli being eft'efted, they pre- 
 cipitate themfches into the infernal pit, to join company with 
 fuch as are like themfelves. Thus what is a llatc of purification 
 to the good, is to bad fpirits a fliate of feparation of all cxtra- 
 jieous good from that radical evil which conftitutcs the cfience 
 of their nature. 
 
 Now this dodtrine appears confonant ; firil to reafon, as it 
 accords with the tenor of the divine adminiflration in the go- 
 vernment of this world, in which all things proceed to their 
 limit or completion in a regular and gradual procefs. Secondly, 
 It is confonant to religion, as it vindicates the divine attributes 
 from all imputation of undue feverity, by laying man's dellruc- 
 tion at the proper door, and as the inevitable confequcnce of 
 liis own free choice. Thirdly, This dodlrine yields conlblation 
 to tlie humble pious Chriftian, as the time of his departure 
 draws nigh. Fev/ fuch, upon a ilridt examination of them- 
 felves, are fo well latisfied with their flate, as to find nothing 
 lacking, but that they are already fitly qualified for the fociety 
 of the holy angels ; whereas the belief, that an intermediate 
 ftate is appointed, wherein every thing tiiat now hindereth fhall 
 Ic removed out of the v/ay, and their fouls purified from every 
 pollution and fpot contradcd by their union with this fleHily 
 
 nature,,
 
 [ xlvli ] 
 
 nature, through the prevailing power and energy of the divine* 
 principle within them, and i'o bringing them into the llate 6f 
 jiilt men made perfect, they can take comfort from this con- 
 iideration, and meet their change with a holy confidence. 
 
 If this be fo, and that the fime intermediate ftate, which 
 purifies the good fpirits, leaves the bad under the total domi- 
 nion of evil by their ov/n free choice, that fo botli may be pof- 
 felled by their own proper principle refpedlively, and go to their 
 own proper place ; how fay fome, that the devils will be eflcn- 
 tially transformed into angels of light, at a certain time ap- 
 pointed by the Father ? We deiire here to oppofe with the 
 greateft tendernefs, a doiflrine which we heretofore judged fa- 
 vourably of, and modeftly to offer the reafons of our prefent 
 diffent, wiihing rather that we could agree with fome excellent 
 men on the other fide of the queftion ; but human v/ilhes are 
 no rule of the divine proceedings, and even charity muff be 
 direfted by the principle of truth, and the eftabliflied laws and 
 nature of things. We find ourlelves in a fort called upon to 
 offer a few obfervations on this fubjeft, at a time when there is 
 much reafon to believe, that many have revived this doftrine 
 more to quiet their fears, and fo lull themfelves into a falfe 
 peace, than from any conviction of their underffanding ; whereas 
 they may be fupplied with a much furer remedy againft thofc 
 fears in the comfortable promifes to the truly penitent delivered 
 in the Golpel of our moft compaffionate Saviour, whofe laft 
 declaration to his difciples before his afcenlion was, " that re- 
 *' pcntance and remiifion of fins fliould be preached in his name 
 *' among all nations (43)." 
 
 It is evident, that the plainefl Scriptures (and fnch we are to 
 go by) are againft the dodtrine before mentioned ; and that the 
 fame force of words that is thcreiji ufed to exprefs the eternal 
 happinefs of thofe that are flwed, is alio made ufe of to exprefs 
 the eternity of their ftate who are loft. But the advocates for 
 that fide of the queftion reft their plea and ftrcls of their argu- 
 ment on the foot of divine mercy ; and God forbid that we 
 fliould go about to ftraiten that mercy towards others (though. 
 
 (43) Luke .xxiv. 47, 
 
 even
 
 [ xlviii ] 
 
 «ven devils) to which the very beft of us fland indebted both 
 for all they have, and all they have to hope for ; and did the 
 matter of the quertion turn merely upon mercy, in like manner 
 as a gaol delivery depends on the arbitrary clemency of an earthly 
 prince, I doubt not, that either one hngle foul would not go to 
 hell, or if any, that a holl of angels would be fent thither with 
 a mellage of mercy ; nay, if neceil'ary to their falvation, that 
 even Jcfus Chrill himfelf would condefcend fo far, as to vifit 
 thofe unhappy prifoners with a free offer of peace and recon- 
 ciliation for their redemption. But here it mufl be obferved, 
 that mercy mifundcrftood and mifipplicd, is no other than man's 
 own falfe idea of mercy. God's mercy in regard to man re- 
 fpedls him as a creature that He has endovi'ed with freedom of 
 will, and whofc happinefs or milery depends on the right or 
 wrong dirc(flion of his choice and atfedtions, by which he be- 
 comes capable or incapable of the divine mercy. Now to com- 
 pel fuch a creature, is to undo him, to unmake him what he 
 is ; and therefore mercy, with regard to him, is to provide for 
 him fuch means and motives as may intiuence his underllanding, 
 will, and affections to what is fi;ood as his free choice. Now 
 ihrough the mercy of God every thing is done in this life (which 
 is man's only ftate of probation) in order to this end, though 
 man knoweth it not ; how then are we to exped:, that any means 
 of this kind fhould be more effe(5tual in the other world, wherein 
 ■all things arc reprefcntcd to us as unchangeable, where the tree 
 lieth as it falls for heaven or hell, and where all things increafe 
 in good or evil to eternity in their rcfpedive kingdoms .'' Praifcd 
 be the name of the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever 1 
 And as it is infinite, fo it extends to all pofilble cafes ; but to 
 make us good, that we may be qualified for happinefs againji 
 our li'ill, is no polhble cale, feeing that to be good, is to veil! 
 good with dcfire and afiec^tion, which the felf-hurdcned and 
 impenitent are averfe to, and therefore render themfelves un- 
 rcceptive of mercy. Now the very idea of diabolifm carries in 
 it repugnancy and hatred to God and goodncfs, and conlequently' 
 the greatclT: contrariety to the poflibility of converfion. Were it 
 otherwifc, and that the moll malignant fpirit in hell could 
 Jincerclv lav, '* Lord, I am weary and alliamcd of this evil 
 
 *' iiature.
 
 [ xlix ] 
 
 *' nature, and forry for the fius that have brought me into it ; O 
 *• help and deliver me through thy mercy iVom it, tliat 1 may be 
 " converted, and become thy fervant !" In this cafe, he would 
 inftantly ceafc to be a devil, and become an objedt of the divine 
 mercy; but repentance, prayer, and the dciirc of good, is all 
 from the grace of God, and dwelleth not in thofe who are the 
 willing fervants of fin, and therefore only free from, not to, 
 righteoufnefs (44). 
 
 It is fuppofed by lome, that length of fuffering will at laft 
 fubdue the reludtancc of the will, melt the heart into tendernefs, 
 and turn the worfl of evil fpirits to repentance and fupplicatioa 
 for pardoning mercy, and qualify them for it; but this, as jufl 
 now oblerved, is the folc effecl of that grace which they are not 
 udmiffive of, and not the eftedl of fuftering, which has no fuch 
 power belonging to it ; but has its different effeds relative to 
 the different ftates of thole who are the fubjefts of its opera- 
 tions. Thus we fee, that as the fame fire which melts the wax, 
 hardens the clay, fo the fliarpell fuf^ferings have contrary eitedts 
 on different perfons. They who have any remnant of grace in 
 their inmoll foul (however unrighteous they have been out- 
 wardly) any fpark of the divine life iHll remaining in their in- 
 teriour, are foftened and meliorated by them, and become obe- 
 dient to the heavenly voice, crying within them. Why will ye 
 die ? Turn unto the Lord, that iniquity may not be your ruin : 
 whilft the obdurate and impenitent fay in their hearts with 
 Pharaoh, Who is the Lord, that we fliould obey him ? And 
 turn that punifliment, which flaould be for their amendment, 
 into the occafion of their blafphcmy and defpair. Could length 
 of fuffering produce the effeft before mentioned, we might natu- 
 rally fuppofc that foine change for the better would, in the 
 couric of thoufauds of years, have taken place in him who is 
 called in Scripture (45), " That old Serpent, which is the 
 " Devil and Satan ;" and yet, as he had the prefumption to 
 tempt our Saviour in the wildernefs, and ftill continues to prac- 
 tife his wicked devices, in order to work our ruin ; fo of h'un 
 .it is foretold, that after being bound a thoufand years, during 
 
 ,(44) Rom. vi. 2C. (45) Apoc. xx. 2. 
 
 n Ch rift's
 
 [ 1 ] 
 
 Chriit's millciin'uil reign on earth, and being loofed from his 
 prilbn, he will again go out to deceive the nations (46) ; fo 
 little of likelihood, if any pofllbility, there is, that they, who 
 have confirmed thcmfelvcs in enmity and hatred to all goodnefs, 
 /hoiild become capable of repentance to falvation. I dcfire not 
 to ftrain any argument beyond its proper flrength againft an 
 hvpothelis, which I find myfelf more ready to receive, upon 
 any fatisfavTtory grounds, than to rejedl ; but let truth be ever 
 held facred and inviolable, whether it be according or contrary 
 to our natural inclinations and wilhcs ; nor let that be called 
 a want of charity, where charity is not concerned, or would 
 fuffcr penerfion and a-bufe : for charity, which in its proper 
 fignihcation is love, cannot extend to that which is eflentially 
 evil ; otherwife we mufl; condemn that folemn appeal of the 
 man after God's own heart : " Do not I hate them, O Lord, 
 " that hate thee (47) ?" And it was charged upon Jehofliaphat 
 for fin (though otherwife a good king) that he had joined him- 
 felf in confederacy with the wicked Ahaziah, as in thofe words 
 of Jehu : *' Shouldell: thou help the ungodly, and love them 
 ** that hate the Lord ? therefore is v/rath upon thee from before 
 " the Lord (48)." Whence we are to learn a caution how wc 
 bring diHionour upon this divine grace of charity, by mifap- 
 plying it to falfe and unworthy objefts, to the Icil'ening of our 
 zeal and affeftions for the honour of God, and the things that 
 be of God. 
 
 We are encouraged to hope, that manv tilings which have 
 been offered in the courfe of this Preface will be found properly 
 introduftory to the following volume, and fliall now conclude 
 it with two or three fhort remarks to the ferious reader, as no 
 other is capable of reaping any benefit from our author's wri- 
 tings ; nor to others have we any thing to lay, unlefs it be to 
 caution them againfl: treating with derifion or fcurrility fucli 
 matters as they may be more nearly concerned in than they at 
 prefent fuppofe. Even the very dreams of good men, in relation 
 to things of the other world, have at times fomething divine 
 in them, and are not lightly to be regarded ^ but where fuclr 
 
 (46) Apoc. x-x. 7, 8. (47) Pfal. cxxxix. 21. (48) 2 Chron. xix. 2. 
 
 communicate
 
 [ li ] 
 
 communicate to us important inftrudlions and dikoveries as by 
 commilfion, and from tlieir own experience, and that Vv'ith de- 
 liberation, conliflency, and clearncfs, tliey demand our atten- 
 tion and reverence. And here it is to be oblcrved, that what 
 this author has publiiTied to the world concerning the ftates of 
 departed fouls refpeftivcly, the laws of the invifible worlds, 
 and a thoufand particular circumftances belonging thereto, ap- 
 pear to be fuch as could never enter into the heart of man to 
 conceive, unlefs they had been given to him from above ; and 
 yet carry fomething of an internal evidence along vvdth them, as 
 foon as they are received by a ferious mind ; for, after all, it is 
 more the right temper and difpolition of the mind, than its 
 fagacity, that gives us to fee thefe things in their proper light. 
 It is every wife man's care to guard againll a ftubborn incredulity 
 on the one hand, as well as againft any delulion that an over 
 hafty belief might expofe him to on the other ; and in this age 
 of doubting and difputing all things of a fpiritual nature, out- 
 greater danger is confeflcdly from the former lide, and therefore 
 it behoves us to give the more heed, that we lean not to the 
 error of the times. Belides, the weight and importance of the 
 fubjecfts here treated of adds to the credibility of the meflage, 
 as coinciding with our confidence in the promifes of the Lord, 
 that He will reveal his Iccrets to his fervants, and not forfake 
 his church in the time of her extremity ; but fend his extraordi- 
 nary melfengers and rninifters endued v/ith light and power from 
 on high to alarm the carelefs, to call back the wanderers, to 
 confirm the wavering, and to comfort the fpirit of the humble 
 and contrite ones with glad tidings from the heavenly Canaan, 
 the lot of their inheritance ; and this in order to make ready a 
 people prepared for tlie Lord againft his fecond advent in fpirit 
 to build up the walls of the New Jerufalem : and when fliould 
 fuch meffcngers be more expeded, or when more entitled to a 
 better welcome than in this our time of defolations, when faitii 
 and charity have fo far failed amongft us, and when darknefs is 
 on the face of the deep, darknefs in the church, and darknefs 
 in the ftate, darknefs in the minds of good men, and darknefs 
 on all the difpenfations of providence, fo as to give emphatical 
 application of thofc words of the Pfalmift to our prefent con- 
 dition t
 
 [ In ] 
 
 dition : " It is time, O Lord, that tliou have mercy upon Sion, 
 ** yea, the time is come (49)." But who arc they that moft 
 rejetft the tertimony of thole fpccial mellengers, and thofc faith- 
 ful witneHcs to the Truth, which the Father of Lights has fent 
 from time to time for the edification of his church, and the con- 
 firmation of the faith of many in it ? \\'^ho but fuch as are ever 
 calling out for more evidence for believing, and pleading the 
 want of it in iullification of their unbelief, whilfl: at the lame 
 time tliey labour all they can to invalidate the evidence of all 
 human tcftimony, which is the ordinary medium through which 
 divine truth is conveyed to us. 
 
 And now, dear reader, I bid you farewell, fincerely wifliing 
 that you may be of the number of thofo who take the Holy 
 Scriptures for their guide, as their authentick outward rule of 
 faith and life, and in an honcli and good heart receive the Word 
 of God, and keep it : and may the Spirit of W'ildom give us 
 a right judgment in all things pertaining to falvation, that lb 
 we may be prefervcd from error through an over hafty credulity 
 on the one hand, and an obftinate incredulity on the other ; 
 neither rejecting the tellimony of men fearing God, and of good 
 report, as to what great things the Lord hatli done for them, 
 and to be communicated by them for the benefit of their bre- 
 thren ; nor fuffering ourlelvcs to be impofed on by the cunning 
 craftinefs of fuch as lie in wait to deceive : and as it is more 
 profitable for us to have the heart eftablilhed in grace, and to 
 glorify God in our lives, than to be gifted with vilions and par- 
 ticular revelations (through danger of being exalted above mea- 
 fure thereby) fo let us not be high-minded, but fear; nor, be- 
 caufe others have been fo favoured, expect or defire the fame 
 ourfclves, but walk humbly and contentedly in the way of God's 
 ordinary difpenf<itions, left prcfumption or a vain curioiitv (hould 
 expofe us to the danger of dclulion from ourlpiritual enemy : and 
 as to thofc that cannot receive many of the things delivered in 
 the following book, and alfo as to thofe that do receive tliem, 
 Jet them not judge one another, but follow the rule of mode- 
 ration laid down by the apoltle, Rom. xiv. every one abiding 
 
 (4^) Pul. cii. 13. 
 
 by
 
 [ liii ] 
 
 by that of which he is perfuadcd in his own mind, in a candid' 
 forbearance tov/aids others. In men of a Chriftian fpirit, cha- 
 rity eafily beareth all fuch things, believeth all things for good, 
 and hopeth all things for the befl : and as we are all brethren 
 on a journey to the fame heavenly country, fo let us hold on 
 our way together in peace, and that love, which is more than 
 knowledge ; and may the God of peace and love be with us ! 
 
 A N
 
 A N 
 
 N S W E R 
 
 TO A 
 
 LETTER FROM A FRIEND. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR, 
 
 ITA K E plcafure in the friendftiip you exprefs for me in 
 your letter, and return you thanks for the fame j but as to 
 the praifcs therein, I confider them as belonging to the truths 
 contained in my writings, and fo refer them to the Lord our 
 Saviour as his due, who is in himfelf the Fountain of all Truth. 
 It is the concluding part of your letter that chiefly engages my 
 attention, where you fay as follows : " As after your departure 
 " from England difputes may arife on the fubjedt of your wri- 
 tings, and fo give occafion to defend their author againll fuch 
 falfe reports and afperfions, as they who are no friends to 
 truth may invent to the prejudice of his chara(fter, may it 
 not be of ufe, in order to refute any calumnies of that kind, 
 that you leave behind you fome Ihort account of yourfelf, as 
 concerning, for example, your degrees in the univerfity, the 
 " offices you have borne, your family and connexions, the ho- 
 " nours which I am told have been conferred upon you, and 
 " fuch other particulars as may fervc to the vindication of your 
 
 ** chararter. 

 
 { 5v ] 
 
 ^* charadler, if attacked ; that fo any ill-grounded prejudice 
 ■*• may be obviated or removed f For where the honour and 
 ** intereft of truth are concerned, it certainly behoves us to 
 *• employ all lawful means in its defence and fupport." After 
 Tcfle<fling on the foregoing paflage, I was induced to comply 
 with your friendly advice, by briefly commtmicating the fol- 
 lowing circumitances of my life. 
 
 I was born at Stockholui, in the year of our Lord 1689, 
 Jan. 29. My father's name was Jefper Swedberg, who was 
 Bifhop of Wertrogothia, and of celebrated charadter in his time. 
 He was alfo a member of the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gofpel, formed on the model of that in England, and appointed 
 Prefident of the Swedifh churches in Penfylvania and London 
 by King Charles XIL In the year 17 10 I began my travels, 
 firfl into England, and afterwaids into Holland, France, and 
 •Germany, and returned home in 1714. In the year 1716, and 
 afterwards, I frequently converfed with Charles XII. King of 
 Sweden, who wa^ pleafed to bertow on me a large fhare of his 
 favour, and in that year appointed me to the office of AfTeifor 
 in the Metallick College, in which office I continued from that 
 time till the yciu: 1747, when I quitted the office, but ftill re- 
 tain the falary annexed to it as an appointment for life. The 
 reafon of my withdrawing from the bufinefs of that employ- 
 ment was, that I might be more at liberty to apply myfelf to 
 that new funftion to which the Lord had called me. About 
 this time a place of higher dignity in the ftate vras offered me, 
 which I declined to accept, left it ftiould prove a fnare to mc. 
 In 17 1 9 I ^vas ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and named 
 Sivedeniorg' ; from which time I have taken my feat with tlie 
 nobles of the equcftrian order in the triennial alTemblies of the 
 ilates. I am a fellow, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of 
 Sciences at Stockholm, but have never defired to be of any other 
 community, as I belong to the Society of Angels, in which 
 things fpiritual and heavenly are the only fubjedts of difcourfc 
 and entertainment ; whereas in our literary focieties the attention 
 is wholly taken up with things relating to the body and this 
 world, in the year 1734 I published the Regnum Minerak at 
 
 Leipiick,
 
 [ tvi ] 
 
 Lclpfick, In three volume?, folios and in 1738 I took a journey 
 into Italy, and Aaid a year at Venice and Rome. 
 
 With refped to my family connexions: I had four fifters;. 
 one of them was married to Erick Benzelius, afterwards pro- 
 moted to the ArchbiHioprick of Upfal j and thus I became re- 
 lated to the two fucceeding Archbirtiops of that See, both named 
 Benzelius, and younger brothers of the former. Another of 
 my lifters was married to Lars Benzelftierna, who was promoted 
 to a provincial government, but thefe are both dead ; however, 
 two Bifliops, who are related to me, are Itill living ; one of 
 them is named Filenius, Bilhop of Oftrogothia, who now 
 officiates as Prefident of the Ecclefiaftical Order in the General 
 AlTembly at Stockholm, in the room of the Archbilhop, who 
 is infirm ; he married the daughter of my lifter ; the other, who 
 is named Benzelftierna, Bifliop of Weftermannia and Dalecarlia, 
 is the fon of my fecond fifter j not to mention others of my 
 family who are dignified. I converfe freely, and am in friend- 
 4liip with all the Bilhops of my country, which arc ten in num- 
 ber, and alfo with the fixteen Senators, and the reft of the 
 Grandees, who love and honour me, as knowing that I am in 
 fellowfliip with angels. The King and Queen themfelves, as 
 alio the three Princes their fons, ftiew me all kind countenance; 
 and I was once invited to eat with the King and Queen at their 
 table (an honour granted only to the peers of the realm) and 
 likevvife fince with the hereditary Prince. All in my own 
 country wifli for my return home ; lb flir am I from the leafl 
 danger of perfecution there, as you feem to apprehend, and are 
 alfo lb kindly folicitous to provide againft ; and fliould any thing 
 of that kind befall me elfewhere, it will give me no concern. 
 
 Whatever of worldly honour and advantage may appear to be 
 in the things before mentioned, I hold them as matters of low 
 eftimation, when compared to the honour of that lacrcd office 
 to whicii the Lord himlclf hath called me, who was gracioufly 
 pleafed to manifcft himfelf to me his unworthy fervant, in a 
 perlbnal appearance in the year 1743 j to open in me a fight of 
 the Ipiritual world, and to enable me to converfe with fpirits 
 and angels ; and this privilege has been continued to me to this 
 day. From that time I began to print and publilh various un- 
 known
 
 [ Ivii ] 
 
 known Arcana, that have been either feen by me, or revealed 
 to me, concerning heaven and hell ; the flate of men after 
 death ; the true worlhip of God ; the fpiritual fenfe of the 
 Scriptures ; and many other important truths tending to falva- 
 tion and true wifdom : and that mankind might receive benefit 
 from thefe communications, was the only motive which has 
 induced me at different times to leave my home to vifit other 
 countries. As to this world's wealth I have fufficient, and more 
 I neither feek nor wiHi for. 
 
 Your letter has drawn the mention of thefe things from me, 
 in cafe, as you fay, they may be a means to prevent or remove 
 any falfe judgment or v/rong prejudices with regard to my per- 
 fonal circumftances. Farev/ell ; and I heartily wifh you pro- 
 fperity both in things fpiritual and temporal, of which I make 
 no doubt, if fo be you go on to pray to our Lord, and to fet 
 him always before you. 
 
 EMAN. SWEDENBORG. 
 
 London, 1769. 
 
 CATALOGUE
 
 CATALOGUE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 THEOLOGICAL BOOKS 
 
 Publirhed by the Author EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 A 
 
 RCANA CCELESTIA, qu« continent Explicationem fuper 
 Genefin et Exodum, 8 vol. Londini An. 1747 ad 1758, ed. 
 
 De CoELO ET Inferno. De Nova Hierofolyma et ejus Doftrina Coe- 
 lefti. De Ultimo Judicio. De Eqiio Albo. De Telluribus in Univerfo, 
 Londini An. 1758, ed. 
 
 DocTRiNA Nov^ HiEROsoLYM^. Dc Dooiino. De Scriptura Sacra. 
 Do(5lrina vitas pro Nova Hierofolyma. Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio, 
 et de Mundo Spirituali, Amftelodami An. 1763, ed. 
 
 Sapientfa Angelica de Dlvina Providentia, et de Divino Amore 
 et Divina Sapientia, Amftelodami An. 1763, ed. 
 
 Deliti^ Sapienti>« de Amore Conjuoiali. Poft quas fequiintur 
 voluptates infanize de Amore Scortatorio, Amftelodami An. 1768, ed. 
 
 Apocalypsis Revelata, Amftelodami An. 1764, ed. 
 
 Vera Christiana Religio, continens Univerfam Theologiam Novas 
 Ecclefias, a Domino apud Danielem, Cap. vii. 13, 14. et in Apoca- 
 lypfi, Cap. xxi. i, 2. prsediilae, Amftelodami An. 1771.
 
 [ I ] 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 HEAVEN AND HELL. 
 
 IN our Lord's difcourfe with his difciples on the Co?ifum- 
 mation of the age (i), or lall time of the church, at the end 
 of his prophecies concerning its fuccelTive Hates in regard 
 to love and faith (2), he fays thus : " Immediately after the 
 ** tribulation of thofe days fliall the fun be darkened, and the 
 " moon fliall not give her light, and the ftars fhall fall from 
 *• heaven, and the powers of the heavens fhall be fhaken ; and 
 
 ^f^lM^ References for explanation, illuftration, and proof, to a Latin work of 
 the author, in eight volumes in quarto, entitled, Arcana Coelejlia^ or, Heavenly 
 Secrets, printed in numbers, or {hort fedtions, to which the references direct, n. 
 with the figures following that letter, denotes the number of the feiSions referred to, 
 from the beginning to the end of that work. 
 
 N. B. As the references under many articles are too numerous to be inferted, 
 the tranflator often pafles over the preceding numbers, and only ijives two or three 
 of the laft ; as the author, in the body of that work, by a molt: ftupendous fticngth 
 of memory, generally refers the reader to the foregoing numbers, in which the 
 fubjeft matter before him is treated of. 
 
 (i) The words here tranflated, The confununation of the age, is the tiuc render- 
 ing from the Greek, and not, The end of the world, as in our common tranflation, 
 the word ' f^iuv never fignifying the world, but an age or period of time, or a dif- 
 penfation of things; and here particularly, of the church, as explained by the 
 author : and that it here fignifies the end of the church under its preftnt diipeu- 
 fation. See n. 4535. 10672. 
 
 (2) Our Lord's prediiSions concerning the confummation of the age, his fecond 
 advent, the iucccffive defolation of the church, and the lal} judgment, as in Matt. 
 xxiv. XXV. are explained in the work entitled, Arcana CajUjUa, in the prefixes to 
 Cicncfis, from the fifth to the twenty-fourth chapter, n. 3353 to 3356, &c. and 
 5063 to 5071. 
 
 A ♦' then
 
 [ 2 ] 
 
 " then Hiall appear tlie fign of the Son of Man in heaven : and 
 " then (hall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they (hall 
 " ibe the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with 
 *' power and great glory : and he fhall fend his angels with a 
 •' great found of a trumpet, and they (hall gather together his 
 " elc(5t from tlie four winds, from one end of heaven to the 
 *' other." Matt. xxiv. 29, &.c. They who undcriland thefe 
 words according to the fenfe of the letter, fuppofe that all thefc 
 things are to come to pafs, as they are literally defcribcd, at that 
 time which is called the lad judgment; and accordingly not 
 unly that the i\\n and moon ihall be darkened, the ftars fall from 
 heaven, the fign of the Lord appear in heaven, and that they 
 Ihall fee him in the clouds, and with him his angels with trum- 
 pets ; but alfo, according to prediftions of like found in other 
 parts of the facred writings, that the whole vilible world fliall 
 perilh, and be fucceeded by a new heaven and a new earth ; and 
 this is the general belief of Chriflians at this time : but all fuch 
 are ftrangers to the interior of the fcriptures, which have a 
 hidden fenfe throughout, holding forth to us things fpiritual 
 and heavenly, by inch as are natural and mundane in the expref- 
 fion of the letter, and this not only in fentences taken collec- 
 tively, but alfo in every particular word (3) : for the fcriptures 
 are written entirely according to correfpondences (4), in order 
 to reprefent to us inward and fpiritual things, by fuch as are 
 outward and natural, as will evidently appear by what is delivered 
 and ihewed in many places concerning this inward fenfe, in a 
 work intitled, Arcana dvleftia, and alfo by a collection of in- 
 flances of this kind taken thence, in a fmall treatife, De Equo 
 yllbo ; or. Of the White Horfe, mentioned in the Revelations : 
 and according to this fenfe we are to undcriland the things of 
 which our Lord fpeaks, in the place before cited, concerning 
 his coming in the clouds of heaven ; viz. by the fun there being 
 
 (3) That there is an inwarJ or fpiritual tl-nfe throughout the whole of the fcrip- 
 tures. Sec n. 1 1 43, 1984, 2135, <^c. 9063, 9086. 
 
 (4) That the JVord is written by the ftridt rules of correfpondences, and that 
 fpiritual th'Hgs arc therein fignificd thrcmghout, 11. 1404, 1408 — 2900, 9086. See 
 chapters on correfpondences in this work. 
 
 darkened.
 
 [ 3 ] 
 
 ■darkened, is fignlfied the Lord in regard to love (5) ; by the 
 moon, the Lord with refped: to faith (6) j by ftars, the know- 
 ledges of goodnefs and truth, or love and faith (7) ; by the 
 fign of the Son of Man in heaven, the manifeftation of divine 
 truth ; by the tribes of the earth mourning, all particulars and 
 circumftances relating to goodnefs and truth, or Jove and 
 faith (8) ; by the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven 
 with power and glory, his prefence in the word, and right in- 
 terpretation of it (9), clouds fignifying the literal (10), and 
 glory the inward and fpiritual (enk of the word (11) ; and by 
 angels with a trumpet giving a loud found, is fignified heaven 
 and divine truth proceeding thence (12). Hence we are given 
 to underftand by thefe words of our Lord, that at the confum- 
 mation of the age, or end of the church period, when there 
 fliall no longer be faith and charity on earth, that the Lord will 
 open the fcriptures in their fpiritual fenfe, and reveal tlie heavenly 
 fecrets therein contained. The fecrets revealed in the foHowing 
 work arc concerning heaven and hell, and the life of man after 
 death, fubjefts which the church now o'days hardly knows any 
 thing of, though defcribed in the written word ; nay, many 
 •^vho were born and live within the pale of it deny them, faying 
 in their hearts. Who ever came from thence to fliew us of thefe 
 things : left therefore the like incredulity, which chiefly reigns 
 among the learned and worldly wife, fhould infed: the fimple 
 in heart, and the fimple in faith ; to me it has been granted to 
 
 (5) That fu/i in the Word fignifies the Lord, in rcfcxeiicc to love, and tluiicc 
 love to the Lord, ii. 1529, 1837 — 7083, loHog. 
 
 (6) That moin in the Word fignifies the Lord, in reference to faith, and thence 
 faith in the Lord, n. 1529, 1530 — 4996, 70H3. 
 
 (7) Thit Jlars in the Word fignify knowledges (cognitioncs) of things good and 
 true, n. 2495, 2849, 4^7- 
 
 (8) That trihfs fignify all truths, and tilings good in their complex, and lb the 
 wliole of faith and love, n. 3858, 4060, 6555. 
 
 (9) That the coming of the Lord fignifies his prefence in the word, and reve- 
 lation of it, n. 3900, 4060. 
 
 (10) That f/owcA in the Word fignify the written word in its literal fenfe, n. 
 4060 — 10551, 10574. 
 
 (11) '\'\\?^t. glory in the Word fignifies divine truth, as it is in heaven, and as it 
 is in the internal or fpiritual fenfe of the word, i). 4809 — 9429, 10574. 
 
 (12) That trumpet fignifies divine trutii in liea\en, and as revealed from heaven» 
 n- 8815, 8823. in like manner, voia-, 11. 6971, 9926. 
 
 ailbciatc
 
 [ 4 ] 
 
 alTociate with angels, and to converfe with them, as man docs 
 with man ; and alio to lee the things that are in the Heavens 
 and in the Hells, and this now for thirteen years together; and 
 alio now to dercribe the things fo feen and heard, in order that 
 hereby the minds of the ignorant may be enlightened, and an 
 end put to incredulity. By the vouchlafement of this imme- 
 diate revelation we arc given to know, that the coming of the 
 Lord is at hand. 
 
 That the Lord is the God of Heaven. 
 
 2. The firft and principal thing to know is, who is the God 
 of heaven, as all other things depend thereon; how throughout 
 the univerfal heaven no other is acknowledged for the God of 
 heaven, but the Lord alone : it is there confelfed by all, as he 
 himfclf taught on earth ; that he is " One with the F.aher j" 
 that " the Father is in him, and he in the Father ;" and that 
 " he who feeth him, feeth the Father ;" and that " all holinefs 
 *' proceeds from him," John x. 30, 38. ch. xiv. 10, 11. ch. 
 xvi. 13, 14, 15. I have frequently difcourfed with the angels 
 on this fubie(ft ; and thev conllantly affirmed, that they knew 
 not how to divide the Godhead into three, inafmuch as they 
 know and perceive that it is one, and that in the Lord : more- 
 over, they faid, that fuch of the church as paflcd from this 
 world into the other with the idea of three Deities in their 
 minds, cannot be admitted into heaven, their thoughts being 
 diftraded, as it were, between one God and another; whereas 
 it is contrary to the laws of the kingdom to believe in three, 
 and confefs but one (13) : for in heaven every one declares his 
 real fentiments, language there being the exprellion of the mind, 
 or as thinking audibly ; and therefore there is no admittance 
 for fuch as have formed their ideas of the Godhe;'d according 
 to fuch a threefold divilion and feparation, without concen- 
 
 (i?) That on certain Chriftians being tried in the other life, as to the idea 
 they had of God, it was found, that they had the idea of three gods, n. 2329, 
 5256, 10736, 10738, 10821. That a Divine Trinity in the Ferfoa of the Lord, 
 is acknowledged in heaven, n. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303. 
 
 trating
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
 tratiiig them into one in our Lord ; befides, as among the angels 
 there is a communication of their thoughts, (liould any one, 
 whofe belief and confefTion were fo contradidlory, come among 
 them, he would immediately be difcovcred, and eliminated from 
 their focicty : let it be noted, however, that all thofe, who in 
 their life-time here did not feparate between trutli and goodnefs, 
 or faith and love, do in the other world, under the inilructioil 
 of tlie angels, [iv/jatevcr mijlakes they tnay have innocently imbibed 
 herc\ readily receive the true and heavenly doiflrine of our Lord 
 beine the God of the univerfe : but it is cthcrwife with thofe. 
 who, in this flate of mortality, feparated between faith and 
 good life, or, in other words, whofe pracftice was not according 
 to true faith. 
 
 3. They who in this life (though outwardly profefling mem- 
 bers of the church) did not believe in our Lord, but in the 
 P'ather only, and confirmed themfelves by arguments in fuch 
 their unbelief, find no place in heaven ; and forafmuch as they 
 are without all influx from heaven, where the Lord only is 
 vvorfhipped, they are gradually diverted of the faculty of think- 
 ing rightly on any fubjeift, and at length either become like 
 mutes, or elfe talk foolifhly, moping about with their arms 
 hanging dangling down before them, like paralyticks or ideots. 
 They who have openly denied the divinity of our Lord, be- 
 lieving only in his human nature, as do the Socinians j they 
 likewife are excluded from heaven, and being carried forward 
 a little towards the right (*), are let down into a deep pit, and 
 fo feparated from the reft that come from the Chriftian world : 
 but as to fuch as profefs to believe in an unmanifefted divinity, 
 which they call the Great Being, or Spirit of the Univerfe, from 
 which all things proceeded, and renounce all faith in the Lord ; 
 thefe, on examination, are found to believe in no God, foraf- 
 much as their unmanifefted deity, or unknown God, is, accord- 
 ing to their creed, no other than a myfterious fomething like 
 
 (*) The place of fpirits in the other world, as alfo their afccnt into heaven, or 
 defccnt into hell, is all along defcribcd by the author in reference to the body of the 
 Ipeftator ; and the meaning in this pafliige is, that the fpirits here mentioned ap- 
 pear to fink down in front, a little towards the right, into the particular place 
 appointed for them. Tranfl. 
 
 B nature
 
 [ 6 j 
 
 Mature in its firrt: forms, which, as they have no conception of 
 it (14), cannot be any objedt of faith or love to them: thefc 
 have their lot amoiigll thofe who are called Naturalifts. The 
 cafe is difterent with thofe that are born without the church, 
 and are called Heathens, of whom we fhall fpeak hereafter. 
 
 4. All infants, which conftitute a third part of the fociety 
 in heaven, are initiated in the dodtrine and faith of the Lord 
 being their Father, and afterwards of his being Lord of all, 
 and confequently the God of heaven and earth. That they 
 increafe in Itature and knowledge, even to angelical underftand- 
 ing and wifdom, will be fliewed in what follows. 
 
 5. That the Lord is the God of heaven will admit of no 
 doubt with thofe that- are true members of the church, as he 
 himfclf hath told us : " All things that the Father hath are 
 *' mine" — ** All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." 
 Matt. xi. 27. John xvi. 15. xvii. 2. Matt, xxviii. 18. It is faid 
 •' in heaven and inearth," for he who governs heaven, governs the 
 earth alfo, as the latter is fubjedl to the former (15). Now in 
 quality of Governor of heaven and earth, we receive from him 
 all the good of love, and all the true of faith, confequently all 
 undcrftanding, wifdom and happinefs, and, to fum up all, eter- 
 nal life, according to that declaration of our Lord, " He that 
 '* helieveth on the Son, hath eternal life ; but he that believeth 
 *' not the Son, fliall not fee life." John iii. 36. And elfe- 
 where : '* I am the refurrecflion and the life ; he that believeth 
 •' in me, though he were dead, yet fliall he live ; and he that 
 " believeth in me fliall never die." John xi. 24, 25. And in 
 another place : " I am the way, the truth, and the life." John 
 xiv. 6. 
 
 6. There were certain fpirits, who, whilll they lived in the 
 body, profefied only faith in the Father, without having any 
 
 ( 14) Th:it a deity, not conceivable by any idea, is no objc£i of faith, n. 4733, 
 5110, 5633, 6982, 6996, 7004, 721 1, 9267, 9359, 9972, 10C67. 
 
 (15) T iiat the univerfal heaven is the Lord's, n. 2751, 7086. That he hath 
 all power in heaven and earth, n. 1607, IC089, 10827. That as the Lord governs 
 heaven, and all things depending thereon, fo confequently all things in this world, 
 n. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524. 'I'hat the Lord alone has the power of defending 
 us againfl the evil fpirits of darkncfs, of guarding us .igainft all e\ ils, and of con- 
 firming Ub in all good, and fo confequL'ntly, of faving us, n. i6oi^. 
 
 Other 
 
 (
 
 [ 7 ] 
 
 other idea of our Lord than as of another man, and confequently 
 did not believe in him as the God of heaven ; wherefore they 
 had leave to go about and enquire as they would, whether there 
 were any other heaven than that of our Lord ; but after con- 
 tinuing their enquiry for fome days, they could procure no 
 information of any otlicr. They were of that clafs, who fup- 
 pofe the happinefs of heaven to confift in pomp and dominion ; 
 *and bccaufc they could not obtain their wiflies, but were told, 
 that the joys of heaven did not confift in fuch things, they were 
 highly difpleafcd, as not defiring any other heaven than wherein 
 they might domineer over others in a pre-eminence after the 
 fafhion of this world. 
 
 That the Divinity of the Lord conftitutes 
 
 Heaven. 
 
 7. The angels confidered colledlively are called Heaven, as 
 being the conftituents of it, though in truth the divine virtue 
 preceding from the Lord by influx, and received by the angels, 
 does really conflitute it effentially, both in general, and alfo in 
 its particular diilindlions : now this divine influence proceeding 
 from the Lord, is the good of love, and the true of faith, and 
 according to the meafure of their recipiency of thcfe from him, 
 in fuch degree is the excellence of their angelical nature, and fo 
 far do they conftitute the forms of their refpedlive heavens. 
 
 8. Every angel throughout the heavens knows, and inti- 
 mately perceives, that he cannot will and do anv good, nor 
 think and believe any truth from mere felf, but only from the 
 divine influx, and confequently from the Lord; and that wliat- 
 ever of good and true they do and think from themfelves, arc 
 only apparently, not really fo, forafmuch -as they have in tiiem 
 no principle of divine life that they can call their own. The 
 angels of the in moll or highcll heaven have a clear perception, 
 and alfo a fenfation of this influx, and in proportion theieto is 
 their degree of blifs, which confilb in love and light [wifdomj, 
 and as thefe are derived jVom the Lord's divinity, it is c\ident 
 that this confl:itutes heaven, and not any thing proceeding from 
 
 the
 
 [ 8 ] 
 
 the nature of angels, as of thcmielves (i6). Hence it is that 
 heaven is called in Icripture bis dwelling and tlironc, and that 
 the blelled inhabitants of it are therein faid to be in the Lord ( 17). 
 I low heaven is replenilhed with divine virtue proceeding from 
 liini, will be exj'>lained in what follows. 
 
 9. Th.e angels go llill farther in this matter, affirming from 
 the wifilom that is in them, that not only all goodnefs and truth,, 
 but likewife the whole of life proceed from the Lord by way 
 of continual emanation, confirming their pofition by this argu- 
 ment, viz. That nothing can exifl; from itfelf, but from fome 
 prior caufe, and all things from the rirll caufe, which they call 
 the original cllence of the life of all things ; and that they fubfifl: 
 in like manner, as fubliitence is no other than a continuation of 
 exigence, and whatever lofes its connexion with the firft caufe, 
 through the intermediate links, mull lofe its exigence : as then 
 there is but one fountain of life, and man fubfifls only as a 
 llream ifi'uing therefrom, confequently, Ihould the communi- 
 cation ceafc, fo alfo mull his life: moreover, they alHrm, that 
 as from this one only fountain (the Lord) of life proceed divine 
 goodnefs and truth, fo do they operate in every one according 
 to the reception of them : they who receive them into their 
 faith and life, in fuch they conllitute heaven ; but they who 
 rtjedl or pervert them, convert good into evil, and truth into 
 error (*), and fo they become hell to them. They farther'erta- 
 bliHi this truth by the following argument, viz. That all things 
 in the univerfe have fome relation to goodnefs and truth, the 
 
 (16) That the angels of heaven acknowledge all good to be from the Lo'd, and 
 nothing of it from fclf, and that the Lord dwells with them, though in hi. >wn 
 divine principles, and not in any thing that is proper to them, or which they can 
 call thtir own, n. 9338, 10125, 'O'S'' '0'57' •'^"'^ ^''-i' ther. fore in the word, 
 by angels, is underllood fome attribute of the Lord, n. 1925, 2821 — 8192, 10528 : 
 and they are alio fomctimcs called gods, from the indwelling of the divinity in 
 them, n. 4295, 4402, 8301, 8192. That alfo all gcod and all truth, eflciitiaiiy 
 fuch, confeijuenily, all peace, love, charity and faiih, are only from the Lord, 
 n. 1614, 20l6 — 2892, 2904: as likewife all wifdom and underftanding, n. 121, 
 124. 
 
 (i j) That they who are in heaven, are faid to be in the Lord, n. 3637, 3638. 
 
 (•) Thus we read ut' thofe, " who changed the truth of God into a lie. Rom. 
 i. 25. and of the Lord being a " lying fpirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets," 
 I Kijigs xxii. 22. I'r. 
 
 life 
 
 I
 
 ['9 ] 
 
 life of man's will (which is that of his love) to the former, 
 and man's intclledlual life (which is that of his faith) to the 
 latter : now as all goodnefs and truth comes from above, fo docs 
 alfo every vital principle in man : this being the creed of angels, 
 they of confequencc rejed; all gratitude and tivanks dircdted to 
 them, even for their moll: beneficent miniilrations, and are 
 highly difpleafed, and withdraw themfelves, when any one 
 afcribes good to them as the authors of it ; n.w, they are afto- 
 niflied to think that any one fliould be fo befottcd, as to imagine 
 that he can be wife, or do any good from himfelf ; nor do they 
 call that good, which has felf for its end, but that alone which 
 is done from a difinterefted love of goodnefs ; this they call 
 good from the divine fountain, and the principle that coniiitutes 
 heaven, as having the Lord for its effence and root (i8). 
 
 10. There are certain fpirits, who, in the body, had con- 
 firmed themfelves in this f^ith, that the good which they did, 
 and the truths which they believed, were from themfelves, 
 and as fuch to be appropriated to them : of this clafs are all 
 they who place merit in their good works, and value themfelves 
 on their own fancied righteoufnefs : fuch have no admittance 
 into heaven, for the angels fliun their company, and look upon 
 them cither as ftupid, or as thieves ; as llupid, becaufe they fet 
 themfelves, and not the Lord, always before them ; as thieves, 
 becaufe they rob him of the honour tiiat belongs to him : all 
 fuch are profefl'edly enemies to the afTurance of faith that obtains 
 among the faints above, viz. That divine virtue, proceeding 
 from the Lord alone, and received by the angels, coniiitutes 
 both the landlity and happinefs of heaven. 
 
 11. That they who are in heaven, and alfo they who are 
 true members of the church on earth, are ifi the Lord, and the 
 Lord in them, appears from his own words : " Abide in n"ie, 
 '* and I in you : as the branch cannot bear fruit of itfelf, except 
 " it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me : 
 " I am the vine, ye arc the branches : he that abideth in me, 
 " and I in him, the fame bringeth forth much fruit ; for with- 
 " out me ye can do nothing." John xv. 4 — j. 
 
 (18) That all good in the angels from the Lord, has in it the divine nature of 
 tlic Lord, biit not the good that is from themfelves, n. 1802, 3951, 8478. 
 
 C 12. Ilcncc
 
 [ I<^ ] 
 
 12. Hence it may appear, that the Lord is with the angels 
 in his own divine cirencc, and is all in all in heaven, becaule 
 the good that is there is from him, and what proceeds from his 
 divine nature is properly himlllf, and conditutes heaven, and 
 not any thing that belongs to the angels as their proper own. 
 
 That the Di\Inc Influx of the Lord in Hea- 
 ven produces Love to him, and Charity 
 to one another. 
 
 13. The divine efllux emaning from the Lord is called in 
 heaven divine truth on the following account : it ilfucs from 
 his divine love i and this divine love and divine truth are to 
 each other as the heat and light of the fun in our world, 
 love being cxpreffed and fignified by the former, and truth pro- 
 ceeding from it (19) by the latter, and this by the law of cor- 
 pcfpondcnce : fo then divine love is the efl'encc, and divine truth 
 is the form, and thus united, they enliven all things in heaven, 
 as the heat and light of our fun, in conjuntflion, fructify the 
 earth in the fpring and fummer feafons : but it is otherwifc 
 where they are not united, or the light not fufficiently impreg- 
 nated with heat, for then all is benumned and lifelefs. This 
 divine good, which is rcprcfentcd by heat, is the good of love 
 in the angels, and divine truth is that through and by which 
 it operates and is manifelted. 
 
 14. That the divine virtue which conftitutes the nature of 
 heaven is love, is becaufe love is a principle of fpiritual union, 
 and joins the angels to the Lord, and to one another, infomuch 
 that they are but as one in his fight : befides, love is the very 
 ellence to every life, and confequently both to men and angels : 
 and this anfwers to experience, for how is every one animated 
 and warmed by the fire of love ! how languid and cold under 
 
 (19) That fire in the word fignifies love in both fonfcs, n. 934, 4906, 5215. 
 That the holy and cteleftial tire figiiilics divine love, and every particular afFedtion 
 of it, n. 934, 6314, 6832. That the light therefrom fignifies the truth proceed- 
 ing from the good of love : aiid liijht iu heaven, divine truth, 11. 3395, 34S5, 
 3636—9548, 9684. 
 
 the
 
 [ II ] 
 
 the abfence of it ! and how lifelefs under the total privation of 
 it (20) ! But it muft be remembered by the way, that the life 
 of every one correfponds to the particular kind of love that 
 a(^l:uates him. 
 
 15. There are two diftindt kinds of love that more parti- 
 cularly aftuate tlie angels in heaven, love to the Lord, aiid love 
 to their neighbour : in the inmoll or higheft heaven the former 
 has the afcendant ; in the fecond or middle heaven, the latter, 
 yet both proceeding from the Lord, and conftituting their 
 heavens refpedlively : how both thefe kinds of love operate 
 diftindlly, and how jointly, is clearly difcerncd in the light of 
 heaven, but obfcurely in this world. By love towards the Lord, 
 in heaven, they do not mean the love of him in a perfonal con- 
 fideration of the word, but to love the good that proceeds from 
 him, and this is evidenced by the willing and doing good from 
 the principle of love : and by the love of their neighbour, they 
 do not mean merely a perfonal love of their fellows, but the 
 love of truth proceeding from the Divine Word, manifeflino- 
 itfelf in willing and acTiing according to truth in its feveral re- 
 lations : hence it is evident, that thefe two loves are to be 
 dillinguiflied as goodnefs and truth feparately confidered, and 
 when conjoined, as goodnefs united with truth (21). But thefe 
 things are of dihicult comprehenfion by thofe who liave not 
 clear ideas of what is meant by love, by good, and by neigh- 
 bour (22). 
 
 16. I have fometimes converfed with the angels on this fub- 
 jedt, who feemed to wonder that any in the Chriuian church 
 Ihould not know, that to love the Lord, and their neighbour, 
 is to love goodnefs and truth, and to pradife them from incli- 
 
 (20) That love is the fire of life, and the rcil efficient caufe of it, n. 4906, 
 5071, 6032, 6314. 
 
 (21 ) '1 hat to iove the Lord and our neighbour, is to keep the di\ ine command- 
 ments, n. 10143, '"^^53' i<^3io, 10578, IC648. 
 
 (22) By love to our neighbour, we arc not to undcrftand the love of his perfon, 
 hut the good and tiie true which conftitutes his character, n. 5025, IO336. They 
 who confine their love to the perfon, without regard to his principles, love equally 
 the evil and the good that is in him, n. 3820. That charity is to will and to be 
 well afFedted to the truth for its own fake, n. 3876, 3877. That charity towards 
 our neighbour, is to do what is good, jufl, and right in every relatioji we ftand 
 in to him, n. 8120, 8121, 8li2. 
 
 nation,
 
 [ 12 ] 
 
 nation ; when they may fo eafily know, that every one tcCifies 
 the fincerity of his love for another, by a ready compliance with 
 his will, and that this alone is the bond and cement of mutual 
 love among men ; as alfo that good proceeding from the Loid 
 muft be like him, as having his nature in it; and conl'equcntly 
 that rhev are in his ima<rc and likcnefs, whofe lives are formed 
 on principles of goodnefs and truth, by will and pradtice : for 
 to will a thing, is to love to do it, according to thofe words of 
 our Lord : " He that hath my commandments, and kcepeth 
 " them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that lovcth me, ihall 
 *' be loved of mv Father, and I will love him, and will mani- 
 *' fell mvfelf to him, and we will make our abode with him." 
 John xiv. 21, 23. ch. xv. lo,- 12. and elfewhere. 
 
 17. That the virtue proceeding from the Lord, which in- 
 fluences the angels, and coniHtutes heaven, is love, is confinned 
 by the experience of all in heaven ; for all there are fo many 
 forms of love and charity, and appear in beauty beyond defcrip- 
 tion, for their looks, their fpeech, their every a^ftion (23), are 
 fo many expreffions of love : moreover, there are certain fpiri- 
 tual fpheres which iilue from and furround every angel and 
 Ipirit, which make known by fenfible evidence (and that fome- 
 times to a confiderable diftance) the kinds and degrees of their 
 particular affedlions ; for thefe fpheres are fo many emanations 
 from their vital affed:ions, and the fcntlments they produce, or, 
 in other word?, from the life of their love and faith : the fpheres 
 thus exhaling from the angels, are fo replete with love, that 
 they fenlibly affecl the fpirits that are in company with them : 
 I myfelf at times have been fo aft'efted by them (24). That 
 love is the predominant principle in the life of angels, is ma- 
 n'licil ahb from hence, that is, in the other world every one 
 turns his face to the objeift of his love, fo they who are prin- 
 cipled with love towards the Lord, and towards their neigh- 
 
 (23) That tlic angels are fo many forms of the love of charity, n. 3R04, 4735, 
 9878, 10177. 
 
 (24) 1 hat a fpiritual fphLff, calKt! the fphcre of life, exhales from every man, 
 fpirit and angcl, and is diftufc i iirounJ him, like to an atmofpherc, n. 4464, 5179, 
 745 N. 8630. That it fti -ams from the vital affeclionf, and their thoughts ilming 
 therefrom, n. 2489, 4464, 62^6. 
 
 hour.
 
 [ 13 ] 
 
 hour, have their faces always turned towards the Lord ; whereas 
 they who are in the love of felf, have their faces always turned 
 from him, whatever be the movement of their bodies j for as 
 in the other world, fpace correfponds to the inward flate of 
 fpiritual beings refpeftively, fo alfo the four quarters of the 
 heavens (which have not their fixed determinations there as in 
 this world) are determined with reference to the afpedt of the 
 fpedlators refpeftively (*). It is here to be noted, that it is not 
 by any virtue or power in the angels of themfclves, that they 
 always turn their f^ices to the Lord, but by a holy inftindtive 
 power derived from him in thofe who love to obey his will (25) : 
 but more of this hereafter, where we fhall fpeak of the four 
 quarters of the heavens in the other world. 
 
 i8. That the divine influencing virtue of the Lord in heaven 
 is love, is becaufe love is recipient of all things proper to heaven, 
 as peace, underflanding, wifdom, and happinefs ; for love attracts 
 to itfelf whatever is congenial to it, as by a natural inftind:, for 
 they are its riches and perfedlion (26) : and this we all can wit- 
 nefs to, as knowing how love in ourfelves ranfacks whatever is 
 laid up in the memory, and takes to itfelf whatever it there 
 finds fuitable to itfelf, which it difpofes of in fubferviency to 
 its gratification and end, rcjedling and banilliing all that is con- 
 trary to it. That there is inherent in love a ftrong attradlivc 
 power, with the defire of appropriating to itfelf fuch truths as 
 accord with its nature, I had full experience of in certain fpirits 
 
 (*) This will be farther explained in the (cqucl of this work, and may be un- 
 derltood thus : As the Lord has his perfonal manifeftation in heaven always in the 
 caft, according to what our author relates, the angels and angL'Iicil fpirits, which 
 way foever they turn themfclves, front always to the eaft, and fo have the Lord 
 always before them. Q^ierc, If the belief of this among Chrillians in early days 
 of the church, however they might come by it, did not hill give occafion to the 
 cuftom of turning to the eaft on repeating the creed. Tr. 
 
 (25) I'hat fpirits and angels conilamly turn their faces towards the objc£ls of 
 their loves, and confequently all that are in the heavens towards the Lord, n. 10130, 
 10189, 10420, 10702. That the four quarters of the heavens in the other life 
 arc not fixed as in this, but are determined by the afjjcct of the fpcJlator, and 
 always the fame, which way foever he turns, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702. 
 
 (20) That in love arc aftcclions and things innumerable, and that love attradts 
 to itfelf all things that arc concordant with it, n. 2500, 2572, 3078, 3189, 6323, 
 7490, 7750. 
 
 D that
 
 [ H ] 
 
 that were trandatcd to heaven, wlio, though of great fimplicity, 
 and but of moderate capacity Avhillt in this world, prefcntly, 
 upon their adniifllon into the fociety of angels, attained to 
 angelical wifdom, and the refined enjoyinents of their kingdom ; 
 and that, becaufe they loved goodnefs and truth as fuch, and 
 had, as it were, incorporated them into the very principles of 
 life, whereby they became qualified for the immediate reception 
 of the celeftial treafures : but as to thofe, who in this life had 
 immerged themfelves in the love of felf and the world, they 
 are fo far from being receptive of them, that they have an anti- 
 pathy to them, and fo rejecfting tiiem upon the firll fenfations of 
 them, they immediately affimilate in fcllowihip with fuch of 
 the infernals, whofe affeftions accord with their own. There 
 were certain fpirits, who doubted of the beatitudes of celeftial 
 love, and therefore were defirous of being certified concerning 
 the reality of this matter ; wherefore they were permitted to 
 be let into the flate of it by the removal of that which difqua- 
 lified for it, and accordingly they were conduced on to the 
 angelical heaven, from whence they told me, that they felt an 
 inward joy, which they could not exprefs, lamenting at the 
 fame time, that they muft return to their former condition. 
 Others alfo were as highly exalted to the participation of hea- 
 venly light, as their interior capacity would admit (*) ; and 
 confefTcd that they underftood and perceived things that before 
 were utterly incomprehenfible by them. Let thus much fuffice 
 to fliew, that love proceeding from the Lord is the only proper 
 difpofition for, and recipient of, heaven, and all things proper 
 to it. 
 
 19. That love towards the Lord, and love towards our neigh- 
 bour, comprehend all divine truths, is manifelt from the fol- 
 lowing words of our Lord concerning thefe two loves : " Thou 
 " (halt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all 
 " thy foul : this is the firll and great commandment. And the 
 " fecond is like unto it : thou Hialt love thy neighbour as thy- 
 " felf: on thefe two commandments hang all the law and the 
 " prophets. Matt. xxii. 37, &c. Now the law and the pro- 
 
 (•) High in fcnfible appearance, anfwers to inward in fpirituni things, and 
 higheft to inmofl, and this liy coircfpoiidciicc between nature and fpirit. 
 
 phets 
 
 ▼1
 
 [ 15 ] 
 
 phets comprehend the whole revealed world, and confequently 
 all divine truth. 
 
 That Heaven is divided into Two Kingdoms. 
 
 20. Inafmuch as there are infinite varieties in heaven, and 
 no one fociety, nor indeed any one angel, exactly like another (27), 
 therefore heaven is to beconfidered under the threefold diftindiion 
 of general, fpecial, and particular : in general, into two king- 
 doms ; fpecifically, into three heavens ; and, in particular, into 
 innumerable focieties ; to each of which fliall be fpoken in what 
 follows : they are called kingdoms, becaufe heaven is called the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 21. Some angels receive the divine influx more deeply or 
 interiorly, others lefs ; the former are called cdcjiial angels, the 
 latter, Jpirltual angels : hence it is that heaven is divided into 
 two kingdoms, whereof the one is called the celejiial kingdom, 
 the other the y^/r/W/^// kingdom (28). 
 
 22. The angels which conflitute the ccleftial kingdom, in- 
 afmuch as they receive the divine efflux from the Lord more 
 inwardly, are called interior, and alfo fuperior angels, from 
 whom the heavens which they conftitute derive the fame dif- 
 titi'cftions (29) ; fuperior and inferior anfwering to interior and 
 exterior (30). 
 
 (27) That there is an infinite variety in the works of God, and no one thing 
 exactly like another,-ii. 7236, 9002. That there is alio an infinite variety in the 
 heavens, n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236. That the varieties in heaven are iu 
 the principle of good, n. 374, 4005 — 7836, 9002. That hereby all the focieties 
 in the heavens, and every angel in each fociety, have fome diitinguifhing charac- 
 teriltick, n. 690, 3241, 3519 — 7833, 7836: and yet, that all are fellov/ members 
 in the mvHical body of Chrifl:, and, as fuch, united to the Lord, n. 457, 3986. 
 
 (28) That heaven, in the full extent of the word, is diftinguifhed into two 
 kingdoms, the ccleilial and fpiritual kingdoms, n. 3887, 4138. That the angels 
 of the ccleftial kingdom receive the divine influx in their will-part, and confe- 
 quently more interiorly than the fpiritual angels, v/ho receive it in their inteiiciitiinl 
 part, n. 5113, 6367, 8521, 9935, 9995, 10124. 
 
 (29) That the heavens, which conflitute the celeftial kingdom, are called the 
 fuperior heavens, and thofe which conftitute the fpiritual kingdom, the inferior, 
 n. 10068. 
 
 (30) That interior things are exprefled by fuperior, and \\\\\t fuperior fignifies 
 interior, n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 514^), 8325. 
 
 23. The
 
 [ I6 ] 
 
 23. 7he love principle in the celeftial angels is called celcAi.^.l 
 love; and that of the Ijiiritual angels, fpiritual love: celcilial 
 love has the Lord for its ohjeft, and fpiritual love is the fame 
 with charity towards our neighbour : and as all good has relation 
 to love, for whatever any one loves, that is good to him ; there- 
 fore the tfood of the one kingdom is called celellial, and that of 
 the other fpiritual good : hence it appears in what refpecls thefe 
 two kingdoms differ, viz. as the good of love towards the Lord, 
 and the good of charity towards our neighbour (31); and as 
 the former is more inward or deeper than the latter, therefore 
 the celelHal angels arc more interior, and as fuch called fupe- 
 rior. 
 
 24. The celeftial kingdom is alfo called the facerdotal king- 
 dom of the Lord, and in fcripture his ihveU'mg-place -, and the 
 fpiritual his regal kingdom, and in fcripture his throne: from the 
 divine-celellial principle the Lord is in this world called Jesus, 
 and from the divine-fpiritual, Christ. 
 
 25. The celeftial angels far excel the fpiritual in wifdom and 
 glory, from their more intimate reception of the divine influx ; 
 and as their predominant principle is love to the Lord, they are 
 confequently more clofely joined to him (32). This higher 
 excellence of the angels of this kingdom, is owing to their 
 recpption of divine truth immediately into the principle of life, 
 and not as the fpiritual angels, through the previous inftrumen- 
 tality of memory and refled^ion ; infomuch that divine verities 
 are written in their hearts, and they fee them by intuition as 
 within themfelves, as in a kind of lource, without having any 
 occafion to reafon concerning them, whether the matter be fo 
 or otherwife [t^^,) '• ^^^^ ""^"^ thofe defcnbed by Jeremiah; " I 
 
 (31) That the good of the cclcftial kingdom, is the good of love to the Lord ; 
 and the good of the fpiritual kingdom, the good of charity towards our neighbour, 
 n. 3691, 6435, 9+68, 9680, 9683, 9780. 
 
 (32) That the celcftial angels far excel the fpiritual angels in wifdom, n. 2718, 
 9995. The diftcrencc between the celellial and the fpiritual angels, n. 2088, 2669, 
 2708 — 8121, 9277, 10205. 
 
 (33) That the cclcftial angsls reafon not concerning the truths of faith, foraf- 
 much as they perceive them intuitively in themfelves, whereas the fpiritual angels 
 reafon conccrninjj them, whetlitr the matter be fo or not, n. 2C2, 337, 397 — 9277, 
 10786. 
 
 " will
 
 [ 17 ] 
 
 " will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their 
 *• hearts ; c:nd they fliall no more teach every man his neigh- 
 " hour, and every man his brother, faying, Know the Lord ; 
 " for they fhall all know mc, from the lealt of them unto the 
 " greateft of them," xxxi. 33, 34. And they are called in 
 Ifiiah, " T/jc taught of "Jehovah," liv. 13. Now that the 
 taught of Jehovah are the taught of the Lord, he himfelf de- 
 clares, John vi. 45, 46. 
 
 20. We have faid, that they exxel the other angels in wif- 
 dom and glory, as receiving divine truths immediately in their 
 life-principle (*), for as foon as they hear them, they imme- 
 diutely will and do them, without having any occafion to lay 
 them up in their memory to refleft and reafon upon, in order to 
 know whether fuch things be true or not ; for they who arc of 
 this kingdom know immediately by influx (infpiration) from 
 the Lord, whether that which they hear be true or not, as this 
 influx palTes immediately into the will, and mediately through 
 the will into the thinking faculty ; or, in other words, imme- 
 diately into the good \bonum\ and mediately through the good 
 into the true [vem/n] (34) ; for that is called good which ap- 
 pertains to the will, and thence proceeds to work ; and that true, 
 which appertains to the memory, and thence proceeds to thought 
 and refledlion : fo likewife all true [omfie verum] (*) becomes 
 good, as being implanted in the love-principle, as foon as it 
 
 enters 
 
 (*) The will is here meant by the life or life-principle, being the fame with 
 love, which is the fire, and alfo the efficient caiife of life : fee note (u) before. It 
 will be of great ufc to ketp in memory this definition of our author, for the better 
 underftanding of his writings throughout. Tr, 
 
 (34) That the divine influx is into the property of good, and through the good 
 into the true, and not contrarywifc, confcquently, into the will, and through that 
 into the intcllcilt, and not contrarywifc, n. 54^52. 5649, 6027 — 101^^. 
 
 (*) The over delicate and critical u-„dcr will likely t;ike offence at the words 
 good a.nd /r«i' being fo often introduced in this tranihition for fubftantives, as not 
 agreeing with orduiary ufage in our language, though it is far from being un- 
 grammatical in the Latin ; but let it be obferved here once for all, that ocithcr the 
 txpreffion nor fenfc of the author could have been prefervcd without it, as good- 
 nr/s and truth in the nbflra^l and univcrfal, would not have anfwered to his nican- 
 ing, where it is needful to dillinguifii or particularize the kind or quality of what 
 is good or true in any thing ; thus, the food of ]icace, the good of lo\e, the gocd 
 of grace, &c, denotes the fpecifick goodntfs appertaining to thofe diitinit fubjcdfs, 
 
 E and
 
 [ i8 ] 
 
 enters into the will ; but fo long us it refts only in the memory, 
 and thence in the thoughts, it is not called good, as not having 
 life, or the force of a principle, neither is it appropriated to 
 man, feeing that man has his denomination from the will and 
 intcllecft thence proceeding, and not from intellect feparate from 
 the will (35). 
 
 27. Such being the dillinguifhing difference between the 
 angels of the celcilial, and thofc of the fpiritual kingdom, there- 
 fore they are feparate, and form different focieties, though there 
 is a communication between them by means of certain inter- 
 mediate angelical focieties called celeflial-fpiritual, through 
 which the celeilial kingdom operates by influx on the fpiritual 
 kingdom (36) : lience it is, that though heaven (in the complex 
 fenfe of the word) be diftinguifhed as two kingdoms, yet in 
 effeiH: they may be conlidered as one, forafmuch as the Lord has 
 eftablilhed an order of fuch intermediate angels, for the fake of 
 forming a communication and conjund:ion between them. 
 
 28. As much is fpoken in the following work concerning 
 
 and alfo the particular divifioiis that come under their feveral denominations : fo 
 alfo, the true of faith, the true of knowledge, the true of hiflory, &c. fpecify the 
 particular quality or quantity of truth that rcfults from thofc kinds of evidence 
 refpcfStivcly : but the objeiStion will vaniOi of itfelf on a little familiarity with the 
 {enfc and application in which our author ufes thefc cxprefTions. Tr. 
 
 (35) 1 hat the will of man is the very clTcncc of his life, and the receptacle of 
 the good of love, and that the intelleiSt is the cxiftcnccor form of life from thence, 
 and the receptacle of the true and good of faith, n. 3619, 5CO2, 9282. Confequently 
 that the life of the will is the principal life of man, and that the life of the intellert 
 proceeds from thence, n. 585, 590, 3619 — ICIC9, loiio. That thofe thmgs are 
 (aid to appertain to the life of man, and to be appropriated to him, which are 
 received in his will, n. 3161, 9386, 9393. That man is denominated futh from 
 his will and his uiiderrtanding thence proceeding, n. Sqii, 9069, 9071 — loiio. 
 That every one therefore is beloved and clleemcd according to the goodnefs of his 
 will, and not that of his underltanding, nay, that he is dcfpifed who has an evil 
 will, howiver gnat his fliare of underltanding, n. 8911, 10076. That man con- 
 tinues afier death according to the ilatc of his will and intclIeiSt from thence, and 
 that thofe things which are only ideally in his underflanding without any fliare of 
 the will in them, vanifti at his death, as conftituiing no part of the man, n. 9069, 
 9071, 92K2, 9386, 10153. 
 
 {36). That there is a communication and conjumflion between the two king- 
 doms, by means of certain intermediate angelical focieties, called celeftial-fniritual, 
 n. 4047, 6435, 8787, 8881. Of the divine influx through the ccleftial kingdom 
 into the fpiritual, n. 3969, 6366. 
 
 tlie
 
 [ 19 ] 
 
 the angels of both thefe kingdoms, we forbear to be more par- 
 ticular on the fubjecft in this place. 
 
 That there are Three Heavens (*). 
 
 29. There are three heavens, and they entirely diflindl from 
 each other ; the higheft or inmoft, called the third heaven ; the 
 middle or fecond ; and the loweft or Rr{[ heaven ; and they rank 
 in order, like the fupreme part in man, called the head, the 
 middle called the body, and the lowed or feet; or as the upper- 
 moft, middle, and loweft apartments in a houfe : in like order 
 is the divine influx proceeding and defcending from the Lord j 
 and from the fame law of order it follows, that heaven is tri- 
 partite, or divided into three. 
 
 30. The interior of man, as his underflanding and mind; 
 fubfifl in like manner, and confifls of inmoft, middle, and 
 loweft; for at the creation the whole of divine order was imaged 
 in man, infomuch that he was divine order itfelf in a human 
 form, and fo heaven in epitome [^y) ; therefore it is, that man 
 
 is 
 
 (*) Although the author in the foregoing chapter tells us, that heaven (taken 
 in the largcft or univerfal extent of that word) is divided into three difliniSt hea- 
 vens, and but two kingdoms, the kingdoms called the celeflial and fpiritual, and 
 anfwering to the properties or principles of love and intelle£t, or goodnefs and 
 truth (as being the predominant attributes in the angels of thofe kingdoms) yet 
 we are not therefore to underfland, that the angels of the third heaven [paradifej 
 are not highly tinctured with thcfe divine qualities (for they receive both by influx 
 through the fuperior heavens) but only that thefe are not their diftiiiguilhing cha- 
 radtcrilHcks : they partake of both, otherwifc they could not be angels ; but their 
 beatitudes confift chiefly in a kind of fpiritual gratifications more exterior, and 
 approaching nearer to fenfe and external nature ; as in emblematical reprefcntaiiojis 
 of divine and fpiritual things, under forms of exquifite beauty in endkfs varieties, 
 and fucceflions of wonderful difplays of divine wifdom and power ; and though 
 their enjoyments be lefs inward and refined than thofe of more exalted fpirits, yet 
 they arc abundantly fuited to the capacities of their nature, and to fill them with 
 joy and gratitude to the gracious author of their happinefs. It is to be noted, that 
 (as Omne mnjus contiut-t minus, fu) the fuperior angels enjoy the fum total of the 
 felicity of the inferior angels, together with other fupcremincnt beatitudes appro- 
 priated to their ranks in glory refpe(flively. Tr. 
 
 (37) That the whole of divine order was imaged in man, infomuch that by 
 crfation he became divine order itfelf in a human form, n. 4219, 422c — 10156, 
 
 10472. 
 
 ..: »' 
 
 f
 
 [ ao ] 
 
 is capable of communication with the heaycns, as to his inte- 
 rior, and of afTociating with angels after death, cither with the 
 angels of the higheil: (inmoil:) middle, or lowcf!: heaven, ac- 
 cording to his reception of the divine goodncfs and truth frum 
 the Lord, during his life in this world. 
 
 31. The divine influx from the Lord, as received in the 
 third or inmoil: lieaven, is called celeftial, as arc likcv.ife the 
 angels of that heaven; the fame divine influx, as received in tlie 
 fecond or middle heaven, is called fpiritual, as ali > are the 
 anifels of the fame heaven : and as it is received in the lovveft 
 
 o 
 
 or firfl; heaven, it is called natural ; but it mud be noted, that 
 as what is called the natural of this heaven is very dilfurent from 
 the natural of this our world, as the former partak' s both of 
 the fpiritual and celeftial properties, therefore this heaven is 
 called the fpiritual and celcftial-natural, and its angels like- 
 wife (38) : fuch of its angels as are called fpiritual-natural, are 
 they who receive their influx from the middle or fecond, which 
 Is alfo the fpiritual heaven ; as they are called the celeftial-natural, 
 who receive their influx from the third or inmoft, which is alfo 
 the celeftial heaven ; though the angels called fpiritual-natural, 
 and thofe called celeftial-natural, are of different denominations 
 and orders, yet they both conftitute but one heaven, as being 
 in the fame degree of blifs. 
 
 32. The dirtindlion of internal and external takes place in 
 each heaven : they who are in the internal are called interior 
 angels, as they who are in the external are called exterior angels. 
 External and internal in the heavens anfwer to the will-part, and 
 to the intelledtual part in man, internal to the will, and external 
 
 IC472. That the inner man in the human nature was formed in the image of 
 heaven, and the external in the image of this world, and accordingly that man 
 was named the microcofm by the ancients, n. 4523, 5368 — 10156, IC472. That 
 man by creation was an epitome of heaven, as he is alio now by his new creation 
 or regeneration from the Lord, n. 911, 1900, 1982 — 6057, 9279, 9632. 
 
 (38) That there arc three iieavtns, the highefl or inmoil-, the middle, and the 
 loweft ; or the third, fecond, and firft, n. 684, 8594, IC270. That the goods 
 (good things) there are in the lame order and degree, n. 4938 — 10017. That the 
 good of the inmoil or third heaven, is called celelHal ; the good of the middle or 
 fecond, fpiritual ; and that of the lowcft or firft, fpiritual-natural, n. 4279, 4286 — 
 JOO17, ICC68. 
 
 to
 
 
 [ 21 ] 
 
 to the intellect : every will hath its proper intelleft ; the one is 
 never without the other ; the former may be compared to a 
 flam.e, the latter to its light. 
 
 33. It is well to be remembered, that the interior ftate of 
 the angels is that which determines their being of this or that 
 heaven, for the more open their interiour is to the Lord, the 
 more interiour is the heaven they belong to. There are three 
 degrees of the interiour in every angel, fpirit, and man j they 
 in v/hom the third degree is opened, are in the inmoll: heaven j 
 ar:d they in whom only the fecond or firfl, are in the middle or 
 lowell: heaven accordingly. The interiour is opened according to 
 the reception of divine goodnefs and truth in the inward parts : 
 they who are fo affedled with divine truths, as to receive them 
 into the life-principle or will, fo that they become operative, 
 are in the inmoft or third heaven, and there in rank accord- 
 ing to the degree of their affedlion for truth i but they who 
 give them not fo immediate an admilTion into the will, but 
 only into their memory and underftanding, and then after- 
 wards frame their will according thereto, and then proceed to 
 ad: ; thefe are in the middle or fecond heaven : but they who 
 add to their faith good life, though without any extraordinary 
 earneftnefs and fedulity after divine knowledge j they are in the 
 loweft or firfl heaven (39). Hence it is manifefb, that it is the 
 interiour or inward difpofition that conftitutes heaven, and con- 
 fequently that heaven is fomething internal, and not external, 
 according to thofe words of our Lord : " The kingdom of God 
 " Cometh not with obfervation ; neither fliall they f^y : Lo here, 
 " or lo there ; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 
 Luke xvii. 20, 21. 
 
 34. Every human perfeftion [virtue and grace] increafes 
 towards the interiour of man, as being nearer to the Deity, and 
 purer in itfelf, but decreafes towards the exteriour, as this is 
 
 (39) That there are as many degrees of life in man, as there are heavens, which 
 arc opened to every one after death according to their pad lives refpectively, n. 3747, 
 <j594. That Iieaven is in man, n. 3884 : that tlierefore he who hath received 
 heaven in hinifclf in this life, is received into heaven after death, n. 10717. 
 
 F more
 
 [ 22 ] 
 
 more remote from the Deity, and more grofs in itfelf (40). 
 Angelical perfedion conlifts in underftanding, wifdom, love, 
 and in every good, and in happinefs from them ; for without 
 them happinefs is merely external, and not internal. Foraf- 
 much as the interiour [the inward difpofitions and properties] of 
 the angels of the inmoll heaven, arc open in the third degree, 
 therefore their perfccflion is of a far higher nature than that of 
 the angels of the middle heaven, whofe interiour is open only 
 in the fecond degree : in like proportion the perfection of the 
 angels of the middle heaven exceeds that of the angels of the 
 lowefl heaven. 
 
 35. Such being the difference between the angels, it follows, 
 that the angels of one heaven cannot find admilTion into the 
 heaven of other angels, or any of them afcend from an inferior, 
 or dcfcend from a fuperior heaven -, for fhould any of them 
 afcend to a higher heaven, he would immediately be fcized with 
 anguifh, neither would he be able to fee any of its inhabitants, 
 much Icfs to converfe with them ; and he who ihould defcend 
 from a fuperior to a lower heaven, would lofe his wifdom, 
 flammer in his fpeech, and be in the greatell diftrefs. Certain » 
 
 angels which belonged to the loweft heaven, and had not yet 
 learned that heaven was a ftate adapted to the interiour, imagined 
 that they Ihould partake of the fuperior happinefs of the celeftial 
 angels, could they be admitted into their heaven ; accordingly 
 this was permitted, but when they were there, they could not 
 fee fo much as one angel, though they looked about for them, 
 and, notwithftanding, a multitude of them was prefent ; for the 
 interiour of thefc Grangers was not opened in the fame degree 
 Avith the interiour of the celelHal angels, nor confequently their 
 light : and prefently after they were feized with a heart-felt 
 anguifli, fo that they fcarcely knew whether they were alive or 
 not ; wherefore they immediately betook themfelves to their 
 
 (40) That what is more interior is more pcrfcA, as nearer to the Deity, n. 3405, 
 5146, 5147. That in ihe interiour arc many thoufand particular?, which appear 
 only in the general in the extcrioiir, n. 5707. That in proportion as any one ad- 
 vances from external to internal things, is his progrefs in light and undcrft..nding, 
 and is as it were exalted above the mills into the higher and purer regions, n. 4598, 
 6183, 633. 
 
 own 
 
 V
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 own proper heaven, rejoicing that they were got again among 
 their own companions, and promifing that they would no more 
 feek after things that were too high for them, and difcordant 
 to the condition of their nature (*). Some others I faw, who 
 had defcended from a fuperior to an inferior heaven, and became 
 for a time fo confufed and loft to their wifdom, that they fcarcely 
 knew what heaven they belonged to. The cafe is quite other- 
 wife when the Lord is pleafed to exalt any from an inferior to 
 a fuperior heaven, to fhew them the glories of the latter, which 
 often happens, for then they are firft prepared, and furrounded 
 with the intermediate angels, through whom they enjoy the 
 communication with their fuperiors. P'rom what has been 
 already related, it appears that the three heavens are entirely 
 diiHndl: one from the other. 
 
 36. They who are in the fame heaven can aflbciate with all 
 that are there ; but the delights of their aflbciation are in pro- 
 portion to the fimilarity of their affeftions, and affinity in good : 
 but concerning thefe, in the following articles. 
 
 37. Though the heavens are fo diftindt, that the angels of 
 one heaven cannot affbciate with the angels of another, yet the 
 Lord connedts them all by influx immediate and mediate ; by 
 immediate influx, from himfelf into all the three heavens ; and 
 by mediate influx, from one fuperior heaven to another (41), 
 that fo the three heavens may become one, by their connexion 
 from firft to laft ; nor indeed is there any thing abfolutely un- 
 connecfled ; for were any thing to lofe its connedlion by the 
 intermediate links with its firft caufe, it would no longer fubfift, 
 but immediately lofe its exiftence {42). 
 
 (*) However ftrange the above article may appear at firft, yet probably the 
 reader upon recollection will find, that he has at one time or other experienced 
 fomething of like uneafy fenfations, when in company with perfons entirely ual'uit- 
 able to his particular genius and difpofition. Tr. 
 
 (41) That divine influx is both immediate from the Lord, and alfo mediate 
 through one heaven to another, and alfo into the interior of man, n. 6063, 6307, 
 6472, 9682, 9683. Of divine influx as immediate from tho Lord, n. 6058, 64-4, 
 106478, 8717, 8728. Of mediate influx through the fpiritual into the natural 
 world, n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996. 
 
 (42) That all things derive their exiftence from things prior to thcmfclvcs, and 
 fo back from the firft caufe, and fubfift in like dependence, as fubfiftenrc is con- 
 tinuation of exiftence ; and that thertfore there is nothing abfolutely unconneded, 
 n. 3626, 3628 — 6040, 6056. 
 
 ^8. He
 
 [ 24 ] 
 
 33. lie, who has no idea of divine order in refpeft to de- 
 grees, cannot form any conception how the heavens are diftinft, 
 nor yet what is meant by the inward and outward man ; nor 
 have the greater part any other notion of interior and exterior, 
 or fuperior and inferior in this refpecft, than as fomething co- 
 hering by continuity from a higher to a lower degree of purity ; 
 whereas things interior and exterior, as here treated of, proceed 
 not by the rule of Continuum, fo called, but the rule called 
 Discrete (*). Degrees are of two kinds, continuous, and dif- 
 continuoiis, or difcrete ; the former are as the degrees of light 
 decreafmg on to obfcurity, or as the different degrees of purity 
 between the upper and lower regions of the atmofphere j and 
 thefe degrees are determined by the diftances refpedively. De- 
 grees that are not continuous, but difcrete, are diftinguiflied 
 from the former, as prior from pofterior, as caufe from effe<ft, 
 and as what produces from the production. He that clofely 
 attends to this matter will find, that in all things throughout the 
 univerfe, things are fo ordered in their produftions and com- 
 pofitions, that one thing proceeds from another, and that from 
 a third, and fo on ; and he that has no perception of thefe 
 degrees of order, can have no idea of the diftinftion of the 
 heavens, nor of the didtinft faculties of the interiour and cxteriour 
 of man, neither of the difference betwixt the fpiritual and 
 natural world, nor yet between the fpirit and body of man, and 
 confequently can know nothing of correfpondences and emble- 
 matical reprefentations, nor of the important do(3-rine of inl-kix. 
 Mere fLnfual men cannot receive thefe di^lindions, making 
 
 (*) It will be fomcwhat diflicult for a common reader, rightly to apprehend our 
 author's meaning in this, fection ; and yet a very important meaning belongs to it, 
 and in particular, as it detedls the grofs error ot" thoie who aflcrt the materiality of 
 the foul, affirming it to be homogeneous, and continuous with the body ; whereas 
 it is hctcro|2;eneous, and dij'crctc. A continuum, or cantiuucd quaiuily, is exprefled 
 by lines, and is the fubjcdt of geometry : a dljcrcte quantity is exprefled by num- 
 bers, and is the fubjedt of arithmetick. In snothcr light, continuous n.ay be con- 
 fidered, aniwcrably to the familiar found of the word, as a unit, or any thing of 
 the fame kind continued without divifion, and giving but one idea ; and difcrete, 
 as things of different kinds and natures, and disjoined, and fo giving diii'crcnt 
 ideas : fo man, as confiding of foul and body, or fpirit and matter, the parts or 
 degrees of his conipofiiion arc not only difcontinuous or difcrete, but alfo dif- 
 fimilar. Tr. 
 
 nothing
 
 [ 25 ] 
 
 nothing more of them than higher or lower in their fcale of the 
 degrees of continuity ; and therefore have no other conception 
 of what is fpiritual, than as fomething natural in a more refined 
 degree ; thus they are quite befide the mark, and far from all 
 true underilanding of the matter (43). 
 
 39. Laflly, I find myfelf here at liberty to mention a certain 
 fecret concerning the angels of the three heavens, which is 
 entirely unknown to every one, through ignorance as to the 
 degrees here fpoken of, viz. That there is in every angel, and 
 alfo in every man, a certain inmofi: or fupreme degree or part, 
 which is the immediate fubjedl of the divine influx, from whence 
 the Lord regulates and governs their other interior faculties and 
 powers fuccelTively, according to their degrees of order : this 
 inmoft or fupreme part may be called the Lord's entrance into 
 angel or man, and his dwelling-place in them : it is alfo by 
 this inmoft or fupreme part in man, that he has his particular 
 denomination, and is diftinguiflied from the brute animals, for 
 they have it not ^ and hence it is the peculiar privilege of man 
 above other animals, ^that with refpedt to the interior faculties 
 of his foul and fpirit, he is capable of being raifed by the Lord 
 up to himfelf ; that he can believe in him, be afix-'ifted with love 
 towards him, and fo fee him j as alfo that he is fufceptible of 
 underftanding and wifdom, and can converfe rationally ; and 
 hence likewife he has the privilege of eternal life : but how or 
 wliat the Lord operates in this fupreme part of the foul, which 
 communicates with his divinity, is not clearly known even to the 
 angels, as being above their thoughts and higheft wifdom. 
 
 40. So much for thefe general truths concerning the three 
 heavens : in what follows we fliall fpeak of each heaven in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 (43) That the interiourand exteriourof man are not continuous, but diftiniSt anJ 
 difcrcte according to tlicir icrpe<Etive degrees, and tiiat every degree has its ter- 
 mination or limit, n. 3691, 4145, 5iI4> 8603, 10099. Th.it one thing receives 
 its torm from another, and that tiie things io formed are not more pure or more 
 grofs according to any rule of continuity, n. 6326, 6465. That he \vlio is a ftranger 
 to the dillinfiion between things interior and exterior according to the degrees 
 laid down, can neither form any juft conceptions of the internal and external 
 man, nor of the interior and exterior heavens, n. 5146, 6465, 10099, ioi8i. 
 
 G That
 
 [ 26 ] 
 
 That the Heavens confifl: of innumerable 
 
 Societies. 
 
 41. The angels of each heaven are not all "together, but are 
 divided into focieties greater or fmaller, according to their de- 
 grees of difference with refpedl to the good of love and faith : 
 they who are in the like good, and alfo degree of it, form one 
 and the lame fociety : the goods [fpecies or kinds of good] in 
 the heavens are of infinite variety ; and every angel is to himfelf 
 the condition or quality of his own good (44). 
 
 42. The angelical focietics in the heavens have alfo their 
 dillances one from another, according to their different kinds of 
 good, both in general and in particular j for diltances in the 
 fpiritual world are determined by the difference of the interior 
 ftates, and confequently in the heavens by the difference of the 
 dates with refpe^ft to love : they are at the greateft dillance 
 which differ mofl herein, and they at the leafl who differ leaft ; 
 whereas fimilitude of degree in this property connedts them in 
 the fime fociety (45). 
 
 43. All likewife in the fime fociety have their particular 
 dilUntSlions of place ; they who are more perfeft, or excel in 
 good, in love, in underllanding, and in wifdom, have their 
 Itations in or nearer to the center ; and they who are lefs perfecfl, 
 
 (44) That there is an infinite variety in the works of God, and no one thing 
 cxatitly like another in all rcfpccts, n. 7236, 9C02. That there is the fame infinite 
 variety in the heavens, n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236. That the varieties in 
 the heavens, which arc infinite, are \aricties in good, n. 3744, 5598 — 7836, 
 9002. That thcfe varieties exill in the multifarious forms of truth, which fpc- 
 cificate in every one the different kinds and degrees of good, n. 3470, 3804 — 7236. 
 AVhencc it is, that not only every fociety in the heavens, but every angel in each 
 fociety, have their particular dillindtion, n. 690, 3241 — 7236, 7833, 7836. But 
 notwithftanding, that they all adt confcntancoufly to the good of the whole by one 
 principle of love from the Lord, n. 457, 3986. 
 
 (45) That all the focieties of heaven have their conflant fituation according to 
 their different inward flates of life, and confequently according to their refpedtive 
 differences in good and faith, n. 1274, 3638, 3639. Wonderful things in the 
 other life or fpiritual world concerning diluncc, fituation, place, fpace and time, 
 n. 1273 to 1277. 
 
 round
 
 [ 27 ] 
 
 round about them, according to their different degrees of per- 
 feftioj^ : in which refpedt they niay be compared to light, de- 
 creafing in proportion to its diftance from its center or lumi- 
 nous body ; fo they, who are in the middle, are in the greateft 
 light ; they, who are at the circumference, in the lealt ; and 
 others according to their refpeftive diflances. 
 
 44. The angels, who are of a fimilar difpofition or interlour, 
 come together as by fympathy j for with their fellows they are 
 as at home with their friends, and with others as abroad and 
 with flrangers : alfo in company with the former they enjoy 
 freedom of fpirit, and confequently the true relifh of life. 
 
 45. Hence it appears, that good is the bond of fociety in 
 the heavens, and that the angels are of diftindt focieties, accord- 
 ing to the kind or quality of their good \Jecundiim ejus quale\ ; 
 however, it is the Lord, from whom all good comes, that 
 forms them into focieties, and not the angels themfelves : he 
 it is that leads them, joins them, diftinguifhes them, and pre- 
 ferves them in liberty according to their degree of good, and fo 
 every one in the life of his love, faith, underftanding, and wif- 
 dom, and thence in their proper happinefs (46). 
 
 46. All who are in fimilar good, though they never met 
 before, know one another as well as men know their friends 
 and familiar acquaintance in this world, and that becaufe in the 
 other life all propinquities, affinities, and friendfliips are fpiritual, 
 and ftand in relation to love and faith (47). This I have fome- 
 times feen myfelf when abfent from the body, and in company 
 with angels : at fuch times fome of them appeared as if we had 
 been acquainted from our childhood, and others as perft^ift 
 ftrangers : now the former were in a fimilar flate of fpirit with 
 myfelf, but that of the latter was diffimilar. 
 
 (46) That all liberty is from love and affe<£lion, as what a man loves he does 
 freely, n. 2870, 3158 — 9585, 9591- That as liberty is from love, therefore it is 
 the life and life's delight in every one, n. 2873. That notiiing appears to be our 
 proper own work that proceeds not from liberty, n. 2880. Tliat it is the very 
 perfeftion of liberty to be led by the Lord, as this is to be led by the love of good- 
 ncfs and truth, n. 892, 905, 2872 — 9096, 9586 to 9591. 
 
 (47) That all proximities, relations, affinities, and, as it were, confanguinitics 
 m heaven, are from good, and according to its concordances and varieties, n. 605, 
 917, 1394, 2739, 3612, 3815, 4121. 
 
 47. All
 
 [ 23 ] 
 
 47- All of the fame angelical fociety agree in a common 
 likencfs of countenance, though with a differ encc in particular; 
 now we may ealily conceive of fuch a likenefs in common, and 
 of fuch variations in particular, by what is familiar to us in 
 this world, it being well known, that in every different nation 
 refpcotively there is a general fimilitude in the features and eyes 
 of its inhabitants, that diilinguilhes them froni thole of aiiother 
 country ; and this holds true more particularly in families : but 
 this is much more remarkable in the heavens, where the affec- 
 tions of the mind are tranflucent through the face j for there 
 the countenance is the external form of the affections within, 
 and' no counterfeit nor dillimulation is allowed of there. It 
 was aifo lliewed to me how the general likenefs, whicii appears 
 througii the whole of a fociety, p.iifes through its particular 
 differences in the individual members of that fociety, and that 
 under the following reprefentation : there appeared to me as the 
 face of an angel, which varied the forms of its countenance, 
 fo as to exprels the different affeiftions of good and truth that 
 diltinguiflied a particular fociety ; and each of thefe variations 
 continued for fome time, fo as to give me leifure to obferve, 
 that the fame common likenefs ferved as the plane or ground of 
 all the variations, and that thefe were as fo many derivations 
 therefrom : in fuch manner did this face reprefent to me the 
 affedfions of the whole fociety under their particular differences 
 in the individuals of it j for, as was faid before, the faces of 
 the angels are fo many external forms of their affections v^ithin, 
 and confequently of their love and faith. 
 
 48. Hence it follows, that any angel, who excels in wif- 
 dom, can prefently read the (late of another in his countenance, 
 for no one there can conceal his interior llate, much lefs lie or 
 deceive by craft and hypocrify. It fometimes happens, that 
 hypocrites from beneath infinuate thcmfelves into fome ange- 
 lical focieties, who have learned to conceal their interior ftate 
 to the form of good peculiar to luch focieties refpedlively, that 
 they may pafs for angels of light ; but fuch can make no long 
 tarrying there, for they prefently begin to feel an inward anguifh 
 and pain, to change countenance, and to be flruck in a manner 
 lifelefs, through the iiillux of the life-powers of the angels fo 
 
 contrary
 
 • [ 29 ] 
 
 contrary to their own ; on which they cafl themfelves headlong 
 into hell among their fellows, without daring to afcend again (^■) : 
 thefe are lignified by the " man found among the guefts bidden 
 •' to the marriage feaft, not having on a wedding-garment, and 
 ** caft into outer darknefs." Matt. xxii. ii, &c. 
 
 49. All the heavenly focieties communicate with one ano- 
 ther, but not in the way of open converfe, for few go out of 
 their own fociety to another, as fuch a departure would be like 
 departing from themfelves, or their proper life into another, 
 unfuitable to their nature; but they hold communication by 
 extending their fpheres, which proceed from their vital affedions 
 of love and faith (-f-), and extend themfelves far to the focieties 
 around them, and the farther in proportion to the degree of 
 their interior excellence ,(48). In proportion to this extenfion 
 is the underftanding and wifdom of angels : they who are in the 
 inmoll: heaven, and the center thereof, extend their fpheres 
 throughout the univerlal heaven ; and hence there is a com- 
 munication of all heavenly things with every one, and of every 
 one with all (49). But concerning this extenfion we fliall treat 
 
 (*) That evil fpirits may fometimes be perniittetl to appear among the ange!?, 
 like Satan in paradilb, is eafy to believe ; but tlnis is no mitigation of ilieir niiiciv, 
 as their hell is vvithin them ; nay, it greatly adds to their fiiffcrings, as appears in 
 the inftance before us ; fo that it is not the place, but the ftate znd condition of 
 the parties that conftitutes the happinefs of heaven : thus the devils could not 
 endure the pain that proceeded from the contrariety between tiieir (late, and the 
 holy prcfence of our Lord ; and yet to anfwcr a divine purpofc, this huv of tlic 
 nature of fpirits was fufpended during his temptation in the wilderncfs. Tr. 
 
 (t) By faith here we are not to underfl:and mere believing, for there can be no 
 unbelievers in heaven ; but refignation, truft, reliance, together with a holy excr- 
 cife of fuch of the intellectual powers as have refpec*; to the divine attributes and 
 to divine truths. It is here to be noted, that the author frequently ufes the word 
 faith, as expreflive of intellecl:, and its objcifl, truth ; as on the other hand, he 
 ufes love and will as fynonymous terms, where he fpealcs of the two great diftinc- 
 tions or principles in men and angels. Tr. 
 
 (48) That the fpiritual fphere, or fpherc of life, proceeds from every man, 
 fpirit, and angel, and furrounds them, as the atmofphere docs the earth, n. 4464, 
 5179, 7454, 8630. That it iffues from their vital affections and thoughts, n. 2489, 
 4464, 6206. That thefe fpheres extend far to the angelical focieties, in propor- 
 tion to their quality and quantum of good, n. 6598 to 6613, 8063, 8794, 8797. 
 
 (49) That in the heavens there is a communication of all kinds of good, it 
 being natural to celeflial love to communicate of all it hath, n. 549, 550, 1391, 
 I399> iOl^Ot 10723. 
 
 H more
 
 [ 30 ] 
 
 more fully in the fequel, where we fpeaJc of the ccleftial form, 
 according to which the angelical focieties are difpofed ; and 
 where we treat of the wifdom and underilanding of the angels, 
 for all extenfioiY of the affedlious and thoughts proceeds accord- 
 inij to that form. 
 
 50. It has been obferved above, that in the heavens there 
 are greater and leller focieties : the greater confiil of myriads ; 
 the leller, of fomc thoufands ; and the Icaft, of fome hundreds 
 of angels : there are alfo fome who dwell in a kind of folitude, 
 as in fmgle houfcs and families -, but though thcfe live in fo 
 difperfed a way, yet they are under fubordination and govern- 
 ment, as well as thofe who are in focieties, the wifer of them 
 being in the center as governors, and the more limple in the 
 circumferences : thefe are under the Lord's more particular care 
 and diredion, and are the befl of the angels. 
 
 That every angelical Society is a Heaven in 
 a IcfTer Form, and every individual Angel 
 a Heaven in the leaft Form. 
 
 51. That every fociety is a heaven in a lefler form, and every 
 individual angel a heaven in the leall form, is becaufe the good 
 of love and faith is that which conrtitutes heaven, and is in 
 every fociety and angel in heaven : nor docs it alter the matter, 
 that the good here fpokcn of is different in quality or degree 
 in every one, for rtill it is the good of heaven, and fuch dif- 
 ference or dillindion only caufes it to be a heaven of this or 
 that denomination or quality : and therefore it is a common 
 faying among them, when any one is exalted to this or that 
 angelical fociety, that he is come to heaven ; and, when fpeak- 
 ing of thofe that are of it, that they are in heaven, and every 
 one in his own heaven : this is well known to all in the other 
 life ; and therefore when any, who are out of or beneath hea- 
 ven, behold any conipanics of the angels afir off, they readily 
 fay, There is heaven, or there : the cafe may be compared to 
 the officers or miniilcrs in a king's palace or court, who, though 
 
 they
 
 [ 3^ ] 
 
 they have different apartments, one above another, yet are all 
 in the fame palace or court, according to their feveral ranks and 
 offices ; which anfwers to thofe words of our Lord : " In my 
 " Father's houfe are many manfions," John xiv. 2. And alfo 
 to what we read in the prophets, of the habitations of heaven, 
 and the heaven of heavens. 
 
 52. That every angelical fociety is a heaven in a leffer form, 
 may alfo be evinced from hence ; that every particular fociety is 
 formed after the likenefs of the whole heaven, wherein they, 
 who moft excel, are fituated in the middle, and they, who arc 
 lefs in excellence, round about them, in diflances proportionate 
 to their inferiority, as is mentioned in a preceding article, n. 43. 
 This truth is farther confirmed from hence, that the Lord 
 governs the univerfal heaven by the laws of an uniform oeco- 
 nomy, as if they were all but one angel, and confequently thofe 
 in every particular fociety ; whence it fometimes follows, that 
 a whole angelical fociety is reprefented under the appearance of 
 a fmgle angel, which the Lord has vouchfifcd to grant me the 
 fight of. When it pleafes the Lord to manifcft his perfonal 
 appearance in the midll of the angels, he does not appear under 
 the particular diftindlion of being furroundcd by many of them, 
 but as one of them in an angelical form : hence it is, that he is 
 fometimes in fcripture called an angel ; as is alfo a whole fociety 
 of them by a fingle name ; thus Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, 
 fignify fo many angelical focieties, deriving thofe names from 
 their different funftions (50). 
 
 53. As an entire fociety is heaven in a lelTer form, fo is 
 every individual angel in its leall form ; for heaven is not with- 
 out the angel, but within him, his interior aftetflions and pow- 
 ers being fo difpofed, according to the form of heaven, as to 
 be fitted for the reception of all external heavenly good things ; 
 his receptivity of which is according to the quality of divine 
 
 (50) That the Lord is called angel in tljc word, n. 6280, 6831, S192, 9303. 
 That a whole angelical fociety is alfo called angel in the fingular, and that Michael 
 and Raphael arc entire focieties, fo called from tl^eir particular offices, n. 8 192. 
 That the heavenly focieties, and alfo particular angels, are dillinguifhcd only tiy 
 the cjualitv of their good, ai)d its idea, n. 1705, 1754. 
 
 good
 
 [ 32 ] 
 
 good in him from the Lord, and by which alone an angel is a 
 form of heaven (*). 
 
 54. It is by no means to be faid, that heaven is without 
 any one, but within him, for it is according to the kind or 
 quality of the heaven within, that every angel receives the 
 heavenly influx from without him. Hence will appear the great 
 error of thofe, who fuppolc that it is futiicient, in order to be 
 in heaven, for any one to be exalted to the company of angels, 
 whatever life he may be of, as to his interior ftate ; and that 
 therefore to be in heaven is nothing more than a grant by an 
 immediate aift of mercy (51) ; wliereas, if heaven is not within, 
 no heavenly influx is received from without. Many fpirits under 
 this erroneous perfuafion, in order to convince them of their 
 error, were permitted to afcend into the place of heaven ; but 
 they were no fooner there, but (as their interior llatc of life 
 was contrary to that of the angels) their underftanding became 
 confuled and darkened, all their inward powers difturbed, and 
 they reduced to fuch a flate of fufl^ering^ that they behaved like 
 ideots, or infane perfons : in a word, they who are ill-principled 
 in their life's properties, and are tranflated to angelical fociety, 
 feel a kind of fuffocation, and fuffer an anguilh, like that of 
 fillies when out of their clement, or like that of animals in an 
 air-pump, out of which the air is extraded : which ihews that 
 licaven conhib in a llate within, and not in a place without 
 us (52). 
 
 ^^. As all receive the influences of the external heaven, 
 according to the quality of the heaven that is within them, in 
 
 (•) The truth here laid down by our author ia this and the following fe£lion, 
 is of infinite importance, and adds light to that moit concerning doctrine of our 
 holy religion, the ncccifity of regeneration, or of being born again, in order to an 
 cjitrance into the kingdom of heaven. Tr. 
 
 (51) Tiiat hc.iven is not a mere gratuitous grant by an immediate a»Sl of mercy, 
 but according to the principle of life in evtry one, and that this vital principle of 
 gootl and godlincfs, by which any one is quJificd for heaven, is by gift and mercy 
 from the Lord, and that mercy is to be undcrftood in this fenfe alone, n. 5057, 
 10659. That if heaven were merely a gift by an immediate aiit of morcy, it would 
 be given to every one, n. 2401. Conctrning feme evil fpirits being c^lt down 
 from heaven, who bclic\ed that heaven was nothing more than a mere gratuitous 
 grant of immediate mercy to every one, n. 4726. 
 
 (52) That heaven is in man, 3884. 
 
 like
 
 L 33 ] 
 
 like manner alio do they receive the Lord, as it is his divinity 
 that conflitutcs heaven : hence it is, that when he vouchfafes 
 a perfonal manifeftation of himfelf to any fociety, his appear- 
 ance is according to the quahty of good in that particular fociety, 
 and therefore he appears not to any two exaiftly alike (*) ; not 
 that there is any variablenefs in him ; but the diiiimilitude is 
 in them who behold him, from their own particular kind or 
 degree of good, and according to it ; and likewife according 
 thereto are they affected with fuch beatifick vifion ; they who 
 love him moft are mod affected with delight, they with lefs that 
 love him lefs ; and as to the evil who are without heaven, they 
 are tormented at his prelence. When the Lord manifefls him- 
 felf to any fociety, he appears therein (as was faid before) as 
 an angel, though diftinguilhable from the angels by fomething 
 of a divine tranllucent glory. 
 
 56. There alib is heaven, where the Lord is acknowledged, 
 believed in, and loved : the various modes of worlhipping him 
 in this or that fociety has no other effedl than for the better, 
 for it conftitutes a perfeftion in heaven. This will hardly be 
 received without our taking in here fomething in the literary 
 way for explanation and diftintflion, to fhew how every thing 
 that is perfe6t confifts of various other things : every thing, 
 however fimple or one it may be fuppofed to be, exifls from 
 various others, otherwife it would not be any thing, but be 
 void of form, and confequently without particular quality or 
 mark of dilHnftion ; but where it exifls as a whole, from various 
 parts and properties uniting with friendly compofition in a 
 perfedl form, it is then an entire thing, having its own peculiar 
 quality and diilinftion. Juft fo it is with heaven ; it is a one or 
 whole, confifting of variety, but of variety ordered and difpofed 
 in the moft perfedl form, for the heavenly form is of all the 
 moft perfedl. That all perfcdHon is thus conftituted, appears 
 from hence, that every thing moft beautiful, pleafing, and de- 
 lightfu' to the mind and fenfes, do all proceed from confent of 
 parts, and a harmonizing variety (whether they co-exift in 
 
 (*) This may in a fort be illuftrated in nature by the obje£ls of vifion, which 
 appear to the fpeflator accordina, to the quality of the eye, and the condition of 
 jts organs rcfpedtiveiy. Tr. 
 
 I fimul-
 
 [ 34 ] 
 
 rimultaneous order, or follow in luccefTion) and not from any 
 thing that is but merclv one ; whence comes the common adage, 
 that in variety is delight ; now we know that this muft be 
 according to the different qualities in things : and this may 
 teach us that perfetftion, even in heaven, confills in variety; for 
 this natural world is a kind of mirrour or glafs, reprefenting to 
 us the things that are in the fpiritual world (53). 
 
 57. The fame may be predicated of the church in this 
 matter, as the church is the Lord's heaven on earth ; now the 
 church is manifold, coniilling of many churches, each of which 
 is called and is a church, in proportion to the good of love and 
 faith that is in it : and here alfo the Lord forms unity out of 
 variety, and one church out of many (54). And the fame may 
 be affirmed of every member of the church in particular, that 
 has been fpoken of the church in common, viz. that the church 
 is within, and not without the man ; and alfo that every one, 
 who is a true member of the church, is likewife a church him- 
 felf, in whom the Lord is prefent in the good of his love and 
 faith {§^) : and farther, it may be faid of every one in whom 
 the church is, as was faid of every angel in whom heaven is, 
 that he is the church in its leall form, as an angel is heaven 
 in its Icaft form ; and ftill f;^rther ; that man in whom the 
 church is [as to its effcntial principle] is heaven in epitome, or 
 its leaft form, in like manner as an angel is fuch, and that 
 becaufe man is created for heaven, that he may become an 
 angel ; confequently he, who lives in the principle of good from 
 
 (53) That every one entire thing is from harmony and conftnt of its fcvcral 
 parts and properties, and that othervi-ifc it would be without its particular quality 
 and note of diftinclion, n- 457. That in this fenfc it is, that the univcrl'al heaven 
 is one, n. 457 : and that becaufe all there have rcfpect to one and the fame end, 
 which is the Lord, n. 9828. 
 
 (54) That if the principle of good were the onlyefrential charaiflcr of a church, 
 without refpedt to feparate truths, then there would only be one [external] church, 
 n. 1285, 1316 — 3451, 3452- That all external churches, according to the prin- 
 ciple of good in them, make one church before the Lord, n. 7395, 9276. 
 
 {55) I'hat the church (as to its cflential principle) is in man, and not without 
 him, and that fuch men couftitutc the church conlidcrcd collcdtively, 11. 3884. 
 
 the
 
 . [ 35 ] 
 
 the Lord, is an angel-man (*) (56). I may here mention what 
 man hath in common with angels, and what he hath more than 
 the angels : now man hath in common with ajigels, that his inte- 
 riour is formed like theirs, according to the model of heaven, 
 and ulfo that he is a real image of heaven, as far as he is in the 
 good of love and faitli : and fnan has this more than the angels, 
 that in his exteriour he is formed after the image of this world ; 
 and that as far as he is in the principle of good, this world in 
 him is fubordinate, and fubLrvient to lieaven (57) ; and that 
 fo the Lord is prefent with him in botli worlds, according to 
 his divine order in each, for God is order (58). 
 
 58. Laftly, wc are here to obferve, that he who hath heaven 
 in him, hath heaven, not only in his principal powers and 
 properties, but alfo in the lealt things, as thefe in their pro- 
 portion refemble the greateft ; and this for the following reafon, 
 becaufe every one is in reality the fame with his own proper 
 prevailing love, as this influences and regulates the whole 
 man (59), and produces its likcnefs therein (*). In the hea- 
 vens 
 
 (*) However inconclufive the foregoing method of reafoning ufed by our author 
 may appear to the generality of our readers, it is not therefore to be lightly ac- 
 counted of, as it is of weighty confideration in the fpiritual fubjedl before us. Tr. 
 
 (56) That the man, who is the church in epitome, is alfo heaven in its Icaft 
 form, after the lilcenefs of heaven in its greateft form, and that, becaufe all hrs 
 interior faculties and powers are ordered and difpofed according to the form and 
 ceconomy of heaven, and conf quently fitted for the reception of all heavenly 
 things, n.911, 1900, 1982 — 6057, 9279, 9632. 
 
 {57) That to man belong both an intcriour and exteriour, or an internal and 
 external fyftem ; the former originally created an image of the heavenly world ; 
 and the latter an image of this mundane fyftem ; and that therefore inaif was 
 called by the ancients the microcofm, or little world, n. 4523, 4524 — 9706, 10156, 
 10472. That confequently man v/as fo formed, that the principle of this natural 
 world in him (hould be fubjcft to the heavenly world's principle, as is the cafe 
 with all good men ; but that it is quite the reverfe with bad men, in whom the 
 principle and things of this world are uppermoil, n. 9283, 9278. 
 
 (58) That the Lord is order itfelf, inafmuch as divine goodnefs and truth pro- 
 ceeding from him conftitute order, n. 1728, 1919 — 10336, 10619. Thaf divine 
 truths are the laws of order, n. 2247, 7995. That as lar forth as any one lives 
 in order, that is, in divine good according to the laws of divine truth, fo far is he 
 man, truly fpeaking, and fo far has both the church and heaven a form in him, 
 n. 4839, 6605, 8067. 
 
 (59) That the ruling love in every one enters into the whole of his life, and 
 confequently into every thought and act of his will, n. 8067, 8853, lono, 10284. 
 
 'fhat
 
 [ 36 ] 
 
 vens love to the Lord is the governing principle, becaufe there 
 the Lord is loved -.ibovc all tilings, and confequentlv is all in 
 all ; he intliiences, guides, and forms the bleilcd angels into 
 a finiilitudc of hinilelf, and conflitutes heaven by his divine 
 prefence : hence it is, that every fingle angel is heaven in the 
 lead and lowelt form ; every angelical fociety in a greater form ; 
 and all the angelical focieties colle^flively, in the greatell form. 
 That the divinity of the Lord conftitutes heaven, and is all in 
 all things there, fee above, n. 7 to 12. 
 
 That the univerfal Heaven in Complex 
 refembles a Human Form. 
 
 59. That the univerfal heaven refembles the human form, 
 is a fecret hitherto unknown in this world, though well known 
 there ; nay, the knowledge of it in its feveral parts and parti- 
 culars, conftitutes the main of the intelle*5lual entertainment of 
 angels, as many truths depend thereon, -which, without this 
 common principle of fcience, they would never be able to form 
 any clear conceptions of. Now, forafmuch as they know that 
 the whole of heaven, together with its feveral focieties col- 
 ledlively, are in the form of a man, therefore they call heaven 
 the Grand (Maximum) and Divine Man (60) : divine, 
 becaufe it is the divinity of the Lord that conflitutes heaven ; 
 
 J'ee a6ove, from n. 7 to 12. 
 
 60. That heavenly and fpiritual things fliould be formed 
 into fuch an image and likenefs, will not be conceived by thofe 
 
 That where love and faith prevail as principles, they have a part in all that a man 
 thinks and does, though he knows it not, n. 8854, 8864, 8S65. 
 
 (*) The meaning of the author herein is as follv>\vs : The good principle in 
 anyone (which is and can be only from the Lord) enters into, fandtificsand bleffcs 
 every thing that fuch a one think?, lays, and doL-s from that principle : as, on 
 the other hand, the evil principle that prevails in any one, infects with malignity 
 even thofe things which outwardly appear mofl inditfcrcnt or innocent, according 
 to that faying of the wife man; " The ploughing of the wicked is fm," Prov. 
 xxi. 4. Tr. 
 
 (60) That the univerfal heaven is in a human form, and therefore called, T/.'e 
 Grand Alan, n. 2996, 2998 — 3741 to 3745, 4625. 
 
 who
 
 [ %7 ] 
 
 x^'ho have no competent Idea of them : fuch are apt to fuppofe, 
 that what is earthly and material in the external part of the 
 human compofition, is fo cffential to man, that he would ceafe 
 to be man without fuch materials ; but let them know, that he 
 receives not his denomination of man from thence, but from 
 his capacities of knowing truth, and willing good : thefe fpi- 
 ritual and heavenly properties conftitute his characfter as man : 
 nay, all know that every one is called fuch or fuch a man, 
 according to his underllanding, and the (iifpofition of his will j 
 and alfo may know, that this terreftrial body is formed, in order 
 to its fubferviency to thofe faculties in this world, and through 
 the inftrumentality of its feveral organs contribute to their ope- 
 rations and ufefulnefs in this loweft fpherc of nature ; for to 
 the body belongs no principle of felf-motion, but only to be 
 palTive and obfequioufly obedient to the motions of the intelleift 
 and will, which are the only agents and principals in all that 
 the man fpeaks or does, making ufe of the body only as their 
 inftrument ; and confequently thefe are the principles that con- 
 llitute the man, and alfo are in fimilar form, as appears by their 
 inftantaneous operations on all the bodily members, as an in- 
 ternal agent on an external inftrument, whence man is deno- 
 minated internal and fpiritual : as fuch, a man in the greateft 
 and moll perfedt form is heaven. 
 
 6i. Such is the idea of the angels concerning man, and 
 therefore they do not confider him in relation to the mere 
 bodily adts, but with refpedl to the will that diredls them, and 
 with refpeft to his underftanding, as far as this co-operates with 
 the will (6i). 
 
 62. The angels do not, it is true, behold the univerfal 
 heaven in fuch a form, becaufe it comes not within the reach 
 of any angel's ken ; but they fometimes behold very diftant 
 focicties (confifting of many thoufands of angels) as one in 
 fuch a form ; and from a focicty as a part, they conclude con- 
 cerning the whole, that being the molt perfeft form in which 
 
 (6i ) That the will of man is the very elTencc of his life, and his unJerflanding 
 the cxiflencc or form of it, n. 3619, 5002, 9282. That the life of the will is 
 the principal life of man, and tliv.t the life of his intellect proceeds from thence, 
 "• 5^5» 590 — 10076, 10109, loiio. 
 
 K the
 
 [ 38 ] 
 
 the aggregates, and the parts of which they confift, refemblc 
 each other, without any other difference than betwixt greater 
 and lefs (*) : wherefore they fay, that the Lord, as the center 
 and great original of all creation, beholds the univerfal heaven 
 in this form. 
 
 63. Such being the conftitution of heaven, it is accordingly 
 adluated and governed by the Lord as one man, or one thing : 
 now it is well known, that though man is a very complicated 
 fyftem, conlilling of a great variety of parts, as well in the 
 principals, as in the particulars of his compolition ; in the 
 former, of members, organs, and bowels j in the latter, of 
 fibres, nerves, and blood-veffels of different claifes and orders ; 
 and fo of members within members, and parts within parts ; 
 yet notwithflianding this his multifarious compolition, when he 
 afts, he adls but as one fimple agent or man : fo in like manner 
 may we confider the univerfal heaven, notwithflanding its in- 
 finite variety, to be uniformly governed by the will, and at the 
 good pleafure of the Lord. 
 
 64. That fo many different parts in man adl with fuch unity 
 and conformity is, becaufe every thing in his compofition per- 
 forms its office of ufe, as moft contributes to the good of the 
 whole, the community miniftring ufe to the particular parts, 
 and the latter theirs to the fervice of the community ; for the 
 community is made up of the parts, and the parts conlHtute the 
 community, wherefore they all confpire with mutual conient 
 to promote the common good of the whole j whence arifes 
 uniformity. Jufl lb it is in refpedt to ufe and co-operation with 
 the conlbciations in the heavens, and they that fliould not con- 
 tribute their refpcdtivc ferviccs to the common good, would be 
 ejedled as unprofitable members : by being profitable or un- 
 profitable here is meant the being well affedled to others for 
 the lake of the common good, or only for the fake of our own 
 private good in particular ; of the latter fort are they who are 
 aftuated only by felf-love in all things ; of the former clafs arc 
 
 (*) This may be illuftrated by the configuration of falts of the fame fpecies : 
 thus for example, whether they confift of parts of a triangular, hexagonal, cylin- 
 drical, or any other form ; it is well known, tlrat the minutelt particles of thofe 
 parts arc of the fame figure. Tr, 
 
 they 
 
 f
 
 [ 39 ] 
 
 they who love the Lord above all things : hence it is, that all 
 who are in heaven have only one principle of atfting, and that, 
 not from themfelves, but from the Lord ; for up to him they 
 look, as the fource of all good, and to his kingdom as that 
 community, the good of which they are to promote in all 
 things, according to thofe words of the Lord : " Seek firfl the 
 " kingdom of God, and his righteoufnefs, and all things fhall 
 " be added unto you," Matt. vi. 33. Righteoufnefs (62) here 
 means good from the Lord, as the fource of all good. They 
 who in this world love the good of their country above their 
 own private good, and the good of their neighbour as their 
 own, are they who in the other life love and feek the kingdom 
 of the Lord, which is to them inftead of their country : and 
 they who love to do good to others from the love of good, and 
 not for felhfli ends, are they who love their neighbour ; for 
 among the angels good and neighbour mean the fame (63) : now 
 all who are of this characfter are in what is called the Grand 
 Man, or heaven. 
 
 65. As the univerfal heaven reprefents or refembles one man, 
 and alfo is a divine fpiritual man in the greatefb form and image, 
 therefore heaven is dilHnguiflied, like man, by human mem- 
 bers and parts, and after the fame names ; accordingly the angels 
 well know what particular member this or that fociety belongs 
 to, and it is common for them to fay, fuch a fociety is in a 
 certain member or province of the head, another in fuch a part 
 or province of the breaft, and a third in fuch a member or pro- 
 vince of the lungs, and fo of the reft. In general, the fupreme 
 or third heaven forms the head to the neck : the middle or 
 fecond heaven forms the breaft down to the loins and knees : 
 and the lovveft or firll heaven forms the inferior parts down to 
 
 (62) That righteoufnefi in fcripture is predicated of good, and judgment of 
 truth ; and that therefore to keep righteoufnefs and judgment, is to adhere to 
 goodncfs and truth, n. 2235, 9^57- 
 
 (63) That the Lord is our neighbour in the higheft fcnfe of the word, and 
 hence, that to love the Lord, is to love all that proceeds from him, as having 
 his divine nature in it, confequently goodnefs and truth, n. 2425, 3419 — 6823, 
 8123. Confequently, that all good proceeding from the Lord [in the abltraiSted 
 fenfe of the word] is our neighbour, and that to will and do it, is to love our 
 neighbour, n. 5026, 10336. 
 
 the
 
 [ 40 ] 
 
 the feet, and alfo the arms to the fingers ; for the arms and 
 hands are the extremities of the body, though at the fides : 
 hence ahb proceeds the diftinftion of three heavens. 
 
 66. The fpirits, who are beneath heaven, greatly wonder 
 when they hear and fee that heaven is beneath as well as above j 
 for they are of the fame opinion with the people of this world, 
 that heaven is no where but above, not knowing that the litu- 
 ation of the heavens is as the fituation of the members, organs, 
 and bowels in man, fome of which are above, and feme be- 
 neath ; fome within, and fome without ; whence arife their 
 confufed ideas concerning heaven. 
 
 6y. So much for what we had to fay concerning heaven 
 confidered as the Grand Man; as without this previous know- 
 ledge, the things which follow relating to heaven could not be 
 underlliood, nor any idea be conceived of the form of heaven, 
 of the conjundlion of the Lord with heaven, nor of the con- 
 jundtion of heaven with man, nor yet of the influx of the fpi- 
 ritual into the natural world, much lefs of the laws of cor- 
 refpondence betwixt both ; of which in their order in the fequel 
 of this work ; and for the better undcrllanding of which fubjedls 
 thcfe things are premifed. 
 
 That every Society in the Heavens refembles 
 
 a Human Form. 
 
 6S. That every fociety of heaven refembles the human form, 
 and is in the likenefs and image of man, has fometimes been 
 given me to fee. There was a fociety into which many had 
 infmuatcd themfelves, who knew how to counterfeit the ap- 
 pearance of angels of light, but they were hypocrites : upon 
 the feparation of thefe from the angels, the whole fociety ap- 
 peared at firll: as an obfcure body ; afterwards, by degrees, in 
 a human form, but indiftindly ; and at lafl, clearly in the form 
 of a man : they who formed this figure, as the feveral members 
 or conftituent parts of it, were fuch as were in the good (♦) 
 
 (•) By the good of any thing, we are to underftand the peculiar good quality 
 or property that prevails in it, and diftinguilhes it from the kind of good in another 
 
 thing :
 
 [ 41 ] 
 
 of this fociety ; but they who conflituted no part of this human 
 form, were not of the fociety, nor in the good property that 
 diftinguiflied it, but intruding hypocrites, and as fucli feparated 
 from it. Such here are called hypocrites, who have good 
 words, and outwardly good works, but at the fame time have 
 a view to felf in every thing : they can talk like angels, of the 
 Lord, of heaven, of love, and of fpiritual things, and are alfo 
 in the outward prailice of what is good, that they may be 
 thought to be in deed what they are in word ; whereas their 
 thoughts are far different, and they have neither faith, nor good 
 will to any but themfelves ; and if at any time they do good 
 to others, it is for fome felfifli end. 
 
 69. That a whole fociety of angels, when the Lord mani- 
 fefts his prefence to them, appears as one in a human form, 
 has been given me to fee ; and once in particular, fuch a fociety 
 appeared high towards the eaft, like a cloud of a pale red 
 colour, furrounded with little ftars, and defcending ; and as it 
 defcended gradually, it appeared brighter, and at length in a 
 perfedl human form : the little liars that furrounded the cloud 
 were fo many angels under that appearance by light from the 
 Lord. 
 
 70. It is to be noted, that though all of the fame fociety, 
 when together, appear as one in a human form, yet no one 
 fociety is exadtly like another, but differs as different families 
 
 thing : fo here ; the good of the fociety mentioned in this place, means the par- 
 ticular characterifHck of that fociety, whether as in the good of humility, of 
 charity, of gratitude, and fo on. And as all the virtues, graces, relative duties, 
 and perfeftions of every kind, give diftindtion to the angelical focicties, fo do the 
 difterent degrees of them, infomuch that they arc innumerable : not that any one 
 I'ociety is without any other virtue, but that it takes its particular denomination 
 and diftindlion from that in which it moft excels : and farther, it is to be noted, 
 that every particular angel in every particular fociety has fomething of dillinftion 
 peculiar to himfelf, that differences him from every other angel in the fame fociety, 
 but only as one member in the fame body differs from another, whilft each con- 
 tributes, by one common harmonizing variety, to the perfcftion of the whole : 
 the fame is obfervable in every fociety of good men on earth in proportion refpec- 
 tively : and thus we call the latter by the name of a body ; and what is there 
 incredible in the fuppofition, that fuch focicties in heaven fhould be rcprefentcd at 
 times, even to the view of the beholder, under the appearance of a human form, 
 as of all the moft excellent, and that which the Lord of all Lords has alfumcd for 
 the manifcftation of his divinity. Tr. 
 
 L from
 
 [ 42 ] 
 
 from the fame flock here on earth, and that from the like caiife 
 mentioned, n. 47. viz. that they differ according to the various 
 kinds and degrees of good in which they are, and from which 
 they derive their diflincft appearances, though under one com- 
 mon form. In the moll beautiful and perfedl human form are 
 the focieties of the inmoil or highell heaven, and more efpecially 
 they who are in the center of it. 
 
 71. It is worthy of notice, that the greater the number in 
 any of the angelical focieties, and the greater their harmony, 
 tlie more perfedl is their human form ; for the greater the 
 variety or number, when adting by confent in a heavenly dil- 
 pofition, flrengthens the unity of the whole, fee n. 56. Thus 
 every fociety in heaven, as it daily increafes in number, advances 
 in perfeftion, and not only every fociety in particular, but. 
 heaven in common, as the whole of heaven coniills of its feveraL 
 particular focieties. As heaven thus advances in degrees of 
 pcrfedlion in proportion to the increafe of its inhabitants, we 
 may hence learn the error of thofe, who fuppofe that it may 
 be fo completely furnirtied with guefls, as to leave no room for 
 more j but imagine the greateft number you can, and yet there 
 is room -, nor do the angels defire any thing more than to have 
 their number increaled by the arrival of frelh angels from other 
 worlds, 
 
 72. That every fociety, when together, appears as one human 
 form, is becaufe the univerfal heaven has the fame form, as 
 may be fcen in the foregoing article ; and in the moft pcrfetfl 
 form, as that of heaven, there is a refemblance between the 
 parts and the whole, between the leller and the greatell ; now 
 the lefTer, or the parts of heaven, are the focieties of which it 
 conlifls, which are fo many heavens in a lefTer form ; fee above, 
 n. 51 to ^H. That there is luch a perpetual fimilitude in the 
 heavens, is becaufe the various fpecies of good [/^omi] in all 
 there, proceed from one love or origin ; now the one love from 
 which all thofe goods originate, is love to the Lord in the angels 
 proceeding from the Lord : hence it is that the univerlal licaven 
 is a likencfs of him in common ; every fociety u fimilitude of 
 him in a leller community ; and every angel a likencfs or image 
 of him in particular; fee above on this fubjed, n. 58. 
 
 That
 
 [ 43 ] 
 
 That every Angel is in a perfeft Human 
 
 Form. 
 
 73. It has been fliewed before, that the univerfal heaven' 
 refembles the human form, as does likewife every fociety in 
 heaven ; and from the chain of caufes and effefts there prodaced, 
 it follows, that every particular angel has the fame figure ; the 
 univerlal heaven as a man in the greatefl, each fociety in a lelTer, 
 and every particular angel in the leaft human form ; for in the 
 mofl perfecfl form, as is that of heaven, there is a mutual like- 
 nefs between the whole and its parts ; and that becaufe heaven 
 is a communion, and fo communicates of its whole perfedlion 
 to every one, whilfl: every individual is a receiver from that 
 whole, and fo is heaven in its Icaft form, as has been fhewed 
 before. Man alfo in this world, as far as he is a recipient of 
 the efHux from heaven, is fo far a heaven, and an angel ; fee 
 above, n. 57. This is defcribed in the Apocalypfe in the fol- 
 lowing words : '* And he meafured the wall thereof," [of the 
 holyjerufalem] " an hundred and forty and four cubits, according 
 '• to the meafure of a man, that is, of the [an] angel," xxi. 17. 
 'Jeriijalem there means the church of the Lord, and in a higher 
 fenfe, heaven (64); the wrt/Zfignifies truth, as its defence again ft 
 the attacks of error and evil of every kind (65) \ab injultu fal~ 
 forum et mahnwi] ; an hwidred and forty -fmr means every fpecies 
 of what is good and true in the complex (66) -, the meiafure is 
 its particular kind or quality \_quale ejus]' {6j) ; 7nan is he, or 
 
 (64) That Jerufaleni fignifics the church, n. 402, 3654, 9166. 
 
 (65) That wall fignifies the defence of truth againfl the attacks of falfchoods 
 and evils, n. 6419. 
 
 (66) Thut the number twelve fignifies the whole complex of things got)d and 
 true, n. 577, 20H9 — 3858, 3913- The fame is likewife fignified by the numbers 
 feventy-two, and one hundred and forty-four, becaufe 144 is the product of twelve 
 multiplied by itfelf, n. 7973- That in the Scripture, numbers Itand for things, 
 n. 482, 487, 647 — 4264, 4495, 5265. That multiplied numbers fignify the 
 fame with the fmiple from which they proceed in multiplication, n. 5^91, 533S> 
 5708, 79^3. . . . • 
 
 (67) That meafure in the fcripture figniEes the quality of a thing with rcfpecS: 
 to good and true, n. 3104, 9603. 
 
 that
 
 [ 44 1 
 
 that foclcty, in which all thofe things arc in general and ia 
 particular, conrequently in which heaven is; and becaufe an 
 angel is alfo a divine man from thefe divine qualities, there- 
 fore it is faid ; The meajure of a man, ivhich is that of an angeJ. 
 This is the fpiritual meaning of thefe words ; and who, without 
 this interpretation of them, would be able to find out the fcnfe 
 of the wall of the heavenly Jerufalem being the meafure of a 
 man, that is, of an angel (68) ? 
 
 74. But to come to experience : That angels arc human 
 forms or men, I have feen a thouland times, and have converfed 
 with them, as one man with another, fomctimes fingly, fome- 
 times with many together ; nor did I ever fee in them any thing 
 that differed from the human form ; at which I have fometimes 
 wondered -, and that this might not be fufpedled of being a 
 deception, or vifion of the imagination, it has been given me 
 to fee them when quite awake, and in all clearnefs of fenfible 
 perception. I have often told them, that in our ChrilHan world, 
 the generality were fo grofsly ignorant in refpeift to the nature 
 of angels and fpirits, as to take them for minds without form, 
 mere invifible thinkers, and of which they had no other idea 
 than as of vital aether ; and that confequently, having nothing 
 in them human but the power of thinking, they could neither 
 fee, hear, nor fpeak, as being without eyes, ears, and tongues. 
 To which the angels replied, that they knew it to be fo with 
 many in this world, particularly among the learned, and (which 
 they much wondered at) alfo with the clergy : and they alTigned 
 for the caufe of it as follows, viz. that the learned, who firlt 
 broached this error, being mere natural men, and borrowing all 
 their ideas of fubftance from their external fenfes, and not from 
 any interior light, or from thofe common notices of things 
 which are implanted in the human mind, refined fpiritual things 
 and beings, as it were, into nothings ; not feeing, from the 
 groffnefs of their ideas, how any thing could exift fpiritually 
 in form and fubftance, that is not material and palpable to fenfe, 
 
 (68) Of the fpiritual or internal fcnfe of the word, fee the explanation of the 
 White Horfe in the Apocalypfe, and the Appendix to the Heavenly Doilrine. 
 
 as
 
 I 45 ] 
 
 as in .this natural world (69). From fucli leaders in error this 
 falle notion concerning angels was derived down to others.: 
 now they who relign up their minds to others, and believe on 
 their own authority alone, feldom recover their liberty, but for 
 the molt part acquiefce in confirming themfelves in what they 
 fo imbibe. Moreover they faid, that men of limplicity in faith 
 and heart thought far otherwiie of the angels, and conceived of 
 them as heavenly men, and that becaule they did not extinguiHi 
 the heavenly idea of them by human learning, nor admit of 
 any thing into their minds, but under fome form : hence it is 
 that angels in churches, whether as carved or painted, have 
 always been reprefented as men : by heavenly ideas, or ideas 
 from heaven of celeftial things, they fiid, was meant a divine 
 influx or light in thofe who are in the good of faith and life'. 
 
 y^. From all my experience, which is now of many years, 
 I can truly affirm, that the angels, in refpe*fl; to their form, are 
 perfect men, having like faces, eyes, ears, breafls, arms, hands, 
 feet, 6cc. that they hear, fee, and converfe with one another ; 
 and, in a word, that nothing human is wanting to them, but 
 thefe material bodies of flefli that we are inverted with : I have 
 beheld them in their own light, which far exceeds our greatefl 
 meridian luftre, and have therein difcerned all the features and 
 variations of their faces more diflindtly than thofe of my fellow 
 inhabitants of this earth. It was alfo granted me to fee an 
 angel of the inmoft or higheft heaven, who appeared with a 
 more refplendent countenance than the angels of the lower 
 heavens, and was of a human form in all perfed;ion. 
 
 76. It is here to be obferved, that the angels cannot be feen 
 by any mortal man with the eyes of his body, but with thofe 
 only of the fpirit which is in man (70), and that becaufe this 
 
 (6g) That till a man be elevated above the carnal or fonfual part, as to his 
 apprchenfions, he has but little wifdom, n. 5089. That a wife man's thoughts 
 arc ot a more exalted nature, n. 5089, 5094. That when any one is elevated 
 above fenfc, he comes into a clearer light, and at length advances to heavenly 
 light, n. 6183, ^3^3 — 973O' 9922. That fuch elevation and abltradtion from 
 the things of fenfc was known to the ancients, n. 6313. 
 
 (70) That man, as to his interiour, is a fpirit, n. 1594. And that fuch fpirit 
 is properly the man, and that the body derives its life from it, n. 447, 4622, 
 6054. 
 
 M is
 
 [ 46 ] 
 
 is in the Tpiritual world ; but all things appertaining to the 
 body, in the natural world : for like only lees like in the fame 
 common nature. Moreover, the organ of bodily vilion, or the 
 material eye, is fo grofs, that it cannot difccrn the more minute 
 parts of nature without the afiiflance of optical glafles, as is 
 well known ; how much lefs thofe things which are above the 
 fphere of nature, as are all things in the fpiritual world : and 
 yet thefe are maniferted to his view, when he is withdrawn in- 
 wardly from the bodily fenfe, and the eye of his fpiritis opened, 
 which is done in an inftant, when it pleafes the Lord to give him 
 a fight of things in the fpiritual worlds ; and then they appear 
 as if he faw them with his bodily eyes : it was thus that the 
 angels appeared to Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the Prophets ; 
 and thus alfo was the Lord fecn by his difciples after his refur- 
 reiftion : in like manner have I alfo been favoured with the 
 light of angels. From this kind of vifion it was, that the Pro- 
 phets were called Sec'is, and the " men whofe eyes were open," 
 I Sam. ix. 9. Num. xxiv. 3. And to caufe them to fee thus> 
 was called. Opening their eyes, as in the inflance of Elilha's 
 fervant, of whom it is faid, " That Eliflia prayed, and faid, 
 *' Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may fee ; and the 
 '* Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he faw : and 
 " behold ! the mountain was full of horfes and chariots of fire 
 *' round about Eliflia," 2 Kings vi. 17. 
 
 77. Some good fpirits with whom I difcourfed on this 
 fubjedt, expreffed much grief at fuch ignorance in the church 
 concerning the ftate of heaven, and that of angels and fpirits, 
 and with fome fliarpncfs charged me to declare, that they were 
 not mere minds without form, nor like to a breath of a:ther, 
 but men in human form, and that they faw, heard, and enjoyed 
 fenfcs, as well as the dwellers upon earth (71). 
 
 {71) That every angel, as a recipient of divine order from the Lord, is in a 
 human form, perfc(5t and beautiful, in proportion to his recipiency, n. 323, 1880, 
 1881 — 9879, 10177, 10594. That divine truth conllitutes the form or cxillence 
 of order, and divine good its cflcncc, n. 2451, 3166 — 10122, 10555. 
 
 That
 
 [ 47 ] 
 
 That Heaven, both in its Whole and Parts, 
 refembles the Human Form j and that 
 from the Divine Humanity of the Lord. 
 
 78. That heaven, both in its whole and parts, refembles the 
 human form, and that from the d'ivine humanity of the Lord, 
 follows by confequence from the preceding articles ; in which 
 has been declared and (hewed, i. T^hat the Lord is the God of 
 Heaven, ii. That the Divinity of the Lord conjiitutes Heaveti. 
 iii. That Heaven confijls of innumerable Societies , and that every 
 Society is Heaven in a lejj'er Form -, and every Angel in its leaf 
 Form. iv. That the univerfal Heaveti in Complex refembles one 
 Man. V. That every Society in the Heavens alfo refembles one 
 Man as to its Fortn. vi. That likeivife every particular Angel is 
 in a perfeSl Human Form. From all thefe premifes we may 
 conclude, that the Deity, or Divine Nature, as conftituting 
 heaven, is alfo in a human form (*) : and that fuch human 
 form is the Divine Humanity of the Lord, though otherwife 
 
 (*) The undifcerning reader is here to be cautioned againfl: falfely imputing to 
 our author the error of the ancient Anthropomorphites, whofe herefy did not 
 confift in afcribing a human form to the Deity, for every true believer acknow- 
 ledges this in the WORD made flefh, but in afcribing a feparate perfonal form 
 to the Father or Divine Efience, in dillindlion from the Son : and it is to be wifhcd 
 that they who are mofl apt to fix fuch a charge upon our author may not be of 
 that number, who outdo the ancient Anthropomorphites in their herefy, by a 
 grofs iiiifundcrftanding of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, in affigning to the 
 Godhead THREE diftind perfonal forms, and fo plunge themfelves into Poly- 
 theifm, or the belief of a plurality of gods. 
 
 I fhall conclude this note with another taken from a pamphlet intitlcd, " The 
 " Caufc of the Petitioners examined," &c. Printed for Robinfon, Pater Nofter 
 Row, 1773- and to which I refer the reader for further fatisfaclion on this fubjed. 
 
 " I cannot but take occafion in this place, to condemn as highly ofRnlive, 
 " heathenifh and profane, the manner of fome to reprcfent the Trinity as three 
 " human pcrfons fitting in council, and making decrees : fee among others a book 
 ♦' intitled. Lux in Tenebris, with fuch a print. All they who figure the like 
 " rcprefentations of the Godhead, whether in their minds, or on paper, whether 
 " by fculpture, or painting, are Tritheifts with a witnefs, however they may 
 " (in order to cover the abfurdity of their error) profcfs to believe in the Unity." 
 Tr. 
 
 thought
 
 [ 4S ] 
 
 thought of by many in the church, will more fully appear from 
 the many quotations extraded from the Arcana Cii'leflia, and 
 collccfled together in this work ; and alfo from the Doclrine of 
 the Holy Jcrnjiilem, towards the end of that work, where it 
 treats of the Lord. 
 
 79. Tha.t this is the rea] truth, has been confirmed to me 
 by much experience, of which I ihall fpeak in what lollows. 
 All the angels in the heavens have no perception of the Divine 
 Majeily under any other than a human form ; and what is ilill 
 more to be admired, they which belong to the fuperior heavens 
 cannot think of him otherwife, being necefliirily led theretcj 
 by a divine influx, and alfo by the form and laws of the hea- 
 venly world, according to which their thoughts extend them- 
 felves around them ; for the thoughts of angels have fuch ex- 
 tcnfion, and in proportion thereto is their underitanding and 
 wifdom : hence proceeds their unanimous confent to the truth 
 of the Divine Humanity of our Lord, and in him only. Thefe 
 things were not only told me by the angels, but it was allowed 
 me to have a perception of them during the elevation of my 
 fpirit into an interior fphere of heaven : hence it appears, that 
 the more highly the angels are graduated in wifdom, the more 
 evident is their perception of this truth, and the better qua- 
 lified for the beatihck vifion ; for the Lord appears in an ange- 
 lical, that is, a human form, to thofe who acknowledge and 
 believe in his divinity as vifible, but not to thofe who think it 
 invifible ; the former are capable of beholding his glorious 
 Majelly, but the latter are not. 
 
 80. Forafmuch as the angels have no idea of the divine 
 invifible effence, which they call the divinity without form, 
 but only of the vifible divinity in a human form ; therefore it 
 is a ufual way of fpeaking with them to fay, that the Lord alone 
 is the true perfecT: Man, and that they are only fo far men as 
 they receive him, by which they mean their receiving good and 
 truth from him, as therein he himfelf is, and which they call 
 wifdom and undcrllanding ; for thefe (fay they) all may know, 
 conftitute the man, and not his mere face and figure without 
 them : and that this is fo appears evidently from the angels of 
 the more interior or higher heavens, who, being in the higher 
 
 deg^rees
 
 [ 49 ] 
 
 degrees of good and truth from the Lord, are alfo of a more 
 beautiful and perfed: form than the lower angels : but the reverfe 
 of this is the cafe of the inhabitants of the infernal regions, 
 who, when viewed in the light of heaven, fcarcely exhibit any 
 thing of the human form, but appear as monfters ; forafniuch 
 as they are in the properties of evil and falfe, which are op- 
 pofite to wifdom and truth ; for which reafon their kind of life 
 is not called life, but fpiritual death. 
 
 8i. As heaven, both in whole and in part, thus refembles 
 u man, from the Divine Humanity of the Lord ; therefore the 
 angels commonly fay, that they are in the Lord, and fome of 
 them, that they are in his body, meaning, in the good of his 
 love ; according to thofe words of the Lord. " Abide in me, 
 *' and I in you : as the branch cannot bear fruit of itfelf, ex- 
 " cept it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in 
 ** me : 1 am the vine, ye are the branches : without me, ye 
 ** can do nothing — Continue ye in my love: If ye keep my 
 " commandments, ye fhall abide in my love." John xv. 4 — 10. 
 
 82. Such being the perception of the divinity in the angels, 
 it is, as it were, congenial to every one that is a recipient of 
 the divine influx, to form an idea of God under fome fpecies 
 of humanity : thus did the ancients, and fo the moderns both 
 within and without the church, whilft the more fmiple of both, 
 figure him in their thoughts, as the ancient of days in a vefture 
 of light ; but many extinguifli every idea of God in their minds, 
 either by carnal reafonings, or an evil life (*) ; and fo in the 
 former cafe difpute againfl him as a revealed God ; or in the 
 latter, difown his exiftence ; and thus having extinguiflicd in 
 themfelves the light from heaven, will not allow that any others 
 have it : whereas it is given from above to every man as a crea- 
 ture born into this world for heaven, and whither no one goes 
 that is entirely without any idea of a Deity. 
 
 83. Hence it is, that he, who is devoid of every idea of 
 heaven, and fo of the Divine Creator of it, is incapable of 
 
 (*) Hence it is that fo many amongft us run into Naturalifm, afcribing all 
 things to blind nature, avoiding even the mention of the name of God, nay, 
 banilhing every idea of him from tiitir minds, and ib become atheifts ; for that of 
 which we have no manner of idea ccafes to be an objcit of our faith. Tr. 
 
 N entrance
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 entrance into heaven, but finds ii refiftance and repulfe on the 
 firft approach ; and that bccaufe his intcrioiir, which ihould be 
 the receptive and qualifying condition, is not adapted to the 
 Hate of heaven, but is as a ihut gate within him, and the clofer 
 ihut, by how much nearer he approaches to the holy abode. 
 Such is the fate of thofe in the outer church, who deny the 
 Lord, or with the Socinians difown his divinity : as to the lot 
 of thofe v/ho were not born nor educated within the pale of 
 the church, nor favoured with the light of the written Word; 
 tliis fhall be fpoken to hereafter. 
 
 84. That the ancients had an idea of the Divine Humanity, 
 is manifeft from the divine appearances to Abraham, Lot, Jofluia, 
 Gideon, Manoah, his wife, and others, who, though they 
 beheld God as man, yet they worfhipped him as the God of the 
 univcrfe, calling him the God of heaven and earth, and Jeho- 
 vah ; and that it was the Lord that appeared to Abraham, he 
 tells us, John viii. 56. and alfo to others in old times, John i. 
 18. V. 37. 
 
 85. But that God is alfo Man, will hardly be believed by 
 thofe who judge of heavenly things by their external fenfes, and 
 the things of this world, and confequently of the divine and 
 fpiritual, by the corporeal and natural man; for fuch a one will 
 immediately conclude, that if God were alfo Man, he muft 
 (from his ubiquity) be as large as the univerfe, or, in order to 
 he Governor of heaven and earth, ftand in need of many lieu- 
 tenant governors, like earthly monarchs ; or if we fhould tell 
 them, that there is no fuch extenfion of fpace in heaven, as 
 with us in this world, they could not receive it ; for they who 
 think only from outward nature on this fub)c<fl, and apply thofe 
 thoughts as a meafure to heavenly things, fall into grofs delufion 
 and abfurdity : extenfion in heaven is of a far different nature 
 from what is here ; in this world it is fomething determinate, 
 and, as fuch, meafureable ; but there indeterminate and un- 
 meafurable (*) : but concerning extenfion in heaven we fliall 
 
 fpeak 
 
 (*) We are fcnfiblc that this diftinftion of our author, though of highly im- 
 portant ufc in this fiibjcft, will be of difficult comprehcnfion with many, not 
 only among the unlearned, but the lciir;ied alio, as it is above the fphtre of mc- 
 
 taphyfical
 
 [ 5' ] 
 
 fpcak hereafter, where we treat of fpace and time in the fpiritual 
 world. Every one knows the great extent of vifion by the 
 bodily organ of fight, even as far as to the fun and ftars, though 
 at fo immenfe a dillance ; and every man of thought can teftify 
 to the incomparably greater extent of fight by the eye of the 
 mind, and that in proportion to the interior capacity of him 
 that fpeculates. What then fhall we fay of him, who gave fight 
 both to body and mind, and is the inmoft and fupreme over all ! 
 Such being the extent of our thoughts, how cafy is it to believe, 
 that the knowledge of all heavenly and divine things is com- 
 municated from angel to angel from the firft divine fountain of 
 knowledge, according to their capacities of receiving refpec- 
 tively, as has been declared in the preceding articles. 
 
 86. The angels wonder that men fhould account themfelves 
 wifer than their brethren for rejeding the belief of the Deity, as 
 manifefting himfelf under a human form ; whereas, if the truth 
 be fearched into, they will be found to have fubilituted nature 
 in the room of the Creator, and as totally ignorant of, what 
 relates to God, angels, fpirits, and even their own immortaj 
 fouls i concerning all which, the fimple and unlearned, whom 
 they fo defpife, have ideas more conform to truth than them- 
 felves, whilft they conceive of the Deity as having affumed a 
 human form ; of angels, as heavenly men ; and that they them- 
 felves {hall be like unto them, if they lead holy lives according 
 to God's commandments : thefe perfons the angels call intel- 
 ligent, and not the others (*). 
 
 That 
 
 taphyfical knowledge in general ; and yet it may readily be underftood by thofe 
 "who can abftradt their thoughts entirely from natural to fpiritual things, and alfo 
 may be illuftrateJ by what pafTes within us in tlie fpiritual part of our compo- 
 fition : Ex. <^r. Th^it the ideas and powers of tlic human mind have their extent 
 and limits is agreed by all ; for what is more common than to fay of fuch or fuch 
 a one, that he Js a man of extenfive knowledge, or of a very limited capacity ; 
 and yet to think of applying any determinate rule from outward nature, as an 
 adequate mcafure of thcfe, how grofsly abUird would be the thought ! As well 
 might we go about to mcafure imagination by ilie gallon, or intelledl by the car- 
 penter's rule. 'Ihe attentive mind, by improving tiiis hint, will difccrn the dif- 
 ference between degrees ;uid cxtenfion in the natural and fpiritual world:-. Jr. 
 
 (*■) We have omitted here to trandatt: a large collection of references on the 
 fubjecl of the Lord's Divine Humanity, as many of them have been already given; 
 aad as they refer to books in the hands of exceeding few : and alfo as it may be 
 
 judged
 
 [ 52 ] 
 
 That there is a Correfpondence between all 
 Things in Heaven, and all Things in 
 Man. 
 
 87. What is meant by correfpondence between heavenly and 
 earthly things is fcarcely known at this time, and that through 
 various caufes -, but principally, becaufe man has fo flir alienated 
 himfelf from heaven by the love of fclf and the world j and 
 they who give themfelves up to thefe, diredl all their views and 
 purfuits to worldly things, as inorc agreeable to nature and 
 their external fenfes, without attending to thofe that are fpi- 
 ritual, and fuited to the entertainment of the mind and in- 
 ward fenfes ; wherefore tiiey rcjcift thefe, calling them ab- 
 ftrufe, and too high for them : but the ancients were other- 
 wife minded, for they accounted the knowledge of correfpon- 
 denccs as the mofl: exalted of all fciences, as the fountain from 
 whence they drew their underltanding and wifdom : and as to 
 thofe who were of the church of God, it was by means hereof 
 that they held communication with heaven ; for the knowledge 
 of correfpondences is the knowledge of angels. The moft 
 ancient formed their minds by the doftrine and laws of cor- 
 refpondence, and thought according thereto, like the angels, 
 and converfed with them ; and hence it was that the Lord often 
 vouchfafed to appear to them, and give them divine inflrudtions : 
 but this kind of knowledge is fo far loft amongft us at this day, 
 that it is fcarcely any longer known what is meant by the term 
 correfpondence, as here ufed (72). 
 
 88. Now forafmuch as without fome knowledge of what is 
 meant by correfpondence, nothing relating to the fpiritual world 
 can clearly be underftood ; neither concerning its influx into the 
 natural world ; nor of the diftindlion betwixt fpiritual and 
 
 judged of life fome time hereafter, to bring the fubftance of them together into 
 the form of a diftinck treatife on this fubje£l. Tr. 
 
 (72) That the fcience of correfpondences excels all other fciences, n. 4280. 
 That herein confifted the principal wifdom of the ancients, but that it is now 
 entirely loll, n. 3021, 3419, 4280 — 7729, 10252. That it flouriftied chiefly in 
 the Eall, and in Egypt, n. 5702, 6092, 7097, 7779, 939i> 10407. 
 
 natural ; 
 
 f
 
 [ 53 ] 
 
 natural ; nor yet any thing with clearnefs of the fpirit of man 
 called the foul, and its operation on the body ; nor laftly, of 
 the rtate of man after death ; we (liall therefore here fliew what 
 is meant by correfpondence, by way of preparative to what 
 follows. 
 
 89. And firfl:, for what is meant by correfpondence : Now 
 the whole natural world correfponds to the fpiritual world both 
 in the whole, and likewife in its feveral parts ; and what exifts 
 and fublifts in the natural from the fpiritual, is called corre- 
 fpondence ; now the whole natural world exifts and fublifts from 
 the fpiritual, as an effeft from its efficient caufe ; therefore there 
 is a correfpondent relation betwixt them. By the natural world 
 is meant the whole expanfe under the fun, and whatever therein 
 receives light and heat from it belongs to that world : by the 
 fpiritual world is meant heaven, and all that is therein. 
 
 90. As man is an image both of heaven and of this world, 
 in the leaft form (fee above, n. 57.) therefore he ftands here 
 both in the fpiritual and natural world : the things within 
 (thofe of the mind and fpirit) which refpeft the intelledl and 
 will, conftitute his fpiritual world ; but thofe of the body, 
 which refpecT: his external fenfes and anions, conftitute his 
 natural world : whatever therefore in his natural world (or 
 body, fenfes, and aftions) derives its exiftence from his fpiritual 
 world (or mind, intelle6t, and will) that is called correfpon- 
 dent (*). 
 
 91. This do(ftrine is exemplified in the human countenance: 
 Thus in the face of any one who is not pra6tifed in the art of 
 
 (*) In this (kTiiiition riud diitinilion the intelligent render will find a mofl 
 admirable and important part of iiiflruiStion, whicli will explain a man to himfclf, 
 and point out to him all the good and evil in his life, without the help of that 
 kind of fophiftry commonly called Cafuiflical Divinity. It may be fufficient here, 
 for a farther explanation of our author's meaning, to obferve, that correfpondence 
 between things fpiritual and natural, fignifies the efR'nce of a thing brought into 
 form, or the principle manifefted in a<5t : thus benevolence fhcvvs itfelf in benefits, 
 and malevolence in injuries : and thus throughout nature, the heavenly world or 
 good principle realizes itfelf in beautiful and good productions ; and the hellifli, 
 or evil principle, In all the various forms of nionltrofity and evil : and fo the 
 rage and horrors of the dark world break forth in thunder and lightning, (torni 
 and tempeft ; but the niecknefs of paradife rcfrcflies all nature with the genial 
 warmth and foft bl.mdilhments of vernal delights. It is here to be noted, that 
 tlie fcienc: of phyfiogaomy is grounded in that of. corrcfpondences. Tr. 
 
 O difiimu-
 
 [ 54 ] 
 
 diflimulation, we may read the affe<5lions and pafilons of his 
 mind, as in their type or natural form : hence it is common 
 to fay, that the face is the index of the mind ; or in other 
 words, the fpiritual world of fuch or luch a one is conlpicuous 
 in his natural world : in like manner, the things of the intellect 
 are rcprefented in the fpeech ; and thofe of the will, in the 
 geftures and movements of the body : now all that is thus 
 exprelled in the body, whether by the face, fpeech, or gcflures, 
 is called correfpondence. 
 
 92. Hence may be underftood what is meant by the inter- 
 nal, and what by the external man, and that the former is 
 called the fpiritual, and the latter the natural man ; and alfo 
 that the one is as diltincft from the other, as heaven is from 
 this world ; and moreover, that all that is formed in or- done 
 by the latter is from the former. 
 
 93. So much for correfpondence between the Inward or fpi- 
 ritual, and the outward or natural man : we lliall now proceed 
 to fpeak of that correfpondence which is between the whole of 
 heaven, and the feveral parts of man. 
 
 94. It has been fliewed, that the univerfal heaven refemblcs 
 one man, or is in a human form, and fo called the Grand (or 
 greatefl;) Man ; and alfo that the angelical focieties, of which 
 heaven confilts, have accordingly their order and fituation like 
 the members, organs, and vifcera in the human body, fo that 
 fome of them occupy the place of the head, fome that of the 
 breall, others that of the arms, and others alfo different parts 
 of thefe, fee n. 59 to 72 : confequently fuch focieties as are in 
 any particular member there, correfpond to the like member in 
 man here ; as for example, they who are in the head tl>ere, cor- 
 refpond to the head in man here ; they who are in the breaH, to 
 the breafi: ; they who are in the arm^, to the arms, and fo of the 
 reft : it is from this correfpondence that man fubfills, his fub- 
 iiflence or continued exilience being from heaven only. 
 
 95. That heaven is dilUnguiflied into two kingdoms, the 
 one of which is called the coflellial, the other the fpiritual king- 
 dom, has been fliewed in its proper article : now the cadellial 
 kingdom in common corrcfponds to the heart, and what ap- 
 pertains to it in the whole body ^ and the fpiritual kingdom to 
 
 the
 
 [ 55 ] 
 
 the lungs, and ^vhat appertains thereto in the whole body : the 
 heart and lungs do alio form two kingdoms ; the former ruling 
 therein by the arteries and veins ; and the latter by the nervous 
 and motive fibres, and both in every effort and aftion of the 
 body. In the fpiritual world or fpiritual man of every one are 
 alio two kingdoms, the one is that of the will, the other tliat 
 of the intelled: : the will governs by the afteftions of good, and 
 the intelledl by the affeftions of truth ; and thefc two kingdoms 
 correfpond to thofe of the heart and the lungs (*) in the body : 
 fo likewife in the heavens ; the cceleflial kingdom is the will- 
 part (volunt avium ca'lij of heaven, and there the good of love 
 has the afcendant or government ; and the fpiritual kingdom 
 is the intellectual part (IntelleBiiah' cceli) of heaven ; and there 
 truth has the afcendant or government ; and thefe two kingdoms 
 correfpond to the fundfions of the heart and lungs in man. 
 From this correfpondence it is, that the heart in the word 
 fignifies the will, and alfo the good of love ; and alfo that the 
 breath or pulmonary fpirit fignifies the underftandiiig and true 
 of faith : hence alfo it is, that the affecflions are afcribed to 
 the heart, though in reality that is not the feat or caufc of 
 them (73). 
 
 (*) It is to be obferved here, that though the word lungs is not mentioned in 
 Scripture, as might be expected of fo principal a corrcfpondeiit in the human 
 body, according to the dotliine and diftindtion of our author, yet the word breathy 
 fo frequently mentioned there, is u("ed as its fubftitute, and anfwcrs to, or is the 
 corrcfpondcnt of fpirit ; and the fame word in the Greek fignifies both breath and 
 fpirit. 
 
 (73) Of the correfpondence of the heart and lungs with the grand man or 
 heaven, from experience, n. 3883 to 3896. That the heart corrcfponds to the 
 •angels in the coeleftial kingdom, and the lungs with thofe of the fpiritual king- 
 dom, n. 3685, 3886, 3887. That the angels have a pulfe like that of the heart, 
 and refpiration like that of the lungs in men here, but more interior, n. 3884, 
 3885, 3887. That the pulfe of the heart in angels varies accordmg to their fbtc 
 of love J and their refpiration according to their ftate of charity * and faith, 
 n. 3886, 3887, 3889. That the heart in Scripture means the fame with will, 
 anil therefore, y>'«rt tht heart, the fame with from the will, n. 2930, 7542, 8910,, 
 9)13, 10336. That the heart in Scripture alfo fignifies love, and therefore, yrow 
 the heart, llie fame as, from love, n. 7542, 9050, 103 36. 
 
 • The author here differences love from charitf no otherwife, than as the former fig- 
 nifies love to the Lord, and the latter love to our neighbour. 
 
 96. The
 
 [ 5(> ] 
 
 96. Tlie correfpondencc of the two kingdoms of heaven 
 with the heart and kings, is the correfpondence of heaven with 
 man in common, or of the whole of one with the whole of 
 the other ; the lefs common or particular, is with the feveral 
 members, organs, and vifcera of man, as fliall be here fpeci- 
 fied : they who in the Grand Man or Heaven belong to the 
 head, are the angels who excel all others in every fpecies of 
 good, as love, peace, innocence, wifdom, knowledge, 6cc. and 
 eonfequently in joy and happinefs ; and from them proceeds the 
 influx into the human head, and all that appertains to it here, 
 for to thefe they correfpond : thofc angels which in the Grand 
 Man or Heaven belong to the region or province of the breail;, 
 excel in the good of charity and faith, and operate in their 
 influence on the human breail here, inafniuch as they corre- 
 fpond thereto : but they who in the Grand Man or Heaven 
 belong to the regions of the loins, and the organs appointed 
 for generation, are they who chiefly excel in conjugal love : 
 they who belong to the feet are in the loweft good of heaven, 
 or that which is called fpiritual-natural, or phyfico-fpiriiual 
 good : they who belong to the arms and hands, are in the 
 potency of that kind of truth which is derived from good : 
 they who are in the eyes, excel in underfl;anding : they who 
 are in the ears, in attention and obedience : they who are in the 
 nofe, excel in the faculty of perception : they who are in the 
 mouth and tongue, are eminent in fpeaking from clearncfs of 
 intelledt and perception : they who belong to the province of 
 the reins, are more particularly in that kind of truth which 
 illuftrates, and diflinguiflies : they who are in the liver, pan- 
 creas, and fpleen, excel in thofe faculties and powers which 
 exalt the purity of the various kinds of good and truth, by 
 feparating them from mixtures with their contraries : and fo in 
 like manner wit 11 others refpetftively, by influx operating on 
 the correfpondent parts in man : now influx from heaven, is in 
 order to the right end and ufe of all in man ; and as ufes are 
 from tlie fpiritual world, fo they form themfelvcs into effed: by 
 material inflrumcnts in the natural world ; whence proceeds 
 correfpondence. 
 
 97. Hence
 
 [ 57 ] 
 
 97- Hence it is, that the fame members, organs, and vif- 
 cera are ufed in the Scripture (according to the dodtrine of 
 correfpondcnce) for the things reprefented by them : thus, by 
 the head is there fignified underltanding and wifdom : by the 
 breaft, charity : by the loins, conjugal love : by the arms and 
 hands, the power of truth : by the feet, that which is natural 
 [in dirtinftion from fpiritual] : by the eyes, intelled : by the 
 nofe, perception : by the ears, obedience : by the reins, the 
 purification [elucidation] of truth ; and fo on (74). Hence 
 thofc cutlomary expreiTions, when fpeaking of a man of deep 
 knowledge, to fay, that he has a head ; of him who is true and 
 faithful, that he is a bofom friend [amicus pe^on's] ; of any one 
 of great fagacity, that he is ready at fmelling a matter out ; of 
 a man that has a quick comprehcnfion, that he is fharp-fighted ; 
 of one in great power, that he has long arms ; and of him 
 who fays or does a thing with love, that he does it from his 
 heart : thefe and many other fayings familiar to us, are from 
 correfpondcnce ; for they are from the fpiritual world, though 
 we know it not. 
 
 98. That fuch is the correfpondcnce between all things in 
 heaven, and all things in man, has been manifefled to me by 
 long experience, and that in fo full a meafure, that my con- 
 vidlion herein is beyond all fliadow of doubting ; but to offer 
 the whole of it here, is not only unnecclfary, but, on account 
 of its extent, beyond my power ; but it has been given dif- 
 perfedly in the Arcana Ccelejiia, where I have treated of cor- 
 refpondences ; of reprefentations ; of the influx of the fpiritual 
 into the natural world ; and of the communication between foul 
 and body {j^). 
 
 (74) That the breaft or bofoni in Scripture fignifies charity, n. 3934, lOoSr, 
 lOcJ^y. That the loins and organs of generation llgnify conjugal love, n. 3021, 
 4280, 4462, 5050, 5051, 5052. That the arms and hands, the power of truth, 
 n. 878, 3O91, 4931 to 4937, ICO17. That the feet fignify external nature, or 
 the inferior part of the human coinpofition, n. 2162, 3147 — 4938 to 4952. Tiiat 
 the eye fignifies i/itelledt, n. 2701, 4403, 4523 to 4534 — 10569. That the nofe 
 or noltrils fignifies perception, n. 3577, 4624 — 10292. The ears, obedience, 
 n. 2542, 3869 — 9396, IC061. The rein?, purification, and feparation of truth 
 from error, n. 5380 to 5386, 10032. 
 
 (75) Of correfpotulence between all the members of the body and the Grand 
 ALin ( .M(i.\i/iii Htmini-) or Hcavcii, both in general and particular, as (roni expc-- 
 
 P ricncc,
 
 [ 58 ] 
 
 99- But though all things in man, even with refpecfl to his 
 body, correfpond to all in heaven, yet he is not an image of 
 heaven in his external, but in his internal form ; for it is the 
 interiour of man that receives the heavenly influx, ^vhilll his 
 extcriour or natural part is influenced by the things of this 
 world ; as far therefore as his interiour is receptive of the for- 
 mer, fo far only is he reputed a heaven in its lealT; form after the 
 likenefs of the greateft j but fo far as he is unreceptive of the 
 heavenly influx in his interiour, or inner man, fo far is he not 
 in the form of heaven ; and yet his exteriour, or natural man, 
 which communicates with this world, may be in order, accord- 
 ing to the laws of this mundane fyftem, and confequently be of 
 a beautiful form, for this originates from the parents, and his 
 formation in the womb, and is preferved and nouriflied by the 
 elements of this world ; and therefore it is, that tlie natural 
 form of a man often widely difl^ers from the form of his fpiritual 
 man. It has fometimes been given me to fee of what form the 
 fpirit of a man was, and it plainly appeared to me, that in 
 fome who were of a comely and beautiful countenance, it was 
 ugly, black, and monflrous, and rather to be called the image 
 of hell than of heaven -, whereas in others, though uncomely in 
 their exteriour, it was beautiful, fliining, and angelical : and it 
 is to be noted, that the fpirit of a man after death appears fuch 
 as it was before, whilil in the body. 
 
 100. But correfpondence is of much larger extent than in 
 reference to man only ; for there is a correfpondence of the 
 heavens between one another : thus the fecond or middle heaven 
 correfponds to the inmolT: or third heaven j and the firft or lowell 
 heaven correfponds to the fecond or middle heaven j and it is 
 this firfl or loweft heaven that more immediately correfponds to 
 and communicates with the corporeal forms of men, their mem- 
 bers, organs, and vifcera; and it is this corporeal part in man, 
 
 ricnce, n. 3021, 3624 to 3649, 3741 to 3751, 3883 to 3896, 4039 to 4051, 4218 
 104228, 4318104331, 4403 104421 — 552105573, 571 1 to 5727, 10030. Of 
 the influx ot the (piritual world or heavcu, into this our natural world, and alfo 
 of the influx of the foul into all parts of the body, from experience, n. 6053 to 
 6058, 6189 to 6215, 6307 to 6327, 6466 to 6495, 6598 to 6626. Of the com- 
 munication (di commercto) between foul and body, from experience, n. 6053 to 
 6058, 6189 to 6215, 6307 to 6327, 6466 to 6495, 6598 to 6626. 
 
 in
 
 [ 59 ] 
 
 in which tlie influence of heaven terminates, and refls as on its 
 bafis : but this is a fecret which fhall be more fully opened in 
 another place. 
 
 101. It is here to be noted, as a firft principle, that all 
 correfpondence with heaven is through the Divine Humanity of 
 the Lord, forafmuch as heaven originates from him as its efTence, 
 as has been fhewed before : for w^ere not virtue flowing from 
 his Divine Humanity to influence all in heaven, and by corre- 
 fpondence all created nature here below, there would be neither 
 angel nor man : and hence likewife it does appear why the Lord 
 became man, and inverted his Deity with humanity, from its 
 higheft to its loweft nature, and dwelt amongft us, viz. becaufe, 
 through the degeneracy of man, all was brought into fuch dif- 
 order, that all communication with the Divine Humanity in 
 heaven, on which his falvation depended, was cut oiF, and could 
 only be reftored by the affumption of our natural humanity to 
 his Divine, as a ground of communication between him and 
 us. Concerning the Divine Humanity of the Lord, and the 
 ftate of heaven before his advent in the flefli, fee the references 
 mentioned at the end of the foregoing chapter. 
 
 1 02. The angels feem aflonilhed when they hear of men, 
 who afcribe all to nature, and nothing to the Deity, and can 
 believe that their own bodies, which confifl of fo many won- 
 derful correfpondences and reprefentations of heavenly things, 
 fliould be formed and fafliioned by inanimate nature ; and what 
 is ftill more abfurd, that they fliould afTign no higher origin to 
 the rational principle ; whereas the lead exercife of reflexion 
 might fuffice to demonflrate this to be the effedl of a divine 
 formation ; and that nature was created on purpofe to ferve for 
 a covering or outward exhibition of what is fpiritual, and to 
 yield a correfponding reprefentation of the fame in the loweft 
 order of things. All fuch are compared by the angels to owls, 
 which fee in' the dark, but are blind in the light. 
 
 That
 
 [ 6o ] 
 
 That there is a Correfpondence between 
 Heaven, and all Thlnors on Earth. 
 
 103. We have already explained what is meant hy corre- 
 fpondence ; and alfo ihewed, that the whole and every part of 
 the human body is fuch : it now remains to make appear, that 
 all things of the earth, nay, of this world in general, are cor- 
 refpondences in like manner. 
 
 104. All things belonging to the earth are diflinguilhed into 
 tliree kinds, which are called kingdoms, viz. the animal, the 
 vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms : the things in the animal 
 kingdom are correfpondences in the firll degree, as having life ; 
 thofe in the vegetable kingdom correfpond in the fecond degree, 
 as having growth, but no lenfitive life -, and thofe in the mineral 
 kingdom correfpond in the third degree, as having neither life 
 nor growth. The correfpondents of the firll kingdom, are the 
 animals of various kinds, which either walk or creep on the 
 earth, or fly in the air ; which being fo well known, are not 
 here enumerated, as neither thofe of the fecond or vegetable 
 kingdom, which are all trees, herbs, plants, and flowers, which 
 grow and flourifh in the woods, gardens, fields, or elfewhere. 
 The correfpondents in the mineral kingdom, are the more noble, 
 and alfo the inferior metals ; precious and common ftones ; 
 foflils, and earths of various kinds, and alfo waters. To theie 
 correfpondences in the natural world, we are to add fuch things 
 as are prepared and fabricated of them by human Ikill and in- 
 duflry for the general ufe of man, as food of difl"erent kinds, 
 veftments, houfes, temples, with many other things. 
 
 105. The things that are above the earth, as the fun, moon, 
 flars, and alio in the atmofpherc, as clouds, rain, vapours, 
 thunder, lightning, &c. are refpedlively correfpondent ; as alfo 
 fuch as are occafioned by the prefence or abfence of the fun, as 
 light and fliade, heat and cold : in like manner thofe which 
 are determined by its motions, dillanccs, and variations, as 
 the feafons of fpring, fummer, autumn, and winter, toge- 
 ther
 
 [ 6r ] 
 
 ther with the diurnal periods of morning, noon, evening, and 
 night. 
 
 1 06. In a word, all things that exift in nature, from the 
 leaft to the greateft, are correfpondences (76) ; and that becaufe 
 this world, together with the whole of its furniture, exifts and 
 fubhlls from the fpiritual world, and both from the Deity ; it 
 is faid here Xo fubftft alfo thence, as every thing fubfifts by that 
 which is the caufe of its exiftence, as its fubfiilence is no other 
 than the continuation of its exiftence, and becaufe it cannot 
 fubfill from itfelf, but from fomething prior to itfelf, and fo 
 on from its firfl caufe, from which, if it be feparated, it muft 
 perifli, and be annihilated. 
 
 107. Every thing is fiid to correfpond, which exifls and 
 fubfiils in nature according to the divine order ; now divine 
 good proceeding from the Lord, is that which conflitutes divine 
 order, for it begins and proceeds from him through the heavens 
 to this world, where it terminates in its loweft form ; and all 
 things here, w'hich are according to the laws of fuch order, are 
 called correfpondences, viz. all things that are good for ufe, for 
 good and ufeful mean the fame ; whereas the form or diftinftion 
 of a thing has relation to truth, forafmuch as truth is the form 
 of good : hence it is, that all things in the univerfe, and in 
 nature, as far as they fubfift in the divine order, bear relation 
 to goodnefs and truth {"J"]^. 
 
 108. That all things in the world are from God, and fo 
 invefted by him with natural forms, as to give them correfpon- 
 dence and ufefulnefs, manifeltly appears from all things both in 
 the animal and the vegetable kingdom, many of which difplay 
 
 (76) That all things in this World, and its three kingdoms, correfpond to thing* 
 in heaven, or, in other words, all things in the natural to things in tiie fpiritual 
 world, fee n. 1632, ]88i, 2758 — 2897 to •J003, 3213 to 3227, 3624 to 3649 — 
 5477, 9280. That the natural is joined to or communicates with the fpiritual 
 world by correfpondences, n. 8615. That hence it comes to pafs, that univcrfal 
 nature is one grand theatre reprelcntative of the kingdom of the Lord, n, 2758, 
 2999, 13000 — 8848, 9280. 
 
 {77) That all things in the univerfe, as well in heaven as on earth, which are 
 in the divine order, have relation to goodnefs and truth under one denomiiiation 
 or another, fee n. 2451, 3166, 4390 — 1C122. And alfo have a tendency to coii- 
 jujidioii, that they may have particular char.iiler ajid diIlui(2.ion, n. IC555. 
 
 Q^ evident
 
 [ 62 ] 
 
 evident marks, to the thoughtful mind, of their divine original. 
 To inftance only in a few ; and firft in the animal kingdom : and 
 here, what wonderful examples of fciencc prefent themfelves 
 to the curious obferver ? What fkill do the bees fliew in col- 
 lefting their honey from various flowers, and in forming their 
 waxen cells wherein to depofite it for food for themfelves and 
 their offspring during the approaching winter ? How do they 
 wait upon the queen bee when ihe lays her eggs, difpofe of 
 them in proper apartments, and carefully provide for the fafety 
 of her future progeny ? How excellent is their form of govern- 
 ment, in which every one from an inward Teacher knows his 
 proper place, and where, by a flridl adminiflration of juftice, 
 all the ufeful members of the fociety are prote(5led, and the 
 unprofitable ones expelled with the deprivation of their wings ; 
 not to mention many other wonderful particulars of knowledge 
 derived to them from above, in order to the ufc and benefit of 
 man : thus their wax, among other ufes, being formed into 
 candles, afix)rds us light } and their honey fupplies us with a 
 grateful and falutary confedtion. How great is the fagacity of 
 thofe worms, which extracfl their nourifhment from the leaves 
 of trees, and at a certain feafon inveft themfelves with a tegu- 
 ment of their own working, where, as in a womb, they depo- 
 fite and nourifli their tender young ; whilft fome taking the 
 form of nymph or chryfalis, fpin their llender threads, and 
 after finifhing their appointed talk, aflume another body, change 
 their element, become volatile, and wing the foft air, chufe 
 their mates, lay their eggs, and tranfmit their nature to a fuc- 
 ceeding race. How wifely are all the birds of the air intruded 
 where to feek and find the particular food that is proper for 
 them ; how to build their nefts differently according to their 
 kinds, to hatch their eggs, and to provide for their young till 
 they are able to take care of themfelves ! And how early do 
 they rightly dillinguifh between their enemies and friends, 
 fliunning the former, and affociating with the latter ! Not to 
 mention here in particular the wonderful provifion obfervable in 
 their eggs, both for the formation and nutrition of their embryo 
 young through the different ftages of their growth, as alfo in- 
 numerable other wonderful particulars. Now who that has but 
 
 a fpark
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 a fpark of realbn can deny thefe things to proceed from that 
 wifdom which is from above, and to defcend from the fpiritual 
 world, to which the natural is fubfervient, by clothing thofa 
 things with material forms, which are fpiritual in their feveral 
 eliences, or, in other words, to give eifeds to fpiritual caufes. 
 The reafon why this kind of knowledge is innate in the other 
 living creatures, and not in man, though far more excellent 
 than them, is becaufe they ftand in that order of life to which 
 they were appointed ; nor could they deflroy that which is in 
 them by influx from the fpiritual world, as being deftitute of 
 reafon ; but it is otherwile with man, who, having perverted 
 his more exalted powers by tranfgreffing the order of his nature, 
 was thenceforward to be born in mere ignorance, that fo he 
 -might be reformed, and reftored to the order in which he was 
 created (which was the order of heaven) by the means appointed 
 by God for that end. 
 
 109. As to correfpondency in the vegetable kingdom j this 
 might be illullrated by many confiderations drawn from the 
 growth of fmall feeds into trees, putting forth leaves, bloflbms, 
 and fruit, in which other feeds are contained, whereby propa- 
 gation is carried on in a way of exiftence both limultaneous and 
 fucceflive, according to the laws of a wonderful order ; to in- 
 veftigate all the ufes of which would exceed the bounds of 
 human fcience : and as thefe originate from the fpiritual world 
 or heaven, which is in the human form, as fliewn before, fo 
 have they all relation to or correfpondence with fomething in 
 man, as is known to fome few in the learned world. That all 
 things in the vegetable kingdom are thus correfpondent, I have 
 had experimental evidence of ; for oftentimes when walking in 
 gardens I have infpcdled the trees, flowers, and plants therein, 
 I have had a fight of their correfpondents or correlatives in the 
 fpiritual world, and in converfation with thofe to whom thefe 
 lignatures belonged, have received the explanation of them from 
 their particular defcent, genius, and charadler (*). 
 
 110. As 
 
 (*) As this paffhge is fomewhat obfcure in the original, it neceflarily rende-is 
 the tranflation of it more difficult : however, tlie fubllance of it means, that the 
 author had a fatisfying knowledge of certain properties and qualities in fome claflls 
 
 of
 
 [ 64 ] 
 
 no. As to thofe fpiritunl things in heaven, to which natural 
 things in this world correfpond, no one now can underftand 
 them, but by a particular illumination from above, forafmuch 
 as the fcience of correfpondences is at this time totally loll 
 amongll us ; however, I rtiall illullrate this do(5lrine of corre- 
 fpondence between natural and fpiritual things by fonie few 
 examples of the latter, as generally known here below. The 
 beafts of the earth in general, not only the tame and ufefui 
 ones, but alfo the wild and unprofitable, correfpond to the 
 affeiflions of the human mind, the former to its good affcdtions, 
 the latter to its evil ones : in particular, oxen and calves cor- 
 refpond to the aftedions of the natural mind ; but iheep and 
 lambs to thufe of the fpiritual mind ; whereas the winged 
 tribes, according to their refpeftive kinds, correfpond to the 
 intelledlual part in both {'/'i) : hence it was, that animals of 
 various kinds, as oxen, calves, rams, (heep, goats, lambs, and 
 alfo pigeons, and turtle doves, were appointed among the Ifrael- 
 ites, who were a typical or reprefentative church, for facrifices 
 
 of the vegetable kingdom, as corrcfponding with and reprefentative of certain 
 charasSers, difpofitions, or attributes in particular perfons : now whether this, be 
 called analogy, correfpondcncv, or emblematical fimilitude, it will amount nearly 
 to the fame. From this copious fource of refcmblances in nature to the microcofm, 
 or little world of man, the art of poetry confcflTedly borrows its moil {hiking 
 beauties ; and it formed a confiderablc part of the language of the ancient caftern 
 nations : and it is alfo well known, that the facred oracles of truth do inftrudl us 
 by fuch fimilitudes (Hofea xii. ro.) in numberlefs places, and reprefent things, 
 both divine and hunnan, by images or refemblances thereof in the animal, mineral, 
 and vegetable kingdoms of this our natural world : thus the wicked are dcleribcd 
 b)' thorns, to denote their oppreffioiis and otliL-r j)crnicious qualities ; whilfl the 
 candour, humility, and lovely fimplicity of the true church and its members, arc 
 figured to us by their correfpondent natural emblems in the lillics of the valley. 
 But the dodrine ot corrcfpondency will be opened in a deeper ground, and more 
 fignlficant fenfe, under a variety of ftriking illuftrations, in the following and 
 other works of the autlior. Tr. 
 
 (78) rh.it the beads by corrcfpondcncc fignify the affedlions, good or bad, as 
 the former are of the trnic and profitable, or of the wild and unprofitable kinds, 
 lee n. 45, 46 — 3519, 92i>0. This alfo illuftrated by experience from the fpiritual 
 world, n. 3218, 5198, 9C90. Of influx from the fpiritual world into the life of 
 hearts, n. 1633, 3^4^- ' '^''^ oxen and calves by corrcfpondcncc, the affections of 
 the natural mmd, n. 2180, 2566 — 10407. What flieep fignifv, n. 4169, 4809. 
 What lambs, n. 3994, 10132. That the fowls fignify intellectual things, n. 40, 
 745 — 51495 7441- And that with difference accoiding to their various, kinds and 
 tnlKs, by experience from the fpiritual world, n. 3219. 
 
 and 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 I 65 ] 
 
 and burnt offerings, as In fuch religicms inflitutions they were 
 reprctentative of I'piritu.il things, and accordingly were received 
 in heaven according to correfpondency. That animals, accord- 
 ing to their difference as to genus and fpccics, fland for the af- 
 fedions, is becaufe they are endued with life ; now the life oF 
 every creature is from the fire of love or affeftion, and according 
 to the quality thereof; and fuch alfo is their innate knowledge 
 rcipeilively : man alfo, confidered merely in the animal part of 
 his nature, is conffituted in like manner, and as fuch is com- 
 pared to them ; thus it is common to fay of any one that is of 
 a meek and gentle difpofition, that he is ilieepilli, or lamb-like; 
 to call a rugged or rapacious man, a bear or wolf; and to give 
 the name of fox or fcrpent to the fubtle and crafty, and io on. 
 
 III. Correfpondency obtains in like manner in the vegetable 
 kingdom : thus a garden in general correfponds to heaven in 
 rcfpeft to underrtanding and wifdom ; wherefore heaven is called 
 the garden of God and paradile (79), ^nd by man the heavenly 
 paradife. Trees, according to their different kinds refpedively, 
 correlpond to perceptions, and the cognitions of things good 
 and true ; and therefore the ancients, who were in the know- 
 ledge of correfpondency, celebrated their religious worfliip in 
 groves (80), and therefore it is that wc have mention made in 
 Scripture fo ol'ten of trees, and that .heaven, the church, and 
 n\an, are in fo many places compared to them, as to the vine, 
 the olive, the cedar, and others, and our good works to fruit. 
 The different kinds of food alfo, which are prepared from thefe, 
 but more efpccially from the feeds of the field, correfpond alfo 
 to the affc(ftions of the good and the true, as tliefe aPford nourifli- 
 ment to the fpiritual, as earthly foods do to the natural life (81). 
 
 (79) That garden and paradife by corrcfponJcnce fignify IntcIlciSt and wifdom, 
 n. too, 108 ; from experience, n. 3220. That all things that mutually corre- 
 fpond have one and the fame fignification in Scripture, n. 2890, 2987 — 3002, 
 
 3225- ^ . . 
 
 (80) That trees fignify perceptions and knowledges (cogtiit'ioncs) n. 103, 2163 — 
 
 2972, 7692. That therefore the ancients celebrated their religious worfliip in 
 proves under trees, according to their correfpondent kinds, n. 2722, 4552. Of 
 the cceleilial influx into the fubjeii'ts of tiie vegetable kingdom, as trees and plants, 
 
 (81 ) That foods by corrcfpondencc fignify fuch thijigs as are for nourilhniciit to 
 the fpiritoiil life, n. 31 14, 4459 — 8562, 9003. 
 
 R Hence
 
 [ 66 ] 
 
 Hence It is that bread is the corrcfpondent to affedlon refpe«fl:ing 
 every particular good, as it is in a more eminent manner the' 
 fupport of life, and is ufed to fignify the whole of food ; and 
 in this univerfil fenfe it is, that the Lord calls himfcif the bread 
 of life ; and likewife on this account bread was appointed for 
 a facred fymbol in the Ifraclitini church, and was placed on a 
 table in the tabernacle under the name of fhew bread, or ther 
 bread of faces ; and alfo that the whole of divine worfhip by 
 facrifices and burnt offerings was called bread : laftly, it is from 
 correfpondency, that bread and wine are ufed in the Holy 
 Supper, as it is celebrated in the Chriftian church (82). Thefe 
 few inftances may fervc as a farther illuftration of correfpon- 
 dency. 
 
 112. We /hall here briefly fliew how a conjundlion is formed 
 between heaven and this world by means of correfpondences. 
 The kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of ends or ufes, or, in 
 other words, a kingdom, the adminiftration whereof is to the 
 end of ufes ; confequently the univcrfe is fo conftituted by its 
 Omnipotent Creator, that all things therein fliould be fitted with 
 forms and powers to ferve as means to produce and realize fuch 
 ufes, firft in heaven, then in the general fyllem of this world ; 
 and fo on by a fuccefTive gradation to the leaft and loweft de- 
 partments of nature ; whence it follows, that the correfpon- 
 dence between natural and fpiritual things, or of this v/orld 
 and heaven, fubfifts by ufes as the means of their conjunction, 
 and that the external forms of thefe ufes do correfpond and 
 conjoin them, according to the degrees of their utility. All 
 things in this natural world throughout its three kingdoms, as 
 far as they ftand in their eftablifhed order, may be confidered as 
 fo many forms of ufes, or formed efFefts proceeding from ufe 
 to ufe i and fo circumftanced, are correfpondences : with refpcd: 
 to man ; as far forth as he lives according to the divine order, 
 or in love towards the Lord, and in charity towards his ncigh- 
 
 (82) That bread fignifies every good tlut is for fpirinial food to man, n. 2165, 
 2177 — 9545') 10686. That this was fignificd by the fhcvv-bread of the tabernacle, 
 n. 3478, 9545- That the facrifices in general were called bread, n. 2165. That 
 bread Hands for all kinds of food, n. 2165 : and therefore for all food coclellial 
 and fpihiual, n. 276, 680 — 6ii8, 8410. 
 
 hour.
 
 [ 67 ] 
 
 hour, fo far his adllons are forms of ufes, and as fuch ib mauy 
 correfpondents, whereby he communicates with and is joined to 
 heaven ; for to love the Lord and our neighbour, is, in a general 
 fcnfe of the expreflion, to perform ufes (83) : moreover, let it 
 be remembered, that it is through man (as the proper medium 
 of their coimexion) that the conjunftion is formed betwixt the 
 natural and fpiritual worlds, as he is the fubjedl of both (fee 
 before n. 57.) and therefore as far forth as any man is fpiritual, 
 in fuch degree he is the medium of this conjunftion ; and as far 
 forth as he is natural and not fpiritual, .he is not fo ; neverthe- 
 Icfs, even in this latter cafe, the divine influx is continued to 
 this world, and what belongs to it in man, though it be not 
 received into his rational part. 
 
 113. As all things which continue in the divine order cor- 
 i-efpond with heaven, fo all things which are contrary to the 
 divine order correfpond with hell : the former have relation to 
 things good and true ; the latter to fuch as are evil and falfe. 
 
 114. A word more as touching the fcience of correfpon- 
 dences, and its ufc. It has been faid before, that heaven or the 
 fpiritual world is joined to the natural world by correfpondences : 
 hence it is that man here has the power of holding communi- 
 cation with heaven ; for as the bleffed angels form not their 
 ideas like men from natural, but fpiritual things ; io when men 
 are gifted with the knowledge of correfpondences, they can 
 think in like manner with the angels, and be joined with them 
 
 (83) That every kind of good has its delightful rclifh from and according to 
 its ul'es, and alfo its particular dilliniStion and quality, and therefore, as is the 
 ufe, fuch is the good, n. 3049, 49H4, 7038. That the angelical life confifls in 
 the goods of divine love and charity, and fo in the exercifc of ufes, n. 453. That 
 the Lord and his angels have refpe(fl only to the final caufes or ufes in human 
 EiStions, n. 1317, 16455 5^44- That the kingdom of the Lord is the kingdom 
 of ufes or good ends, n. 453, 696 — 4054, 7038. That the fcrvice of good ufes 
 is to fcrve the Lord, n. 7038. That all in general, and every particular thing 
 in man, are formed to the end of ufc, n. 3565, 4104, 5189, 9297 : and that final 
 caufes or ufes (as efficients to their eftedts) were prior to the fornuition of our 
 bodily organs, by a divine influx through heaven, n. 4223, 4926. That alfo the 
 interior faculties of the human mind, when attained to reafon, are formed for a 
 progreflion from ufe to ufe, n. 1964, 6815, 9297. That therefore man is to be 
 eftimated according to the ufes that he fulfills, n. 1568, 3570 — 6938, 10284. 
 That ufes are the ends for which all things were created, n. 3565 — 6815. That 
 tife is the firft and laft, and fo the whole end of man, 1964. 
 
 ia
 
 [ 63 ] 
 
 I 
 
 in the fplrltual or inward man. The Holy Scriptures are written 
 entirely according to the truth of correfpondency (84), in order 
 that wc may thereby have communication witii heaven ; and 
 therefore, were any one rightly polTclfcd of the fciencc of cor- 
 refpondences, fuch a man would thoroughly underll:and the 
 Scriptures in their fpiritual fenfe (as all thijigs therein fpoken 
 of correfpond) and would thereby come at the knowledge of 
 iuch fecrets as cannot be learned from their literal fenfe alone ; 
 for as in the written word there is a literal, fo al fo is there a i 
 
 fpiritual fenfe (85) ; the literal fenfe concerns the things of this 
 world ; the Spiritual fuch as are heavenly ; and as a conjuniiVion 
 is formed, by the relation of corrcfpondences, between heaven :j 
 
 and earth, therefore fuch a difpcnfation is vouchfafed to us, in f 
 
 which all things in both worlds do pcrfedrtly correfpond, and 4 
 
 anfwcr the one to the other, as face to flice in a glafs. ^ 
 
 115. I have learned from heaven, that among the moft ;' 
 
 ancient inhabitants of our earth, there were certain heavenly 
 men, who \\-ere in the true knowledge of correfpondency, and 
 whole conceptions and thoughts were according thereto, to 
 whom the vifible things of this world fer.ved as fo many me- 
 diimis of difccrning fpiritual things, and who as fuch affociated 
 and convcrfed with angels, and that through them was kept up 
 a communication between heaven and earth j whence this was 
 called the Golden Age j of which mention is made by ancient 
 writers, who relate, that in thofe times the inhabitants of hea- 
 ven became the vilitors and gueils of men, and familiarly con- 
 verfed with them, as one friend with another -, but that to thefe 
 fucceeded another race of men, who were not in the fame 
 intuitive knowledge of corrcfpondences, but only underftood 
 them fcientifically : that, however, there was a communication 
 between heaven and earth in their days, but not fo open and 
 intimate as the former : this was called the Silver Age. In the 
 next generation were thofe who retained fome fpeculative know- 
 
 (84) That the Scriptures are to be underftood according to the do£trine of cor- 
 rcfpondences, n. 8615. That hereby man has a communication with heaven, 
 n. .-".Sgo, ^6943—1 037 5, 1C457,. 
 
 (83) Concci.-iing the fpiritual fenfe of the word, fee a fnjall Treatife concerning 
 t!u: White Horf:; [De Equo Alio} in the Apocalypfe. 
 
 ledge
 
 [,69 ] 
 
 ledge of correfpondences, but did not think and difcern accord"- 
 ing thereto, as being only in natural, and not in fpiritual good 
 like the former ; and their period was called the Copper Age. 
 In the following times men became fucceflively merely external, 
 and at length corporeal or fenfual, and without all knowledge 
 of correfpondency, and nearly fo of all heavenly things. That 
 the forementioned ages were denominated from gold, filver, and 
 copper, was from the dotTrrine of correfpondences (86), foraf- 
 much as according thereto gold fignifies coeleftial good, in which 
 principle v/ere the moft ancient ; ijlver, fpiritual good, in which 
 were the ancient that fucceeded them ; and copper, natural 
 good, the iignature or chara<^er of the following race ; but iron, 
 which gives denomination to the laft times, fignifies a faplefs 
 knowledge of ideal truth without any mixture of good in it. 
 
 Concerning the Sun in Heaven. 
 
 1 1 6. In heaven the fun of this world appears not, nor any 
 thing that proceeds from it, as being natural, for nature takes 
 its beginning or rife proximately from this our fun, and what- 
 ever i'o proceeds from it is termed natural ; whereas that which 
 is fpiritual, as heaven, is above nature, and therefore entirely 
 diflinifl from all that is called natural, neither is there any com- 
 munication betwixt them, but by correfpondency. This di- 
 i'l:in(flion will be underftood by what has been laid before in 
 n. 38, concerning degrees ; and what is here meant by com- 
 munication, by what appears in the two preceding articles con- 
 cerning correfpondences. 
 
 117. But though neither the fun of this world, nor any 
 thing proceeding from it, is feen in heaven, yet neither is hea- 
 ven without its fun, light, and heat ; nay, therein are all things 
 that are in this world, with innumerable others, though of a 
 different origin; for the things in heaven are fpiritual, but thofe 
 
 (86) That gold according to correfpondency fignifies coelcflial good, n. 113, 
 1551 — 9881. That fdvcr fignihcs rpiritiuii good, or truth from coeleftial original, 
 n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5648. That c()p])cr fignifies natural good, n. 425, 1551- 
 That iron fignifies tniih tii the lowdt order, n. 425, 426. 
 
 S oil
 
 [ 7» .] 
 
 on earth are natural. The fun of heaven is the Lord, the light 
 of it is divine truth, and the heat of it divine love, proceeding 
 from the Lord as a fun ; and from him as their divine fource 
 do all heavenly things proceed : but concerning the light and 
 heat in heaven, and whatever is produced by them, Ihall be 
 treated of in the following articles } but here firft as touching 
 its fun. Now the Lord appears in heaven as a fun, forafniuch 
 as he is that divine love from which all fpiritual things derive 
 their exiftence, and alfo, through the medium of this our mun- 
 dane fun, all natural things likewife : he is that love whofe 
 brightnefs is as the fun. 
 
 1 18. That the Lord adlually appears in heaven as a fun, 
 has not only been told me by the angels, but alfo been granted 
 me to fee myfelf at certain times ; and therefore I fhall here 
 briefly relate what I myfelf have fo heard and feen of this won- 
 derful appearance. The Lord appears in heaven as a fun, not 
 as horizontally in heaven, but high above the heavens ; not 
 over head or vertical, but before the faces of the angels in a 
 middle altitude : he appears in two places, in one before the 
 right eye, in the other before the left eye, and that at a con- 
 fiderable diftance : before the right eye he appears as a perfeft 
 fun, of a glow and magnitude fimilar to thofe of our mundane 
 fun ; but before the left eye he appears not a fun, but as a 
 moon, of the like fliine, but brighter, and of the like mag- 
 nitude with our moon, and as furrounded with many Iclfer 
 moons, each in like manner having its particular glittering luftre. 
 That the Lord appears in two places fo differently, is becaufe 
 that his appearance is to every one according to their quality 
 and degree of their recipiency refpe(ftively, and therefore other- 
 wife to thofe who receive him in the good principle of love, 
 than to thofe who receive him in the good of faith ; to the 
 former his appearance is like that of a fiery refulgent fun, and 
 they are the angels of his caleftial kingdom ; but to the latter 
 as a pale but bright moon, and thefe are the angels of his fpi- 
 ritual kingdom (*) 3 and to both in degrees refpetftively to their 
 
 reci- 
 
 (•) The author, as obferved before, diftinguifhcs tlie third and fccond heavens 
 by the numcs of coelcftial and fpiritual ; the third or coeleltial as the higheft, the 
 
 angels
 
 [ 71 ] 
 
 recipiency (Sy) : the reafon of which i?, becaufe the good of 
 love correfponds to fire, and therefore fire in a fpiritual fenfe 
 fignifies love : and the good of faith correfponds to light in a 
 fpiritual fenfe, and fignifies faith (88). That he appears in the 
 plane of or before the eyes, is becaufe the interiour of the mind 
 manifefls itfelf by the eyes, the good of love through the right 
 eye, and the good of faith through the left eye (89) ; for that 
 which is on the right fide of angels or men correfponds to that 
 good, which is the fource of truth ; and that which is on the 
 left, to that truth which ifilies from it (90). The good of 
 faith, as to its eflence, is that truth which proceeds from the 
 good principle. 
 
 119. Hence it is, that in the Scriptures the Lord, with 
 regard to love, is compared to the fun ; and with regard to faith, 
 to the moon ; and alfo that our love to the Lord, as proceeding 
 from him, is fignified by the fun ; and our faith in the Lord, 
 as his gift, is fignified by the moon, as in the following places : 
 " Moreover, the Mght of the moon fhall be as the light of the 
 " fun, and the light of the fun fliall be feven-fold, as the light 
 ** of feven days ;" Ifai. xxx. 26. *' And when I fhall put thee 
 
 angels of which excel in divine love ; and the fecond or fpiritual, the angels of 
 which are n)orc efpccially charaftered by faith and love to their neighbour. Tr. 
 
 (87) That the Lord appears in heaven as a fun, and alfo is the fun of heaven,, 
 n. 1053, 3636, 3643,. 4060. That he appears to the fabjefts of his cceleftial 
 kingdom, which excel in love to him, as a fun ; and to the fubjedls of his fpi- 
 ritual icingdom, whofe more diftinguifbing charaiSler is that of fajth and charity 
 to tlieir neighbour, n. 1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 1837, 4696. That the Lord 
 appears as a fun in the middle altitude before the right eye ; and as a moon before 
 the left eye, n. 1053, 1521, 1529 — 8812, 10809. That the Lord has been feen^ 
 under this twoi'old appearance, n. 1531, 7173. That the real divinity of our 
 Lord is far above his divine manifcftations in heaven, n. 7270, 8760. 
 
 (88) That fire in the Scriptures fignifies love in both fenfes, n. 934, 4906,. 
 5215. That the facred or cceleftial fire fignifies divine love, n. 934, 6314, 6832.^ 
 That the infernal fire fignifies the love of felf and of tiie world, and all concu- 
 pifcencc arifing from thofe loves, n. 1801 — 7575, 10747- That love is the fire- 
 of life, and that life itfelf aiSually proceeds therefrom, n. 4096, 507 1, 6032, 
 6314. That light fignifies the true of faith, n. 3395, 3485 — 9548, 9684. 
 
 (8g) That the fight of the left eye correfponds to the truths of faith, and the 
 fight of the right eye to their good, n. 4410, 6923. 
 
 ■ (90) That the parts or organs, which are on the right fide of the human body,. 
 correfpond to the good from which any truth proceeds, and thofe on the left to. 
 fuch kind of truth, n. 9495, 9604. 
 
 *« 
 
 OUt>
 
 [ 7- ] 
 
 ** out, I will cover tlie heaven, and make the flars tliereof 
 ** dark ; I will cover the fun with a cloud, and the moon Ihall 
 " not give her light : all the bright lights of heaven will I 
 *' make dark over thee, and fet darknefs upon thy land ;" Ezek. 
 xxxii. 7, 8. " The ftars of heaven, and the conilellations 
 " thereof, fliall not give their light : the fun fliall be darkened 
 *' in his going forth, and the moon Ihall not caufe her ligiit 
 ** to fliine ;" Ilai. xiii. 10. " The fun fliall be turned into 
 *' darknefs, and the moon into blood; and the Ihxrs fliall wilh- 
 ** draw their fliining ;" Joel ii. 31. iii. 15. " The fun be- 
 *' came black as fackcloth of hair, and the moon became as 
 *' blood, and the flars of heaven fell into the earth ;" Apoc. 
 vi. 12. " Immediately after the tribulation of thofe days fliall 
 *' the fun be darkened, and the moon fliall not give her light, 
 *' and the flars fliall fall from heaven ;" Matt. xxiv. 29, and 
 elfewhere : in which places, by the fun is fignified love, and 
 by the moon faith, and by the ftars the knowledges [cognitionfs] 
 of good and truth (91), which are then faid to be darkened, to 
 lofe their light, and to fall from heaven, when the things figni- 
 fied by them ceafe among men. That the> Lord appears as a 
 fun in heaven, may alfo be gathered from his transformation 
 before Peter, James, and John, when " his faced fliined as 
 *' the fun ;" Matt, xvii, 2. Such was his appearance to his 
 difciples, when they were out of the body, and in the light of 
 heaven. From fome knowl-edge of this truth it was, that the 
 ancients, who formed a reprefentative church, in their more 
 folemn adorations turned their faces to the eafl, where the fun 
 rifes ; and alfo gave a like afpedl to their temples. 
 
 120. The greatnefs of divine love may in a fort be conceived 
 by us, from its being compared to the fun of our world, though 
 indeed it is far more ardent ; and therefore the Lord, as under 
 the manifeftation of his divinity by a fun, tempers the ardour 
 of it in the progreflion of its powers, according to certain de- 
 grees, denoted by apparent radiant circles round the fun : the 
 angels, moreover, are furrounded by a kind of thin, tranfparent 
 
 (91) That the ftars and conftellations fignify in the word the knowledges of 
 good and truth, n. 2495, 2849, 4697. 
 
 vapour,
 
 [ n ] 
 
 vapour, to enable them to ruftiiin the divine influx (92), ac- 
 cording to their receptivity of which, is the nearer or greater 
 dilhmce of tlie angels ; thus fuch of them as excel moft in the 
 good of love are nearcit to this divine fun, whilft they who 
 are charadlered by the good of faith, are more remote from it : 
 but as to thofe who are in no kind of good, of which fort are 
 the infernal fpirits, they are at an immenfe diftance, and that 
 in proportion to the degree of their oppofition to all good (93). 
 
 121. When the Lord appears in heaven with the angels, as 
 he often does, he appears not as clothed with the fun, but in 
 an angelical form, though diftinguilhed from the angels bv a 
 divine glory radiating from his countenance ; not that this is 
 properly his appearance in perfon, for that is always as clothed 
 with the fun (Rev. xii. i.) but it is his [apparent or] prefence 
 by afped; ; for in heaven it is common for the blefled beings to 
 appear in the termination of the beholder's view, though it be 
 far diftant from the place where they a(flually are ; and this 
 apparent prefence is called the prefence of the internal fight, 
 of which hereafter. I alfo myfclf have it^xx the Lord without 
 the fun, and in a lefTer degree of altitude, in an angelical form; 
 and alfo near, in a like form, with a fplendid countenance ; and 
 once alfo in the midft of the angels as a flaming ftream of light 
 [^Juhar flainmeuni\ . 
 
 122. The fun of this world appears to the angels as a dark 
 fpot, in oppofition to the heavenly fun, and the moon in like 
 manner, in oppofition to the heavenly moon ; and that becaufe 
 
 (92) Whnt and how great the divine love of the Lord is, illullratcd by a com- 
 parifon with tlie fire of this world's fun, n. 6834, 6844, 6849. ^ hat the divine 
 love of the Lord is his love for all mankind, in order to their falvation, n. 1820, 
 1865, 2253, 6872. That the fire of divine love, in its full ardour, enters not 
 heaven, but apjjcars in the form of radiant circles round the fun, n. 7270. That 
 the angels arc, as it were, veiled with a kind of rare vapour, or diaphanous cloud, 
 to moderate the ardour of the divine influx, n. 6849. 
 
 (93) That the divine prefence with the holy angels is in proportion to their 
 reception of the good of love and faith from the Lord, n. 904, 4198 — 10106, 
 10811. That the Lord's appearance to every one is according to his quality and 
 difpofition refpcctivcly, n. 1861, 2235, 419H, 4206. That the rcinotc diltance 
 of the hells from the heavens, is becaufe the infernals arc not able to endure the 
 influx of divine love, n. 4299, 7519 — 8266, 9327. Hence it is, that between 
 heaven and hell there is fo great a gulf, n. 9346, 1O187. 
 
 T the
 
 [ 74 ] 
 
 the clement of fire in this world correfponds to the love of fclF, 
 and the light proceeding from it to fallehood the ifliie of that 
 love : now the love of fclf is diametricLilly oppofite to divine 
 love, as falfehood is to divine truth ; and all that is oppofite to 
 divine love and divine truth is as darknels to the angels : there- 
 fore it is, that to ^\;orlhip the fun and moon of this world, and 
 to bow down to them, denotes in Scripture felf-love, and flille- 
 hood, and error derived therefrom, and that all fuch flaould be 
 cut off; Deut. iv. 19. xviii. 3, 4, 5. Jer. viii. 1, 2. Ezek, viii. 
 15, 16, 18. Apoc. xvi.'8. Matt. xiii. 6. (94). 
 
 123. As the Lord's appearance in heaven is as a fun from 
 the divine love that is in him, and proceeds from him, there- 
 fore all the angels conftantly turn their faces towards him ; they 
 in the ca'leftial kingdom towards him as a fun, and the fpi- 
 ritual kingdom towards him as a moon ; whereas the infernal 
 fpirits turn themfelves to that blacknefs and darknefs which are 
 oppofite thereto, having their backs towards the Lord, foraf- 
 much as all that are in hell are in the love of felf and of the 
 world, and as fuch in oppofition to his Divine Majefty. Such 
 of them as face to that dark orb, which is reprefentative of the 
 fun of this world, are in the hells behind, and are called Genii ; 
 but they which face to that which is reprefentative of the moon, 
 are in the foremoft hells, and are called Spirits : hence it is, 
 that all who are in hell are faid to be in dirknefs, and all who 
 are in heaven to be in light : darknefs correfponds to the falfe, 
 as proceeding from evil, and light to the true, as proceeding 
 from the good principle. That the inhabitants of the otheF 
 worlds turn their fiices as before-mentioned, is becaufe all there 
 dircift their view to thofe things which correfpond to their in- 
 teriour, or what they love moil -, for the f\ices of angels and 
 fpirits manifert and are directed by their interior difpofitions and 
 
 (94) Th.it the fun of this world is not vifiblc to the angels, it being as a dark 
 orb behind them, oppofite to the heavenly fun, n. 7078, 9755. That the fun, 
 in an oppofite fcnfe, fignifies the love of felf, n. 2441 ; in which fenfc, to worfhip 
 the fun, is to worfhip thofe things which are contrary to divine love, or to the 
 Lord, n. 2441, 10584. That the heavenly fun is to thofe that are in the hells, 
 as .1 blackncft, n. 2441. 
 
 ftates i
 
 [ 7S ] 
 
 ftates ; and, as obferved before, in the fpiritual world the four 
 cardinal points are' not fixed, as in the natural, but are deter- 
 mined by the afped: of the face : nor is it otherwife with the 
 fpirit of man in this world ; for it turns its afpe6t to or from 
 the Lord, according as it is in the love of him and its neigh- 
 bour, or in the love of felf and the world ; but this man is 
 ignorant of, while he continues in this natural world, where the 
 four quarters are determined by the riling and fetting of the 
 fun : but as this is difficult of comprehenfion, it will be illu- 
 flrated in the fequel of this work, where the four quarters, 
 fpace, and time in heaven, will be treated of. 
 
 124. As the Lord is the fun of heaven (Rev. xxi. 23.) and 
 all things there point to him as to their divine original, fo 
 confequently he is the common centre of all diredlion and de- 
 termination (95) : and hence it further follows, that all things 
 both in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, are prefent 
 to him, and under his government. 
 
 125. From the things here laid down will more clearly 
 appear what has been alferted and proved in fome preceding 
 articles concerning the Lord as the God of Heaven, n. 2 to 6. 
 That the Virtue of his Divinity conjtitutes Heaven, n. 13 to 19. 
 That there is a Correfpondence between all Things in this World and 
 Heaven, and through Heave?! with the Lord, n. 87 to 115 : as 
 r.ljb that the Sun and Moon of this World have their correfpondent 
 Relations, n. 105. 
 
 Of Light and Heat in Heaven. 
 
 126, That there is light in heaven is not to be conceivecf 
 by thofe, who form their idea of light only from our natural 
 fun ; whereas the heavenly light far exceeds the meridian light 
 of this world : I have often feen it, and alfo at thofe times of 
 its diminution, which anfwer to our times of evening and 
 
 ^95) That the Lord is the common centre to whom all things in heaven tend, 
 
 night*
 
 [ 76 ] 
 
 night (*). At firft I was furprized to hear the angels affirm, 
 that the light of this world was but as ihadc compared to that 
 of heaven -, but I can now alfert the truth of it from ocular 
 evidence, and that the fplendour of it exceeds all defcription : 
 the things which I have fcen in heaven was by this light, and 
 confequently with greater clearnefs and diftindion than any 
 which are feen on earth, 
 
 127. The light of heaven is not a natural light, like that 
 of our world, but fpiritual, for it proceeds from the Lord as 
 a fun, and that fun is divine love, as was fhewed in the pre- 
 ceding article. This emanation from the Lord, as a fun, is 
 called in heaven by the name of Divine Truth, and is in its 
 elTcnce and fource divine good united with divine truth ; and 
 hence the angels have their light and heat, the former from the 
 divine truth, the latter from the divine good or love, which, 
 like their divine original, are both fpiritual, not natural (96). 
 
 128. That divine truth is the light of the angels, is becaufe 
 the angels are fpiritual beings, and fuch fee things by the light 
 of their proper fun, as natural beings do by the light that is 
 proper to them ; and as divine truth is to the angels a fource of 
 intellecftual fight, fo this by influx produces their external vifion ; 
 and thus the light of the divine fun illuminates all things in 
 heaven, both inwardly and outwardly (97). And as fuch is the 
 
 (•) It is certain that the great A'lilton had fome idea of fuch variation in heaven, 
 by the following lines : 
 
 " There is a cave 
 
 " Within the mount of God, fafl by the throne, 
 
 " Where light and daricnefs in perpetual round 
 
 " Lodge and diflodgc bv turns, which makes through hcav'n 
 
 *' Grateful viciflltudc, lilce dav and night : 
 
 *' Though darkntfs there might well 
 
 " Seem twilight here." Par. Lost. B. VL 
 
 The a!)ove quotation is not adduced by way of authority, but to fhcw that 
 certain notices of heavenly things are imprefled on fomc minds by a kind of hea- 
 venly irradiation or influx. 
 
 (96) That all light in the heavens is from the Lord, as a fun, n. 1053, 1521 — 
 9548, 9684, 10809. Tliat divine truth proceeding from the Lord has its external 
 appearance in heaven as light, and conltitutes all the light of heaven, n. 3195, 
 3222 — 9684. 
 
 (97) That the light of heaven illuminates angels and fpirity, both as to their 
 intclleiSlual and organical fight, n. 2776, 3138. 
 
 original
 
 [ 77 ] 
 
 original of light in heaven, fo does it likcwile differ in degree, 
 according to the different reception of divine truth from the 
 Lord in the angels, or, in other words, according to their dif- 
 ferent qualities or meafures, as to underflanding and wifdom (*) ; 
 for thefe are not the fame in all, but different not only in the 
 cceleftial and fpiritual kingdoms, but alfo in the feveral focieties 
 in each of thole kingdoms : thus, with refpedl to external vifion, 
 tiie light of the cotleflial kingdom appears of a flame colour, 
 as the angels therein receive their light from the Lord as a fun; 
 but in the fpiritual kingdom it appears of a white or filver 
 colour, as the angels of the latter receive it from the Lord as 
 a moon. See above, n. ii8. Nor is the light the fame to one 
 fociety as to another ; thus, they who are in the centre have 
 a larger meafure of it than they who are in the circumference j 
 •and fo in proportion according to their diftances refpedlively, 
 n. 43. In a word, according to the degree in which the angels 
 are recipient of divine truth, or, in other words, according to 
 the meafure of their underftanding and wifdom from the Lord, 
 fuch is their light (98) : however, all the angels of heaven are 
 called angels of light. 
 
 129. As the Lord in the heavens is divine truth; and as 
 divine truth there appears in the form of light, therefore he is 
 called in Scripture, The Light ; as likewife all truth that pro- 
 ceeds from him, as in the following places : " Jefus faid, I am 
 " the light o^ the world ; he that followeth me (liall not walk 
 " in darknefs, but Ihall have the light of life;" John viii. 12. 
 " Whilft: I am in the world, I am the light of the world ;" 
 John xix. 15. " Jefus faid, Yet a little while, and the light 
 " is with you : walk whilft ye have the light, lell darknefs 
 " come upon you : while ye have light, believe in the light, 
 " that ye may be the children of light. I am come a light 
 " into the world, tliat whofoever believcth in me fliould not 
 
 (*) According to th;\t received maxim: ^'tcquid recipitur, rccipitur ad inodian 
 }',\ipi(-itt'!S. 
 
 (98) That light in heaven is according to the underftanding and wifdom in the 
 angels, n. 1524, 1529, 1530, 3339- Tliat the differences in light there, arc as 
 nianv as angelical locieties ; and alfo in proportion to the rucceiiivc variations iti 
 the decrees of goodnefs and truth, and fo ot wifdom and underftanding, in thofc 
 focieties, n. 684, 690, 3241 — ji^S^. 
 
 U " abide
 
 [ 78 ] 
 
 ' abide in darknefs ;" John xii. 35, 36, 46. " Light is come 
 ' into the world, but men love darknefs rather than light ;" 
 [ohn iii. 19. And John, fpcaking of the Lord, fiys : " This 
 ' is the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into 
 the world ;" John i. 4, 9. " The people who lat in dark- 
 aiefs fliall fee great light ; and to thofe who Hit in the fhadow 
 of death is light arifen ;" Matt. vi. 16. "I will give thee 
 for a covenant to the people, for a light to the Gentiles ;" 
 Ifaiah xlii. 6. "I have given thee for a light to the Gentiles, 
 ' that thou mayeft be my falvation, even to the ends of the 
 ' earth ;" Ifaiah xlix. 6. " The nations of them that are 
 * fiived fliall walk in his light ;" Rev. xxi. 24. " Send forth 
 ' thy light and thy truth : they ihall lead me ;" Pfli. xliii. 3. 
 In thefe and other places the Lord is called Light, as the foun- 
 tain of that divine truth that proceeds from him, which alfo is 
 called Light ; and as he is the divine fun that gives light to the 
 heavens, fo when he was transformed before Peter, James, and 
 John, " his face appeared as the fun, and his garments fliining, 
 *' and white as fnow, fo as no fuller on earth can white them ;" 
 Mark ix. 3. Matt. xvii. 2. That the Lord's garments appeared 
 in this fort, was becaufe they reprefentcd divine truth as pro- 
 ceeding from him in heaven, and as garments in the Scriptures 
 fignify truths (99) j and to this purpofe are thofe words of 
 David : *' O Lord, thou clothcll thyfelf with light, as with 
 " a garment ;" Pfa, civ. 2. 
 
 130. That the light in heaven is fpiritual, and the flimc 
 with divine truth, may alfo be gathered from hence, viz. that 
 there is alfo a fpiritual light in man, which at times illul1:rates 
 his mind with the knowledge of divine truth, according to his 
 clafs in the fchool of wifdom. The fpiritual light in man is 
 the light of his underftanding, as far as it has truths for its 
 objefts, which he difpofes analytically in order, forms into 
 reafons, and from thence draws conclufions (100) : the natural 
 
 (99) That garments in the Scripture fignify truths, as thefe nre the clothing of 
 good, n. 1073, 2576 — 9952, IC536. 1 hat the garments of the Lore', at his 
 transfiguration, fignificd divine truth proceeding from his divine love, n. 921 z, 
 9216. 
 
 (100) That the illumination of the human intelledl by the light of heaven, is 
 the caufe of rationality in man, n. 1524, 3138 — 9399> 10569. That the miiiJ 
 
 has 
 
 I
 
 [ 79 ] 
 
 man indeed knows not that this is a real light by which we To 
 fpeculate, becaufe he fees not either inwardly or outwardly j but 
 nevcrthelefs, many know it to be fo, and have a diflindt per- 
 ception of its difference from that natural light which they are 
 in, whofe thoughts are not fpiritual, but natural only j of 
 which fort are all thofe who have regard only to things of this 
 world, and afcribe all to nature j whereas they that think fpi- 
 ritually, think of heavenly things, and afcribe all to God : and 
 tha.t it is a real and true light which illuminates the minds, and 
 totally diftindl from that which we call natural light, has often 
 been given me to difcern, by a gradual afcent of the mind 
 therein, and according to the degrees of fuch elevation, I have 
 been given to perceive things, of which I had not the leafl: 
 perception before, and fo on to higher things, which far ex- 
 ceeded my conception by any powers of the natural under- 
 ftanding ; and fome times 1 have been much diPcurbed and of- 
 fended at my prior ignorance of things, which I faw with fuch 
 convincing evidence by a fpiritual light (loi) : and as light and 
 vilion are thus proper to the intelled:ual part, fo by correfpon- 
 dence we apply to it the fame terms that we make ufe of in 
 fpeaking of corporeal light ; thus it is commonly faid of the 
 imderftanding, when it is in the perception of any truth, that 
 it fees it, or is in the light of it j and fo on the contrary, when 
 it perceives it not, that it is in darknefs concerning it, with 
 many other like expreffions. 
 
 has its capacity for divine illumination from its being receptive of truth, n. 6222, 
 6608, 10659. That its illumination is in proportion to its recipiency of truth in 
 the good principle from the Lord, n. 3619. That the mind of man takes its par- 
 ticular diilinction and charaftcr from the nature and quality of the truths it im- 
 bibes, and which form it, n. 10064. That the light of hLavcn is to the human 
 intelled what the light of this world is to the eye, n. 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128. 
 That heavenly light from the Lord is always prcfcnt with man, but influences him 
 no farther than as he is in that truth which is from good [/« vffo ex bono'] n. 4060, 
 
 42 J 3- 
 
 (loi) When any one is raifed up from a ftate of fenfual darkne{s, he is firft 
 
 brought into a lower degree of light, and fo on, till he is exalted to coeleftial light, 
 
 n. 6313, 6315, 9407. That he is then exalted to heavenly light, when he attains 
 
 to a right underitanding of divine truth, n. 319O. How great the light I became 
 
 percipient of, when 1 was raifed above all thoughts relating to worldly things, 
 
 ji. 1526, 66g8. 
 
 131. As
 
 ■[ 8o ] 
 
 131. As the light of heaven is divine truth, or, in otlier 
 words, divine wildoni and underftanding ; confequently, to be 
 raifed up to the light of heaven, and to have the illumination 
 of divine underllanding, mean the flime thing ; and therefore 
 the light of the angels is in exaifl proportion to their under- 
 Handing and wifdom : and as light in heaven [in its eHence] is 
 divine wifdom, fo does it manifeft the particular diilindtions and 
 qualities of the angels, for with thofe blelfed beings the fl\ce is 
 the index of the mind, and reveals all that is within ; nay, the 
 more interior angels love to have it fo, as they harbour nothing 
 but what is [^ood in their intentions and wills : but the cafe is 
 far othcrwife with the infernal fpirits ; for as they are void of 
 all good within, they dread being viewed in the manifefting 
 light of heaven ; and (which will be thought very ftrange) 
 though they appear to one another in the regular human form, 
 yet when viewed by the heavenly light, they appear as monfters, 
 with ugly faces and hideous rtiapcs, correfponding to the evil 
 that is within them refpedively (102) : nor is it otherwife with 
 man, as to his fpiritual form, when viewed by the angels ; for 
 it he is in the good principle, he appears to them in a beautiful 
 human form according to his good ; but if in the evil principle, 
 he appears to them deformed and ugly according to his evil ; for 
 all things are made manifeft in the light of heaven, forafmuch 
 as it is the fame with divine truth. 
 
 132. As divine truth is the eflence of the heavenly light, 
 therefore all truths every where, whether within or without the 
 angels, and within or without the heavens, have a lucid form, 
 but the latter in a lefs degree ; for truths without the heavens 
 have a cold lucid afpecft, like fnow without heat, as not having 
 their eflence from good, like truths within the heavens ; where- 
 fore fuch kind of frigid light difappears upon the breaking in 
 upon them of the heavenly light, and is turned into darknefs, 
 if evil be concealed under it : this I myfelf have fometimes feen, 
 as alio many other memorable things concerning Ihining truths, 
 which I here pafs o\cr, 
 
 (lO?) That they who arc in hell appear to one another like men by their own 
 light, which rcfemblcs that from fiery coals, but as monfters in the light of hea- 
 ven, n. 4532, 4533 — 6605, 6626. 
 
 133. I pro-
 
 [ 8i J 
 
 133. I proceed to lay fomething concerning the heat of 
 heaven, which in its eflence is love, for it proceeds from the 
 Lord as a fun, and that fun in its eflence is divine love pro- 
 ceeding from the Lord, as has been fliewed in a former article ; 
 [q that the heat of heaven is equally fpiritual with the light of 
 heaven, leeing that the origin of both is the fame (103). There 
 are two things which proceed from the Lord as a fun, divine 
 truth and divine good : tlie former has its manifeftation in 
 heaven as light, and the latter as heat, but both in fuch a Hate 
 of union, as to form only one and the fame thing ; nevcr- 
 thelefs in the angels they are diflindl, as fome angels receive 
 more of the divine good, and fome, on the other hand, more 
 of the divine truth ; they of the former clafs belong to the 
 ca'leflial kingdom of the Lord, and thofe of the latter to his 
 fpiritual kingdom ; but fuch among them as receive of both in 
 equal meafure, are the moil perfedt of all. 
 
 134. The heat, as well as light of heaven, varies throughout 
 the regions of blifs, not being the fame in the cceleilial with 
 that of the fpiritual kingdom ; nay, it differs in every fociety 
 in both, as well in degree as quality ; it is more intcnfe and 
 pure in the coeleftial kingdom, as the angels therein receive 
 more of the divine good ; but lefs intenfe and pure in the fpi- 
 ritual kingdom, as the angels therein receive lefs of divine good 
 than of divine truth ; nay, it varies in every particular fociety 
 refpecftively, according to their difference of recipiency. The 
 hells allb have their heat, but of an impure nature (104) : the 
 heat in heaven, reprefented by the facred and coeleflial lire, and 
 the heat of hell, by the profane and infernal fire, are both cor- 
 refpondents of love ; the former of love to the Lord and our 
 neighbour, and of every particular afFeftion proceeding there- 
 
 (103) That there is a twofold origin of heat and light, the one from the fun 
 of this world, the other from the coelcftial fun, n. 3338, 5215, 7324. That 
 heat from the Lord as a fun, is that fpiritual aftcdtion which proceeds from love, 
 n. 366, 3643. Hence, that fpiritual heat in its cfl'cncc is love, n. 2146, 3338, 
 3339. 6314.' 
 
 (104) I hat the h.ells alfo have rcfpccStively their heat, but of an impure kind, 
 n. 1773, 2757, 3340 ; and that it yields a foetid, excrementitious fnicll ; and iii 
 the lov.-cfl hells like that which proceeds from a putrid carcafc, n. 814, 815 — 944, 
 5394- 
 
 X from i
 
 [ 82 ] 
 
 from ; the latter of the love of fclf and the world, and of all 
 their concomitant concupifcenccs. That love is heat from a 
 fpiritual fource, is evident from its effcds ; for how does any 
 one feel himfelf warmed by its influence, according to its de- 
 gree and quality ; nay, how hot when crolled in this palhon ? 
 Hence thofe common forms of fpeaking ; to take fire, to glow, 
 to burn, and the like, when we would exprefs the fervors of 
 a lawful, or unlawful love. 
 
 135. That love proceeding from the Lord as a fun is felt in 
 heaven as heat, is becaufe the divine principle, or fire of love 
 •within the angels, excites that fenlation in their external form, ;|,' 
 for love and heat mutually correfpond both in kind and degree, 
 
 as was obferved before. The heat of this world finds no place 
 in heaven, as being of a grofs nature, and not fpiritual ; though 
 it is otherwife with us men, as partaking of both worlds at the 
 fame time, the natural and the fpiritual ; and therefore have not ^• 
 
 only a fpiritual heat adapted to fpiritual afFe«flions, but alfo a 
 corporeal fenfation of heat derived by influx therefrom, as well 
 as from the natural fire of this world. The correfpondence 
 between thefe diflrerent kinds of heat is manifcft in the loves of 
 the brute animals, the chief of which is that of propagating 
 their fpecies, and which operates in them according to its con- 
 currence with our folar heat in the fpring and fummer feafons ; 
 but fundamental is the error of thofe, who fuppofe that the 
 heat of this materid world can, by any influxive power in itfelf, 
 beget love [which is of a fpiritual origin] for all influx is from 
 fpirit to matter, not from matter to fpirit ; the former being 
 according to the efl:abliflied laws of divine order, but the latter 
 contrary thereto (105). 
 
 136. Angels are endowed with intelled: and free will, as 
 well as men ; the former they derive from the liglit of heaven, 
 or, in other words, from divine truth and wifdom ; and the 
 latter from the heat of heaven, or that divine principle of good- 
 nefs which produces divine love ; however, the efl'ence of the 
 angelical life is from heat, or fo far only from light, as light is 
 
 (105) That influx is fpiritual, and not phyfical ; confequently from the fpi- 
 ritual to the natural world, not vice ver/ii, n. 3219, 51 19 — 91 ic, 9111. 
 
 animated
 
 [ 83 ] 
 
 animated by heat ; and that this is fo, appears evidently in that 
 life entirely ceafes upon a total extindlion of heat. The cafe is 
 exaiftly fimilar with refpe<ft to that kind of faith which is void 
 of love, or that kind of truth which is void of good, as the 
 true of faith \yeriim Jidei] anfwers to light, and the good of 
 love to heat (io6). This may be illuftrated from the heat and 
 light of this world, to which thofe of heaven correfpond, as 
 from the conjunftion of the light and heat of this world, which 
 happens in fpring-time and fummer, all things on earth are 
 animated and fiourilh ; but from light without heat, as in 
 winter, nothing thrives ; but vegetables are torpid, and, as it 
 were, without life. From correfpondence herein, heaven is called 
 Paradife or Garden, feeing that truth is there joined to good, 
 or faith to love, in the fame manner that light and heat are 
 conjoined on earth in the fpring-time. This may ferve to 
 illurtrate what has been laid down before under its proper head, 
 n. 13 to 19; viz. That the divine ruling principle with the 
 angels, is love to the Lord, and charity or love towards their 
 neighbour. 
 
 137. It is faid in the Gofpel (John i. i, 3, 4, 10, 14.) " la 
 " the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
 '• and the Word was God : all things were made by him, and 
 " without him nothing was made that was made. In him was 
 " the life, and the life was the light of men. He was in the 
 " world, and the world was made by him. And the Word" 
 " was made flefli, and dwelt among us, and we faw his glory." 
 It is evident, that by the JVord is meant tlie Lord ; for it is 
 faid, that the JVord was made Hefh ; but what we are to under- 
 hand by the Woi'd in a more efpecial fenfe, has not as yet been 
 explained, and therefore ihall now be declared. By the JVordt 
 
 (106) That truths (fo called) without good as their root or effence, are not 
 real truths, and therefore are faid not to have life, for the life of truth is from the 
 principle of good, n. 9603 ; and confequently are like a body without a foul, 
 n. 3180, 9454 ; nor are fuch apparent truths acceptable to the Lord, n. 436S. 
 As is truth without good, fo is faith without love ; and as according to the good, 
 fuch is its truth ; fo according to the love, fuch is the quality of its iaith, n. 1949, 
 1950 — 5S30, 5951. That it comes to the fame, whether wc fay truth or faith, 
 and good or love, forafmuch as truth is the property of faith, and good is the 
 property of love, n. 2839, 4353 — 7624, 10367. 
 
 in
 
 [ 84 ] 
 
 in the places before cited, we are to underftand divine truth as 
 in the Lord, and from the Lord (107), and which there alfo is 
 called Light, as fignifying the (mx\c with divine truth, as has 
 been Ihewed in the preceding numbers : and that all tilings were 
 created and made by Divine Truth will appear from what fol- 
 lows. In heaven all power belongs to Divine Truth alone (108), 
 and it is from thence that the angels are called Powers, and are 
 fuch according to the degree in which they are receptive of it : 
 it is hereby that they prevail over the powers of darknefs, and 
 all oppofition from every quarter, for a thoufimd enemies are 
 not able to withfland a iingle ray of divine light or truth (*) : 
 and as the angels derive their angelical nature from their being 
 recipients of divine truth, fo heaven mull: be from the fame 
 origin, inafmuch as they conftitute heaven. That there flioulj 
 be fuch a kind of Omnipotence in Divine Truth, mull; appear 
 incredible to fuch as hold the latter to conlill only in thoughts 
 and ideas of the mind, or the agreement of certain proportions, 
 which have no other power than what ariles from the allent and 
 obedience of thofe that embrace them ; whereas Divine Truth 
 has power in itfelf, infomuch that by it was created heaven and 
 this world, and all things that are therein : this may be illuflrated 
 by two comparifons, viz. By the power of truth and good in 
 man, and by the power of light and heat from the fun of this 
 world : with relpeft to the former, it is to be noted, that what- 
 
 (107) That JVord in Scripture language has various fignifications ; as Tpeech, 
 operation of the mind, real exiftence, and in its highcft fcnfc, divine truth, and 
 the Lord, n. 9987. That Word fignifics divine truth, n. 2803, 2884 — 7830, 
 9987. That it lignifics the Lord, n. 2533, 2859. 
 
 (108) That to divine truth proceeding from the Lord belongs all poxrcr, n. 
 6948, 8200. That all power in heaven belongs to truth, as united to and pro- 
 ceeding from good, n. 3091, 3563 — looig, 10182. That angels are called pow- 
 ers, and are powers from their reception of divine truth from the Lord, n. 9639. 
 That hence, in fome places in the Word they are called Gods, n. 4295, 4402, 
 8301, 8192, 9398. 
 
 (*) Sec in Efdras the following characlcrifticks of divine truth : " As for the 
 *' truth, it enduretli, .-.nd is always ftrong ; it liveth, and conquereth for evcr- 
 " more. With her there is no accepting of pcrfons : flie is the ftrength, king- 
 " dom, power, and majcfty of all ages — Bleflcd be the God of truth." Efdras, 
 B. L iv. 38, 40. Truth, under the charafler of wifdom, is in many places of 
 Scripture dignified with divine perfonality, and diftinguifhed by the attribute of 
 Omnipotence : fee in particular, Piov. P'ljjiniy and the Book of Wifdom. Tr. 
 
 ever
 
 [ ^5 ] 
 
 ever a man does, he performs it from his intelledl and will ; 
 from his will by good, and from his intellecft by truth j for all 
 things in the will have fome relation to good, and all things in 
 the underftandiug fome relation to truth (109) : it is therefore 
 by power derived from them, that he adluates his whole cor- 
 poreal fyftem, in which a thoufand different parts concur to 
 pay an obfequious obedience to their government, in conformity 
 to the laws of that correl'pondency, according to which it is 
 formed. As to the other inllance refpedting the power of heat 
 and light, as proceeding from the lun of this world ; it is to 
 be obierved, that all things that vegetate on earth, as trees, 
 plants, flowers, grain, and feeds of all kinds, owe their vege- 
 tation thereto, and manifeft the power of the folar influence ; 
 but how much greater mull be the power of that divine light, 
 which, in its efl'ence, is divine truth; and of that divine heat, 
 which, in its effence, is divine good, and from which the hea- 
 venly world derives its exifl:ence, and confequently this cur 
 world, as proceeding from the heavenly, as has been fliewed 
 before ? Thus much may ferve to illullrate this great truth ; 
 that by the Word all things were made, and that without him 
 nothing was made that was made ; and alfo that the world was 
 made by him, viz. by divine truth from the Lord (no). Hence 
 it is, that in the Book of the Creation mention is firll: made 
 of light, and afterwards of thofe things that proceed from it, 
 
 (109) That the intcIlecSt is the recipient of truth and the will of good, n. 3623, 
 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. That therefore all things in the underftanding have 
 relation to truths, whether really fiich, or only believed to be fo ; and that all 
 th.ings in the will have relation to good in like manner, n. 803, 1 01 22. 
 
 (no) That divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is that which alone hath 
 reality and exigence in itfflf, n. 68bo, 70C4, 8200. That by divine truth all 
 things were created and made, n. 2803, 2884, 5272, 7835. 
 
 N. B. The author, in the abo\e note, fpcaks of the divine exiftcnce as 
 diftinguifhcd, and proceeding from the divine elTence from eternity to eternity, and 
 as giving exiltence to all other things. Every thing has an eflence and form, for 
 without eflence there could be no form ; and without the form the clTc-nce would 
 be unmanifeik'd, and therefore unknowable : they are as foul and body to each 
 other : the eflliice indeed is of prior confideration, yet in the divine nature they 
 are cocxillent and coequal, and differ only with refpedt to manifellation : but I dare 
 not be confident that I exprcfs myfelf aright on tliis moft awfully myfterious 
 fubject. Tr. 
 
 Y Gen.
 
 [ 86 ] 
 
 Gen. i. 3, 4; and alfo that all things both in heaven and earth 
 have relation to good and truth, and to the conjundion of both, 
 in the order of creation and ufe. 
 
 139. It is to be noted, that the divine good and the divine 
 truth, which are in the heavens from the Lord as a fun (*), are 
 not in, hut Jrom the Lord ; for in him only is divine love, which 
 is the effence [fj('] from whence they exift : now to exifl, and 
 to proceed from an effence, mean the fame thing, as may be 
 illuftrjted by comparifon with the fun of this world ; as for 
 inflauce, the heat and light in this world are not in the fun, 
 but from the fun ; for in the fun is only fire, and from it they 
 derive their exiftence and procefTion. 
 
 140. Forafmuch as the Lord [under his manifeflation and 
 appearance in heaven] as a fun, is divine love ; and as divine 
 love conftitutes the very efTence of divine good, fo the divine 
 
 (*) It will not be difficult for perfons of an abftraflcd and philofophical turn 
 of mind (and fuch will receive moft benefit from our author's v/ritings) to con- 
 ceive that the moft adorable Majtfty of the Infinite Eternal God (unknowable in 
 himfelf, as above the comprehenfion of all created intellect) fhould manifcft him- 
 felf in appearances, human or other, accommodated to the limited capacities of 
 his creatures in all wprlds : nor confequcntly will it be difficult for fuch to believe, 
 that in a fpiritual world there fhould be a fpiritual fun, to reprefent vifibly to the 
 angels the invifible glory of the divine eflence, and to ferve as a medium or vehicle, 
 imder God, of communicating fpiritui! blcffings to fpiritual beings, both as to 
 foul and body ; efpccially as fuch a conftitution in the heavenly world fo aptly 
 correfponds with the rule of analogy, and fo fitly adapts itfelf to our familiar ideas 
 concerning the divine wifdom, power, and goodncfs, as manifeftcd in the confti- 
 tution of this our folar fyftem. That natural heat and natural light are the cor- 
 rcfpondent images of fpiritual love and fpiritual truth, is confirmed to us by the 
 received ufe and application of thefe fimilitudes or emblems in all languages : now 
 if natural heat and light are derived to us from a natural fun, where is room for 
 doubting, that their fpiritual correfpondent relative's, love and truth, fiiould in 
 like manner proceed from a fpiritual fun, though mediately from the Lord ? It can 
 only be from the newnefs of this rcprefcntation of the fubjccl before us, that it 
 is of difficult admiffion to the mind of any reader ; let it only be familiarized, and 
 his objeflions will prcfently vani/b. I fhall conclude this note with obfcrving, 
 that this our natural fun, confidered in all its animating and comforting influences, 
 and in all its wonderful efFefts and productions in this world, exhibits fuch a 
 ftrilcing difplay of the divine wifdom, power, and goodncfs, that it inclines one 
 to fuppofe, that the religious veneration given to it by the unenlightened Eaftern 
 nations, was one of the moft pardonable kinds of idolatry ; if it may be allowed 
 lawful to fpeak with the Icaft degree of mitigation of any profane worfhip, whereby 
 that honour is given to fcnfclefs matter, which is due only to the ever-living, life- 
 giving God» Tr. 
 
 emanation
 
 [ 87 ] 
 
 emanation from him in heaven is, for diflindlion fake, called 
 Divine Truth, though, in reality, it is the divine good united 
 with divine truth ; and this, in quality of its divine operation 
 and energy, is called the Holy Spirit \_SanBtim procedens]. 
 
 Of the Four Quarters in Heaven. 
 
 141. In heaver, as well as in this world, are the four quar- 
 ters or cardinal points of the Eaft, South, Weft, and North, 
 and in both determined by their proper fun ; in heaven by the 
 cosleftial fun [reprcfenting] the Lord, and in this world, by 
 our fun ; but yet with much diifcrence between them : firft, in 
 that the point of the fun's greateft altitude' in our hemifphere, 
 is by us called the South ; the oppofite thereto the North ; the 
 point where the fun rifes at the times of the equinoxes, the 
 Eaft ; and where it then fets, the Weft ; fo that in our world 
 all the quarters are determined by the meridian fun. But in 
 heaven that is called the Eaft where the Lord appears as a fun ; 
 oppofite thereto is the Weft ; to the right hand is the South ; 
 and to the left hand is the North ; and thus always the fame to 
 the angels, wliich way foever they turn their faces or bodies 
 [as having the Lord always before them] fo that in heaven all 
 the four quarters are determined by the Eaft, that being the 
 quarter in which the Lord appears as a fun ; from which he is 
 called the origin (*) of all life ; and agreeably thereto, in pro- 
 portion to the heat and light, or love and underftanding, received 
 by the angels from him, in fuch degree the Lord is faid to rife 
 upon or in them : hence likewife it is, that the Lord in the 
 Scriptures is called the Eaft (iii). 
 
 142. Another difference is, that the angels have the Eaft 
 always before them, the Weft behind them, the South on their 
 right, and the North on their left hand : but as this is difficult 
 
 (*) This alludes to the fignification of the words Oriens and OrigOy from snV/, 
 to rife. 
 
 (ill) That the Lord, in the higheft fenfe of the word, is the Eaft: or Orient, 
 as being the fun of heaven, always rifen, but never fctting, n. loi, 5097, g668. 
 
 to
 
 [ 88 ] 
 
 to be underflood by the inhabitants of our earth, who turn their 
 faces indifferently to every one of the quarters, fomething fball 
 here be faid by way of explanation. The whole heaven has its. 
 afpedl towards the Lord, as to its common centre; confequently 
 that of the angels has the fame direction. It is well known by 
 us, that all things on earth have a direction to its centre, though 
 this differs from the former,, as in heaven tlie front or fore parts 
 have this direftion, but in our world, the lower parts, and this 
 tendency is called centripetal, or otherwife gravitation. The 
 whole interiour of 'the angels has its direction or tendency for- 
 ward to the Lord ; and as this influences and manifelh itfelf in 
 the fice, fo confequently the face of the angel gives determi- 
 nation to the quarters (i 12). 
 
 143. But that the angels fliould ever front to the Eaff, 
 which way foever they turn their faces or bodies, will appear 
 full more hard to be conceived by men, who view every quarter 
 alike, accordingly as they turn their bodies : to this alfo a word. 
 The angels move, and turn their fices and bodies every way 
 like men on earth, and yet notwithllanding, their afpe<ft is 
 always to the Ealt ; but then it mufl: be obferved, that thefe 
 their motions and turnings, though like to thofe of men, are 
 not the fame, being from a different principle, viz. the love 
 that prevails in them, which is the determining power, even in 
 externals, both with angels and other fpirits j for, as was faid 
 before, their interiour is atflually turned towards their common 
 centre, and confequently, in heaven, towards the Lord as a fun ; 
 for love being the inward ruling principle of the angels, ma- 
 nifefling itfelf in the face as its outward form ; therefore the 
 angels naturally turn their flices to him who is the great objcdt 
 of that love, or rather it is the Lord (as being in that love, 
 and alfo the giver of it) that prefents himfelf to them which 
 way foever they look (113). Thefe things cannot be farther 
 
 cluci- 
 
 (112) That all the angels turn their faces to the Lord, 11.9828, 10130, iOi8g, 
 IC219 ; not that the angels turn thcmfclves to the Lord, but that he turns thcin 
 to himfelf, n. ioi8g. I'hat the angels arc not fo properly faid to be prefent with 
 the Lord, as the Lord to be prefent with them, n. 9415. 
 
 (113) That in the fpiritual world all turn to the objects of their loves; and 
 that the four quarters of the heavens have their names and determination from the 
 
 afpea
 
 [ B9 ] 
 
 elucidated at prefent, but fliall be farther explained in the fol- 
 lowing articles, wherein reprefentations and appearances, time 
 and fpace in heaven, will be treated of as their proper fubjed:s. 
 That the angels have the Lord always before their faces, has 
 been given me to know by full experience ; for as often as I 
 have been in company with them, I have been made fenfible 
 of his being fo prefent, by light in my underftanding, when 
 I had no ocular vifion of him ; and the angels have often 
 affirmed to me the truth of it ; and indeed this is fo eftabliihed 
 and confeffed a truth, that it is common among men, when 
 fpeaking of fuch as truly believe in and love the Lord, to fay, 
 they have the Lord always before them ; that they walk in his 
 fight ; and the like : now it is from the fpiritual world that we 
 are led fo to fpeak, for many forms of fpeech in the language 
 of man exprefs ideas and truths derived from thence, though 
 we 'know it not to be fo. 
 
 144. This feeing of the Lord by the angels, even where 
 many of them look different ways from one another, and jet 
 every one beholds him, notwithflanding their feveral different 
 directions, is one of the wonders of the heavenly world ; and 
 however difficult to conceive, yet fo it is, that which way foever 
 they turn themfelves, he is always before them, and they have 
 the South on their right hand, the North on their left, and the 
 Wefl behind them (*). Among other wonderful things there 
 
 are 
 
 afpcft of the angels, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702. That the face is formeJ 
 fo as to correfpond with the mind or interiour, n. 4791 to 4805, 5695. That 
 therefore the inward difpofition beams in the countenance, n. 3527, 4066, 4796. 
 That the face and mind in the angels entirely correfpond, n. 4796, 4797, 4799» 
 5695, 8250. Of the influx of the mind into the face and its mufcles, n. 3631, 
 4800. 
 
 (*) The author's relation of the particulars before us, is undeniably furprizing ; 
 and yet I doubt not but many befides myfelf will not only give credit to, but alfo 
 be able to form fome conception of them, would they but abllrafl their thoughts 
 from the laws of vifion, place, and direction, as eftabliftied in this our natural 
 world. Our cuftomary ideas are apt to tiniture the mind with prejudices againft 
 many truths even in nature ; and were it not for mirrors and glalfcs, how im- 
 poflible would it fecm to many, that objects behind us fhould fo diftin£lly be fceh 
 as before us ; nay, how many deceptions are we liable to from appearances, and 
 a falfe judgment concerning natural caufcs and efFedts. It may truly be affirmed, 
 that a great part of the infidelity that is in the world, proceeds from the immerfioii 
 
 Z of
 
 [ 90 ] 
 
 are likewifc the two following, viz. Firft, Though the angels 
 always front to the Eaft, yet they have alfo a view of the other 
 three quarters at the lame time, hut of the latter hy an inward 
 kind of vifion like that of thought. Secondly, That no one 
 in the heavenly world ihuids behind another, fo as to look at 
 the hinder part of his head, as this is contrary to the laws of 
 influx of goodnefs and truth from the Lord. 
 
 145. The angels look at the eyes of the Lord [when he 
 appears to them in perfon] but the Lord at the forehead of the 
 angels, and that becaufe the forehead correfponds to love, througli 
 which the Lord influences their wills ; as he enlightens their 
 minds with the knowledge of him, to which intellectual fight 
 the eyes correfpond (114). 
 
 146. The quarters in the heavens, which conflitute the 
 cceleflial kingdom of the Lord, differ from thofe which con- 
 ftitute his fpiritual kingdom, and that becaufe the Lord appears 
 to the angels of the former as a fun, and to the angels of the 
 latter as a moon ; and his appearance is in the Eart: : the diftance 
 between the fun and moon there is thirtv degrees, as alfo that 
 of the quarters. That heaven is diftinguilhed into two king- 
 doms, the cceleftial and the fpiritual, fee in its proper article, 
 n. 20 to 28 : and that the Lord appears in the former as a fun, 
 and in the latter as a moon, n. 118 : but neverthelefs the quar- 
 ters or cardinal points are not therefore indirtindl, becaufe the 
 fpiritual angels cannot afcend to the cocleflial, nor thefe defcend 
 to the former, fee n. 35 (*). 
 
 of mens mintls into matter and fcnfe, and their fcttins »ip natural things as the 
 ftandard of judgment in fpiritual things; or clfe fiom holding the former only 
 to be realities. The conftitution and jaws of" tilings in all worlds (more efpccially 
 between the natural and fpiritual worlds) are unqueilionably very different, fo as 
 to exhibit, in endlefs variety, moit wonderful dilplays of the infinite wifJoin and 
 power of the adorable Creator. Tr. 
 
 (114) That the forehead correfponds to heavenly lo\e, and that therefore the 
 latter is fignified by it in Scripture, n. gg 56. That the eye correfponds to the 
 underftanding as to the inward eye, n. 2701, 4410, 452b, 9051, 105O9: where- 
 fore to lift up the eyes and fee, fignifies to underlland, perceive, and aniniadverc, 
 n. 2789, 2829, 3198—4339, 5684. 
 
 (•) 1 muft confefs that I undcriland not the meaning of this laft fentence, as 
 an inference from what goes before : there is much rcafon to fufpe(5t an error of 
 the prefs here. Tr. 
 
 J 47. Hence
 
 [ 9t 1 
 
 147. Hence it appears in what {enfe the Lord is prefent in 
 the heavens ; that he is every where, and with every one in that 
 goodnefs and truth which proceed from him ; and that he dwells 
 with the angels in his own divine principle, as was mentioned 
 before, n. 12. The perception of the prefence of the Lord in 
 the angels is primarily in their interior or intcllecftual part, from 
 which their external fight proceeds, and whereby they behold 
 him outwardly ; for to them outward vifion is a continuation 
 of the inward ; and thus we are to underftand how the Lord is 
 in them, and they in the Lord, according to thofe words : 
 " Abide in me, and I in you," John xv. 4. " He who eateth 
 ** my flefli, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in 
 " him," John vi. 56. The flefh of the Lord fignifies divine 
 good, and his blood, divine truth (115). 
 
 148. In the heavens all have their feparate dwellings accord- 
 ing to the feveral quarters. They who are in the good of love, 
 in the Halt and Weft i they who are in the fenfation of it, in 
 a higher degree, dwell in the Eaft ; they who have it in a lower 
 degree, have their dwellings in the Weft : they who are en- 
 dowed with wifdom from that fource of good, have their habi- 
 tations in the South and in the North ; fuch of them as partake 
 of a clearer light of wifdom, in the South ; and fuch as poflefs 
 it in a lelTer degree of clearnefs, in the North. In like manner 
 are fituated the angels of the fpiritual kingdom, but .with dif- 
 ference, according to their kind and degree of good, and of 
 light from that good refpeftively ; for as the prevailing love irx 
 the coeleftial kingdom is love to the Lord, and the light of truth 
 from thence is wifdom ; fo in the fpiritual kingdom, the pre- 
 vailing love is that to their neighbour, which is called Charity; 
 and the light of truth proceeding thence, is intelleiTtual know- 
 ledge, which is called faith, fee above, n. 23. There is a dif- 
 ference alfo betwixt them refpefting the quarters, in the diftance 
 of thirty degrees, as mentioned before, n. 146. 
 
 (115) That the flcfli of the Lord fignifies his Divine Humanity, and nlfo the 
 divine good of his love, n. 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283: and that his blood fignifies 
 divine truth, and the holiiiefs of fiiith [SanSfum Fiild] n. 4735, 4978, 7317-, 
 7326 — 10152, 10204. 
 
 149. In,
 
 [ 92 ] 
 
 149' Ii^ like manner dwell the angels in their feveral foci- 
 eties : luch of them as are in a greater degree of love and charity 
 being fituated to the Eaft of their particular departments ; they 
 that pofTefs a lell'er degree, in the Weft : they who have more 
 of wifdom and underftanding, are to the South of their tribes ; 
 and they who have lefs, to the North : and this diftindlion takes 
 place throughout the coeleftial regions, and that becaufe every 
 particular fociety is a reprefentation of the whole heaven, nay, 
 is a heaven in a leffer form, fee n. 51 to 58. The fame order 
 is alfo obferved when they meet in their alfemblies, whilft every 
 one knows and readily takes his proper place, as it were, bv a 
 heavenly inftinft : it is likewife ordained, by an eftabliflied law, 
 that there ftiould be fome angels of all clalfes and degrees in 
 every particular fociety, that there may be a conformity between 
 the whole complex of heaven and its feveral parts, but yet with 
 this difference, that the angelical focieties in the Eaft are of 
 fuperior excellence to thofc of the Weft ; and they who are 
 ftationcd in the South to thofe of the North. 
 
 150. Hence it arifes, that every quarter in the heavenly 
 world points out or fignifies the particular excellencies and 
 qualities with their degrees, that appertain to their inhabitants 
 refped:ively ; thus the Eaft fignifies love and its good qualities 
 in a higher degree ; the Weft the fame, but in a lower degree ; 
 the South fignifies wifdom and underftanding of eminent clarity ; 
 and the North the fame, but with a degree of obfcurity : and 
 as the four quarters have fuch a fignification, fo the like things 
 are reprefented to us in the internal or fpiritual (eni'e of the 
 written Word (116), which exadlly correfponds w^ith the con- 
 flitution of things in heaven. 
 
 151. The very reverfe of what has here been related, is 
 the cafe with the inhabitants of the infernal kingdoms, as they 
 behold not the Lord as a fun, or as a moon ; but, with their 
 backs towards him, look at that black body which is to them 
 in the room of what our fun is to us ; and to that dark orb, 
 
 (116) That the Eaft in Scripture language fignifies love in clear perception, 
 n. 1250, 3708: the Weft, love with a degree of obfcurity, n. 3708, 9653: the 
 South, a ftate of light with refpeft to wifdom and underftanding, n. 1458, 3708, 
 5672 : the north, the like ftate, but with fome obfcurit)-, n. 3708. 
 
 which 
 
 I
 
 r n ] 
 
 which is to them Inrtead of a moon ; thofe which are called 
 Genii to the former ; and thofe which are called Spirits to the 
 latter (117). That the fun of our world, and the moon be- 
 longing to our earth, are not feen in the fpiritual world, but 
 inftead of the former a black diik (Caliginofum quid) oppofite 
 to the coeleftial fun ; and inftead of the latter a dark orb (Tene- 
 brofum quid) oppofite to the heavenly moon, fee before, n. 122. 
 Wherefore the four quarters with the infernals are oppofite to 
 thofe in heaven, their Eaft being where the black diflc, or the 
 dark orb appears ; their Weft towards the coeleftial fun ; the 
 South to their right, and the North to their left hand ; and 
 thus, which way foever they turn ; nor can it be otherwife, as 
 blacknefs and darknefs is the centre of all their motions. That 
 all in the other worlds are determined in externals from their 
 inward difpofitions and affeftions, fee above, n. 143. That the 
 love of felf, and the love of the world, are the prevailing prin- 
 ciples that govern the inhabitants of the infernal regions ; and 
 that thefe two kinds of love are fignified by the fun and moon 
 of our world, fee n. 122. They are likewife oppofite to the 
 love of God and of our neighbour (118) ; and hence it is, that 
 they who are adluated by them turn their backs to the Lord, 
 and direcft their faces to the dark orbs before mentioned. The 
 infernals alfo have their habitations in the four quarters, accord- 
 ing to their evil qualities and conditions refpedtively ; they who 
 are in the evil habits proceeding from felf love (in malis ex 
 amore fui) dwell from Eafl to Weft, according to the degrees 
 of their malignity ; and they who are in the depravity of error 
 from an evil heart (qui in faljis mali) have their ftations from 
 South to North, according to their degrees in depravity : but more 
 on this fubjecft when we come to treat of the hells in particular. 
 
 152. When any evil fpirit comes into the company of the 
 good, it is wont to occafion fuch a confufion in the four quar- 
 
 (117) Who and what they are wliich are called Genii, and who and what that 
 are called Spirits, n. 947, 5035, 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625. 
 
 (118) That they who are in the loves of felf and of the world, turn their backs 
 to the Lord, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702. That love to the Lord, and 
 charity towards our neighbour, conftitutc heaven ; and that the love of felf and 
 of the world conftitutes hell, as bciiiig oppofites to the former, n, 2041, 3610, 
 4225, 4726 — 10741 to 10745. 
 
 A a ters, 
 
 /
 
 [ 94 ] 
 
 ters, that the latter are fometimes at a lofs to know which is 
 tlie Ecift ; and this I have fometinies been witnefs to, and have 
 alio heard tlie good fpirits complain of the dilbrder occafioned 
 thereby (*). 
 
 153. Evil fpirits fometinies appear with their faces turned 
 towards the quarters of heaven, at which times they become 
 receptive of underllanding, and perception of the truth, but 
 not of any affedtion for good ; and therefore, as foon as ever 
 they turn back their faces to their own quarters, they become 
 immediately deprived of fuch underftanding and perception, 
 dcn\iiig that they have received or perceived any truths, nay, 
 affirming them all to be lies, as having their wills and afFe(f]:ions 
 flrongly bent for falfehood (*). As to fuch turnings to and 
 from the truth, it has been given me to know, that the wicked 
 and ungodly, even whilft they continue fuch, may be converted 
 as to their intelledlual, though not in their voluntary or will 
 part ; and that this is by a divine provifion, to the end that all 
 may come to the knowledge of the truth, though none can 
 favingly receive it, unlefs they are principled in good, as what 
 is good can alone effedlually receive divine truth : and that like- 
 wife the cafe is the fame with men, who can receive the truth 
 intelle(5lual]y, but are no farther the better for it, than as they 
 are in the defire and affedlion for good, and fo capable of true 
 converfion ; but if they are the willing fervants of fin, they 
 only get a fpeculative glimpfe of truth, which leaves no im- 
 preffion, but through the evil in their wills, which rules in 
 them, and perverts their judgment, they return to the fide of 
 error, and confirm themfelves in it. 
 
 (*) Let it be obferved here, that on particular and cxtraordTnary occafrons the 
 general laws of oeconomy in the heavens are fufpendcd by divine pcrmiflion, with 
 refpe<S to individuals, to anfwer certain purpoies of the divine wifdom, many 
 inftances of which are given by our author, and fome of them accounted for. 
 Many fuch extraordinary cafes, and particular exceptions to the rules of God's 
 general government of this world, are productive of ufeful leflbns and beneficial 
 effedls to us his poor creatures ; and even the angels (who, as creatures, muil be 
 imperfe£t) may at times ftand in need of extraordinary documents, to remind them 
 of their dependence, and by way of prefervatives to humility. Tr. 
 
 (*) The truth of this is exemplified to us by frequent inftances of perfons, 
 who, on returning to their vices and fins, lofe their former conviiStions, and be- 
 come downright infidels, Tr. 
 
 Concerning
 
 [ 95 ] 
 
 Concerning the Changes in the States of 
 the Angels in Heaven. 
 
 154. By changes of ftates here, we are to underftand fuch 
 changes in the angels as have rofpedl to their love and faith, and 
 to their wifdom and underftanding derived theiefrom ; for thefe 
 conftitute their fVates of life, and, which amounts to the fame, 
 are therefore called, their ftates of love and faith, and their 
 ftates of wifdom and underftanding : and thefe admit of variation 
 or changes, as will here be fliewed. 
 
 155. The angels are not always in the fame ftate with re- 
 fpeft to love, nor confequently in refpeft to wifdom; for their 
 wifdom is derived from, and in quality according to their love : 
 fometimes they are in a ftate of intenfe love, and fometimes in 
 a ftate of it lefs intenfe ; for it has its higheft and loweft de- 
 grees : when their love is at the higheft, their light and heat 
 are then the greateft, and confequently their glory and joy ; and 
 when their love is at the loweft, then they may be faid to be in 
 the fliade and in the cold, as their brightnefs is obfcured, and 
 their ftate unjoyous (*) ; but they return from the loweft up 
 again to the higheft, and from one degree to another by various 
 fucceffions, like to the changes in this world between day-light 
 and twilight, heat and cold, morning, noon, and night ; and 
 alfo according to the various feafons of the year : and there is 
 alfo a correfpondence between them : thus morning anfwers to 
 their ftate of love in clarity ; noon to their meridian ftate of 
 
 (*) However ftrange it may appear in our author, that he should defcribe the 
 ftates of the angels as bordering at certain times upon obfcurity and dejedtion, yet 
 it fcems highly credible, even upon a rational view of the matter, that perfedb 
 blif^, without intermilBon or abatement, is not compatible with the nature of 
 created beings, nay, perhaps without fome viciflitudes, would ceafe to be blifs : 
 bcfides, fomething of diveriity herein, as it recommends and heightens enjoyment, 
 may be of moral ufe even to the angels, as was obferved in a preceding note. 
 Let it be added, that probably thofe angels, which are moft highly graduated in 
 excellence and blifs, may, at certain fhort intervals, experience the greateft de- 
 preffions, or deprivations of joy, as the moft favoured fcrvants of God are oft 
 times moft debafed here, that they may be made meet to partake of a more exalted 
 inheritance hereafter^ Tr.. 
 
 wifdom i
 
 [ 9^ ] 
 
 wlfdoni ; evening to their wifdom in a degree of obfcurity ; and 
 night to a ftate of deprivation as to both ; though it niufi: be 
 noted, that there is no corrcfpondence between night, and any 
 ftate of the angels in heaven, but only with the Hate of thofe 
 that are in hell (119), as the former never fuffer a total depri- 
 vation of their love and wifdom ; and therefore the twilight 
 before day is the correfpondcnt to their loweli flate. From this 
 law of correfpondency it is, that Day and Tear in the Word fig- 
 nify the flates of life in general, and Heat and Light, love and 
 wifdom ; morning, the tirft and moft intenfe degree of love ; 
 noon, wifdom in its moll luminous llate ; evening, wifdom in 
 fome degree of obfcurity j and night, a total deprivation of 
 both love and wifdom (120), 
 
 156. Together with the interior ftates of love and wifdom 
 in the angels, is alfo changed the ftate of various things without 
 them that are the obje(ft:s of fight, for thefe vary their appear- 
 ance according to the inward ftate of the angels (*) : but this 
 will be treated of under the articles of RepreJ'entathes and ylp- 
 ■pcarances in heaven. 
 
 157. Every angel is fubjeft to thefe changes, and alfo un- 
 dergoes them, and alfo every angelical fociety in common, but 
 one differently from another, and that becaufe of their difference 
 as to love and wifdom ; for they who are in the centre of a 
 fociety are in a more perfedl ftate than thofe who are nearer to 
 its periphery, fee n. 23, 128: but to dwell on the particular 
 
 (119) That in heaven there is no ftate correfponding to night, but only to the 
 morning twilight, n. 61 10. That the morning twilight fignifies a mitidle ftatc 
 between the higheft and loweft, n. 10134. 
 
 (i2c) That the viciflitudcs of ftatcs in heaven, in refped to illumination and 
 perception, anfwer to the times of day in this world, n. 5672, 5962, 6310, 8426, 
 9213, 10605. That Day and Year in the Word fignify all ilatcs in general, n. 23, 
 487, 488 — 4850* 10656. That Morning fignifies the beginning of a new ftate j 
 and alfo the Itate of love, n. 7216, 8426, 8427, 101 14, 10134. T\\2.\. Evening 
 fignifies a ftate of declining light and love, n. 10134, 10135. '\'\\-i.X. Night fignifies 
 a ftate void of love and fi;(h, n. 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 6110, 7870, 7947. 
 
 (*) This is imaged to us in this our natural world, in which things appear to 
 us according to the frame and ft.ite of mind that we are in : how dull, how ghaftly 
 do things appear to the view of the fpedator, when under trouble or melancholy ! 
 Can we avoid obferving here on the folly of thofe who feck for happincfs in ex- 
 ternal things, whilft they negled to cultivate and chcrifh that inward fenfe or 
 ftate, which alone can give good rclifli to them ? 
 
 differences
 
 [ 97 I 
 
 differences would be too prolix, as the changes in every one arc 
 according to the quality of his love and faith, fo that one may 
 be in his full fplcndor and joy, whilll: another may be eclipfed 
 and in his joylefs Itate, and this even in the fame fociety ; each 
 fociety alfo has its rcfpedtive difference in this refpedl, both in 
 the cceleftial and the fpiritual kingdom. The difference in the 
 changes of their ffates is in general like that of the days in the 
 different climates here on earth, where it is morning to fome, 
 whilft it is evening to others ; fummer to one country, at the 
 fame time that it is winter to another. 
 
 158. I have received light from heaven as touching thefc 
 changes there, and been informed by the angels with refpedl to 
 the caufes of them, which are feveral. Firil, that the delights 
 of life, and the joys of heaven, would by degrees fuffer dimi- 
 nution, if they were to continue always the fame, as happens 
 to thofe who always go on in the fame round of pleafures. 
 Another reafon is, that felf love is a property inherent in angels 
 as well as men ; that this is contrary to the laws of heaven, 
 and that the angels excel in love and wifdom only fo far as they 
 are kept from it by the Lord ; and as otherwife, they would be 
 carried away by this propenfity (121), therefore thefe viciffitudes 
 of ftates are appointed for good to them. A third caufe is, that 
 it may ferve as a means of their higher perfecftion, by keeping 
 them habitually in the love of the Lord, and reftraining them 
 from felf love ; and alfo to increafe their relifh for the delights 
 of good (122), by fuch occafional fufpenfions of them. They 
 farther added, that the Lord does not produce thefe changes in 
 their ftates from himfelf, feeing that, as a fun, he never with- 
 holds his heat and light, or love and wifdom ; but that the 
 hindrance is in themfclves, by giving way to that principle of 
 felf, which renders them unreceptive of thofe bleffmgs ; which 
 
 (121) That fclf-love is a property inherent in man, n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660. 
 Tliat this muft be alienated, in order to the enjoyment of tlie lyord's prefence, 
 n. 1023, 1044: and that accordingly it is actually alienated, fo long as anyone 
 perfeveres in the principle of good by prcfervation from the Lord, n. 9334, 9335, 
 
 (122) 1 hat the angels advance in degrees of perfcilion eternally, n. 4803, 6648. 
 That in the heavens no one {late is exadtly like another, whence a conftant progrefs 
 in perfection, n. 10200. : 
 
 B b they
 
 [ 98 ] 
 
 they illuftratcd by a comparifon with our fun and earth, ob- 
 ferving that the fucceifive changes from heat to cold, and from 
 light to darknefs on this our globe, are not owing to the fun, 
 which continues always the fame, but to the form, fituation, 
 and revolutions of the earth. 
 
 159. It has been given me to behold, how the Lord appears 
 as a fun to the angels of the cceleflial kingdom, in their firft 
 fliate, how in their fecond, and how in their third flate : and 
 firfl, his appearance was as that of a fun of a bright red colour, 
 and glittering with a fplendor furpafling all defcription. It was 
 told me, that fuch was the appearance of the divine glory to 
 thofe angels in their firll flate [of higheft love] : afterwards there 
 appeared a large dulTcy circle or belt round the fun, whereby its 
 bright rednefs and fplendor were much abated ; I was informed, 
 that fuch was its appearance to the angels in their fecond ftate. 
 After this, the circle or belt before mentioned appeared of a 
 ftill darker complexion, which ftill farther diminirtied the fun's 
 fplendor, and fo on gradually, till at length its glittering red- 
 nefs was changed to a pale colour ; fuch was the appearance of 
 the fun to the angels in their third ftate. After thefe mutations, 
 this pale fun feemed to pafs on the left towards the moon of 
 heaven, and to join itfelf to her, whereby her fplendor wa& 
 exxeedingly augmented ; I was told, that hereby was repre- 
 fented the fourth ftate of the coeleftial angels, and the firft or 
 higheft of the fpiritual angels ; and that thefe changes take place 
 in both kingdoms fuccelTively, but not in every fociety therein 
 at the fame time : nor are thefe changes at any fixed periods, 
 but befall the angels fooner or later, without imy knowledge of 
 their approach. Moreover, they fiid, that thel'e were not real 
 changes in the fun itfelf, but only fo many appearances depend- 
 ing on the fucceflive changes in the ftates of the angels, foraf- 
 much as the Lord, as reprefented by the fun, appears to every 
 one according to the quality of his ftate ; as for example, bright 
 and ruddy to thofe that are in the degree of intenfe love ; lefs 
 fo to fuch as are in an inferior degree of it, and lb on to quite 
 pale, as their love departs ; and that the quality and degree of 
 their ftates is reprefented by that dim circle, which apparently 
 fuperinduces thefe variations in the luftre and light of the fun. 
 
 160. When
 
 [ 99 ] 
 
 i6o. When the angels are in their lowefl ftate, or property 
 of felf love, they decline into fadnefs : I have converged with 
 feme of them in this ftate, and was witnefs to their dejeftion ; 
 but they told me, that they hoped to be foon reftored to their 
 heavenly ftate ; for it is heaven to them to be delivered from 
 propriety or felf love. 
 
 i6i. The infernal fpirits alfo have their change of ftates ; 
 but of this hereafter, where we fliall treat of Hell. 
 
 Of Time in Heaven. 
 
 162. However all things go on in heaven according to 
 fucceflion and progreftion, as in this world ; neverthelefs, the 
 angels have no idea of time or fpace, nor any notion concerning 
 them : we fliall here treat of time in heaven, and hereafter of 
 fpace, under its proper article. 
 
 163. That the angels have no idea of time, though all things 
 go on fucceflively with them in like manner as with us, is 
 owing to there not being years and days in heaven, but only 
 changes of condition ; now as the former conftitute times, fo 
 the latter are called States. 
 
 164. By times on earth, we mean the fun's apparent progrefs 
 from one degree of its annual orbit to another, fo conftituting 
 that period of time which we call a year ; and alfo its apparent 
 diurnal revolution round the earth, which we call a day ; and 
 thefe according to ftated vicift'itudcs : but it is othcrwife with 
 the fun in heaven, which makes no fuch progrefl'ions and revo- 
 lutions, to conftitute years and days, but only apparent changes 
 of ftates in the angels, and thefe according to no ftated rules,, 
 as was obferved in a preceding article ; hence it is, that the 
 angels can have no idea of time, but only of ftate in room 
 thereof, fee State above, n. 154. 
 
 165. As the angels derive no idea from time, after the man- 
 ner of men, fo neither have they any conception of its divifions,. 
 as of years, months, weeks, days, hours, to-day, to-morrow> 
 yefterday, &c. infomuch, that when they hear of thefe dif- 
 tinftions by men (to whom they are always prefent by divine 
 
 appoiat-
 
 [ 100 ] 
 
 appointment) in the room thereof they fubftitute flates, and 
 fuch things as appertain thereto ; thus changing the natural idea 
 oi a man into the fpiritual idea of an angel : hence it is, that 
 times in the written VV^ord fignify ftates, and the diftindlions of 
 time, as mentioned above, fuch fpiritual things as correfpond 
 thereto (123). 
 
 166. It is the fame with all things that owe their exiftence 
 to time, as the four feafons of the year, called Spring, Summer, 
 Autumn, and Winter ; the four times of the day, morning, 
 noon, evening, and night; alfo with the four ages of man, as 
 infancy, youth, manhood, and old age ; and in like manner 
 with other things, which derive their being from time, or fuc- 
 ceed according to it : when any of thefe are prefent to the mind 
 of man, his thoughts thereon are regulated by time, but thofe 
 of an angel by ftate ; thus the latter changes the idea of fpring 
 and morning into the idea of love and wifdom, as in their firll: 
 ftate with the angels ; fummer and noon into the idea of love 
 and wifdom, as they are in the fecond flate j autumn and even- 
 ing, as they are in their third flate ; and night and winter into 
 the idea of the abfence of love and wifdom, and fo conftituting 
 a hellifh ftate ; and hence it is, that fuch ftates are fignificd by 
 fuch times in the written Word, fee above, n. 155. Thus we 
 fee how the ideas of natural things in the mind of a man are 
 converted into correfponding fpiritual ideas in the mind of an 
 angel prefent with man. 
 
 167. As the angels have no notion of time, fo do they form 
 a very different idea of eternity from that of men : by Eternal, 
 the angels conceive a ftate without end, but not a time without 
 end (124). As I was once thinking on the fubjeft of eternity, 
 I found, that by my ideas of time, I could form a conception 
 of what might be to eternity, or without end, but not of what 
 
 (123) That T/'/w;, in the Word, fignify 5/^/«, n. 2788, 2837, 3254 — 10133, 
 10605. That the angels never think of time or fpace, n. 3404. The caufcs why, 
 1274, 1382 — 7218, 7381. What I'irtfr fignifies in the Word, n. 487, 488 — 10209. 
 What, Month, n. 38 1 4. What, JVeek, n. 2044, 3845. What, Day, n. 23, 
 487,488, 10605. What, To-day, n. 2838, 3998 — 6984, 9939- What, To-morrow, 
 n. 3998, 10497. What, Yejlerday, n. 6983, 7124, 7140. 
 
 (124) That men think of eternity from time, but the angels not from time, 
 n. 1382, 3404, 8325. 
 
 has
 
 [ ICI ] 
 
 has been from eternity, nor confequently of what God did from 
 eternity before the creation : and being troubled in my mind at 
 this, I found myfelf exalted to angelical illumination concern- 
 ing eternity, and given to know, that as to things eternal, v/c 
 are not to take our meafure of thinking from time, but from 
 ftate ; and that by this means we may form a conception of 
 what has been from eternity ; which I experienced to be the 
 cafe. 
 
 i68. When the angels converfe with men, they never fpeak 
 to them from thofe natural ideas which are common and proper 
 to man, as thefe are all derived from time, fpace, materiality, 
 and things analogous thereto ; but from their own fpiritual ideas 
 derived from flates, and their various mutations within and 
 without the angels : however, thefe ideas of the angels, though 
 fpiritual, yet when they enter the minds of men inftantaneoufly, 
 and as of themfelves, convert into fuch natural ideas as are pro- 
 per to men, and correfpond to the fpiritual ones, though im- 
 perceptibly both to the angels and men ; and the cafe is the 
 fame with the heavenly influx in man. On a certain time there 
 were fome angels who had accefs to my mind, in which were 
 many natural thoughts borrowed from time and fpace ; but, as 
 they could form no conception of them, they immediately with- 
 drew ; on which I heard them fay, that they were darkened and 
 confufed. I had alfo the following convincing experiment how 
 far the angels are ftrangers to every idea of time : one of them, 
 who was more receptive of natural knowledge, and with whom, 
 on that account, I was by degrees able to converfe as one man 
 with another, at firft did not know what I meant by time ; and 
 fo was obliged to explain to him how our fun, by its apparent 
 revolutions round the earth, conftituted what we call days and 
 years ; how the year was divided into four feafons, and alfo into 
 months and weeks, and the days into twenty-four hours j and 
 that thefe divifions took place regularly at flated periods, from 
 whence the idea of times originates ; on hearing which he won- 
 dered, faying, that he had no other notion of thefe, but as 
 ftates. In the courfe of our converfation, I faid, that we men 
 fhewed our affent to the truth of there not being time in heaven, 
 by our familiar forms of expreffion concerning the deceafed, as 
 
 C c that
 
 [■ 102 ] 
 
 that temporal things were over with them ; that they had pafled 
 through time, or left this world, and the like. I told him, 
 moreover, that fome Teemed confcious that times in their origin 
 were no other than ftates, inafmuch as they fo nearly corre- 
 fponded to the flate of their affetflions and feelings, feeming 
 fhort to thofe who are in pleafing and joyous frames ; tedious to 
 thofe that are forrow and fiidnefs ; and different according to the 
 ftate of our hope, or expecflation : and therefore hence it is, 
 that the learned are fo much puzzled in their invefligations con- 
 cerning the nature and effence of time and fpace, and that fomp 
 among them are agreed, that they are only relative to man 
 during his exiftence in this natural world. 
 
 169. The mere natural man may here be led to fancy, that 
 if he were deprived of his ideas of time, fpace, and material 
 things, he fhould in that cafe be flript of the faculty of think- 
 ing, forafmuch as they are the fundamentals of all his 
 thoughts (125) : but, on the contrary, let him know, that fo 
 far as his thoughts are confined to time, fpace, and material 
 things, in fuch proportion are they limited and narrowed ; and 
 only fo far at liberty and enlarged, as they are difengaged from 
 thefe fubjefts, as hereby foaring above the contrafted regions of 
 corporeal and earthly things : hence proceeds the fublime wif- 
 dom of angels, which is incomprehenfible by ideas of fo low 
 an extradion. 
 
 Of Reprefentatives and Appearances in 
 
 Heaven. 
 
 170. The man who thinks only from natural light, cannot 
 comprehend that there fhould be any refemblance between 
 things in heaven and in this world, and that becaufe from fuch 
 light he has accuftomed himfelf to think, and confirmed him- 
 felf in the notion, that angels are only mere minds, or a kind 
 of aethereal fpirits, and as fuch have not fenfes like men, nor 
 
 (125) That man cannot think, without having fome idea of time ; but that it 
 is otherwJfe with the angels, n. 3404. 
 
 eyes;
 
 [ I03 ] 
 
 eyes ; and if not eyes, confequently not objed:s of fight ; 
 whereas they have all the fenfes that men are gifted with, and 
 thofe in a more exquifite degree of perfedlion ; and the light in 
 which they fee is far brighter than ours. That angels are men 
 in a perfed form, and endowed with every fcnfe, fee above, n. 
 73 to jy ; and that the light in heaven is far more fplendid than 
 any light in this world, n. 126 to 132. 
 
 171. It is hard to defcribe the various kinds of things that 
 are feen by the angels in the heavens : let it fuffice to fay, that 
 in the main they refemble thofe on earth, though in form more 
 perfed: ; and far excelling \n. abundance. That fuch things are 
 in the heavens is given us to underrtand by thofe which are 
 recorded as {ttw by the prophets, and in particular by Ezekiel, 
 concerning the new temple and the new earth, as defcribed 
 from ch. xl. to xlviii : by Daniel, from ch. vii. to xii : by John, 
 from the beginning to the end of the Apocalypfe ; and by others 
 as recorded in the prophetical and hiitorical parts of the written 
 Word. Such things were iztn by them when heaven was opened 
 to them, or, which is the fame thing, when their inward fight, 
 which is the fight of the fpirit of a man, was opened to fee 
 things in heaven, for thefe are not to be feen by the bodily, but 
 fpiritual eye only ; and this is opened, according to the good 
 pleafure of the Lord, when a man is withdrawn from the 
 natural light, which is the light of his bodily fenfes, and 
 exalted to the fpiritual light, which is the proper light of his 
 fpirit ; and in this light have I beheld things that are in the 
 heavens. 
 
 172. However, the vifible things in the heavens, though, 
 in refpedl to a great part of them, they refemble the things on 
 earth, yet they differ from them in regard to their effence, in- 
 afmuch as the former derive their exiftence from the coeleflial 
 fun, but things on earth \^proximately\ from the fun of this 
 world : the former are called fpiritual, and the latter are called 
 natural. 
 
 173. Things in the heavens exift not in like manner with 
 things on earth ; in the former, all things are formed by the 
 Lord according to correfpondency with the intcriour \c117n tnte- 
 rioribus'l of the angels ; for with the angels arc things interior 
 
 and
 
 [ I04 ] 
 
 and exterior ; the former have rehition to love and faith, and 
 conlcquently to will and intclleft as the receptacles of them, 
 and their exterior things correfpond to thole that arc interior, 
 fee above, n. 87 to 115. This may be illuflrated by what has 
 been faid before of the heat and light of heaven, viz. that the 
 angels poflefs a heat according to the quality and degree of their 
 love, and a light according to the quality and degree of their 
 wifdom, fee n. 128 to 134; and fo other things in like manner, 
 which are the objet^ts of their fenfes. 
 
 174. When I have had the privilege to be in company with 
 the angels, all tilings about them appeared to me in the fame 
 manner as things do on earth, and that with fuch clearnefs of 
 perception, that I feemed to be in fome royal palace in this 
 world, converhng with them, as one man converfes with another. 
 
 175. As all things that outwardly correfpond to things that 
 are inward do alfo reprefent them, therefore they are called 
 Representatives ; and as they vary according to the variation 
 of fuch interior things, therefore they are called Appearances, 
 though the things which prefcnt themfelves to the fight of the ^ 
 angels, and are perceived by their fenfes, make as diftindt and 
 
 clear impreffions as things on earth, and more fo, for they have 
 a real and fubltantial exigence, though there are fome which 
 are mere appearances without fubflance, viz. fuch as have no 
 relation or correfpondence to things interior (126) ; but of thefe 
 hereafter. 
 
 176. One inflance, by way of illuftration, Ihall here be 
 given, to explain what is meant by correfponding appearances. 
 
 (126) That all things that appear among the angels are reprefcntatives, n. 197 1, 
 3213 to 3226 — 9576, 9577- That the heavens abound with reprefcntatives, n. 
 1521, 1532, 1619. That the nearer to the centre, the more beautiful they are, 
 n. 3475. That they are realities, as being from the light of heaven, n. 3485. 
 That the divine influx affumes the form of reprefentatives in the fuperior hea\cns, 
 and dcfcends thence to the inferior, n. 2179, 3213 — 9577- They are called re- 
 prefentatives, which appear to the fight of angels in fuch forms as arc known in 
 nature or this world, n. 9574. That things internal are thus changed into exter- 
 nal, n. 1632, 2987 to 3002. What kinds of reprefentatives in heaven, illuflrated 
 by various examples, n. 1321, 1532, 1619 — 9090, 10278. That all things which 
 appear in heaven arc according to correfjjondcncy, and called reprefentatives, n. 
 3213 to 3226 — 9576, 9577' That all things which correfpond, do alfo reprefent 
 and fignify their archetypes, n. 2890, JgS/, 2971, 2989, 2990, 3002, 3225. 
 
 To
 
 i 
 
 I 'OS ] 
 
 To fuch of the angels as excel in knowledge do appear delightful 
 plantations and gardens, abounding in all kinds of trees and 
 flowers, where beautiful rows of trees form arched viftos, and 
 other pleafing walks, diverfified with exquifite Ikill, not to be 
 defcribed. Here the highly intelleftual angels take their walks 
 amidft various kinds of trees and flowers not known in this 
 world, fometimes gathering the flowers, and drefling up gar- 
 lands for the children of Paradife, whilfl the fpreading branches, 
 decorated and enriched with fruit, emblematically reprefent the 
 interior good qualities of thefe intelledual happy beings ; for 
 fuch plantations, gardens, fruit-bearing trees, and flowers, are 
 correfpondent to their high underllanding and wifdom (127). 
 That there are fuch delightful fcenes as thefe in the heavenly 
 world, fome good people here, who have not obfcured their 
 coelefliial notices of thefe things by their fallacious natural reafon, 
 are fully convinced of; and accordingly are not only ufed to 
 i think, but to fay, as concerning heaven, that many more things 
 are there than " ear hath heard, or eye hath feen" on earth. 
 
 Of the Garments in which the Angels appear 
 
 to be clothed. 
 
 177. As the angels are heavenly men, and live together as 
 men do on earth, fo alfo have they garments, dwellings, and 
 many other like things in common with us men, but with this 
 diff'erence, that as they themfelves are in a more perfedl ftate, 
 fo likewife are all things that belong to them : thus, for inrtance, 
 as the angelical wifdom excels the human beyond expreflion, fo 
 do all things about them, and that are perceived by them, for 
 
 (127) That Garden and Paradife fignify underftanding and wifdom, n. 100, 
 108, 322c. What the Garden of Eden, and Garden of Jehovah fignify, n. 99, 
 100, 1588. How magnificent paradifiacal things appear in the other world, n. 
 1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529. That trees fignify the perceptions and cogni- 
 tions from which underllanding and wifdom originate, n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722, 
 2972, 7692. That fruits fignify the goods of love and charity, n. 3146, 7690, 
 9337- 
 
 D d thef^
 
 • [ io6 ] 
 
 thefe are correfpondcnt to the wifdom that is within them, fee 
 above, n. 173. 
 
 178. The garments with which the angels are inverted have, 
 like other things,' a correfponding relation to their interior per- 
 feftions, and confcquently a real exiftence, fee above, n. 175. 
 Now their veftments correfpond to their degrees of underftand- 
 ing and wifdom, and therefore they appear arrayed accordingly ; 
 and as fome excel others in intelledual endowments, (n: 43, 
 and 128) their garments are fuitably adapted to their different 
 diPiindions therein : fuch as are moft highly intelledlual appear 
 in gliftering flame-coloured robes, and fome in fliining veft- 
 ments ; they who are intelle(5tual in a lower degree are in white, 
 or pale-coloured, but not fliining garments ; and thofe who are 
 fo in the loweft degree wear raiment of different colours refpec- 
 tively : but the angels of the third or inmoft heaven appear 
 naked (*). 
 
 179. As the garments of the angels correfpond to their 
 underftanding, fo do they alfo correfpond to truth, as all right 
 undcrftanding is from divine truth, and therefore it amounts to 
 the fame thing, whether you fay, their clothing is according 
 to the one or the other. That the veftments of fome glifter as 
 from flame, and thofe of others are of a fliining light, is bccaufc 
 flame correfponds to good, and light to truth from good (128) : 
 
 (*) From this laft particular given us by the author, it feems, that Adam and 
 Eve, before the fall, reprefented the ftate of the angels of the third heaven ; for 
 they were nalced, and were not afhamed. To the pure all things are pure, and 
 with refpeft to fuch no part of the human body wants a covering ; for perfeft 
 innocence knows no fhame, as it needs none; whilft confummate guilt, that can 
 even glory in its fhame, knows no modefty to conceal that fhame. Little children, 
 who have a relative or comparative purity, as free from artual fin, may ferve to 
 image to us the truth of the foregoing remark, and to indicate how confcioufnefs 
 of guilt, producing fhame, is the fruit of that tree, by which comes the know- 
 ledge of good and evil. If then garments only became ncceffary to us by the lofs 
 of innocence, how great muft appear the folly of thofe, who turn that into an 
 occafion of pride, which firft took its rife from fin, and continues to be the badge 
 and evidence of their fhame. Tr. 
 
 (128) That garments in the Word fignify truths from correfpondence, n. 1073, 
 1576 — 7692 ; and that becaufe good is invefted with truth, n. 5248. That a 
 covering alfo fignifies the intellectual part, as this is the recipient of truth, n. 6378. 
 That white linen garments fignify truths from a divine origin, n. 5319, 9409. 
 That flame fignifies fpiritual good, and the light of it truth from that good, n. 
 3222, 6832. 
 
 that 
 
 »
 
 [ 107 ] 
 
 that the garments of others are white and pale without fplendoi, 
 and feme of different colours, is becaufe divine good and divine 
 truth arc lefs fplendid, and alfo differently received in thofe, 
 whofc intelledlual faculties are of the lower degrees (129). 
 White and pale do alfo correfpond to fimple truth (130), and 
 colours to the different kinds and meafures of it (131). That 
 the angels of the inmoft or third heaven appear unclothed, is 
 bcca-ufe they are in perfedt innocence, and innocence is the 
 correfpondent to nakednefs (132). 
 
 180. As the angels are clothed with garments in heaven, 
 therefore did they appear in like manner to the prophets, and 
 alfo at our Lord's fepulchre, with " raiment white as fnow," 
 Matt, xxviii. 3. Mark xvi. 5. Luke xxii. 4. John xx. 11, 13. 
 as likewife thofe who were feen in heaven by John, Apoc. iv. 4. 
 And as all wifdom is from divine truth, therefore our Lord's 
 raiment, at his transfiguration, was " fhining, and exceeding 
 *' white as fnow," Mark ix. 3. That light correfponds to 
 divine truth proceeding from the Lord, fee above, n. 129. 
 Therefore it is, that Garments in the Word fignify Truths, and 
 hence underftanding ; thus in John, ** They which have not 
 " defiled their garments fhall walk with me in white, for they 
 ** are worthy : he that overcometh, the fame fhall be clothed 
 ** in white raiment : bleffed is he that watcheth and keepeth his 
 ** garments," Rev. iii. 4, 5. xvi. 15. And of Jerufalem, by 
 
 (129) That angels and fpirits appear clothed according to their truths, or in- 
 telleftual powers, n. 165, 5248 — 10536. That the garments of angels are fhining, 
 or othcrwife, n. 5248. 
 
 (130) That white in the Word fignifits truth, becaufe from a heavenly light, 
 n. 3301, 3593—4922. 
 
 (131) That colours in heaven are variegations of light of heaven, n. 1042, 
 1043, 1053 — 4922. That colour fignify various things relating to upderftanding 
 and wifdom, n. 4530, 4922, 4677, 9466. That the precious ftoncs in Urim 
 and Thummim, according to their colours refpeiStively, fignified the whole of 
 divine truth from divine good, n. 9865, 9868, 9905. That colours, fo far as 
 they partake of red, fignify good ; and fo far as they partake of white, they fignify 
 truth, n. 9476. 
 
 (132) That all in the inmoft heaven are innocences, or perfeft in innocence, 
 and therefore appear naked, n. 154, 165, 297 — 9960. That innocence is rcpre- 
 fentcd in heaven by nakednefs, n. 165, 8375, 9960. That to the innocent and 
 chafte nakednefs gives no fhame, becaufe they are free from all offence, n. 165, 
 
 2i3> 8375- 
 
 which
 
 ! 
 
 [ io8 ] 
 
 which is meant the true church (133), is faid In Ilaiah, " Awake, 
 *• Awake, put on thy ftrength, 6 Zion, put on thy beautiful 
 " garments, O Jcrulalcm," lii. i. And in Ezekiel, " I girded 
 ** thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with filk : and 
 " thy raiment was of fine linen and filk," xvi, 10, 13. not to 
 mention many otlicr places : but he that is not in the truth, is 
 faid, not to be " clothed with a wedding garment : and when 
 " the king came in to fee the gueils, he faw there a man which 
 *' had not on a wedding garment : and he faid unto him. Friend, 
 " how cameft thou in hither, not having a wedding garment ? 
 *' Wherefore he was caft into outer darknefs," Mat. xxii. 12, 
 13, By the marriage houfe is to be underltood heaven and the 
 church, from the union of the Lord therewith by his divine 
 truth ; ajid therefore the Lord is called in the Word, the Bride- 
 groom and Hufband, and heaven with the church, the Spoufe 
 and the Wife. 
 
 181. That the garments of the angels not only appear fuch, 
 but really arc what they appear to be, is evident both from their 
 figiit and feeling : and alfo they have change of raiment, which 
 they put on and off, and lay by for future ufc, as occafion may 
 require : and that they appear clothed differently at different 
 times, I have been eye-witnefs to a thoufand times : I alfo allied I 
 them whence they had them ; they anfwcred, by the gift of the | 
 Lord, and that fometimes they found themfelves clothed there- 
 with without their knowledge. Moreover, they faid, that their 
 garments were varied according to the variation of their ftates ; 
 
 that in their firft and fecond Hate they were of a Ihining white, 
 but in their third and fourth fomething darker, and that accord- 
 ing to the rules of correfpondency, as the changes happened in 
 refpedl to their underflanding and wifdom, of which fee above, 
 n. 154 to 161. A 
 
 182. As in the fpiritual world every angel has garments » 
 adapted to and reprefentative of his intelledlual gifts, or accord- 
 ing to the particular truths which form his underftandi ng ; fo 
 likewife the infernal fpirits, who are deftitute of all truth, ap- 
 pear alfo in their garments, but fuch only as are ragged and 
 
 (133) That Jerufalem fignifies the church, wherein the true doftrinc is taught, 
 n. 402, 3654, 9166. 
 
 filthy.
 
 [ 109 ] 
 
 filthy, each according to the kind and degree of his folly and 
 madnefs, nor can any others fuit them ; however, the Lord 
 allows them clothing, that their nakednefs and deformity may 
 not appear. 
 
 Of the Habitations and Manfions of the 
 
 Angels. 
 
 183. As the angels live in focieties, as men do on earth, fo 
 In like manner they have their particular dwellings, and thefe 
 different according to their ftates of life refpedtively, magnificent 
 to thofe who are worthy of greater honour; and lefs fo to thofe 
 of inferior degree. I have fometinies difcourfed with the angels 
 concerning their dwellings, and told them, that among us at 
 this time fcarcely any believed that they were fo accommodated, 
 fome becaufe they are not vifible to them ; fome becaufe they 
 have no notion of angels being men ; fome becaufe they fuppofe 
 the angelical heavens to be the fame that they behold with their 
 eyes ; and as thefe appear to them no other than void fpace, and 
 fancying at the fame time that the angels are only thin a^therial 
 forms, therefore they conclude that they hover in the jether : 
 befides, as they have not the leafl notion of any thing fpiritual, 
 fo neither can they conceive how there can polTibly be in the 
 fpiritual world things like to thofe in the natural. The angels 
 replied, that they knew that fuch ignorance prevailed on earth 
 at this time, and wondered at it, more efpecially in the Chridian 
 church, and therein more among the learned, than among thofe 
 whom they called the illiterate and fimple; adding moreover, 
 that they might gather from the written Word that angels are 
 men, as having appeared of old always as men, and from the 
 Lord's having rifen again, and afcended with his entire huma- 
 nity ; and if the angels are men, tliat they muft of confequencc 
 have habitations or dwellings, and not as fome foolilhly (madly 
 they termed it) fuppofe, hover in the air, or becaufe they are 
 c;illed fpirits, are therefore no other than a breath of wind. 
 They likewife f\id, that fuch might emerge from their prefent 
 ignorance as touching thcf; matters, would they but drop their 
 
 L c prejudices.
 
 [ no ] 
 
 prejudices, and not bewilder themfclves by flarting queftions 
 and doubtful difputations, wlicthcr thefe .things be fo or not, 
 lince there are in the mind of every man certain plain, common 
 notices or impreflions concerning the truth of angels being 
 men, and dwelling in heavenly maniions, far excelling any 
 ftrudtures here on earth; but that thefe common notices or im- 
 preflions (which are from above) are obliterated when men 
 cxercife themfclves in vain reafonings, and bring the fubjedb 
 into queftion with their logical ambiguities and fubtle rea- 
 fonings i which is principally the cafe with the learned, who, 
 by their oppofitions of Jc'wnce falfcly fo called, darken divine truths, 
 and render their minds inacceltible to the light of heaven. And 
 juft fo it is with refpetit to their belief of the ftate of the 
 loul after death : he that is converfant on this fubjcJl without 
 puzzling his head with the curious difquifitions of the learned ■ 
 
 concerning the nature of the foul, and its reunion with the ' 
 
 body, readily takes for granted, that man enters upon a new 
 life after death, and paffes into the foclcty of angels, if he has 
 lived well, where he is entertained with raviibing fccnes, and 
 feels joy unfpeakable ; but no fooner does he bend his mind to 
 philofophical reafonings upon the fubjcdl:, or to confider It by 
 fome learned hypothelis concerning foul and body, and their 5 
 
 mutual relations and communications, but he lofes his former J 
 
 faith, and falls into doubting. 
 
 184. But it will bring the matter more home, to alledge 
 inftances drawn from experience : as often as I have converfed 
 with tlie angels face to face, it was in their habitations, which 
 are like to our houfes on earth, but far more beautiful and mag- 
 nificent, having rooms, chambers, and apartments in great 
 variety, as alfo fpacious courts belonging to them, together with 
 gardens, parterres of flowers, fields, &c. Where the angels % 
 
 are formed into focieties, they dwell in contiguous habitations, 
 dlfpofed after the manner of our cities in ilreets, walks, and ,. 
 
 fquares : I have had the privilege to walk through them, to & 
 
 examine all round about me, and to enter their houfes ; and 
 this when I was fully awake, having my inward eyes opened ( 1 34). 
 
 (134.) The angels have their cities, palaces, and houfes, n. 940, 941, 942, 
 H16, 1626, 1627, 1628, 1630, 1631, 4622. 
 
 185. I have
 
 [ III ] 
 
 185. I have fecn alfo the palaces in heaven, the magnificence 
 of which exceeds defcription, the roofs glittering as with pure 
 gold, and the floors as with precious flones ; but fome more 
 fplendid than others ; the inner apartments likewife were orna- 
 mented beyond all human conception. On the fouth fide were 
 gardens, where all things appeared with radiant luftre, certain 
 trees bearing leaves of a filver hue, and fruit that glittered like 
 burnilhed gold, whilll: flowers in the borders, by a beautiful 
 arrangement of their colours, prefented, as it were, rainbows 
 to the eye of the fpecftator : at the end of the walks frefh palaces 
 rofe to the view, and terminated the profpedl. Such is the 
 architedlure and beautiful fcencry in heaven, infomuch that it 
 may well be faid, that the very principle of art appears there in 
 its efl^efts, and no wonder, when we confider fuch art is hea- 
 venly : and yet the angels faid, that not only like things, but 
 others beyond number of fl:ill higher degrees of perfection, were 
 at times exhibited to their view by the goodnefs of the Lord, 
 for their recreation and entertainment ; and yet that the intel- 
 ledlual pleafure they received therefrom was greater than the 
 fenfible, and that, becaute in all and Angular of thofe objecfls 
 they difcerned correfpondency, and through their correfpondents 
 the divine things which they reprefented. 
 
 186. As touching correfpondences I learned, that not only 
 palaces and houfes, but likewife all things within and without 
 them were relative to the interior divine gifts and qualities in 
 the angels ; that houfe in general correfponded to the principle 
 of good in them, and tlie particular things therein, to the dif- 
 ferent fpecies or kinds of good (135); as the things without 
 their houfes, to the truths relative to and proceeding from fuch 
 good refpedively, and alfo to perceptions and knowledge of 
 clitfercnt kinds ; and as they correfpond to the principles and 
 different fpecies of goodnefs and truth [6o?iis et vcris\ which are 
 in them by influx from the Lord, fo alfo do they correfpond to 
 
 (135) That a houfe, with the things in it, fignify things pertaining to the 
 mind, or interior Rate of man, n. 710, 2233 — 7929, 9150, and confequently his 
 itate as to things good and true, n. 2233, 2234 — 7929. That chambers and inner 
 apartments fignify fuch of them as arc more interior, n. 3900, 5994, 7353- That 
 the roof of a houfe fignifies what is inmoft in his mind, n. 3652, 10184. T hat 
 a houfe of wood fignifies things of tlie quality of good, and a houfj of Itonc, 
 things of truth, n. 37 2Q. 
 
 the.
 
 [ 112 ] 
 
 the prevailing principle of love in them, and to their undcr- 
 flanding and wifdoni originating thence, for love originates in 
 good, wifdom in goodnefs and truth [Sapientia ejl bout et Jimul 
 ^vr/■] and intelledual knowledge proceeds from that truth which 
 is the offspring of good [veri ex bono]. The fight of the fore- 
 mentioned correfponding objeds excites in the minds of the 
 angels thefe perceptions, which yield more delight to their 
 intcllcdual faculties, than the objedts themfelves to their exte- 
 rior fenfes. 
 
 187. Hence it appears why the Lord applied to himfelf the 
 name of the temple at Jerufalcm, John ii. 19, 21. (136) ; and 
 why the New Jerufalem appeared to be of pure gold, its gates 
 of pearls, and its foundations of precious ftones, Apoc. xxi. 
 viz. becaufe the temple reprefentcd the Divine Humanity ot 
 the Lord ; the New Jerufilem fignifies the church hereafter to 
 be cftablifhed on earth ; the twelve gates, the truths which lead 
 to goodnefs -, and the foundations, thofe effential truths on 
 which the new church is to be built (137). 
 
 188. The angels which conllitute the coeleftial kingdom, 
 or third heaven, dwell moltly in lofty places, which appear as 
 mountains ; thofe of the fpiritual kingdom or middle heaven, 
 in places of lefs eminence ; and thofe of the lowefl or firft 
 heaven in rocky fituations, and all this from correfpondency ; 
 for the more interior itates corrcfpond to vifible eminences, and 
 the more exterior to inferior places (138); and therefore it is 
 that mountains in Scripture-language i\gm^y ca:ileftial love ; 
 hills, fpiritual love; and rocks, faith (139). 
 
 (136) That the houfe of God, in its highcft fcnfe, fignifies the Divine Huma- 
 nity of the Lord with refpect to divine good ; the temple the fame, in refpcfl to 
 divine truth ; and in a comparative ienk, heaven and the true churcli, in rcfptit 
 to goodiiols and truth, n. 3720. 
 
 (137) That Jcrufahin iignifics the church, in which is true doiSlrine, n. 402, 
 3O54, 9166. That gates fignify introduction into, or initiation in the dodrine 
 of the church, and through the dodlrine into the church, n. 2943, 4478. That 
 foundation fignifies truth, on vvliich heaven, the church, and its doctrine are 
 founded, n. 9643. 
 
 (138) That in Scripture-language thing's of a more interior kind are exprcflld 
 by outward things of a fupcrior kind, and fignified by them, n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 
 5146, 8325. 'i~hat high ix^miics iiiwcvd, and alfo heaven, n. 1735, 2148, 4210, 
 
 4599' 815,3- 
 
 (139) That in heaven there appears to be mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and 
 
 different kinds of earth, altogether like what we fee here, n. 10608. That on the 
 
 mountains
 
 [ 113 ] 
 
 iSg. There are likewife angels which live not ia focieties, 
 but difperfed in feparate houfes : fuch dwell in the middle parts 
 of heaven, as being the beft of the angels. 
 
 190. The manlions inhabited by the angels are not built by 
 them, as we build ours, but are the gift of the Lord to them, 
 to each according to his recipiency of goodnefs and truth ; and 
 they alfo are fubjeift to fome changes, accordingly as variations 
 happen in the inward flatc of the angels, concerning which 
 above, n. 154 to 160. The angels live in a conflant fenfe of 
 their dependence on, and gratitude to the Lord for all that they 
 poiTefs, and all that they fland in need of he freely gives them. 
 
 Of Space in Heaven. 
 
 191. Though all things in heaven appear to exifl in place 
 and fpace after the manner of this world, neverthelefs the angels 
 have no idea of either : now as this cannot but appear a paradox, 
 and is a fubje(ft of great importance, I proceed to the expla- 
 nation of it. 
 
 192. All progreffions and advances in the fpiritual world are 
 caufed by change of dates in the interiour, nor are they any 
 otherwife (140) ; accordingly I have been taken up by the Lord 
 
 mountains dwell the angels, who excel in the good of love ; on the hills thofe 
 that excel in charity or love of their neighbour ; on the rocks thofe that walk by- 
 faith, n. 10438. That therefore by mountains in Scripture is fignified the good 
 of love, n. 795, 4210 — 10438, 10608. By hills, the good of charity, n. 6435, 
 10438. By rocks, the good and truth of faith [bonum ct venini fidei'\ n. 8581, 
 10580. That Jlone, from whence comes rock, in like manner fignifics the truth 
 of faith, n. 114, 643, 1298 — 10376. Hence that by mountiims is fignified heaven, 
 n. 8327, 8805, 9420. And by the top of a mountain, the fupreme part of heaven, 
 n. 9422, 9434, 10608. That therefore the angels celebrated their religious wor- 
 fhip on mountains, n. 796, 2722. 
 
 (140) That places and fpaces in the Word fignify flates, n. 2625, 2837, 3356, 
 3387, 7381, 10578. Proved from experience, n. 1274, 1277, 1376 to 1381 — 
 10578. That diflance iignifies difference in the ftatcs of life, n. 9104, 9967. 
 That movements and changes of place in the fpiritual world are from changes in 
 the life's ftates, n. 1273, 1274, 1275, X377, 3356, 9440; as alfo progreflive 
 motion, n. 9440, 10734; illuftratcd from experience, n. 1273 ^^ '^77, 5606; 
 that hence it is, that in the Word, to walk, fignifies to live, and alfo the progrefs 
 of life, as alfo does journeying, n. 3335, 4554, 4585 — 8557. To walk with the 
 Lord means the fame as living agreeably to his will, n. 10567. 
 
 F f into
 
 [ 114 1 
 
 into heaven, and have been in different worlds in the univerfe 
 as to my fpirit, whilft my body was all the while here on earth 
 in the fiime place (141) : and fo it is with the angels, for to 
 them diftances are nothing, and if nothing, fo neither is fpace 
 any thing, but inftcad thereof are their flates and changes, and 
 changes therein. 
 
 193. As progreffions are effecfted this way, it is evident that 
 the approximation to, and elongation from perfons reciprocally, 
 confill;; in the fimilarity or diihmilarity of their interior flates 
 rcfpedively, they who are in the former approaching near to 
 one another, and fuch as are in the latter feparating from each 
 other; and that fpaces in heaven are nothing more than their 
 external flates correfponding to their internal ones : fo alfo it is 
 that the heavens are diftindl from one another, as alfo the fo- 
 cieties in each heaven, and every individual of a fociety : hence 
 likewife that the different hells are totally feparated, and in 
 cppofition to the heavens, as being by conditions and qualities 
 diametrically contrary to one another. 
 
 194. From the fame caufe it comes to pafs, that in the fpi- 
 ritual world one becomes immediately prefent to another, who 
 intenfely defires his company, for by that means he fees him in 
 thought, and enters into the fame flate with his ; and, on the 
 contrary, that one is feparated from another in proportion to 
 his averfion to him : and as all avcrfion proceeds from contra- 
 riety of affedtions, and diffent of minds, hence it appears often- 
 times, that many who continue together whilfl they agree, im- 
 mediately difippear on the firfl quarrel. 
 
 195. So likewife when any one takes a walk from one place 
 to another, whether in the city he belongs to, in the fquares, 
 gardens, or on a vifit to any of another fociety, he reaches the 
 end of his walk fooner or later, according to the greater or 
 leffer earneflne.fs of his defire to be there, the way, though the 
 fame in itfelf, appearing fliorter or longer in proportion to luch 
 defire : this I have often fcen and wondered at. Hence it is 
 plain, that diftance, and confequently fpace in heaven, are alto- 
 
 (141) That man, in fpirit, may be conveyed to a great diftance by change of 
 ftatcs, his body remaining in the fame place : this from experience, n. 9440, 9967, 
 10734. What it means to be led by the fpirit to another place, n. 1884. 
 
 gether
 
 [ 115 ] 
 
 gether relative to the interior ftates of the angels, and therefore 
 that the idea of fpace enters not into their thoughts (142). 
 
 196. This may be illuftrated from what pafles in the mind 
 of man, in which there is no fpace, but every thing that he 
 intenfely thinks of appears prefcnt to him : in like manner, 
 every one that reflefts on the matter muft know, that fpace is 
 no objed; of fight, any farther than he borrows the idea of it 
 from intermediate objedls, and from what he has learned of 
 di (lance by experience : now this proceeds from the following 
 caufe, viz. that in what is continuous we have ncr precife idea 
 of diftance, but from things that are not continuous (*) : and 
 this is ftill more ftrongly the cafe with the angels, as their 
 feeing is correfponding to and one with their thinking, and 
 their thinking with their affeftions, and as things appear to 
 them near or remote, and in all their variations, according to 
 their inward ftates, as has been fhcwed before. 
 
 197. Hence, that in Scripture-language, by places, fpaces, 
 and all things that carry in them any idea of ipace, we are to 
 underfland things pertaining to ftates ; thus by diflances, as 
 near, far off, ways, journeys, wandrings ; by miles, furlong, 
 fields, gardens, cities, ftreets, and going from one place to an- 
 other ; alfo by meafures of various kinds, as long, broad, high, 
 and deep, and innumerable other things, as moil of the ideas 
 
 (142) l^hat places and fpaces appear according to the interior ftates of angels 
 and fpirits, n. 5604, 9440, 10146. 
 
 (*) It will be fomewhat difficult for the reader, that is not of a philofophical 
 turn of mind, to take the author's meaning in this place. It may appear fome- 
 thing clearer, if expreffed thus : Were any one furrounded only by fpace, as it 
 confifts of no diftindt vifible parts, but is all one continued famencfs, he would 
 not be able to form any notion of diftance therein ; but were bodies of vifible 
 dimenfions introduced into it, they would interrupt the continuity, and ferve as fo 
 many meafures of fpace, by having a relative diftance one from another : thus 
 place, which arifes from the different fituation of bodies, becomes the meafure of 
 fpace, by giving to it diftindtion. Eternity alfo is of like confideration, as having 
 no divifion or diftinftion in itfclf, but borrows them from time, as time has ii^ 
 meafures only from the fucceffions of bodies and founds, according to their im- 
 prtfTions on the fenfcs. Thus do things difconiinuous and finite give us fomc, 
 though inadequate, notions of things continous and infinite, whilft they leave us 
 utterly incapable of forming any pofitive idea of them as they are in themfclvcs : 
 fo full of inconceivable myftery is every thing infinite and eternal, and abundantly 
 fufficient to humble the pride of man, when he turns his thoughts to fuch fub- 
 jeits. Tr. 
 
 in
 
 [ ii6 ] 
 
 in the human mind borrow fomething from fpace and time : to 
 inftancc only in what is nieant in Scripture by length, breadth, 
 and height ; in this world what is called long, broad, or high, 
 is lb denominated from fpace -, but in heaven, where they have 
 no ideas of fpace, by length is meant a ftate of good, by breadth 
 a ftate of truth, and by height their refpeftive difference as to 
 degrees, of which in n. 38 ; and the reafon of underftanding 
 thefe dimenfions in fuch fenfes, is becaufe that there Long is 
 from Eall to Weft, where dwell the angels who excel in the 
 good of love J and Broad in heaven is from South to North, 
 where the angels, whole chief eminence and diftinftion is in 
 truth proceeding from good, have their habitations, fee above, 
 n. 148 : and High in heaven fignifies both, according to their 
 degrees refpedlively ; whence it is that length, breadth, and 
 height have fuch fignifications in Scripture-language. Thus in 
 Ezekiel, from ch. xl. to xlviii. where the meafures affigned to 
 the new temple and the new earth, together with their courts, 
 doors, gates, chambers, windows, &c. are denominated accord- 
 ing to length, breadth, and height : all which fignify and typify 
 the New Church, and the various fpecies of good and truth 
 therein ; and to what elfe can fuch meafures be applicable ? 
 And in like manner the New Jerufalem, as defcribed by St. 
 John in the following words : " And the city lieth four fquare, 
 ** and the length is as large as the breadth. And he meafured 
 ** the city with the reed, twelve thoufand furlongs : the length, 
 *' and the breadth, and the height of it are equal," Rev. xxi. 
 16. Now, as by the New Jerufalem is here fignified the New 
 Church, fo by thofe meafures are fignified the things pertaining 
 to this Church : by length there is fignified its good of love ; by 
 breadth its truth, as the offspring of that love, and by height 
 the degrees of both refpcdlively ; as by the twelve thoufand fur- 
 longs, the whole of its good and truth in their complex (*) : 
 what other meaning can belong to, the length, and the breadth, 
 
 (*) As it appears from many parts of our author's writings, that numbers in 
 Scripture fignify things, fo that the number twelve fignifies the complex or aggre- 
 gate of all the things of the kind mentioned ; thus, if Good be the predicament, 
 the number twelve added to it makes it to fignify all forts of good j if Truth, the 
 fame number added makes it to fignify all truths. Tr. 
 
 and
 
 f ^^7 ] 
 
 and the height of it being equal? That by Breadth in the Word 
 is fignified truth, appears from thofe words oi David, Pf. xxxi, 8. 
 *' Thou haft not ihut me up into the hand of the enemy : 
 " thou haft fet my feet in a large room [/;/ latitude^. " I called 
 " upon the Lord in diftrefs [in Jlraitnefs\ ; the Lord anfwered 
 ** me, and fet me in a large place" \in breadtb'\, Pf. cxviii. 5. 
 So in If. c.h. viii. 8. and Hub. i. 6. and alfo in other places. 
 
 198. Fi'om what has been faid it may appear, that though 
 there be fpace in heaven, as well as here, yet no account is 
 made of it there, but only of ftates j and that it is not meafured 
 there by diftances, as in this world, but from and according to 
 the interior ftate of the angels (143). 
 
 199. The true and principal caufe hereof is, that the Lord 
 is prefent to every one according to his faith and love (144), 
 and that all things appear near or far off" according to his pre- 
 fence, for this gives determination to all things in the heavens ; 
 on this depends the wifdom of the angels, and the extent of 
 their mental powers ; to this is owing the communication of 
 all heavenly things ; and hence it is that the angels think fpi- 
 ritually, and not naturally after the manner of men. 
 
 Of the Form of Heaven, according to which 
 are regulated the Angelical Confociations 
 and Communications. 
 
 200. As concerning the form of heaven, what has already 
 been faid on that fubjedt may ferve to give the reader fomc idea 
 of it ; as that it is uniform and fimilar to itfelf in all its parts, 
 both great and fmall, n. 72 ; whence it is, that every fociety 
 therein is a heaven in a lelfcr form, and every individual angel 
 
 (143) That in the Word, Zrw^^A fignifics Cuiirt', n. 1613, 9487. T\\-a\. Breadth 
 fiyiiifics Truth, n. 1613, 3433, 3434j 44S2, 9487, 10179. 1 hat Height fignifics 
 Good ai\d Truth, according to their degrees rcfpedlively, n. 9489, 9773, 10181. 
 
 (144) That the Lord is adjoined to and prefent with the angels, in proportion 
 to their recipiency of love and charity from him, n. 290, 681, 1954, 2658, 2886, 
 2888 — 4524, 7211, 9128. 
 
 G g a heaven
 
 [ ii8 ] 
 
 a heaven in the fmalleft form, n. 51 to 58 ; and that as'heaven 
 in its whole or complex refenibles one man, lb does eveiy 
 fociety in a Icfler, and every angel in the leaft form, n. 59 to 
 'jl : that in the middle are the wifeft of the angels, and round 
 about them towards the circumference thofe who Icfs excel in 
 wifdom refpedlively ; the like regulation alfo takes place in 
 every particular fociety, n. 43 : that from Eaft to Well dwell 
 the anp-els who are eminent in the sfood of love, and from the 
 South to the North thole who are eminent in truths derived 
 from that good, all according to their degrees, and the fame in 
 every particular fociety, n. 148, 149. All thefe regulations are 
 according to the form of heaven, and may ferve to give us a 
 general idea of it (145). 
 
 201. It concerns us the more to have fome apprehenfion of 
 the form of heaven, not only as all the focieties of the angels 
 are regulated by it, but alfo as it determines the method of 
 their communications with one another; and if fo, the extent 
 of their thoughts and afFeftions alfo, and confequently their 
 underrtanding and wifdom, receive their determinations here- 
 from, infomuch that the nearer any one approaches in himfelf 
 to the perfedt form of heaven, the higher is the degree of his 
 wifdom : now whether we fay of any one, that he is in the 
 form of heaven, or in the order of heaven, it comes to the 
 feme, as the form of every thing is from the law of its order, 
 and according to it (146). 
 
 202. It will be proper in this place to explain briefly what 
 is meant by being in the form of heaven. Man was treated 
 after the image of heaven, and after the image of this world ; 
 as to the former internally, and as to the latter externally, fee 
 above, n. 57. (Now after the image, and after the form, mean 
 the fame). But forafmuch as man, by the evil in his will, and 
 the falfe in his thoughts [per fa If a cogitationis inde\ in confe- 
 
 (145) That the univcrfal heaven, with regard to all the angelica! focieties, is 
 difpofcd or regulated by the Lord according to liis own divine order, forafmuch as 
 tht divine prefence in the angels conftitutes heaven, n. 3038, 721 1, 9128 — IO157. 
 Of the heavenly form, n. 4040, 4041 — 9877. 
 
 (146) That the form of heaven ii according to the divine ordir, n. 4040 to 
 4043, 6607, 9877. 
 
 quence 

 
 [ 119 ] 
 
 quence of the former, deflroyed in himfelf the image or form 
 of heaven, and in the room of it introduced the imag-e or form 
 of hell i therefore it is that man is born into tlie world in 
 greater ignorance than any other animals, and to the end that 
 the image or form' of heaven may be reftored in him again, it 
 is become necefl'ary for him to be inftrufted in things pertaining 
 to the divine order, for, as was faid before, the form of any 
 thing is according to its order. The Word of God contains 
 all the laws of divine order in the precepts therein delivered, 
 and therefore as far as any one knows and keeps them, fo far is 
 his internal, or inward man, opened, and the order or image 
 of heaven formed therein : hence appears what is meant by 
 being in the form of heaven, viz. a life according to the divine 
 laws (147) and order, as laid down in the Word of God. 
 
 203. As far as one is in the form of heaven, fo far is he in 
 heaven, nay, fo far is a heaven in its loweft form, n. 57, and 
 confequently in divine underftanding and wifdom ; for, as was 
 faid before, the thoughts of his mind, and the affecftions of his 
 heart, extend themfelves every way according to his form, and 
 wonderfully communicate with the angelical focieties there, and 
 they with him (148), Some fuppofe that their thoughts and 
 affedlions have no aftual extent around them, but are iliut up 
 within them, becaufe they view what they think of as within 
 their own minds, and not at a diftance ; but this is a great 
 
 (147) That divine truths are the laws of order, n. 2247, 7995. That as far 
 as any one lives according to order, confequently in good according to divine truths, 
 fo far only is he to be tlleemed a man, n. 4839, 6605, 6626. That man is the 
 proper fubjedl of all things pertaining to divine order, and that by original creation 
 he was a form of divine order, n. 4219, 4220, 4223, A523 — 10156, 10472. That 
 man is not now born in the principles of goodncfs and truth, but in the evil and 
 the falfc, and confequently in contrariety to the divine order, and of confequence 
 in mere ignorance, and therefore mufl: of neceiTity be born again, or regenerated 
 by the power of divine truth from the Lord, before he can enter again into the 
 divine order, n. 1047, 2307, 2308 — 10286, 1C731. That when the Lord forms 
 man anew, or regenerates him, he difpofes all things in him according to divine 
 order, or fafhions him to be a form of heaven, n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303. 
 
 (148) That everyone in heaven partakes in a communication of life (which 
 may be called an extenfion of it) with the angelical focieties around him, in pro- 
 porticn to his quantity and quality of good, n. 8794, 8797. lliat thoughts and 
 afFeiStions have the like cxtcnfion, n. 2475, 6598 106613. That the angels are 
 alTociated or feparated accordinjj to their ruling aticiStions refpedtively, n. 4111. 
 
 niiilake,,
 
 [ 120 ] 
 
 miftake, for, as the fight of the eye extends to very diftant 
 objedls, and is afteded by them according to their nature, 
 though at a great diftance, fo the interior fight of the under- 
 flanding extends to tlie fpiritual world, though it perceives it 
 not, for the reafon mentioned above, n. 196 : ^he only dilference 
 is, that the fight of the bodily eye is affedied naturally, as from 
 things in the natural world, and the intellectual fight is affedled 
 fpiritually, as from things in the fpiritual world, all which 
 latter have relation to goodnefs and truth. That man is not 
 confcious of its being thus with him, is becaufe he does not 
 apprehend that it is a real light which gives him underftanding, 
 and that without fuch light in his underftanding he would not 
 be able to think at all : concerning this light, fee above, n. 126 
 to 132. There was a certain fpirit, who believed that the power 
 of thinking was from and vsithin himfelf only, without any 
 extenfion beyond himfelf, and confequently without communi- 
 cation with any fociety ; and to convince him of his error, all 
 communication was cut off betwixt him and the focieties next 
 to him, on which he was not only immediately deprived of the 
 power of thinking, but alio fell down as dead, except that he 
 fiung about his arms like a child newly born : in a little time 
 after, the communication was again opened, and according to 
 its return he was gradually reftored to the ufe of his under- 
 ftanding : hereupon, certain angels that were witnelfes to this 
 tranfaftion, confeffed that all thought and affedlion were by influx 
 from communication, and confequently the whole of life, as the 
 whole of the life of man confills in his thinking and being 
 affe<5ted, or, in other words, that he can underlland and 
 will (149). 
 
 204. But 
 
 (149) That there is only one original life, from which all lives cxift both in 
 hea\cii and this worlJ, n. 1954, 2021, 2536 — 5847, 6467. 'I'hat the Lord is 
 the folc fountain o( that life, n. 2886 to 2889, 334 — 927O, 10196. That it is 
 derived by influx to angels, Spirits, and men, after a wonderful manner, n. 2886 
 to 2889, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742. That this influx is from divine love, whofe 
 nature it is to communicate of its own, n. 3472, 4320 : and from thence it is, 
 that life appears to man as properly his own, and not by influx, n. 3742, 4320. 
 Of the joy which the angels receive (and whereof they alfured me) from knowing 
 that their life is by continual influx from the Lord, n. 6469. That evil people 
 will not receive this truth concerning influx, n. 3743. That life even in evil men, 
 
 is
 
 [ 121 ] 
 
 204. But we are to take with us, that underflanding and 
 wifdom vary in all according to the kind of communication ; 
 they in whom thefe are formed from genuine aud pure fpecies 
 of goodnefs and truth [ex gemdnis verts et bo7iis\ communicate 
 with the angelical focieties according to the form of heaven ; 
 but they whofe underftanding and wifdom are not formed of 
 fuch goods and truths, but of fuch only as may confifl with 
 them, here the communication is in a fort broken and incohe- 
 rent, as not being rightly conformable to the order of heaven : 
 but as to thofe w^ho have no true underftanding and wifdom, 
 but are abforbed in the falfe of evil \in faljis ex malo'\ their 
 communication is only with the infernal focieties. It mufh be 
 obferved, that the degree of extenfion before-mentioned is ac- 
 cording to the degree of confirmation in the flate of the parties 
 refpecflively, and that fuch communication with the focieties is 
 not attended with any perception of what they do, or pafles 
 among them, but only a communication of their qualities and 
 influence (150). 
 
 205. All are confociated in heaven according to their fpi- 
 ritual affinities of good and true, in their feveral ranks and 
 degrees, whether in the univerfal heaven, in the feveral focieties, 
 or in particular families, infomuch that the angels, who are in 
 the fame kinds and degrees of good and truth, know one another 
 like kindred here on earth, who have been educated together ; 
 and there is the like affinity and agreement between the feveral 
 truths and fpecies of good that conftitute their underftanding 
 and wil'dom, in every particular angel, and producftive of the 
 lame harmony (151) : whence it comes to pafs, that they in 
 whom goods and truths are united after the form of heaven, 
 
 is by influx from the Lord, n. 2706, 3743, 4417, 10196 ; but that fuch change 
 good into evil, and true into falfe ; for as the man is, fuch is his recipiency of life 
 — this illuftrated, n. 4319, 4320, 4417. 
 
 (150) That thought diffufes itfclf to the focieties of fpirits and angels around 
 us, n. 6600 to 6605, and that without aftecSling or difturbing their courfe of 
 thinking. 
 
 (151) That every good knows its own proper truth, and every truth its own 
 proper good, n. 2429, 3101, 3102 — 5835, 9637. Hence the conjunction of good 
 and truth, n. 3834, 4096, 4097 — 7623 to 7627 — 9258, 10555 : and that this is 
 the effedt of heavenly influx, n. 9079. 
 
 II h fee
 
 [ 122 ] 
 
 fee things in tlieir various combinations and dillant confcquences 
 all around them j but it is otherwife where goods and truths 
 are not lo combined in a heavenly form. 
 
 206. There is a like form belonging to each of the heavens, 
 according to which the communication and extenfaon of the 
 thoughts and affecflions of the angels are effefted, and confe- 
 quently their underltanding and wifdom ; and yet there is a 
 difference in the communication between one heaven and ano- 
 ther, viz. of the third or inmoft with the fecond or middle 
 heaven, and of both thefe with the firft or loweft heaven ; 
 though the communication between heaven and heaven is not 
 properly called communication, but influx, of which we pro- 
 ceed to fpeak. That there are three heavens, and thefe dillindt 
 from one another, fee above in its proper article, n. 29 to 40. 
 
 207. That, properly fpeaking, it is not communication, but 
 influx, that fubfilts between heaven and heaven, as may appear 
 from the order of the heavens : the third or inmolt heaven is 
 the fupreme ; the fecond or middle heaven is beneath it ; and 
 the firll heaven is the lowelt of all. All the focieties in each 
 of the heavens are diftinguillied in like manner ; as for example, 
 thofe focieties which are flationed in places of the higheft emi- 
 nence, having the appearance of mountains, (fee n. 188.) are 
 thus dilHnguiflied : they who are of the greateft excellence, and 
 of the quality of the angels of the third heaven, have their 
 dwelling on the fummits ; they who refemble more the angels 
 of the fecond heaven, are ranked beneath them ; and they who 
 come nearer to the angels of the hrft heaven are claflld llill 
 lower ; and the fame regulations are obferved both in the fupe- 
 rior and the inferior fituations. A ibciety of a fuperior heaven 
 has its communication with that of an inferior heaven only by 
 correfpondency, fee above, n. 100 ; and communication by cor- 
 refpondency is that which we call influx. 
 
 208. It is the Lord only that conioins heaven with heaven, 
 or the fociety of one heaven with that of another, and this by 
 influx immediate or mediate; immediate from himfelf, and me- 
 diate through the fuperior to the inferior heavens (152). As 
 
 (152) That influx is twofold, immediate from the Lord, and mediate through 
 heaven, n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That immediate influx from the 
 
 Lord 

 
 [ 123 ] 
 
 the conjunftion of the heavens is from the Lord only, fo it is 
 carefully provided, that no angel of a fiiperior heaven look into 
 any fociety of an inferior heaven, or converfe with any there ^ 
 for no fooner fhould he do this, than he would be deprived of 
 his underilanding and wifdom, and that through the following 
 caufe : every angel has three degrees of life, anfwering to the 
 three degrees of heaven ; they who are in the inmoft heaven 
 have the third or inmoft degree of life open, and the fecond and 
 firft Ihut : they who are in the middle heaven, have the fecond 
 degree open, and the firft and third ftiut : and they who are in 
 the loweft heaven, have the firft degree open, and the fecond and 
 third ftiut : as foon therefore as an angel of the third heaven 
 looks down upon any fociety in the fecond, and converfes with 
 any therein, his third degree of life is fliut, whereby he is 
 deprived of his wifdom, which lies only in the third degree of 
 life, for he has none in the fecond or firft ; according to which 
 meaning are thofe words of our Lord, Matth. xxiv. 17, 18. 
 " Let not him whicli is on the houfe top come down to take 
 '• any thing out of his houfe ; neither let him which is in the 
 ** field return back to take his cloaths :" and alfo in Luke xvii. 
 31, 32. " In that day he which Ihall be on the houfe top, and 
 " his ftuft' in the houfe, let him not come down to take it 
 " away : and he that is in the field, let him likewife not return 
 " back : remember Lot's wife." 
 
 209. There is no influx from the inferior heavens to the 
 fuperior, this being contrary to the laws of order, but only 
 from the fuperior to the inferior ; for the wifdom of the angels 
 of a fuperior heaven, as far exceeds that of an angel of an in- 
 ferior heaven, as a myriad exceeds a unit, which is the reafon 
 why the angels of an inferior cannot converfe with thofe of a 
 fuperior heaven, nor can they fee them when they look up, 
 their heaven being, \\'ith refpect to riicm, veiled as it were with 
 a dark miit ; but the angels of a fuperior heaven can fee thofe 
 beneath them, but not converfe with them, but at the peril of 
 being deprived of their wifdom, as was fi\id before. 
 
 Lord extends to the moft minute p;irticulars of all things, n. 6058, 6474 to 6478, 
 8717, 8728. Of the mcdii-.tc- influ.\ of the Lord through the heavens, n.. 4067, 
 6982, 6985, 6996. 
 
 210. Tho
 
 [ 12+ ] 
 
 I 
 
 210. The thoughts, afFedlions, and dilcourfe of the angels 
 of the inmoll heaven, come not within the apprehenllon of thofe 
 of tlie middle heaven, as far tranfcending their capacities; but 
 at times, as the Lord fees fit, there appears thence in the infe- 
 rior heavens a kind of riame-coloured pha;nomenon ; and from 
 the middle heaven into the loweft, a lucid form, and fometimes 
 a white or party-coloured cloud, from the afcent, defccnt, or 
 fliape of which they are able to form fome judgment concerning 
 what they are difcourfmg of above. 
 
 211. What has been faid on this fubjecfl may ferve to give 
 the reader an idea of the form of heaven, and how that of the 
 inmoft heaven is the moft perfedl ; that of the middle heaven, 
 lefs perfe(5l ; and that of the firll or lowell heaven, the leaft 
 perfedl of all ; and that the form of one heaven owes its fub- 
 liilence to that of another, under the efficiency of the divine 
 influx; but what communication by influx is, cannot be com- 
 prehended without having an idea of the degrees of altitude, 
 and knowing the difl^erence between them, and thbfe of longi- 
 tude and latitude, concerning which, fee n. 38. 
 
 212. As concerning the form of heaven in particular, to- 
 gether with its feveral changes and flud:uations ; this is a lubjedl 
 patfmg the comprehenfion even of the angels, though fome ■ 
 conception of it may be borrowed from the flrudlure of the 
 human body, as viev/ed and examined by a fkilful anatomift, 
 it having been fliewed before in its proper place, that the whole 
 of heaven refembles one man, fee n. 59 to 72 ; and how all 
 things in man correfpond to the heavens, n. 87 to 102. Now, 
 how inexplicable and paft comprehenfion this wonderful fi:ru(flure 
 of man is, may appear even from a general view of the nervous 
 fibres whereof its feveral parts are compacfled, and which are' 
 fo extremely fmall, as to efcape the notice of the fliarpeil: fight 
 in their feveral meanders and tranfits in the brain, which afl'umes 
 its foft, medullary, and almolt fluid fubftance from their innu- 
 merable complications ; and yet, through their mediate inllru- 
 mentality, all the operations of the will and intelledl pafs into 
 their refpedtive dilHndl adls and forms : and how they meet 
 again, to form admirable complications in different parts of the 
 body, appears from their various plexus or folds in the heart, 
 
 mefentery.
 
 [ 125 ] 
 
 mefentery, and other regions of the body j and alfo from thofc 
 nodes or network calfed ganglions, where many fibres from 
 different provinces of the human microcofm meet to form their 
 proper combinations, and thence proceed in their various in- 
 tcrtex tares to dilcharge other fundlions in their progrefs, and 
 that by fundry repetitions ; befides other like offices in every 
 bowel, member, organ, and mufcle in the body. The artift, 
 who, with a difcerning eye and a reflefting mind, views all this 
 and many other admirable contrivances in the human llrudture, 
 muft ftand afloniflied at the fkill of the divine artificer ; and yet 
 the things which are difcoverable therein by the eye, though 
 affirted by the beft glaffes, are but few in comparifon of thofe 
 ftill more wonderful things concealed from us in the deep of 
 interior nature. That the human form correfponds to the form 
 of heaven, is evident from the operations of the underftanding 
 and will therein and according to it, for whatever any one de- 
 termines in his will, the fame fpontaneoufly influences the body, 
 and palfes into adt (*) ; and fo what he thinks of, that inftan- 
 taneoufly aftedts the fibres from their beginning to their termi- 
 nations, and produces fenfe : now that which is the form of 
 
 (*) This doctrine laid down by our author cfFcftually folves that knotty point 
 (o much controverted by the learned, concerning mufcular motion, as it accounts 
 for it. in a fatisfadtory manner from the inftantaneous ojjcration of the will, by 
 influx, on the correfpondent parts of the body : and at the fame time it totally 
 annihilates that objection of the materialills againft the immortality of the foul, 
 drawn from the diforder occafioned in the underftanding through a diftempered 
 ftatc of tlie brain, or any ijiimy fiiftained by it ; for beginning at the wrong end, 
 and tracing the intclltihtual operations from organlz,ed matter, as the fource and 
 caufe of them, they infer, that the caufc being \ itiated or taken away, the effect 
 muft neccflarily ceafc ; whereas perception, thought, and memory, do not flo\y 
 from the brain, hut from the mind into it, as the proper recipient thereof, for the 
 manifeftation of ihefe powers in outward nature : the defeat or deftruftion of the 
 organ occafions no annihilation or lofs of the intellect, for that remains ftill the 
 fame in its own fpiritual piinciple or world ; but only hinders its influx into ano- 
 ther condition of exiftencc, and fo from manifefting its operations in this outward 
 natural world. The foul and its mind are abfolutely independent on this mortal 
 body, they communicate to it, but recei\e nothing from it, though they reach to 
 natural things by means of and through it : they Jive, even during their union 
 with the body, in the fpiritual world in their own fpiritual body, and here only 
 by communication with this organized natural body : fo much depends on afligiiing 
 to influx Its proper fource and progrefs, even the whole of the difference between 
 infidelity and believing rightly. See Theofophic Lucubration, p. 23, 24. , 
 
 I i thought
 
 [ 126 ] 
 
 thought and will, is alfo the form of underflanding and wifdom. 
 Such is the human form as concfponding to the form of heaven, 
 and may ferve to give us fome idea of the extenfion appertaining 
 to the affedions and thoughts of angels, and how their under- 
 flanding and wifdom are in proportion to their degree of per- 
 fedion as to that form. That the form of heaven is from the 
 Divine Humanity of our Lord, fee above, n. 78 to 86. Thefe 
 things are offered to the reader, with a defign to fhew, that the 
 form of heaven is a fubjecft of fuch vaft extent as not to be 
 exhaufted, even with refped to generals, and confequently, not ,F^ 
 
 to be comprehended even by the minds of angels, as was before 
 obferved. 
 
 Of the Governments in Heaven. 
 
 213. As heaven is diflinguifhed into focieties, the greater of 
 which confift of fome hundred thoufands of angels, n. 50 : and 
 as all in the fame fociety are in the like good, but not alike in 
 wifdom, n. 43 ; it therefore ncccffarily follows, that there muft 
 be governments there, for order in every fociety is of necelfary 
 obfervation and ufe ; however, governments in the heavens are 
 of various kinds, fome refpedling the focieties which conftitute 
 the Lord's ca^leftial kingdom, and others refpeding thofe which 
 conftitute his fpiritual kingdom : and they alfo differ with regard 
 to the difference of office and miniltry appointed to focieties in 
 particular : but then it muft be noted, that in the heavens there 
 is no kind of government differing from that of mutual love, 
 for this is univerfally the heavenly government. 
 
 214. The government in the Lord's cceleftial kingdom, or 
 third heaven, is called Justice [Righteoufnefs] as all there 
 are in the good of love to the Lord, from the Lord ; and all 
 that proceeds from that principle is called Jurt: [Righteous]. 
 Here the Lord is the fole governor, guiding the angels himfelf, 
 and teaching them the ways of life they fliould walk in, and 
 writing on their hearts thofe truths, which are called the Truths 
 of Judgment i infomuch that every one there fees and knows 
 
 them.
 
 [ 127 ] 
 
 them (153), and therefore there is no controverfy on thefe fub- 
 jedls among them, but their thoughts and converfation turn 
 chiefly on things pertaining to righteoufnefs and hoHnefs of life : 
 they who are lefs wife confult thofe who excel in wifdom, and 
 the latter afk counfel of the Lord, who vouchfafes to give them 
 anfwers : upon the whole, it is their heaven and higheit joy to 
 live righteoufly and holily under the influence and government 
 of the Lord. 
 
 215. The government in the Lord's fpiritual kingdom is 
 called Judgment, the fubjefts of it being in fpiritual good, 
 which is the good of charity towards our neighbour, and in its 
 effence is truth (154) ; for truth relates to judgment, and good 
 to righteoufnefs (155). Thefe alfo are under the Lord's gui- 
 dance, but mediately by others, n. 208 ; and accordingly they 
 have rulers, more or fewer, according to the exigences of that 
 particular fociety to which they belong : they live together 
 under laws which are well underftood and obferved by their 
 rulers in the adminillration of their office, and when any dif- 
 ficulty or doubt arifes, they receive light from the Lord. 
 
 216. As that government which is from good (*), as in the 
 Lord's coeleftial kingdom, is called Righteoufnefs ; and that 
 
 which 
 
 (153) That the cceleflial angels do not think and reafon of truths like the fpi- 
 ritual angels, feeing that they are in the perception or immediate intuition of all 
 things relating to truth, by the gift of the Lord, n. 202, 597, 607, 784 — 8780, 
 9277, 10336. That the coelcftials, where truths are the fubjc£t of converfation, 
 only fay concerning fuch fubjects. The matter is fo, or is not fo ; whereas th« 
 fpiritual angels reafon concerning them, as whether the matter be fo, or not, n. 
 2715, 3246, 4446, 9166, 10786; where is given the explication of thofe words 
 of our Lord : " Let your communication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay j for whatfo- 
 " ever is more than thefe cometh of evil." Matt. v. 37. 
 
 (154) That the angels of the fpiritual kingdom are more for intellectuals, or 
 the knowledge of truths ; and thofe of the ctelcflial are more in good, n. 863, 875, 
 927—5113, 9596. 
 
 (155) That juftice or righteoufnefs, in the Word, is predicated of good, and 
 judgment of truth ; and therefore to exercife righteoufnefs and judgment figiiifies 
 to pra£tife both goodnefs and truth, n. 2235, 9857. That great judgments lignify 
 the laws of divine order, or divine truths, n. 7206. 
 
 (*) Let it be obferved here, by way of caution againft miflake, that our author 
 never ufes the terms good and truth in the way of contr.adiftin>.'tion, or as though 
 either could fubfift entirely feparate from the other ; and therefore where he fpcaks 
 of fome angels being in [the principle of J good, and others iu the [principle of] 
 
 truth.
 
 [ 123 ] 
 
 which is from truth, as in his fpiritual kingdom, is called Judg- 
 ment ; therefore the terms juftice or righteoufnefs, and judg- 
 ment, are fo often in Scripture-language, where heaven and the 
 church are the fuhjeds treated of, and there, by julHce or righ- 
 teoufnefs is lignified ccrleftial good, and by judgment fpiritual 
 good, which latter, as was faid before, in its efl'ence is truth : 
 thus in the following texts : " Of the increafe of his govern- 
 '* mcnt and peace there fliall be no end, upon the throne of David 
 ** and upon his kingdom, to order and to cftabliHi it with judg- 
 ** ment and with juftice, from henceforth even for ever," Ifai. 
 ix. 7. By David in this place is meant the Lord (156), and by 
 his kingdom, heaven, as appears from the following words : 
 " I will raife unto David a righteous branch, and a king fhali 
 ** reign and profper, and Ihall execute judgment and juftice in 
 ** the earth," Jer. xxiii. 5. " The Lord is exalted, for he 
 ** dwelleth on high : he hath filled Zion with Judgment and 
 *• Righteousness," Ifai. xxxiii. 5. By Zion here is meant 
 heaven and the church (157). ** I am the Lord exercifing 
 " loving-kindnefs. Judgment, and Righteousness in the 
 " earth ; for in thefe things I delight, faith the Lord," Jer. 
 ix. 24. " I will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea, I will 
 *' betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judg- 
 ** ment," Hofea ii. 19. " Thy Righteousness is like the 
 *• great mountains; thy Judgments are a great deep," Plal. 
 xxxvi. 6, 7. " They alk of me the ordinances [the judgments] 
 " of Justice ; they take delight in approaching to God," 
 Ifai. Iviii. 2 : and alfo in other places. - " 
 
 217. In the Lord's fpiritual kingdom are different forms of Je 
 
 government in different focieties, according to the various ofhces < 
 
 truth, it means only that the former were more eminent for love in the aifedlionatc 
 part, than for knowk-dge in the intcilecluai, and lb vice vcrja : but no angel can 
 be dcflitute of either, however they may diffVr in tl»c degrees of the one or the 
 other. In like manner, when we mean to dillinguifli any one more particularly 
 by the name of a good man ; this does not imply that he is deficient in the intel- 
 leclual part or knowledge of truth, but only that goodnefs forms the more diilin- 
 guilhing part of his chara(Ster. 
 
 (156) That by David in the prophetic parts of the Word is meant the Lord, 
 n. 1888, 5954.. 
 
 (157) I hat by Zion in the Word is meant the Church, and particularly the 
 Ca-leftial Church, n. V362, 9055. 
 
 and
 
 [ 129 ] 
 
 and minlftrations of thofe focieties, and thofe anfwer to the 
 fun(ftions of the feveral parts in man, which every one knows 
 are manifold : thus one function belongs to the heart, another 
 to the lungs ; and fo in like manner, the liver, the pancreas, 
 the fpleen, and every organ of fenk, &c. have each their feveral 
 offices ; and according to their different miniftrations in the 
 body are thofe of the angelical focieties correfponding thereto j 
 for that there is a correfpondence between all things in heaven, 
 and all things in man, has been (hewed before, fee n. 87 to 102. 
 Now thefe feveral forms of government agree in this, that they 
 are all calculated to promote the good of the whole, and of 
 every member in particular (158) ; and this, becaufe all through- 
 out the univerfal heaven are under the care and guidance of the 
 Lord, who loves them all, and has therefore fo conftituted the 
 good of the community, that every individual finds his own 
 private good conne(fled with it, and receives of it in proportion 
 to his love for the community ; for in loving the whole he loves 
 every one, and according to the extent of his love (which is a 
 divine gift) he is beloved of the Lord, and is blelTed in the 
 fame degree. 
 
 218. Hence we may form a judgment of the charadler of 
 their rulers, viz. that they are fuch as excel in love and wifdom, 
 and confequently affecftionately wifh the good of all, and are 
 endowed with knowledge fufficient to effecfl it : now they who 
 are of this charadler, are not given to behave lordly and impe- 
 rioufly over thofe that are fubjecft to them, but minifter to and 
 ferve them ; for to do good to others from love, is to ferve them, 
 and to provide the means of their receiving it, is to miniilcr to 
 them : nor do they efteem themfelves greater, but lefs than 
 
 (158) That every man, and alfo the communit)', as likcwifc our country, the 
 church, and, in a univerfal fcnfe, the kingdom of the Lord, is our neighbour ; 
 and that, to do them good from love, according to their quality and condition, is 
 charity or love to our neighbour : fo their good and benefit, colledtively confidered, 
 is our neighbour, n. 6H18 106824, ^123. That alfo civil good or juftice, ab- 
 flraclcdly confidered, is our neighbour, n. 2915, 4730, 8120, 8123. Hence it is 
 that charity towards our neighbour extends to all the particulars of the life of 
 man, and that to do good from the love of good and truth ; and to do julHce fronj 
 the love of juftice in all the offices and rciatioiir. of life, is the fuuj and complex 
 of charity to our neighbour, n. 2417, 8121, 8124. 
 
 K k others.
 
 r i3<^ ] 
 
 others, for they have refpedl to the good of the community and 
 of their neighbour in the firft place, and of their own but fub- 
 fcquently ; now that which is firft is greater than that whicli 
 follows : however, honour and preeminence are aillgncd them, 
 for they are fituated in the centre of their fociety, in places 
 fomewhat exalted above their brethren, and dwell in magnificent 
 palaces ; and they accept of thefe honourable diftindlions, not 
 for their own fakes, but for the fake of obedience, to the end 
 all may know, that as they are appointed for them of the Lord, 
 fo they are to pay them obedience as governors inftituted by 
 him : alluding to what has been faid are thofc words of our 
 Lord to his difciplcs : *' Whofoever will be great among you, 
 " let him be your miniller j and whofoever will be chief among 
 " you, let him be your fervant, even as the Son of man came 
 '* not to be miniil:ered unto, but to miniiler," Matt. xx. 26, 
 27, 28. •' He that is greatefl among you, let him be as the 
 *' younger, and he that is chief as he that doth ferve," Luke 
 xxii. 26. 
 
 219. Every family alfo is a government in a lower form; 
 for there is mafter and fervants, and the mafter loves his fervants, 
 and the fervants their mafler, and fo ferve each other from 
 love; whilfl: the mafter inftruiTts them how they are to live, and 
 what they are to do ; and the fervants, on their part, difcharge 
 the duties belonging to them : and let it be noted, that to be 
 ufeful is their highefl delight ; for the Lord's kingdom is the 
 kingdom of ufes. 
 
 220. There are governments alfo in the hells, for otherwife 
 the infernals could not be kept within bounds j but the govern- 
 ments there are of an oppofite nature to thofe in the heavens, 
 as being founded in felf-love, every one driving to be the 
 greateft, and domineering over others, and purfuing all that 
 refufe to be fubjedt to them, with hatred and revenge, fuch being 
 the nature of felf-love : therefore they have the mofi: fierce and 
 malignant for their rulers, that they may obey through fear (i 59) : 
 but of this hereafter, where we Ihall treat of the hells. 
 
 (159) That there are two kinds of government, the one founded in love to our 
 neighbour, and the other in felf love, n. 10814. 7'hat from the former proceed 
 all things good and delightful, n. ioi6o, 10814. That in heaven no one defircs 
 
 to 
 
 i
 
 [ 131 ] 
 
 Of Divine Worfhip in Heaven. 
 
 221. Divine worfliip in heaven is not unlike that on earth, 
 as to the external part, though with regard to the internal there 
 is a difference : they have their doftrines, their preachings, and 
 their temples, as we have, and their do<5trines in all elTential 
 points perfeftly agree together, but of more interior wifdom 
 in the fuperior heavens than in the inferior, and their preachings 
 are according to their doctrines : and as they have houfcs and 
 palaces, n. 183 to 190, fo likewife have they temples to preach 
 in. That thefe things are fo in the heavens, is becaufe the 
 angels continually advance to higher degrees of perfeiflion in 
 wifdom and love, for they have underftanding and will like 
 men, and thofe are capable of fuch proficiency, the under- 
 ftanding in intellecflual truths, and the will in the various 
 fpecies of good arifing from love (160). 
 
 222. But the true divine worlliip is not confidered in the 
 heavens as confifting in frequenting the temples, and hearing 
 preachings, but in a life of love, charity, and faith, according 
 to the dodrines received, preaching ferving only as the means 
 of inftrudlion in things pertaining to life. I have converfed 
 with the angels on this fubjeifl:, and told them, that it is the 
 general belief in this world, that divine worfliip confilts only 
 in frequenting the churches, hearing fermons, receiving the 
 facrameni of the fupper three or four times a year, and ob- 
 ferving other rites inftituted by the church, together with at- 
 tending at the publick prayers with reverence and devotion : to 
 
 to govern from the love of felf, but that all chufc to minifter to others, and that 
 this is to govern from love to our neighbour, and the caufe of their great power, 
 n. 5732. That from government founded in the love of felf proceed all kinds of 
 evil, n. 10038. That from the time that the love of felf and the love of the 
 world began to prevail in the earth, men found thcmfelves obliged to have lecourfc 
 to civil government for their fafety, n. 7364, 10160, 10814-. 
 
 (160) That the intelledt is the recipient of truth, and the will of good, n. 3623, 
 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. As all things have fome relation to good and truth, 
 fo all things in the life of man to the undcrftanding and will, n. 803, 10122. 
 That the angels advance in degrees of perfection eternally, n. 4803, 6648. 
 
 which
 
 [ 132 ] 
 
 which the angels replied, that thcfe external things ought to be 
 obferved, but that they availed nothing, if they did not proceed 
 from an inward good principle, and that this confided in a life 
 according to found docftrine, 
 
 223. That I might be an eye-witnefs to the manner of their 
 aflemblies in their temples, I have been indulged with permiffion 
 to enter them, and hear the preachings. The preacher ftands 
 in a pulpit on the Eafl fide; before him fit thofe who are moft 
 eminent for wifdom, and on each hand fuch as are inferior in 
 this refpedl : they fit in fomething of a circular form, fo that 
 all can fee the face of the preacher, but no one fo as to be out 
 of his fight : at the gate which is on the Eaft fide of the temple, 
 to the left of the pulpit, fland thofe who are in the degree of 
 the newly initiated ; but no one is allowed to ftand behind the 
 pulpit, for fliould any one do fo, it would confufe the preacher, 
 as would alfo be the cafe, fliould any one prefent diflent from 
 his dodrine ; and if this were to happen, fuch a one would be 
 obliged to turn away his face from the minifler. The preach- 
 ings there are fraught with fuch fublime inllrucftion, as is not 
 to be equalled in this world, fo greatly fuperior is their wifdom. 
 Their temples in the fpiritual kingdom appear to be conftru<5led 
 of ftone, and of wood in the coeleilial, and that becaufe flone 
 correfponds to truth, for the inveftigation of which the angels 
 of the former are more diftinguiflied ; and wood to the principle 
 of good, which is more eminently the characfteriiliick of the 
 angels in the latter (161) ; nor are they called Temples in the 
 latter, but the Houfe of God. In the cceleftial kingdom their 
 ftruiflures are without magnificence, but in the fpiritual, not 
 without a greater or lefl'cr degree of it. 
 
 224. I had fome difcourle with one of their preachers con- 
 cerning the pious difpofition of their hearers during their af- 
 femblics, who faid, that the degree of piety, devotion, and 
 holinefs in every one was in proportion to his love and faith 
 within, as all fanftity is from the internal prefence and grace 
 of the Lord, and that without thefe he could not fee what an 
 
 (161) That Stonf fignifies Truth, n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376. 
 Tliat ff^coJ fignifies Good, n. 643, 3720, 8354 : that therefore the moft ancient 
 of our anccftors, as being of cceleftial good, dwelt in houfes of wood, n. 3720. 
 
 apparent 
 
 1
 
 [ ^33 ] 
 
 apparent external fandity availed ; and then refledling a little on 
 the latter, he farther added, that there might be ibmething like 
 faniftity in the outward pracftice and behaviour, either acquired 
 artificially, or aflumed in hypocrify, but that without the in- 
 ternal of holinefs in the heart, all was no better than a falfe five 
 kindled by the love of felf, and to catch the praife of men. 
 
 225. All the preachers are of the Lord's fpiritual kingdom, 
 for none belong to his coeleftial ; and the reafon of this is, hc- 
 caufe in the former they are in the province of truths from 
 good, and all preaching muft be fi'om truths ; whereas in the 
 cceleftial kingdom, they are all in the province of the good of 
 love, which principle gives them an intuitive perception of all 
 truths, fo that they have no occafion to difcourfe of them ; 
 however, notwithrtanding, they are not without their publick 
 inftruftions, as well for illuftration of the truths they already 
 know, as to enrich them with a farther increafe, which, as foon 
 as offered, they own and perceive, without fpeculating or rea- 
 foning upon them ; and what they fo perceive they graft in their 
 hearts, and bring forth in their lives, it being uiual with them 
 to fay, that, to live according to his truths, is to love the 
 Lord (162). 
 
 226. All the preachers are of the Lord's appointment, and 
 accordingly endowed with the gift of preaching, nor are any 
 others allowed to teach in their temples : they are called preach- 
 ers, and not priefls, and that becaufe the cceleftial kingdom is 
 the priellhood of heaven, forafmuch as priefthood fignifies the 
 good of love to the Lord, in which are all the angels of that 
 kingdom ; whereas the fpiritual kingdom is called the Royalty 
 of Heaven, for the royal or kingly office fignifies truth as pro- 
 ceeding from good, fee above, n. 24. (163). 
 
 227. The doctrines on which their preaching is grounded 
 have, all of them, refpedl to life and pradice, and none to 
 
 (162) That to keep the divine precepts is to love the Lord and our neighbour, 
 n. 143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645, 10648. 
 
 (163) That the priefts reprefentcd tlie Lord as to divine good, and kings, as to 
 his divine truth, n. 2C15, 6148. Hence, that the title Prieji in the Word fignifies 
 fuch as are in the good of love to the Lord, and priefthood the good itfclf, n. 9806, 
 9809. That King in the Word fignifies divine truth, and Royalty the fiimc truth 
 as proceeding from good, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044. 
 
 L 1 believing
 
 [ ^34 1 
 
 believing only, as feparate from life : the dodrine taught in the 
 third or inmoft heaven is more replete with wifdom than that 
 of the middle heaven ; and the latter more highly intellectual 
 than that of the loweft heaven ; for the dodtrines in each are 
 adapted to the perception and capacities of the angels therein 
 refpcclively ; and it is an cfTential point in all their doftrines to 
 inculcate the belief of the Lord's Divine Humanity. 
 
 Of the Power of the Angels. 
 
 228. Such as have no notion of the fpiritual world, and its 
 influx into the natural, will not be able to form an idea of the 
 power of the angels, fuppofmg, becaufe they are fpiritual, and 
 not vifible to us, that fuch pure, immaterial beings mufl be 
 deftitute of power ; but they who think deeper have different 
 fentiments of this matter, as knowing that all power in man 
 is from his intelledl and will, which conftitute his fpiritual 
 man, and without which he could not give motion to any part 
 of his body, it being therefrom that his whole corporeal frame 
 receives diredlion in all its movements ; thus, what the mind 
 thinks, the mouth and tongue utter ; and that which the will 
 commands, the body and its members obey, the intellec^l and 
 will being fubjecfl to the government of the Lord, through the 
 miniflry of angels and fpirits, and confequently all the bodily 
 fun(ftions depending thereon ; and, however incredible it may 
 leem, man would not be able to move a fingle Hep witliout 
 influx from the heavenly world. Of this truth I have had full 
 experience at fuch times as it has been given to the angels 
 [without my concurrence] to govern my adlions, and to move 
 my fteps, tongue, and fpeech at their plcafurc, and that by 
 [lenfible] influx into my mind and will, inlbmuch that I per- 
 ceived myfelf incapable of doing any thing as of myfelf : after 
 which they told mc, that every one was actuated in like manner, 
 as he might learn from the dodlrine of the church, and from 
 the Scriptures, being therein taught to pray, that God would 
 fend his angels to guide him, and diredl his ftcps, to teach and 
 infpire him what to think, and what to fpeak, and the like, 
 
 though
 
 [ 135 3 
 
 though at other times, when this dodlrine is out of his mind, 
 he believes and fpealcs differently. This inftance is given, to 
 Ihew the power and influence of the angels with man. 
 
 229. The power of the angels in the I'piritual world is fo 
 exceeding great, that were I to relate the proofs of it which 
 I have feen, they would exceed belief. If at any time ought 
 fliould happen there to obflrudl the ellablillied laws of govern- 
 ment and peace, and therefore to be removed as contrary to 
 divine order, they fubdue and banifli it with a mere effort of 
 their will, or even with a forbidding countenance ; fo have I 
 {ecn mountains, that had been occupied by evil fpirits, caft 
 down and overturned, or fhaken from top to bottom, as by an 
 earthquake ; rocks alfo rent afunder to their very foundations, 
 and the evil fpirits upon them fwallowed up ; nay, I have feen 
 fome hundred thoufands of fuch fcattered before them, and by 
 their power caft into their proper hells ; for neither numbers, 
 policy, nor confederacies, avail ought againft them ; for they 
 difcover their moft fubtle devices in the twinkling of an eye, 
 and difcomfit all their adverfaries in a moment (*) : fee more on 
 this fubjed: in the account of Babylon dejlroyed. Such power 
 
 have 
 
 (*) However contrary the foregoing teftimoiiy of our author may appear to the 
 general preconceived opinions concerning the heavenly worlds, and the eftablifhed 
 laws of harmony, peace, and blifs therein; it is far from incredible (fetting afide 
 his authority) that the fettled courfe of things in thofe bleiTed regions may admit 
 of fome variation on certain occafions, and for wife purpofes, by divine permiffion 
 and appointment: thus, for example, the admiffion of evil fpirits into the heavenly 
 kingdoms at particular times may anfwer the following good ends, viz. to con- 
 found and mortify their pride, and the vain conceits of their own fufEcicncy as to 
 firength, fubtlety, and numbers, and to humble them the more under their dif- 
 appointments and defeats ; and fecondly, to convince them, that it is not in 
 change of place, but in condition of exiilence, that happincfs or mifery confifls, 
 and that therefore, as evil fpirits, they are and muft be impotent and miferable, 
 and carry their hell within them. On the other hand, to the good angels it may 
 fcrve as a falutary memento (and what created beings arc without all need of it) 
 of due gratitude to him, who hath fo made them to differ from others once of the 
 fame fpccies v/ith themfelves ; to confirm them in pious humility, adoration, and 
 love to their Divine Benefa£for ; and prompt them with greater alacrity to praife 
 and glorify him for their vidtory and triumph over all that might othcrwife offend 
 or hurt them : and we may add to the foregoing confiderations the following one, 
 viz. that certain interruptions, even in blifs, may ferve to give a higher relifh to 
 the returns of it ; and that perfect happinefs, without fome degrees of abatement 
 at times, rnay be incompatible with tlie nature of created beings : and it may 
 
 farther
 
 [ 
 
 136 
 
 I 
 
 have the holy angels in the fpiritual world j nor have they lefs 
 in the natural world, when the Lord fees fit to make ufe of 
 them there, as appears from the Scripture, of their deftroying 
 whole armies, and of caufmg a plague, of which no lefs than 
 twenty thoufand died i concerning which angel we read, that, 
 ** Wlien the angel ftretchcd out his hand upon Jerufalem to 
 " deftroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and faid to 
 *' the angel that dertroyed; It is enough : ftay now thine hand ; 
 *' and David faw the angel that fmote the people," 2 Sam. xxiv. 
 16, 17 : not to mention other inftances. From the angels being 
 inverted with fuch powers, they are fometimes called Powers ; 
 and in David : " Blcfs the Lord, ye his angels that excel in 
 ** ftrength," Pf. ciii. 20. 
 
 230. But we muft take with us, that the angels have not 
 this power from themfelves, but wholly from the Lord, and 
 that they are only fo far powers, as they acknowledge it ; for 
 fhould any of them believe that fuch power belonged to himfelf, 
 he would inftantly become fo weak, as not to be able to contend 
 with one evil fpirit : wherefore the angels abfolutely renounce 
 all merit as belonging to them, and afcribe the praife of what 
 they do to God only. 
 
 231. All power in the heavens is from divine truth pro- 
 ceeding from the Lord, as he is elTentially divine truth united 
 with divine good, fee n. 126 to 140, and as far forth as the 
 angels are recipients thereof, fo far are they powers (164), and 
 in the fime meafure each is true and good, or endued with 
 underftanding and will, their correlatives ; or, in other words, 
 according to their degree of divine goodnefs and truth from the 
 
 farther be remarked, that were an invariable adminiftration of government in 
 heaven and earth to take place, all proof of the divine liberty and interpofition, 
 together with the ufcs arifing from the belief of them, would be removed, and 
 the notion of fatalit)' be fubftituted in their ftead : fome viciflitudes and interrup- 
 tions may therefore be appointed to obviate fuch errors, as alfo to keep dependent 
 creatures under a conftnnt fenfe of their dependence, and to anfwer many purpofcs 
 of good both to men and angels that they know not. Tr. 
 
 (164) That the angels are called Powers^ and are really fuch from their recep- 
 tion of divine truth from the Lord, n. 9630. That the angels are recipients of 
 divine truth from the Lord, and as fuch called in Scripture Gods, n. 4295, 4402, 
 8301, 8192, 9398, 
 
 Lord, 
 
 
 Yi? 
 
 i
 
 [ 137 ] 
 
 Lord, fo far is each his own good and truth (165), and fo far 
 excels in power ; and as there is the like variety in heaven as in 
 earth, fo no two angels are exadlly equal in the above refpe(fts, 
 nor confequently in power : they who conftitute the province of 
 the arms are inverted with the greateft power, as they moft excel 
 in truths, which are replenifhed with good from the univerfal 
 heaven, like as the ftrength of the whole body transfers itfelf 
 to and exerts itfelf in the arms j hence it is that power is ex- 
 prelfed and fignified in Scripture by the arms and hands (166). 
 In heaven is fometimes the emblematical appearance of a naked 
 arm, apparently of ftrength fufficient to break in pieces the 
 hardeft rock ; it once came very near me, and feemed as if it 
 could bruife my bones to powder. 
 
 232. That all power is from divine truth as proceeding from 
 the Lord, and that the angels are fo far in power as they are 
 recipients of it, fee above, n. 137: ncverthelefs, their reception of 
 divine truth is in proportion to their reception of divine good, for 
 truths have all their power from good, and none without it, as 
 good exerts all its power through truths, and none without 
 them; it is from the conjunction of both that power exifts : 
 and the cafe is the fame with faith and love ; for whether we 
 call it faith or truth, it is all one, becaufe the whole of faith is 
 truth ; fo, whether we fay good or love, it means the fame, as 
 the whole of love is good (167). How great the power of the 
 
 (165) That the proper good and trutli [by derivation from the Lord] of every 
 angel and man, and confequently his love and faith, is that which conftitutes his 
 identity, n. 10298, 10367 ; or, in other words, his undcrftanding and will give 
 him that diltindlion, as being the eflenccs of his life; the life of his good con- 
 fifling in his will, and that of his truth in his undcrftanding, n. 10076, 10177, 
 10264, 10284. 
 
 (166) Of the correfpondence of the hands, arms, and fhouldcrs with heavtn, 
 or grand man, n. 4931 to 4937. That by the arms and hands in Scripture is 
 fignified power, n. 878, 3C91, 4931, 6947, 10017. 
 
 (167) That all power in the heavens is through truth from good, and confe- 
 quently through faith from love, n. 3191, 3563 — 10019, 10182. That all power 
 is from the Lord, as from him proceeds all the truth appertaining to faith, and all 
 the good appertaining to love, n. 9327, 9410. That this power is meant by the 
 keys delivered to Peter, n. 6344. That to divine truth, as proceeding from the 
 Lord, appertains all power, n. 6948, 8200. That this power of the Lord is 
 meant by his fitting at the right hand of Jehovah, n. 3387, 4592 — 8281, 9133- 
 That the right hand fignifies power, 11. IC019. 
 
 M m angels
 
 [ 138 ] 
 
 angels is through truths from good [per vera ex bono] may be 
 gathered from this, that an evil fpirit, when viewed intently 
 by the angels, prefently falls, as it were, into a fwoon, and lofes 
 the appearance of a human form till the angel turns away his 
 eyes ; the caufe of which is, that the fight of the angels is from 
 the light of heaven, which is the fame with divine truth, fee 
 above, n. 126 to 132 : the eyes alfo correfpond to truths pro- 
 ceeding from good \yeris ex bono] (168). 
 
 233. Forafmuch as all power belongs to truths from good, 
 fo none belongs to falfe from evil [Jaljis ex malo] (169) : in the 
 latter are all the infernal fpirits, and therefore they have no 
 power over truth and good ; but what kind of power belongs 
 to them amongft themfelves, and what before they are call into 
 hell, /hall be Ipoken to hereafter. 
 
 Of the Speech of the Angels. 
 
 234. The angels converfe together as we do on earth, and 
 in like manner, on various fubjedls, whether of a domeftick, 
 civil, moral, or fpiritual nature, nor is there any other difference 
 between them and us in this refpedl, than that their convcrfation 
 is more intellectual, as coming from a deeper ground. I have 
 been permitted to be often in their company, and to converfe 
 with them as a friend with friends, and fomctimes as a Granger 
 with ftrangers ; and at fuch times, from the fmiilarity of our 
 ftates, it appeared to me as if I were converfmg with men on 
 earth. 
 
 235. The fpeech of angels is equally divided into words 
 with ours, and alike fonorous and audible, for they have mouths, 
 tongues, and ears, as we have, and alfo an atmofphere to give 
 articulation to their fpeech j but then that atmofphere is fpiritual, 
 accommodated to their nature, and they make the fame ufe 
 
 (168) That the eyes correfpond to truths from good, n. 4403 to 4421, 4523 to 
 4534. 6923. 
 
 (169) That no power belongs to falfe from evil, but all to truth from good, 
 n. 6784, 10481. 
 
 of
 
 [ 139 ] 
 
 of It for refpiration and enunciation, as we do of our atmo- 
 fphere (170). 
 
 236. There is but 'one language ufed throughout heaven, 
 fo that all of every fociety, however diflant, underlland one 
 another ; nor is that language learnt, but natural to every cnc, 
 flowing fpontancoufly from their affeftions and thoughts, wjiilil 
 the found of the voice correfponds to the affed:ion, and the 
 articulations of that found, or the words, to the ideas of the 
 thoughts proceeding from that affediion ; and as their language 
 correfponds thereto, it is alfo fpiritual, and may be called a 
 founding affecftion, and a fpeaking thought. Whoever confiders 
 the matter attentively, may know that all thought proceeds 
 from fome aifedlion of love, and that the ideas of the mind 
 are fo many different forms into which the common affeftion 
 diffufes itfelf, for every idea which is the objedl of thought 
 owes its exiftence to fome affecftion. Hence it is that the angels 
 know the difpoiition and qualities of another from his fpeech, 
 his affedtion from the found of his voice, and his intelledtual 
 quality from the articulations of that found in his words ; and 
 fuch of the angels as are eminent in wifdom can tell from a 
 fentence or two what is the ruling paffion in another, which is 
 a thing they principally attend to. That every one is fenfiblc 
 of various affedions by turns, is very well known, as of one 
 when merry, of another when fad, of another under the pre- 
 vailing influence of mercy and pity, of another when in llncerity 
 and truth, of another in love and charity, of another when in 
 deceit and guile, of another when actuated by zeal or anger, 
 and of another in the purfuit of honour and fiime, and fo on ; 
 but yet the principal or ruling love is more or lefs in all of thefe 
 different affedlions, infomuch that the more eminently wife 
 among the angels, who have a quick difcernment in this matter, 
 can judge of the ftate of another by his fpeech : and that this 
 is fo, it has been given me to know from full experience : I 
 
 (170) That the angels in the heavens arc not without refpiration, though in 
 a more interior way, n. 3884, 3885: this from expciiciicc, n. 3884, 3885, 3891, 
 3893. That their refpiration varies according to the difference of their Aates, 
 Ji. 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 389J. That the evil fpirits are incapable of 
 refpiration in heaven, and when admitted there fuftcr a kind of fuft'ocation, n. 3893. 
 
 ha 
 
 ve
 
 [ 140 ] 
 
 have heard the angels declare what life another perfon has led 
 from only hearing him fpeak ; nay, that they could difcern all 
 the particulars of the life of another from certain ideas in his 
 mind, as knowing thereby his ruling pafTion, which enters into 
 all the divilions of it, and exhibits a regifter or book of the 
 life. 
 
 237. The language of the angels has nothing in it common 
 with that of men, except in certain words which exprefs an 
 affedtion, and that, not with the words themfelves, but only 
 with the found of them, of which hereafter ; and that this is 
 fo, appeared to me from the angels not being able to utter one 
 word in any human language, after repeated trials, it being 
 impoffible for them to utter any thing which does not corre- 
 fpond with their affe<ftion, for what is not fo, is contrary to 
 their principle of life, which is from affeftion, and from which 
 they fpeak : they informed me, that the firft language of the 
 human race here on earth was of the like kind, as being of 
 heavenly extradtion ; and that the Hebrew language in fomc 
 words is conformable thereto. 
 
 238. As the fpeech of the angels correfponds to fome affec- 
 tion of their love, and as the love of heaven is love to the Lord 
 and to their neighbour, fee n. 13 to 19, we may hence gather 
 how harmonious and delightful their fpeech mufl: be, for it not 
 only plcafes the ear, but alfo exhilarates the minds of thofe that 
 hear it. A certain hard-hearted fpirit being once on a time in 
 converfation with an angel (*), he was fo charmed with his 
 fpeech, that he flied tears, owning that he could not refrain, 
 though he had never done the like before, faying, that it feemed 
 to him as if love itfelf hud fpoken with a tongue. 
 
 (*) Though this feemiiigly contradi<£ls what has been faitl before by the author, 
 viz. that no bad fpirit (as every hard-hearted one mufl: needs be) can ftand before 
 an angel, or bear the efflux or virtue proceeding from him, as a furrounding 
 fphcre, without the greateft confufion and difmay ; yet it is to be noted, that on 
 particular occafions, and to anfwer certain purpofes, according to the Lord's good 
 pkafurc, the laws and properties of the heavenly world arc fufpendcd, or fo qua- 
 lified, as to admit of conferences between the angels and evil fpirits, frequent 
 inilantes of which are to be met with in our author's writings. The reader is 
 here cautioned againft being ftumbled upon his meeting with fome few things that 
 he cannot eafijy reconcile, as in the farther courfe of his reading, or in the Tran- 
 llator's notes, he probably will find matters cleared up to his fatisfacStion. Tr. 
 
 239. The
 
 [ HI ] 
 
 239. The dilcourfe of the angels is full of wifdom, as pro- 
 ceeding from a deep ground, and as their interior thoughts are 
 wifdom, fo their interior affedtion is love, which both unite 
 in their exprellion. Hence it is, that they poffefs fo copious 
 a wifdom, as to be able to exprefs more in one word than we 
 can do in a thoufand, and that they comprehend in their ideas 
 fuch things as the mind of man is not capable to receive, much 
 lefs to exprefs ; wherefore it is faid of the things heard and 
 feen in heaven, that they are unutterable, and fuch as ear hath 
 not heard, nor eye feen : and the truth of this has been given 
 me to know by experience ; for having been fometimes tranf- 
 lated into the angelical flate, and given to converfe with the 
 angels in that flate, I at fuch times underftood all that I heard 
 from them j but when, upon being reflored to my former ftate 
 and natural way of conceiving things, I endeavoured to recolleifl 
 what I had fo heard and underftood, I was by no means able 
 to do it, there having been a thoufand things incommenfuratc 
 to the natural mind, and therefore not to be communicated by 
 human words, but by the variegations of heavenly light only. 
 The ideas in the thoughts of the angels, which form their 
 words, are likewife modifications of the light of heaven, and 
 their afFedions, which produce the found of their words, are 
 fo many variations of the heat of heaven ; for as the light of 
 heaven is divine truth or wifdom, fo the heat of heaven is 
 divine good or love, fee above, n. 126 to 140 ; and as the 
 angels derive their aifedtions from divine love, fo do they think 
 from divine wifdom (171). 
 
 240. As the fpeech of the angels proceeds immediately from 
 their affedlion (for, as was faid before, n. 236, their ideas in 
 thinking are fo many different forms, into which the common 
 affeftion is diftributed) fo they can exprefs in a minute, things 
 which a man could not do in lefs than half an hour, and alfo 
 the contents of feveral pages in a few words, as I have often 
 experienced (172). The ideas in the thinking of the angels, 
 
 (171) Thnt the ideas from which the angels fpeak are formed by wonderful 
 variegations of the heavenly light, n. 1646, 3343, 3693. 
 
 (172) That the angels can exprefs more in thtir language in a moment, than 
 we en m ours in half an hour, and alfo fuch things as cannot be acconimodattd 
 to huin.'ii language, n. 1641, 1642, 1643, 1645, 4602, 7089. 
 
 N n and
 
 [ 142 ] 
 
 and tJieir words in fpeaking, arc one, as caufe and effeifl, the 
 former being the producer, and the latter the produdl ; whence 
 it is, that every word comprehends fo much : Avhen the flow 
 of thoughts and words of the angels is at any time reprefcnted 
 under a vifible appearance, it rcfembles a thin undulating fluid ; 
 or a circumfluent atmofphcre, in which appear innumerable 
 things in wonderful order flowing from the fountain of their 
 wikicm, which make delightful impreflions on the mind of the 
 fpeftator ; for it is to be obferved here, that the ideas in the 
 minds both of angels and men are capable of being reprefcnted 
 under vifible forms, as viewed in the light of heaven, according 
 to divine permiflion (173). 
 
 241. The angels of the Lord's coeleftial kingdom fpeak in 
 like manner as do the angels of his fpiritual kingdom [the 
 middle heaven], but the former from a deeper ground than the 
 latter ; for as the coclellial angels are in the good of love to the 
 Lord, they fpeak from wifdom ; and the fpiritual angels, who 
 are more dillinguilhed for their good of love to their neighbour 
 (which in its eflfence is truth, n. 215.) they fpeak from intel- 
 ledlual knowledge ; for as wifdom is from good, fo the latter is 
 from truth. Hence it is, that the fpeech of the cocleftials may 
 be compared to a fmooth, gently flowing water ; but that of 
 the fpiritual angels to a current fomewhat interrupted and 
 broken : the fpeech of the former founds much from the vowels 
 {/and O, and that of the latter from the vowels E and I ; for 
 as the found is in the vowels, fo the affeftion is in the found ; 
 for, as was faid above, n. 236, the found in the fpeech of the 
 angels correfponds to afFedtion, and the articulations of the 
 found, which are the words, correfpond to their ideas derived 
 from fuch affedlion : and forafmuch as the vowels do not pro- 
 perly conftitute any part of the language, but only ferve to give 
 
 (173) That there arc innumerable things in every fingle idea, n. ico8, 1860, 
 4946- — 6618. That the ideas of the human mind are laid open in the other life, 
 and rendered vifible, n. i86g, 3310, 5510. How they appear, n. 6201, 8885. 
 That the ideas of the angels of the inmoft heaven appear like flaming lights, n. 
 6615. That the ideas of the angels of the lowefl heaven appear as fmall, thin, 
 white clouds, n. 6614. The idea of an angel as fcen, from which flrcamcd a ray 
 of light towards the Lord, n. 6620. That the ideas of the thoughts extend them- 
 fdves wide to the circumjacent focictics of angels, n. 6598 to 6613. 
 
 found 

 
 [ H3 ] 
 
 found to the words according to the various affe^flions of every 
 one's flate ; therefore it is, that in the Hebrew language the 
 vowels are not written, and alfo are differently pronounced ; 
 and from the difference in founding the vowels, the angels can 
 diflinguilli the particular affedlion and love of the fpeaker. The 
 fpeech of the coeleftial angels is without hard confonants, and 
 they feldom utter two words together, where the former ends 
 and the latter begins with a confonant, but interpofe a third 
 beginning with a vowel ; whence it comes to pafs, that the 
 little word and is fo often met with in the Hebrew Bible, 
 as that word in the Hebrew language has a foft found, and 
 both begins and ends with a vowel : by the Scripture words 
 alfo in that language may partly be known, whether they belong 
 to the cceleftial or fpiritual clafs, and fo relate to Good or to 
 truth, the former founding moftly from V and O, and partly 
 from A, and the latter from £ and / ; and as the affedlions 
 principally diftinguifh themfelves by founds, therefore in the 
 human language, when any thing of an exalted nature is the 
 fubjedt, as Heaven and God, we give the preference to fuch 
 words, whereby to exprefs them, as have TJ ox O h\ them : and 
 alfo, when we would exprefs any thing fublime in mufick, we 
 naturally fwell thofe notes which come nearefl to the found of 
 thofe vowels, but not fo, when things of an inferior nature are 
 the fubjed:. Hence it is, that the art of mufick is fo aptly 
 fuited to exprefs the affections and pafhons of the human mind. 
 
 242. In the fpeech and converfation of the angels there is 
 an expreffible kind of harmony (174) arifing from this caufe, 
 viz. That their affections and thinking, from which they fpeak, 
 are according to the laws and form of heaven, which are the 
 bond of their union and communications. That the angels are 
 confociated according to the form of heaven, and that their 
 thoughts and affections are regulated thereby, fee n. 200 to 212. 
 
 243. There is an innate language in man, fimilar to that in 
 the fpiritual v/orld, but in his interior intellectual part ; but as 
 it does not manifeff itfelf in man in words analogous to the 
 affeClion, as it does in the angels, therefore he knows not that 
 
 (174) That the fpeech of angels refcmblcs the flowing harmony in a tunc or 
 concert, n. 1648, 1649, 7 191. 
 
 it
 
 [ 144 ] 
 
 it is in him ; yet from hence it is, that when he enters into the 
 other life, his language is the fame with that of the fpirits and 
 angels there, without any occafion of learning it (175). But 
 more on this fubjcdt hereafter. 
 
 244. They have all oijo and the fame language in heaven, 
 as was faid before, though with this difference, that the fpeech 
 of the angels, who are moft eminent for wifdom, is more in- 
 ward, and abounds with greater variety in the affeftions, and 
 alfo in the ideas, than that of the inferior angels ; and as to 
 fuch of them as pre more in limplicity, their converlation is 
 ftill more exterior and in words, to be underflood after the 
 manner of men : there is alfo a kind of converfing by the face, 
 terminating in found, which is modified by the ideas : there is 
 alfo a kind of converfing together, wherein reprefentations of 
 heavenly things are mixed with their ideas, and the latter exhibit 
 themfelves in vifible forms : there is another by gcflures cor- 
 refponding to affedlions, and reprefentative of things in like 
 manner as words are : there is, moreover, among them, a man- 
 ner of converfing by general affedtions and general thoughts ; 
 and alfo a rumbling way of fpeaking like the rolling of thunder : 
 and others befides. 
 
 245. The language and fpeech of the bad and infernal fpirits 
 is likewife natural to them, as proceeding from their affeftions 
 alfo, but fuch affetftions as are evil, and from fuch impure ideas 
 as originate from thofe affedlions, and which the angels are 
 highly averfe to, fo great is the contrariety between infernal and 
 heavenly things, infomuch that they cannot endure one another ; 
 the fpeech of the infernals being as a flink in the noflrils of 
 the angels. The language of thofe hypocrites, who are ufed 
 to counterfeit angels of light, in words rcfembles that of the 
 angels, but with relpcdl to the affedlions and ideas that are con- 
 cealed under it, it is quite contrary thereto ; and therefore, 
 
 (175) That there is a fpiritiial or angelical fpeech belonging toman, though 
 he knows it not, n. 4014. Thiit the ideas of the inward man are fpiritual, but that 
 in this life he perceives them naturally, forafmuch as his thoughts here have their 
 exercifcin his natural part, ormaii, n. 10236, 10240, 10550. 1 hat man after death 
 enters into his interior idea«, n. 3226, 3342, 3343, 10568, 10604. That then 
 his ideas form themfelves into his proper fpiritual language, n. 2470, 2478, 2479. 
 
 \ 
 
 \v 
 
 hen
 
 [ H5 ] 
 
 when their interiour is dilcovered, as it is by the wifer angels, 
 the found of their voice feems like the gnafhing of teeth, ex- 
 citing horror. 
 
 Of the Converfation of the Angels with 
 
 Men. 
 
 246. When angels converfe with any man, they do not 
 fpeak their own language, but that of the man, or any other 
 that he is acquainted with, but never in an unknown tongue ; 
 and that becaufe the angels at fuch times turn and join them- 
 felves to him, and from fuch conjundlion they both come to be 
 in a like mode of thinking ; and as man's thinking coheres with 
 his memory, and his fpeaking proceeds from both, therefore 
 they are both in one language : belides, an angel, or fpiric, 
 when he comes to any man, and fronts him fo as to be joined 
 to him, he enters into the whole of his memory fo far as that, 
 in a manner, it becomes his own, infomuch that he can hardly 
 difcern between the man's knowledge and his own, and the 
 fame with regard to his language. I have converfed with the 
 angels on this fubjed:, and told them, that perhaps they might 
 imagine, according to appearance, that they fpake with me in 
 my own native language, whereas it was not they, but I who 
 fpake it ; and that this might be evidenced, in that angels were 
 not able to utter a fingle word of any human language, fee n. 
 237, for that being natural, and they fpiritual, they could not 
 poflibly efteft that which was of a nature difl'erent from them- 
 felves : to which they replied, that they well knew that their 
 communion with any man they converfed with was with his 
 fpiritual thinking part, but as this pafled by influx into his 
 natural thoughts, and thefe cohered with his memory ; it mull 
 therefore appear to them as if his human language and fcience 
 were theirs, and that this was by divine appointment, to the 
 end that fuch union and communion between heaven and man 
 might be effcfted i but that the condition of the human nature 
 was at this time fo altered, that fuch communion between man 
 
 O o and
 
 [ h6 ] 
 
 and angels could no longer take place, but only between him 
 and other fpirits. I have alio converled with Ipirits on the 
 lame lubjeft, who would not be convinced, that it was man 
 that fpake, not they in him; nor yet that the knowledge in the 
 mind of man (during their communion with him) was not their 
 own : I endeavoured to prove the contrary to them by many 
 arguments, but all to no purpofe. Who are meant by fpirits, 
 and who by angels, fhall be fhewed when we come to treat of 
 the world of fpirits. 
 
 247. That angels and fpirits are fo clofely united to man, 
 that they miftake what belongs to him for their own, is becaufe 
 the fpiritual and natural worlds are fo nearly connetfled in man, 
 that they in a manner make but one : now as man had feparated 
 himfelf from heaven, provifion was made in mercy by the Lord, 
 that there fhould be angels and fpirits with every man, that he 
 fliould be governed by him through their miniflry, for which 
 reafon there is fo ftridl a communion between them : but had 
 man not cut off the communication between himfelf and heaven, 
 the matter had been otherwifc, as in that cafe he might have 
 been diredled and governed by the Lord through a general influx 
 from heaven, without the adjuncftion and inftrumentality of 
 fpirits and angels : but more particularly of this when we come 
 to treat of the conjuntflion of heaven with man. 
 
 248. When an angel or fpirit converfes with a man, he is 
 heard as plainly as one man is by another, but by himfelf only, 
 and not by any of the by-rtandcrs : and the reafon is, becaufe 
 the fpeech of the angel or fpirit firil infinuates itfelf into the 
 thinking faculty of a man, and fo by a fecret paflage llrikes his 
 organ of hearing from within ; whereas the voice of one man 
 talking with another pafles into the atmofphere, and flrikes the 
 organ of hearing from without ; hence it comes to pafs, that 
 the fpcaking of the former is equally audible in many, as the 
 organ is affcdied in like manner, though it be by impulfe from 
 within : and that the fpeaking of an angel or fpirit has this 
 operation on the ear, was evidenced to me by its having a like 
 effeift on the tongue, by its influx on that member, in which it 
 caufed fome gentle vibrations, though not the fame fenfible 
 motions, as when we therewith articulate our words. 
 
 249. To 
 
 ^
 
 [ H7 ] 
 
 249* To hold converfc with fpirits is rarely permitted at 
 this day, as being dangerous (176), for in fuch cafes the fpirits 
 are given to know that they are in company with a man, which 
 they would not know otherwife ; and fo great is the malignity 
 of evil fpirits, that they bear a mortal hatred to man, and wifli 
 for nothing more than to injure him in foul and body, in which 
 they too well fucceed with thofe who abandon themfelves to 
 melancholy phantafies and rigorous mortifications : fome alfo, 
 who lead folitary lives, hear fpirits talking to them, and that 
 without any danger, fuch fpirits being removed from them at 
 proper intervals by divine appointment, that they may not know 
 that they are in company with men ; for the greater part of 
 fpirits- have no knowledge of any other world but their own, 
 nor confequently of men ; and therefore no one ought to enter 
 into converfe with them, and thereby give them light in this 
 matter. They who fo addi(5t themfelves to muling on religious 
 things, as to work their minds into fuperftitious reveries con- 
 cerning them, come in time to hear fpirits talking to them ; 
 for fuch religious reveries, where any one wilfully gives himfclf 
 up to them [illis ex inhceret'\ to the negledl of relative duties and 
 ufefulnefs in his flation, enter deep, and gain a form in the 
 interior part of man, and fo taking full pofl'effion of him, com- 
 municate with the fpiritual world, and excite certain fpirits 
 there to affociate with him : fuch are properly vifionaries and 
 enthufiafts, who believe every fpirit they hear to be the Holy 
 Spirit, whereas they are no other than enthufiaftick fpirits, who, 
 being under delufion themfelves, delude thofe whom they have 
 accefs to and influence over ; but thefe alfo are generally re- 
 moved upon their inftigating to evil. The enthufiaftick fpirits 
 are diftinguiflied from others by their imagining themfelves to 
 be the Holy Ghofl:, and what they deliver to be divinely ora- 
 cular : thefe fpirits offer no injury to the perfons they are aflb- 
 
 (176) That a man Is capable of convcifing with fpirits and angels, and that 
 the ancients frequently converfed with them, n. 67, 68, 69, 784, 1634, 1636, 
 7802. That in (bme worlds fpirits and angels appear in a human form, and con- 
 verfe with the inhabitants therein, n. 10751, 10752; but that in our world it 
 would be dangerous at this time to have communication with fpirits, unlcfs a man 
 were in true faitli, and under the guidance and defence of the Lord, n. 784, 9438, 
 10751. 
 
 ciated
 
 f 
 
 [ 143 ] 
 
 ciated with, becaufe they receive divine honour from them : 
 with thefe alio I have fometimes converfed, and lb have had 
 opportunity of detcding the delufions which they inftill into 
 their votaries : their fituation is to the left hand in a defart 
 region. 
 
 250. To converfe with angels is granted to none but thofe 
 who are in truths from the fource of good, and in particular to 
 fuch as are in the faith of the Lord, and of the divinity as in 
 his humanity, for on this truth the heavens are founded, the 
 
 Lord being the God of heaven, as was faid before, n. 2 to 6. ■ 
 
 The divinity of the Lord conrtitutes heaven, n. 7 to 12. The 
 
 divine influx from the Lord in the angels is love to him, and 
 
 charity to their neighbour, n. 1 3 to 19. The univerfal heaven 
 
 in its complex refembles a man ; in like manner every fociety 
 
 in heaven, and every angel in particular, is in a perfedl human 
 
 form, and this from the Divine Humanity of the Lord, n. 59 
 
 to 86 j whence we may gather why to converfe with angels is 
 
 only granted to thofe whofe interiour is open to the Lord, , 
 
 through the influence of divine truths, as it is through thefe • 
 
 thut the Lord communicates with man, and if the Lord, fo * 
 
 hea\en. That divine truth opens the interiour of man, fo as 
 
 to' render it receptive of heavenly communications, is becaufe t 
 
 man is fo created, as to be the image of heaven, as to his inward 
 
 man, and the image of this world, as to his outward man, n. 57 : 
 
 and the inward man is only opened by divine truth proceeding 
 
 from the Lord, as this is both the light and life of heaven, n, 
 
 126 to 140. 
 
 251. Divine influx palTes from the Lord to man through the 
 forehead, and fo into his whole face ; for the forehead of a 
 man correfponds to love, and the face to the interiour of his 
 mind (177). The influx from the fpiritual angels to man is all 
 round from his forehead and temples to every part under whicli 
 lies the brain, as that region of tiie head correfponds to intel- 
 
 (177) That the forehead correfponds to heavenly love, and accordingly fignifies 
 it in Scripture, n. 9936. That the face correfponds to the interior things of 
 thought and affedtion in man, n. 1568, 2988, 2989 — 5695, 9306. That the face 
 alfo is formed in correfpondency With the interiour of man, n. 4791 to 4805, 5695. 
 That hence the face in Scripture J'lgnifies the inward man, n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 
 4066, 4796. 
 
 ledt:
 
 [ H9 ] 
 
 left : but the influx of the cosleJlial angels is on that part of 
 the head which covers the cerebeHum, and is called the occiput, 
 or back part of the head round from the cars to the neck, for 
 that region correfponds to wifdom : when angels converfe with 
 man, their fpecch enters bv thefe ways into his thoughts ; 
 hereby I could perceive who the angels were that fpake with 
 me. 
 
 252. They who fee and converfe with the angels, behold 
 alfo the tilings that are in heaven, for they fee by that heavenly 
 light which illuminates their interiour j the angels alfo through 
 them behold the things on earth (178) ; becaufe through their 
 union heaven and earth are conjoined, for, as was faid above, 
 n. 246, when the angels turn themfelves to the front of a man, 
 they are, as it were, fo united to him, that they cannot diftin- 
 guilh between the things of a man and their own, and this not 
 only with refpedt to fpeaking, but alfo to feeing and hearing ; 
 and man, on the other hand, is apt to think that what he re- 
 ceives from the angels by influx is from himfelf. In this kind 
 of union with the angels of heaven were the moft ancient of 
 our race on earth, and therefore the times in which they lived 
 were called the- Golden Age ; and becaufe the Divine Nature 
 under a human form, and confequently the Lord, therefore they 
 had the privilege of converfing with angels, as with their fami- 
 liar friends, and the angels converfed with them in like manner, 
 and fo heaven and this world became in them as one. But man 
 fmce that time cut himfelf off fuccelTively more and more from 
 thefe heavenly communications, by transferring his alfedlions 
 from the Lord and from heaven, to himfelf and the world, and 
 fo brought himlelf to relifh no other delights, but what pro- 
 ceeded from the love of felf and of the world, upon which his 
 internal faculties, before open to heaven, became (hut, and his 
 external faculties wide open to the world ; and where this is the 
 cafe, man is in light with regard to the things of this world, 
 and in darknefs with regard to tlie things of heaven. 
 
 (178) That fpirits can fee nothing in this folar world through man now o'days, 
 but that tliey have feen things therein through my' eyes, together with the realba 
 of this JiiFerencc, n. i8i>c. 
 
 P p 253. Since
 
 [ ^50 ] 
 
 253* Since thole times it has rarely happened for any one 
 to I'peak witli the angels of heaven, though fome have with 
 fpirits that are not in heaven ; for the interior and exterior parts 
 in man are fo conftituted, that they are either turned to the 
 Lord as their common center, n. 124, or to felf, and fo reverfely 
 from the Lord : in the former cafe, they are turned towards 
 heaven ; in the hitter, towards the world ; and where they have 
 this latter diredlion, it is difficult to elevate them to things 
 above ; yet, as far as fuch elevation is poffible, it is effetfted by 
 the Lord through the converfion of their love, which is wrought 
 by the inltrumentality of truths from the Word. 
 
 254. I have received iiiformation in what manner the Lord 
 fpake to the prophets, through whom the Word was revealed, 
 and that it was not by influx into their interiour, according to 
 the manner of his communication with the antients, but by 
 emiJTary fpirits, whom the Lord tilled with his afpe<fl:, and fo 
 infpired the words which they di(ftated to the prophets ; and 
 therefore the revelation was not bv influx, but bv diftation : 
 and as the words came immediately frona the Lord, therefore 
 they were replete with divine truth, and contain an inward 
 meaning, fo that the fame words which men underltand in a 
 natural fenfe, the angels receive in a ca^lcftial and fpiritual {cnfe ; 
 fo hath the Lord joined together heaven and this world by the 
 Word. It has alfo been fliewed to me how fpirits are filled 
 with divine truth from the Lord by afped: : the fpirit that is fo 
 filled knov/s no other than that he himfelf is the Lord, and 
 the fountain of what he utters, till he has finiflied his mcifage, 
 and then he perceives and owns that he is only a fpirit, and that 
 he fpake not from himfelf, but from the Lord. From this 
 being the ftate of the fpirits tliat fpake witli the prophets, it is 
 faid by them, that Jehovah [the Lord] fpake ; and even thofe 
 very fpirits called themfelves Jehovah, as appears both from the 
 prophetical and hillorical parts of the Scriptures. 
 
 255. That the reader may be informed as to the manner of 
 the union of angels and fpirits with man, I find myfelf at 
 liberty to declare tlae following remarkable particulars, for the 
 elucidation of that matter. When angels and fpirits turn their 
 faces to a man, fo as to be in communion with him, at fuch 
 
 time?
 
 [ 151 ] 
 
 times they know no other than that they and the man are of one 
 and the fame language, and this, becaufe they are then in his, 
 and not in their own, of which they have no remembrance j 
 but as foon as they turn themfelves from him, they immediately 
 enter again into their own angehcal, fpiritual language, and 
 know nothing of his. The fame thing happened to me when 
 in company with fome angels, at a time when I was in a fimilar 
 ilate with them, for then I converfed with them in their own 
 language, having no knowledge or remembrance of mine ; but 
 I was no fooner difengaged from their company, than I was in 
 my own again. It is alfo worthy of remarking, that when 
 angels or fpirits turn their faces to a man, they can converfc 
 with him at any diftance j and have fpoken with me as audibly 
 when far oif, as when near to me ; but when they turn away 
 their faces from a man, and converfe together by themfelves, 
 the man hears nothing that they fay, though they fpeak clofe 
 to his ear ; whence it was evident to me, that all communion 
 [omnis conjunSiio] in the fpiritual world, is according to the 
 direil'tion of the face. It is alfo a memorable particular, that 
 leveral of them can converfe with a man at the fame time, and 
 the man with them : the manner is thus : When they would 
 hold converfition with any man, they lend a fpirit to him froni 
 tiieir company, which emilfary fpirit turns to the man, and they 
 to their fpirit, by which means they concentrate their thoughts, 
 which the emiffiry delivers, he not knowing- at the time but 
 that he utters them from himlelf, nor they that fent him, but 
 that they are the fpeakers : thus a communication of many with 
 one is conduced by converfion or direcftion of the faces (179). 
 But of thelc emiflary fpirits, which are alfo called fubjedts, 
 more Ihall be fpoken hereafter. 
 
 2j6. No angel or fpirit is allowed to converfe with man 
 from his own memory, but from that of the man only, for 
 angels and fpirits have memory as well as men : if an angel or 
 
 (179) That the fpirits which are fent by one fociety to another, arc called Sub- 
 jc£ts, n. 440^, 5856. That communications in the fpiritual world arc conduced 
 by fuch emifiary fpirits, n. 4403, 5856, 5983. That a fpirit fent on thcfc occa- 
 lions, is a mere fubject, and docs not think from himfelf, but from them that fend 
 hiiu, n. 5985, 5986, -5987. 
 
 fpirit
 
 [ 152 ] 
 
 fpirit were from his own memory to converfe with any man, 
 the latter would in that cafe know no other than that the things 
 mentioned were his own, though they really were tlic fpirit's, 
 and confequently it would be like the remembrance of what he 
 never faw nor heard of j and that this is fo has been given me 
 to know by experience; hence fome of the ancients were of 
 opinion, that at the expiration of fome thoufands of years, they 
 fhould return to their former life on earth, and live over again 
 all the particulars of it ; and that they had aftually fo returned ; 
 and this they inferred from hence, viz. that fometimes there 
 occurred to their minds a recolledion of things which they had 
 never ieen nor heard of during their prefent life : now this 
 happened to them, becaufe fome fpirits had, by influx into tlieir 
 minds, excited therein ideas from their own (the fpirit's) me- 
 mory. 
 
 257. There are alfo fome fpirits, which are called natural 
 and corporeal fpirits, which, when they come to a man, do not 
 join themfelves to his thinking part, like other fpirits, but 
 enter into his body, take polfelTion of his fenfes, and fpeak 
 through his mouth, actuating likewife his corporeal members, 
 not knowing any other at the time, than that all things in the 
 man are their own : thele are the fpirits that obiefs (*) a man : 
 but thefe fpirits are remanded to hell by divine appointment, 
 and fo entirely removed from us ; and therefore it is, that fuch 
 obfellions are no longer known amongfl: us (180). 
 
 (*) Where the body only is under the influence and power of evil fpirits, it is 
 called OhfeJJion ; where the mind and affe£lions, PoJJljJion. 
 
 (180) That external obfeflions of the body are not now permitted as formerly, 
 n. 1983: but that internal obfeflions [poflcflions] of the mind arc more common than 
 formerly, n. 1983, 4793- That any one is inwardly polVclVed, when he entertains 
 impure and dilhonourable thoughts of God, and is only reflrained from making 
 them known, by outwiird confidcrations, as fear of the law, the lofs of honour, 
 gain, and the like, n. 5990. Of thofc diabolical fpirits which poflefs the minds 
 and afteiStions [interiara] of men, n. 4793- Of luch diabolical fpirits as have 
 a longing to poflefs the bodies [cxtiriorti] of men, but are now confined to their 
 proper hells, n. 2752, 5990. 
 
 Of 
 
 I 
 
 I
 
 f ^53 J 
 
 Of Writings in Heaven. 
 
 258. As fpeech is a property belonging to angels, and as 
 their fpeech conlifts of words, fo alio have they writing among 
 them, whereby they exprefs their thoughts, as well as by 
 words : fometimes I have had fent to me papers accurately 
 written, exaftly refembling our manufcripts, and feme appeared 
 as if printed ; I was able to read them, but could feldom pick 
 out any meaning from them, as it is not according to the divine 
 order that man fhould receive inftruftion from heaven bv any 
 other writings than the lacred Scriptures, as thefe are the in- 
 ftituted means of communication between heaven and earth, and 
 therefore between the Lord and man. That the prophets faw 
 writings in heaven, appears from Ezekiel ii. 9, 10. '* And 
 '• when I looked, behold, an hand was fent unto me j and lo 
 " a roll of a book was therein ; and he fpread it before me ; 
 " and it was written within and without : and there was written 
 *' lamentations, and mourning, and woe." As alfo from John, 
 Apoc. V. I. " And I faw in the right hand of him that fat on 
 •* the throne a book written within, and on the back fide, fealed 
 " with feven feals." 
 
 259. It is appointed of the Lord, that there fhould be 
 writings in heaven, for the fake of the Word, as this is, in its 
 efl'ence, that divine truth from which both men and angels 
 receive cceleflial wifdom, as being diiflated by the Lord j and 
 what is didlated by him, palfes fucceffively through all the hea- 
 vens, and terminates in man, and therefore is accommodated to 
 the wifdom of angels, as well as to the underflanding of men. 
 Hence it is, that the Word [the Holy Scriptures] is comniitted 
 to the angels, who read it as well as we, and therefrom deduce 
 their dotftrinals, and the fubjcdls of their preaching, n. 221 : 
 the Word is the fame to both ; but the natural fenfe of it, which 
 is to us the literal fenfe, is not known in heaven, but its fpi- 
 ritual or internal fenfe only ; and what this is, may be (ecn in 
 a little work concerning the JVhite Horfe, mentioned in the 
 Revelations. 
 
 Q^q 260. On
 
 [ 154 ] 
 
 260. On a certain time a little paper was fent me from 
 heaven, on which were written lome words in Hebrew cha- 
 racters, and it was told me that every letter contained fome 
 fecrets of wifdom, nay, the very flexures and curvatures of the 
 letters, and the founding of them from thence ; which gave 
 me to understand the meaning of thofe words of the Lord : 
 " Verily I fay unto you, till heaven and earth pafs, one jot 
 " or one tittle Ihall in no wife pafs from the law," Matt. v. i8. 
 Now that the Word is divine, as to every tittle of it, is allowed 
 in the church ; but in what fenfe it is thus divine in every apex 
 and point, being at prefent unknown, it ihall here be declared ; 
 The Scripture in the inmofl: heaven confifts of various charadters 
 inflexed and circumflexed ; all which inflexions and circum- 
 flexions are accordino; to the form of heaven, and bv them the 
 angels exprefs the fecrets of their wifdom, and alfo many other 
 things which they cannot utter by words ; and, which is won- 
 derful, the angels know how to write thus without lludy and 
 inftrudtion, it being in them from divine inilincft, as well as 
 their fpeech, fee n. 236, which evidences that they write from 
 coelefliial flcill ; and that it is thus natural to them is, becaufe 
 the progrelTion of their thoughts and affcdions, and the whole 
 communication of their underllanding and wifdom, is regulated 
 by the form and conftitution of heaven by influx, n. 201, and 
 fo is their writing. I have been informed, that fuch alfo was 
 the manner of writing by the mofl: ancient inhabitants of our 
 earth, before the invention of letters ; and that it was afterwards 
 tranflated into Hebrew charadters, which were all inflexed for- 
 merly, and not terminated by fpaces, as at prefent : hence it is, 
 that the Word contains divine and heavenly fecrets, even in its 
 jots, tittles, and points. 
 
 261. This manner of writing in charadters of a ccrlcftial 
 form is ufed by the angels of the inmofl: heaven, who excel the 
 others in wildom, and by them they exprefs the very aifedtions 
 trom whence their thoughts originate, and proceed in order, 
 according to the fubjedt treated of, replete with wifdom not to 
 be conceived by the human mind : thefe writings I myfelf have 
 feen : but this kind of writing is not known in the lower hea- 
 vens, but others of a fimilar kind, and of like letters with thofe 
 
 that
 
 [ ^55 ] 
 
 that are ufed by us in this world, though not intelligible by 
 us, as being in the language of angels, which has nothing in it 
 that agrees with human languages, n. 237 ; for they exprefs 
 affedlions by the vowels, and the particular ideas of their 
 thoughts proceeding from thofe affedtions, by the confonants ; 
 and by the words derived from thence, the whole fenfe of the 
 matter; fee above, n. 236, 241 : this kind of writing contains 
 more in a few words than any man can exprefs in fome pages : 
 thefe alfo I have been gratified with a light of. Thus it appears, 
 that they have the written Word in the lower heavens as well 
 as in the higheft heaven, though in the latter, in a coeleftial 
 form. 
 
 262. It is worthy of remark, that writing by the angels 
 flows naturally from their thoughts, and with the lame eafe, as 
 if thought cafl itfelf upon paper ; nor do they experience any 
 hefitation as to tlie choice of words, as both the words which 
 they fpeak and write correfpond to their thoughts ; and all 
 correfpondency is natural and fpontaneous. There is alfo in the 
 heavens a kind of writing without the ufe of the hand, as being 
 folely from correfpondence with the thoughts ; but this is not 
 permanent. 
 
 263. I have alfo feen writings from heaven that confifled 
 merely of numbers [figures] placed in order and fequence with 
 the fame regularity as letters and words, and was informed that 
 they were from the inmoft heaven ; and that their cosleftial 
 Scripture, of which fee above, n, 260, 261, prefents itlelf in 
 n ambers by influx to the angels of the next heaven, and alfo 
 contains a depth of wifdom not to be fathomed by thought, nor 
 confequently to be exprefl'ed by words j for all numbers are in 
 correfpondency, and according to their correfpondence relpec- 
 tively, fignify things equally with words (181), only with this 
 difference, that numbers exprefs things in the general, and 
 
 (181) That all numbers in the Word [the Scriptures] fignify things, n. 482, 
 487, 647, 648, 755, 813 — 9659, 10217, 10253. This revealed from heaven, 
 n. 4495, 5265. That multiplied numbers fignify the fame things [in fubltancej 
 with the fimple numbers whence they arife in multiplication, n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 
 7973. That the molt ancient of the human race pieferved their heavenly fecrets 
 111 numbers, in manner like an Eecicfialtical Kalcndar [^Computiim EccltjiajUcum'^ 
 
 n- 575- 
 
 words
 
 [ 156 ] 
 
 words in their particulars ; and as one general includes in it 
 numberlefs particulars, therefore this way of writing in numerals 
 is far more comprchenfive than the literal way of writing : 
 hence it appeared evident to me, that numbers in the Holy 
 Scriptures fignify things as much as words. What is tlierein 
 fignified by the fimple numbers, as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 
 II, 12 i and what by the compounded ones, as 20, 30, 50, 70, 
 loo, 144, 1000, 1 0000, 12000, and many others, may be fcen 
 in the Arcana Ccelejha, in the places where they are mentioned. 
 In the Scripture in heaven before-mentioned, the radical number 
 from which the others proceed in fequence, and on which they 
 depend as their principal, is prefixed to the following ones, and 
 is, as it were, the index of the fubjecft treated on, and from 
 which the reft receive their determinate fignification with regard 
 to the particulars of that fubjecft. 
 
 264. They who know nothing of heavenly things, and 
 rejeift every other idea of heaven than that of its being a mere 
 atmofphere, in which the angels hover about as in the air, like 
 fo many intelle<ftual minds, or thinking fpirits, but without 
 any fenfe of fight or hearing ; fuch can have no notion of their 
 being able to fpeak or write, inafmuch as they confine thefe and 
 numberlefs other adls to material fubftances j whereas the things 
 in heaven [though not material] have really as fubllantial an 
 exiftence as the natural things of this world ; and the angels 
 have there all things as means conducive to life, increafe of 
 wifdom, and happinefs. 
 
 Concernlngr the Wifdom of the Angels of 
 
 Heaven. 
 
 265. It is very difficult to form any moderate conception of 
 the wifdom of the heavenly angels, as it fo far tranfcends all 
 human wifdom, as not to admit of any comparifon with it ; 
 now what exceeds the reach of the latter mull appear aS nothing 
 to it : however, it may be defcribed by fome things, which, 
 though at prefent unknown to us, yet are khowable, if the 
 
 mind 
 
 r
 
 [ ^57 ] 
 
 mind takes delight therein ; for delight, as proceeding from 
 love, carries light with it ; and on fuch as arc affedlionately 
 difpofed to become acquainted with divine and heavenly wifdoni, 
 light Ihines from heaven, and illuminates their underftanding. 
 
 266. The greatnefs of the angelical wifdom may be gathered 
 from their being in the light of heaven : now the light of hea- 
 ven is, in its ellence, the fame with divine truth or wildom ; 
 and this light enlightens the eyes of their underftanding, as well 
 as gives them external fight : that the light of heaven is di\ ine 
 truth or wifdom, fee above, n. 126 to 133. The angels alfo 
 are in the heat of heaven, which is, in its efl'ence, divine good 
 or divine love, from which they derive their affediionate dcfire 
 of wifdom : that the heat of heaven is, in its eflence, divine 
 good or divine love, fee above, n. 133 to 140: that the angels 
 are fo highly advanced in wifdom, that they may even be called 
 Wifdoms, may be gathered from hence, that all their thoughts 
 and affecftions are conrrruous to the form and conftitution of 
 heaven, which is the form and difplay of the divine wifdom, 
 and that their interiour, which is the recipient of it, is accord- 
 ing thereto : that their thoughts and affeftions flow in fuch 
 diredlion, and confeqiiently their underftanding and wifdom, 
 fee above, n. 201 to 212 : that the wifdom of the angels is 
 highly eminent, may alfo appear from this, that their fpeech or 
 converfation is the language of wifdom, for it flows immediately 
 and fpontaneoufly from their thoughts, as thefe do from their 
 affecftions, infomuch that it may be fud, that their fpeech is 
 thought and affecftion in an external form : hence it comes, that 
 nothing interrupts or difturbs the divine influx into them, nor 
 any of thofe foreign things or thoughts which in man fo often 
 break in upon iind elalh with his communications : thit the 
 language of angels is the language of their thoughts and aftec- 
 tions, fee n. 234 to 245. To this wifdom of the angels alfo 
 confpires not a little, that all which they fee with their eyes, 
 and perceive by tjieir fenfcs, is congruous to their wilclom, as 
 being correfpondcnces, and accordingly fo many reprefcntative 
 forms of things appertaining or relating to wifdom : that all 
 things vifible in heaven correfpond to tilings internal in the 
 angels, and are^ rcprefcntatives of their wifdom, fee above, n. 
 
 R r 170
 
 ( iSa) That the wifdom of angels is both ineffable and incomprehenfible, n. 2795, 
 2796, 2802 — 9094, 9176. 
 
 (183) That as tar as man is elevated from external to internal things, fo far 
 he entc-is into light and true undcrrtandlng, n. 6183, 6313. That this is a real 
 elevation, n. 7816, 10330. That elevation from externals to internals, is, as it 
 were, from a mift into a clear day, n. 4598. That what is external in man is 
 proportionably remote from what is divine, and by confequence refpectivcly ob- 
 fcure, n. 6451 ; and alfo refpedtively inordinate, n. 996, 3855. That interior 
 things are more perfcft, as being nearer to what is divine, n. 5146, 5147- That 
 m the intcriour are thoufands of particulars, which in the cxtcriour appear only 
 in the light of one general truth or fubjccl [ut commune u)iu/n'\ n. 5707 : and 
 therefore the more inward the thought and perception, the clearer it is, n. 5920. 
 
 angels 
 
 f 
 
 [ 158 ] 
 
 170 to 182. Moreover, the thoughts of angels are not limited 
 and ftraitened by ideas from fpace and time, as the human 
 thoughts are; for fpace and time are peculiar to nature, and 
 what is peculiar to nature withdraws the mind from Ipiritual 
 things, and fetters the underftanding : that the ideas of angels 
 have no relation to fpace and time, and are therefore lefs confined ,» 
 
 than ours, fee above n. 162 to 169, and 191 to 199. The ■■ 
 
 thoughts of angels are neither drawn down to earthly and ma- * 
 
 terial things, nor interrupted by any cares or necellities of life, 
 and therefore are not detained from the fweet relifh of wifdom 
 after the manner of men ; their food, their raiment, their ha- 
 bitations, and all things being freely given them of the Lord, 
 n. 181, 190: and they have alfo many pleafures and delights 
 beftowed on them in proportion to their reception of wifdom 
 from the Lord. Thus much has been faid, to fhew from what 
 caufes the angels are fo eminent for their wifdom (182). 
 
 267. That the angels arc in a capacity of receiving fo high 
 a meafure of wifdom is, becaufe their interior faculties are open, 
 and wifdom, like every other perfedlion, has its increafe inward, 
 according to the opening of the intcriour (183). There are 
 three degrees of life correfponding to the three heavens in every 
 angel, fee n. 29 to 40 : they in whom the firll: degree is open, 
 are in the firft or loweft heaven ; they in whom the fecond degree 
 is open, are in the fecond or middle heaven ; and they in whom 
 the third degree is opened, are in the third or inmoft heaven ; ..I 
 
 and in proportion to thefe degrees is the wifdom of the angels 
 In the heavens : hence it is, that the wifdom of the angels of 
 the third or inmoft heaven immenfely tranfcends that of the 
 
 I
 
 [ 159 ] 
 
 angels of the middle heaven ; and the wifdom of thefe, that of 
 the angels of the loweft heaven, fee above, n. 209, 210 ; and 
 what thcfe degrees are, n, 38. The reafon of thefe differences 
 is, becaufe thofe things which are of a fuperior degree are more 
 particular and diftinft j and thofe of an inferior degree, of a 
 general and common predicament, in which precifion and dif- 
 tindiion lie concealed ; now the former are to the latter as thou- 
 fands or myriads to one, and in fuch pi'oportion is the wifdom 
 of the fuperior to that of the inferior angels refpeftively (*) ; 
 and yet the wifdom of the latter exceeds human wifdom in as 
 high a proportion ; for man in his prefent condition being 
 chained to a natural body and its fenfes, and as what is cor- 
 poreal and fenfual is lowelt in degree, it is evident what fort of 
 wifdom theirs muft be, who think only from fenfe, and there- 
 fore are properly denominated fenfual men ; but indeed it can- 
 not be called wifdom, for it is nothing more than fcicnce at 
 befl (184) : but it is otherwife with thofe who have their 
 
 thoughts 
 
 (*) This diftinflion of our author may be illiiflrated by the following inftance 
 in hiftorical knowledge, thus : To know only fo much of the hiftory of this our 
 ifland, before the conqueft of it by Will. I. as that in the time of the ancient 
 Britons it was conquered by Julius Casfar, became fubjeft to the power of the 
 Romans, and afterwards palled fucceffively into the polleflion of the Saxons, Danes^ 
 and Normans : to know the times when thefe revolutions happened, together with' 
 the names of its feveral kings, and the moll remarkable battles and events of their 
 reigns : fuch a general and common knowledge of the Englifh hiftory falls within 
 the compafs of a low capacity : but to enter minutely into the particular genius 
 and character of thofe feveral nations rcfpedlivcly ; their manners, cuftoms, laws, 
 tenures, forms of government, and various connexions ; their ftate of religion, 
 learning, and traffick ; the rife and progrefs, or decay of arts and fciences in thefe 
 feveral periods ; the diftinguifliing characters of their princes, ftatefmen, and men 
 of eminence in all profiffions, together with their maxims and rules of policy in 
 conducing matters both ecclefialtical and civil ; and to trace back important 
 changes and events from remote beginnings, and caufes feemingly of little con- 
 fequence, making judicious obfervations and reflections on the whole : thcfe, and 
 a thoufand other particulars refpeifling legiflation, government, and publick weal, 
 conftitute the province of a fage hiitorian, and fliew us, by comparifon and in 
 miniature, the dillindtion of our author between the wifdom of the fuperior, and 
 that of the inferior angels, under the two predicaments of general and particular 
 wifdom. Tr. 
 
 (184) That the fenfual part of man is his loweft degree of life, as properly 
 belonging to and inherent in his earthly, corporeal frame, n. 5077, 5767, 9212, 
 9216, 9331? 9730. Tiiat this is called the itnfual man, who judges and draws 
 concluuons of things by his bodily fenfes, and believes nothing but what he caa 
 
 fee
 
 [ i6o ] 
 
 I 
 
 thoughts elevated above matter and fenfe ; and ftill more £o witli 
 fuch as have their minds open to the heavenly light. 
 
 268. We may alio form an idea of the exalted wifdom of 
 angels from their mutual communication of all things without 
 relerve, infomuch that the underftanding Tmd wifdom of one is 
 communicated to another ; for heaven is a communion of goods 
 of every kind, it being of the nature of heave;ily love to impart 
 of its own to others, and accordingly no one there confiders 
 any thing he has as good, unlefs others partake of it : this 
 principle of love conftitutes the elTential happinefs of heaven, 
 and is derived to the angels from the Lord, whofe divine love 
 is infinitely communicative. It has been granted me to have an 
 experimental knowledge of fuch communication in the heavens 
 from being prefent with fome fpirits of great fimplicity, which, 
 upon their exaltation thitiier, were illuminated with angelical 
 wifdom, and underflood and fpake things which were incon- 
 ceivable and ineffable by them before. 
 
 269. The wifdom of the angels is not to be defcrlbcd in 
 words, but may in a fort be conceived by fome general inflances ; 
 thus, the angels can exprefs more in one word than a man can 
 in a thoufand ; and moreover, every word of theirs is replete 
 with numberlefs fenfes not to be exprelfed in human language, J 
 and containing fecrets of wifdom beyond the reach of our facul- ^ 
 tics ; and farther, where words fail to utter the copioufnefs of 
 
 their meaning, the angels fupply that defed: in the found of 
 them, which exprelTes the affedtions therein ; for, as was faid 
 before, n. 236, 241, they exprefs their affcdtions by founds, as 
 they do their ideas and thoughts by words ; whence it .is laid, 
 
 fee with his eyes, and feci with his hands, n. 5094, 7693. That fuch a one 
 thinlcs as a mere animal [in extfrris], and not in his fpiritual part [interiiis inje], 
 n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. That the interior faculties of fuch a one are fhut, 
 fo that he is incapable of difcerning fpiritual truth, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. That 
 fuch a one is in the dimnefs of mere nature, and fo perceives nothing by the light 
 of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6S44, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. 
 That, inwardly, he is in oppofition to things that are heavenly, and Aich as be of 
 the church of God, ji. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 69+8, 6949. That fcnfual 
 men are crafty and malicious above others, n. 7693, 10236. That they arc acute 
 and fubtle in reafoning, but fo only from their natural faculties and memory^ in 
 which lies all the (Irength of their underftanding, n. 195, 196, 57CO, 10236 ; 
 and that this is from the fallacy of their fenfes, n. 5C84, 6948, 6949, 7693. 
 
 that
 
 . [ i6i ] 
 
 that in heaven are heard things that cannot be uttered. The 
 angels alfo can exprefs in a few \\-ords the contents of a whole 
 volume, and likewife iniinuate into every word a power of raifmg 
 the fubjecS to a more interior fenfe ; for their language is fo 
 conflructed, as to be confonant to the aftedlions, at the fame 
 time that the words communicate the ideas of the fpeaker ; and 
 what is ftill more extraordinary, their words admit of inlinite 
 variations, whereby to exprefs in exact order and fequence all 
 the combinations and connexion of parts that form the moil 
 complicated fubjedts. The more interior angels can difcover 
 by the found, and certain words of him that fpeaks, the whole 
 courfe of his life, perceiving by the variegations in the voice, 
 occafioned by the ideas in his mind, what is his ruling pafTion, 
 as herein are recorded, as in a regifter, all the particulars of his 
 life (185). Hence we may form fome idea of the fuperior ex- 
 cellence of the wifdom of the angels, it being refped:ively to 
 man's wifdom as a myriad (ten thoufand) to one, and compa- 
 ratively as all the moving inftruments and powers in the body, 
 which are innumerable, to the ail produced by them, which 
 appears to our fenfes ; or like the thoufmd minute parts of an 
 objedt, when examined by a good microfcope, which, when 
 viewed by the naked eye, appears but as an atom. To illuf- 
 trate this by example : A certain angel, in defcribing the work 
 of regeneration from the high wifdom he pofTefTed, difcovered 
 a hundred fecret things in the chain of his difcourfe on the fub- 
 jeift, every one of which abounded with flill more myfterious 
 fecrets, and fo on from the beginning to the end of his expo- 
 fition ; fliewing how the I'piritual man is conceived anew, palTes, 
 as it were, through a kind of geflation, is bcfn, grows j.ip, and 
 
 (185) That the prevailing or ruling pafTion in man influences all the particulars 
 of his life, and all and fingular his thoughts and affcdtions, n. 4459, 5949» 6150, 
 6571, 7648, 8067, 8853 tb 8858. T^iut as is the prevailing love, fuch is the 
 man, n. 918, 1040, 8858. This illuftratcd by examples, a. 8854, 8857. That 
 the pa/Tion which has dominion over a man, forms the life of his fpirit, n. 7648. 
 That it conftitutes his will, his love, and the direction of his whole life; and 
 this, becaufc that which he chufes and wills, that he loves, and what he loves 
 molt, to that tend all his purfuits, n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909, 3796, 5949, 6936. 
 That therefore, as the will, or the r\iling love, or the propofed end of living is, 
 fuch is the man, n. 1568, 1571, 3570 — 10109, I0II0> 10284. 
 
 S f 
 
 IS
 
 [ i62 ] 
 
 is fuccefllvely peffefted : he alfo faid, that he could fwell the 
 number of myllerious difcoveries on this fubjeft to feme thou- 
 fands ; and that what he had delivered thereupon concerned -^• 
 
 the regeneration of the outward man only ; and that unlpeak- 
 ably more belonged to the regeneration of the inward man, 
 Thele and other like things told me by the angels evinced the 
 fublimity of their wifdom, and how that of man may be ftiled 
 ignorance, if compared to it ; as he fcarcely knows what rege- 
 neration means, and fees not any one flep he takes in his pro- 
 grefs through it. 
 
 270. We fhall now fpeak of the wifdom of the angels of 
 the third or inmoft heaven, and how far this exceeds that of the 
 angels of the firfl or loweft heaven : now the wifdom of the 
 former is incomprehenfiblc by the latter, and that becaufe the 
 interior faculties of the former are open in the third or higheft 
 degree, and thofe of the latter only in the firfl or lowell degree : 
 now all wifdom increafes in proportion to its progrefs inward, t 
 
 and is perfedled according to the opening of the interiour, n. 
 208, 267 i and as the interiour of the angels of the third heaven 
 is open in the third degree, therefore divine truths are molt 
 intimately written in their hearts, this degree being more near | 
 
 to the form of heaven than thofe of the inferior angels, and 
 becaufe the form or conftitution of heaven is from divine truth, 
 and therefore according to divine wifdom, therefore divine 
 truths appear to the higheft angels as innate or congenial to 
 them, and therefore as foon as they are propoied, they imme- 
 diately afTcnt to and own them, and prelently after perceive, 
 and, as it were, read them in thcmfelves. Such being the flatc 
 of the angels of the inmoft heaven, they have no need to reafon 
 concerning divine truths, much Icfs have they controverfies 
 about any truth, to know wlicther it be a truth or not; nor do 
 they underftand what it is to believe, or have faith in this or 
 that thing, faying. What is fiiith, when I perceive and know ^ 
 
 the matter to be fo ? ufing moreover the following comparifons,. « 
 
 viz. That it would be as abfurd in them to talk of believing^ 
 as if any one were to view a houfe, and all things in and about 
 it, and were to fay to one in company with him, that he muft 
 needs believe that to be a houfe with fuch and fuch furniture : 
 
 or
 
 [ 1^3 ] 
 
 or as if any one faw a garden with its trees and fruit, and were 
 to tell his compp.nion, that he could not but believe that to be 
 a garden with trees and fruit in it, whilft at the fame time his 
 own eyes beheld them. Hence it is, that the angels before- 
 mentioned never name the word faith, nor have any idea of it, 
 and confequently never reafon rcr difpute about the reality of 
 any divine truth (i86) : but the angels of the firft or loweft 
 heaven have not divine truths fo implanted within them, as 
 having only their firft degree of life open ; and therefore they 
 reafon concerning them : now they who reafon on any fubjed: 
 fpeculate it, as it were, without themfelves, and go no farther, 
 ufing arguments only for confirmation, and when they have 
 confirmed the matter to others, they require their belief in it, 
 I have difcourfed with the angels on this fubjed:, who told me, 
 that there was as great a difference between the wifdom of the 
 angels of the third, and that of the angels of the loweft heaven, 
 as between the twilight and noon day ; and compared that of 
 the former to a magnificent palace richly furnilhed with all 
 things for ufe, and furroundcd with fpacious gardens fplendidly 
 ornamented, into which the angels of wifdom enter, and enjoy 
 the variegated delights of the whole in their full extent : but 
 that it is very different with thofc that are in reafonings, and 
 more efpecially if in controverfies concerning truths ; for fuch 
 perfons not feeing them in the light &f truth, but either re- 
 ceiving them from others, or from the literal fenfe of the Scrip- 
 tures without the fpiritual underftanding of them, they cry out. 
 You muff believe or have faith, without allowing any farther 
 demonllration, or inward manifellation of them : as touching 
 
 (i86) That the coelcftial angels (*) \cry far cxci-l the fpiritual angels in know- 
 ledge and wifdom, n. 2718. Iliat the former do not think and fpeak of faith like 
 the latter, as having received of the Lord to be in the clear perception of all 
 things pertaining to faith, n. 2.02, 597, 607 — 9277, 10336. That they only 
 affirm or deny with regard to the truths of faith ; whereas the fpiritual angels reafon 
 much v/hether thcfe things be fo or not, n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786^ 
 where an explanation is given of thofc words of our Lord : " Let your commu- 
 " nication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay ;" Matt. v. 37. 
 
 (•) It is judged proper to remind the reader under the above note, that the author 
 diftinguifhes the angels of the third or highcft heaven by the addition of eailtjiial, and 
 ihofe of the middle heaven b^ that of fprituaU 
 
 thefe.
 
 [ i64 ] 
 
 thefe, they faid, that they come not even up to the gate of the 
 palace of wifdom, much lefs enter in, and walk in its paradi- 
 liacal gardens ; whilll: they who are in the very truths themfelves, 
 not only do this, but alio make free excurlions into wifdom's 
 wide domains, palling by light from truth to truth, the extent 
 and connexions whereof know no bounds. They faid farther, 
 that the wifdom of the angels of the third or inmoll heaven, 
 more efpecially conlilted in their beholding divine and cceleflial 
 things in every particular object, and iHll more wonderful 
 things in an alfemblage of many ; for all tliat they fee with 
 their eyes correfpond to interior things ; thus for example, when 
 they view palaces and gardens, their view does not terminate in 
 the objedts themfelves, but extends to the contemplation of 
 their caufes and correfpondences, and that in all the variety A 
 
 reprefented by the different forms and appearances of the cor- ~ 
 
 refponding vilible objeds, befides innumerable things anfwering 
 to their order, feries, and connexions refpedtively, which de- ^ 
 
 light even to extacy their intellectual faculties. That all vilible >^ 
 
 things in the heavens correfpond to divine things derived from 
 the Lord to the holy angels, fee before, n. 170 to 176. 
 
 271. That the angels of the third heaven are thus confli- 
 tuted, is from their being in the element of love to the Lord, 
 and this love opens the interior fiiculties of their minds to the 
 third degree, which renders it the receptacle of all things ap- i 
 
 pertaining to wifdom ; and we are moreover to underfland, that ^ 
 
 the angels of this heaven are continually advancing to flill 
 higher degrees in wifdom, and this in a different manner from 
 the angels of the loweft heaven, as not committing divine truths ,.i 
 
 to their memory, and fo forming them into a fcicnce j but, J 
 
 from a clear perception of them as foon as offered, ingrafting 
 them into their very life, wherebv they become a principle, and ^. 
 
 written, as it were, upon tlieir hearts : but the cafe is otherwife H 
 
 with the angels of the lowefl heaven ; for they firil commit 
 them to memory, and then digelt them fcientifically, calling 
 them forth occalionally for their intelleftual improvement, but ^ 
 
 without an interior perception of their truth, fo that they fee J 
 
 them but obfcurcly in comparifon with the former angels j 
 however, they conf\antly ufe them for the diredion of the will, 
 
 and
 
 [ i65 ] 
 
 and the government of life. It Is worthy of being noticed 
 here, that the angels of the third heavei^advance in wifdoni by 
 liearing, and not by fight ; for what they hear from preaching 
 enters not into the memory, but immediately into their per- 
 ception and will, and fo into the forni of their life : but what 
 the other angels behold with their eyes, they commit to their 
 memory, and reafon and difcourfe therefrom j whence it plainly 
 appears, that their way of increafmg wifdom is by hearing, and 
 that by correfpondence, for the ear correfponds to obedience, 
 and obedience relates to life ; but the eye correfponds to the 
 intelleft, and intelleift relates to doiftrine (i 87). The ftate of 
 the coeleftial angels is defcribcd in many places of the Scrip- 
 tures, and particularly by Jeremiah, as follows : *' I will put 
 ** my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts : 
 ** and they fhall teach no more every man his neighbour, and 
 *' every man his brother, faying. Know the Lord ; for they 
 *' fhuU all know me, from the leaft of them unto the greateft 
 " of them," xxxi. 33, 34. And in Matt, v, 37. " Let your 
 ** communication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for whatfoever is 
 ** more than thefe cometh of evil." By cometh of evil, is meant 
 comparatively and refpecftively fo, as not coming from the Lord ; 
 for the truths pofleffed by the angels of the third heaven are 
 from the Lord, as proceeding from love towards him. Love to 
 the Lord in this heaven is to will and aft from divine truth, for 
 divine truth is effentially one with the Lord in heaven. 
 
 272. To the reafons already given in proof of the angels 
 being receptive of fuch exalted wifdom, this f.\rther one (which 
 is of primary confideration in heaven) may be added, viz. That 
 they are without felf-love ; for fo far as any one is free from 
 this, in fuch proportion he is capable of receiving vvildom in 
 divine things ; for that kind of love Ihuts the inward eye and 
 faculties to the Lord and heavenly things, whilft it opens thofe 
 
 (187) Of the correfpondence of the car and of the hcarinjr, n. 4652. That 
 the tiir correfponds both to perception and obedience, and therefore fignifies them, 
 n. 7542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 9311, 93975 10065. That it alfo 
 iignifies the reception of truths, n. 5471, 5475» 9926. Of tiie correfpondence 
 of the eye and its fight, h. 4403 to 4421, 4523 to 4534 ; that therefore the eyes 
 fignify the underftanding that cometh of faith, and alio faith itfeif, n. 2701, 4410, 
 4526, 6923, 995 ij 10569. 
 
 T t that
 
 [ i66 ] 
 
 that nrc external, and gives them a diredion to itfelf ; nod 
 thcret'ore all thore, ov«» whom this pallion gains the dominion, 
 arc in darkncfs with regard to heavenly things, however quick- 
 lighted they may be in thofe of this world : and on the other 
 hand, the angels, as nut being infedled with it, are in the pure 
 light of wifdom ; for the cceleftial loves with which they are 
 principled, viz. to the Lord, and to their neighbour, open their 
 hearts to the divine influx, and fo the Lord is in them. That 
 thefe two loves conftitute heaven as its common, effential prin- 
 ciples, and alfo form a heaven in every one in particular, fee 
 above, n. 13 to 19. As thefe ca;lefi:ial loves open the inward 
 man to the Lord, fo all the angels turn their faces towards him, 
 n. 142 ; for in the fpiritual world it is the divine principle of 
 love that turns the heart of every one to itfelf, and whither it 
 turns the heart, it alfo turns the face, for there the face aAs in 
 confent with the heart, as its expreffion : and as love, together 
 wath the objeft of it, turns both the heart and the face to itfelf, 
 therefore it joins itfelf thereto (for it is the bond of fpiritual 
 union) and communicates of its own to them ; and from this 
 converfion, and confequent conjunftion and communication, the 
 angels derive their wifdom. That all conjuncftion or union (or 
 fellowiliip) in the fpiritual world, is according to this conver- 
 fion or turning, may be feen above, n. 255. 
 
 273. The angels continually advance to higher degrees of 
 perfe<ition in wifdom (188); and yet attain not in eternity to 
 luch perfe(ft:ion therein, as beai'S any proportion to the divine 
 wifdom; for this is infinite, and theirs only finite, and between 
 finite and infinite there is no proportion. 
 
 274. As wifdom conftitutes the perfeftion of angels, and 
 alfo the very form of their life ; and as heaven, with all the 
 good things therein, communicates with every angel in pro- 
 portion to his wifdom, fo all there defire and hunger after it, 
 even as a hungry man after his food ; for knowledge, under- 
 ftanding, and wifdom, are as truly fpiritual nourilhment, as 
 earthly food is natural nourifliment, and they alfo mutually 
 correfpond. 
 
 (188) That the angels advance eternally in degrees of perfedion, n. 4803, 
 6648^ 
 
 275. The
 
 [ i67 ] 
 
 275. The angels of the fame heaven, though of one and 
 the fame fociety, differ in degrees of wifdom ; they being in the 
 highefl who are fituated in the center, and the reft in lower 
 degrees of it, in proportion to their diftance from the center, 
 decreafing gradually like light verging to fhadc, fee above, n. 43, 
 128. They have alfo light in the lame degree; for the light 
 of heaven and divine wifdom agree in one, and every one has 
 fo much of the former as he receives of the latter. Concerning 
 the light of heaven, and the various receptions of it, fee above, 
 ji. 126 to 132. 
 
 Of the State of Innocence in the Angels. 
 
 276. Few in this world have any tolerable notion concerning 
 innocence, and they who are in the evil principle, none at all : 
 they fee indeed fomething that carries in it the appearance, 
 efpecially in the faces, language, and aftions. of little children; 
 but yet they underlland not the true nature of it, much lefs 
 that it is the receptacle of heaven in man : that the reader 
 therefore may be the better inftruded in this matter, I fhall 
 proceed in the following order to fiiew, firft, what is the inno- 
 cence of little children ; then, what is the innocence of wif- 
 dom ; and laftly, what is the ftate of angels with refpedl to 
 wifdom. 
 
 277. The innocence of infuicy, or of little children, is not 
 genuine innocence, as being only in their exterior, not interior 
 form i and yet we may conceive fomething of innocence by 
 what appears in their looks, in fome of their actions, and their 
 prattle, which affefts us the more, as they have no defign nor 
 reflexion, know neither good nor evil, nor what is true or falfe, 
 from whence reflexion proceeds ; and confequently they have 
 no prudence of their own, no deliberation, purpofe, nor ill in- 
 tention : neither have they as yet attained to any notion of 
 property from the love of felf and the world ; but look on 
 themfelves as obliged to their parents for all that is given them, 
 with which they are pleafcd and content, not being folicitous 
 about food or raiment, or wliat may befall them, neither regarding 
 
 the
 
 [ i6S ] 
 
 the world, nor the things of it, but confining theic affeflions 
 to their parents, nurfes, and little companions, and fliewing 
 a dudile obedience to their governors : luch being their ftate, 
 all that they are capable of receiving enters into the form of 
 their life, and conrtitutes (without their knowledge) the whole 
 of their winning bchuviour, and fervcs for the rudiments of 
 their language, memory, and thinking, according to their Hate 
 of innocence refpedlively : but yet this kind of innocence, as 
 was faid before, is only external, as being animal, and not 
 mental (189), their minds being not yet formed; for mind 
 confills of intclled: and will, and as fuch only becomes the W 
 
 fountain of reflexion and true affciftion. I have been tauglit 
 from heaven, that little children are in a particular manner, 
 under the Lord's care and protediion, and that they are the 
 fubjedls of an influx from the inmoft heaven, which is the ftate f 
 
 of perfeft innocence, which influx pervades their interiour, and 
 operates in them by the effecfts of innocence, exhibiting ap- 
 pearances of it in their faces and certain of their adtions, 
 thereby exciting in their parents that natural affe<flion, which 
 we call by the name of Storge [rofj/n]. 
 
 278. But the innocence of wifdom is the true and genuine 
 wifdom, as being internal in the mind, and confequently in 
 the will and underflanding ; and where innocence is in thefe, "s 
 
 there alio is wifdom, for they are wifdom's dwelling ; and 
 therefore it is a common faying in heaven, that " Innocence 
 '• dwells in wifdom ;" and that every angel has fo much of the 
 latter as he poflefles of the former ; and they confirm it by 
 this argument, viz. becaufe they who are in innocence aflume 
 nothing to thcmfclves, but afcribe all they have to the goodnefs 
 of the Lord as his free gift ; that it is their defire to be led 
 and governed by him, and not by themfelves ; that they love 
 every thing that is good, and delight in all truth, inafmuch as 
 
 (189) That the innocence of infants is not the true innocence, hut that the 
 true innocence dwells in wifdom, n. 1616, 2305, 2306, 3495, 4563> 4-797, 5608, 
 9301, I0C2I. That the good of childhood is not fpiritual good, but becomes fo 
 by the fowing of truth into their minds, n. 3504 ; and that their good of relative 
 innocence is the medium of effecting this, n. 1616, 3183, 9301, loiio. That 
 man, without this good of innocence in childhood, would be a favage, n. 3494» 
 That whatever the mind imbibes in childhood appears natural, n. 3494. 
 
 they 
 
 i
 
 [ 169 ] 
 
 as they know and perceive, that to love good (that is, to will 
 and do it) is to love the Lord ; and to love truth is to love 
 their neighbour ; that they are content with what they have, 
 be it little or much, as knowing that to all is given what is 
 needful for them, little to thofe that need little, and much to 
 them that need much, and that they know not what that fit 
 meai'ure is, but the Lord only, wha poflefTes all things, and 
 provideth all things fur all ; and therefore they are not Iblicitous 
 about what fliall befall them, calling this, the " taking thought 
 " for the morrow," and being anxious about what does not 
 belong to them, nor is needful for them. They never deal de- 
 ceitfully by their fellows, but uprightly and in fmcerity, calling 
 every other way by the name of fubtlety, which they avoid as 
 poifon, and contrary to all innocence : and as they delight to 
 be under the tuition and guidance of the Lord, above all things, 
 afcribing whatever they have to his free bounty, therefore they 
 are far removed from felfiflmefs, and fo far enriched with divine 
 communications from the Lord. Hence it is, that whatever 
 they hear immediately from himfelf, or through the means of 
 the word, or of preaching, they do not lay by in their memory, 
 but apply it to practical ufe, that is, will it and do it, their 
 will ferving them inftead of memory. The external afpedl of 
 thefe is, for the mofl part, that of great fimplicity, though 
 within they are full of wifdom and prudence, being fuch as are 
 meant in thofe words of our Lord : " Be ye wife as ferpents, 
 *' and harmlefs as doves," Matt, x, i6. Such is the nature of 
 that innocence, which is called the innocence of wifdom. Now 
 as innocence takes no merit to itfelf, but gives the praife of all 
 good to the Lord only ; and as it delights to depend upon him 
 for all that goodnefs and truth which conflitute genuine wifdom j 
 therefore it is fo appointed, that man, during the time of his 
 infancy, ftiould have the external form of innocence, and when 
 old, its internal form, that fo through the former he may pafs 
 on to the latter, and in the latter to a refcmblance of the 
 former : and accordingly it comes to pafs, that man in his old 
 age decreafcs in bulk, and in many particulars puts on, as it 
 were, the child again -, but this in order to be as a wife child, 
 as an angel ; for a wife child, in an eminent fenfe of the word, 
 
 U u is
 
 [ 170 ] 
 
 is an angel : therefore it is, that in the written Word, a child 
 fignifies one that is innocent ; and an old man, one that is wife, 
 in whom dwelleth innocence (190), 
 
 279. It happens in like manner to every one that is rege- 
 nerated, for regeneration is a new birth as to the fpiritual man : 
 and here he is firil brought into that innocence of childhood, 
 to he fenfible that he cannot attain to the knowledge of good 
 and truth from himfelf, but from the Lord only, and to defire 
 and hunger after them as his true nourifliment ; and thefe are 
 given to him according to his growth in the fpiritual life : firfl, 
 he is given to know them fcientifically, then intelledlually, and 
 after this, he is brought into wifdom ; feeing and confelTing all 
 the way, from the innocence and humility within him, that 
 his futliciency herein is only from the Lord, without which 
 faith and conviftion no one is capable of heavenly communi- 
 cations, in which chiefly confirts the innocence of wifdom. 
 
 280. As it is the property of innocence to chufe the Lord 
 only for our guide, therefore all in heaven are in innocence, as 
 this is the choice of all that are there, as knowing well, that to 
 fet up for our own diredlors, is to abandon ourfelves to felf-love, 
 and to renounce the Lord's government over us : as far there- 
 fore as any angel is in innocence, fo far is he under the divine 
 leadings and influence, and fo far in heaven, or, in other words, 
 fo far is he principled in goodnefs and truth, which conftitute 
 the blifs of heaven ; and therefore the heavens are dlAinguiflied 
 according to the diflxrent degrees of innocence : thus they who 
 are in the lowefi: or firft heaven, are in innocence of the tirft or 
 loweft degree; they who are in tlie fecond or middle heaven, 
 are in innocence of the fecond degree; and they who are in the 
 third or inmoll heaven, are in innocence of the third or highelt 
 degree, and may be titled the very innocences of heaven, as 
 they are more particularly diltinguifhed for their love of being 
 
 (190) That by infants or little children in the Word is fignified innocence, 
 n. 5608 ; and alfo by fucklings, n. 3183. That by an old man is fignified a wife 
 man, and in the abllradt, wifdom, n. 3183, 6523. That man is fo created, that 
 as he verges towards old age, he becomes as a child, and that then innocence is in 
 wifdom ; as alfo that in this flate he may pafs the better qualified into heaven, and 
 becomx an angel, n. 3183, 5608. 
 
 guided
 
 [ 171 ] 
 
 guided and governed by the Lord, as little children by thelr- 
 common Father ; and therefore, whatever divine truth is com- 
 municated to them, either immediately from the Fountain of 
 all Truth, or by means of the Word, or preaching, they in- 
 ftantly receive it Into their will, and fo conlign it to life and 
 pradllcal ufe j and hence it Is, that they fo far excel the angels 
 of the inferior heavens in wifdom, fee n. 270, 271. Such being 
 the nature of thcfe angels, they are next In honour to the Lord, 
 who is the author of their innocence ; and they are fo far re- 
 moved from all propriety, and every thing that borders upon 
 felf, that they may be faid to live In him. Their external form 
 exprefles great fimplicity, and they appear in the fight of the 
 inferior angels as little children with little fliow of wifdom, 
 whilft they are In reality the wifeft of all the angels, yet know- 
 ing at the fame time, that they are only receivers of all they 
 have, and that it Is a part of wifdom to be fenfible of It, and 
 alfo that what they do know Is nothing in comparifon with the 
 things they are ignorant of : to be thoroughly convinced of this 
 truth they call the firfl; ilep to wifdom, Thefe angels are with- 
 out any garment or covering, for nakednefs correfponds to in-- 
 nocence (191). 
 
 281. I have difcourfed much with the angels concerning 
 innocence, and been informed by them, that innocence is the 
 cflence of all good, and that the latter cannot fubfiil; without 
 it, confequently that wifdom is only fo f;ir wifdom, as it leads 
 to innocence ; and that the fame may be faid of divine love, 
 charity towards our neighbour, and faith ((192) ; from whence 
 it will follow, that without innocence no man can be qualified 
 for heaven, according to thofe words of our Lord ; " Suffer the 
 •' little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of 
 " fuch is the kingdom of heaven : Verily I fay unto you, that 
 *' whofoever fliall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little 
 
 (191) That all in the inmoft heaven are innoccncei;, n. 154, 2736, 3887 : and 
 that therefore they appear to others as childrciT, n. 154 : alfo that they are naked, 
 n. 165, 8375. That it is cuftomary with fpirits, in tcftimony of their innocence^ 
 to throw off their garments, and appear naked, n. 8375, 9960. 
 
 (192) That innocence is clfcntial to every good of love, and every truth o€ 
 faith, n. 2526, 2780, 311, 3994, 6013, 7840, 9262-, 10134. That Tio one 
 dcftitute of innocence is admitted into heavtn, n. 4797. 
 
 »* child,.
 
 [ X7= ] 
 
 ** child, fliall not enter therein," Mark x. 14, 15. Luke xviii. 
 16, 17. where, as well as in other parts of the Word, by littU 
 children we are to underftand innocent ferjons. The Hate of in- 
 nocence is alio delcribed by our Lord, Matt. vi. 24, (Sec. but 
 merely by correlpondences. The reafon why good is only lb 
 far good as innocence is in it, is becaufe all good is from the 
 Lord, and innocence confifts in a difpofition to be led and 
 governed by him. I was alfo informed, that good and truth 
 can only be mutually conjoined by the medium of innocence ; 
 and that therefore any angel is only fo far an angel of heaven, 
 as he partakes of innocence, for heaven is not in any one till 
 truth be joined to good within him : therefore it is, that this 
 conjun(fl:ion of truth and good is called the heavenly marriage, 
 for this conftitutes heaven. I was alfo informed, that true con- 
 jugal love derives its nature from innocence, as proceeding from 
 the union of good and truth in two minds, viz. of hufband and 
 wife, which union, in its defcent from above, is reprefented 
 under the form of conjugal love ; for where two fuch perfons 
 are joined together, they neceffarily love each other, and in 
 them the conjugal Hate may be called a difplay of the delights 
 of infancy and innocence (193). 
 
 282. As innocence (*) is the very eflence of good in the 
 angels of heaven, it follows, that divine good proceeding from 
 the Lord mufl include it in its principle, for it is that very 
 
 (193) That true conjugal love is innocence, n. 2736. That conjugal love is 
 a mutual confent of wills in both partita, n. 2731. That they who are in the 
 inward principle of conjugal love dwell together in heaven, n. 2732. That they 
 become one through union of minds, n. 10168, 10169. That true conjugal love 
 derives its origin and eflence from the union of good and truth, n. 2728, 2729. 
 Of the angelical fpirits, who have a true perception of the conjugal ftatc from the 
 idea of good and truth in conjunction, n. 10756. That conjugal love entirely 
 correfponds to fuch conjundion, n. 1094, 2173, 2429 — 9495, 9637- That for 
 this reafon by Marriage in the Word, we are to underftand the marriage or con- 
 jundion of good and truth, as it fubfifts in heaven, and fhall do in the new church, 
 
 n- 3132. 4434» 4834- 
 
 (•) Innocence throughout this chapter is not to be taken in a mere negative 
 feme, or freedom from evil, for fo our author docs not mean it ; but as a pofitive 
 good from the Lord, confiding in that heavenly congruity and difpofition in all 
 the powers and properties of the foul, which render it as a well tuned inftrument 
 of divine harmony, or as the fubftratum or fubjeft of every divine virtue, gift, 
 and grace. Tr. 
 
 principle
 
 [ 173 ] 
 
 principle in the angels that dilpofes and qualifies them for all 
 the bleirednels of heaven. The cafe is fiinilar v/ith regard to- 
 little children, whofe interiour is not only formed by a transflux 
 of innocence from the Lord, but alfo difpofed and adapted to 
 receive the good of coeleflial love, forafmuch as the good of 
 innocence ^tts from their inmoft faculties, and is, as was faid 
 before, the ellence of every good : and as all innocence is froij\ 
 the Lord, therefore he is called in the Word, T/te Lamby for 
 Lamb fignifies innocence (194) ; and as innocence is the efl'ence 
 of all ccelcftial good, fo it affeds the minds of others with fo 
 - much fweetnefs and delight, that he who is fenfible of its in- 
 fluence (as happens on the approach of any angel from the 
 inmoft heaven) is, as it were, ravilhed from himfelf, and feels 
 a joy which far furpaffes any that this world can yield — I fpeak 
 this from experience, 
 
 283. All who are in the good of innocence are, in propor- 
 tion thereto, cordially affedled with the fame in others ; but it 
 is far otherwife with thofe that are not in a finiilar ll:ate ; and 
 therefore all the infernals are utter enemies to innocence, though 
 they have no idea of what it is, nay, their evil nature is fo 
 oppofite to it, that they burn with a delire to injure every inno- 
 cent perfon, and therefore cannot bear with little children, but 
 are feized with a rage at the fight of them, and long to do them 
 a mifchief : hence it appeared evident to me, that a contradled 
 fpirit, filled with the love of felf, is contrary to innocence, as 
 is the cafe of all in hell (*). 
 
 (194) That Lamb in the Word fii^nifies innocence, and the good thereof, n. 
 3994, 10132. 
 
 (*) I his dcfcription of infernal fpirits by our author, as to their enmity to all 
 innocence and goodncfs, exhibits likcwifc a melancholy, but too true a rcprefen- 
 tation of that malignity, which the human nature is capable of in its greatell 
 degree of depravity and corruption ; as when men, fclf-alicnated from divine grace, . 
 and abandoned to evil, inftead of being the temple of the living God, through 
 the cffciilual operation of his fpirit, become tiie habitation of evil fpirits, and, as 
 fuch, haters of their brethren, and defpifc-rs of them that arc good : fo true it- is, 
 that man even in this life may be as an angel or a devil, according to the fpiri?: 
 that governs him ; for his fcrvants we arc to whom we obey, and become like ujito 
 the mafter that rules over us, Tr. 
 
 r 
 
 X X Concernin 
 
 S
 
 [ ^74 ] 
 
 Concerning the State of Peace in Heaven. 
 
 284. He that has not been in the peace of heaven, can have 
 no true perception of that peace which the angels enjoy, foraf- 
 much as the perceptions of man, during his clofe connexion 
 with this mortal body, are in nature, and hinder fuch expe- 
 rience ; and therefore, in order to be capable of it, he muft 
 be brought into fuch a llate of elevation above nature, by an 
 abflradtion of his fpirit from the body, that he may be with 
 the angels : now as by this means I have been favoured with the 
 privilege of experiencing this heavenly peace, I am qualified to 
 give fome account of it ; not as though human language were 
 equal to the defcription, but in fuch words as may exprefs it 
 comparatively with that rti\ or tranquillity [commonly called 
 peace] of mind, which is the common privilege of godly per- 
 Ibns. 
 
 285. There are two moft inward principles in heaven, viz. 
 innocence and peace ; and they are called moll inward or inmofl;, 
 as proceeding immediately from the Lord, Innocence is that 
 from which fprings every good in heaven ; aiul peace is that 
 which conftitutes the delightful fenfe or rclifh [jucunduin boui] 
 of fuch good ; for every good has its delightful fenfation [fnu/ii 
 jiicundufit] : now both the good, and its delightful lavour or 
 
 relilh, are in the love property {fuut n;/wris], for what we love 
 we call good, and take delight therein j and confequently thefe 
 two inmoft principles of innocence and peace proceed from 
 divine love, and conflitute the central joy of angels. That 
 innocence is the fundamental ground of good, fee the preceding 
 article ; and that peace is the ground of delight, ariiing from 
 the good of innocence, will appear from what follows. 
 
 286. And firft for the origin of peace : and this has its 
 fource ia the Lord from the union of his Divinity with his 
 Divine Humanity, and fo giving birth to the divine peace in 
 heaven by his communication with the angels, and more par- 
 ticularly by the conjundion of good with truth in every angel : 
 and as fuch is the origin of peace in heaven, it muft necelTarilv 
 
 be
 
 [ ^75 I 
 
 be a divine principle communicating bleflcfincfs to every gcod 
 therein, and be the fpring of a joyous life in all the ccelellial 
 inhabitants, it being nothing lefs than the joy of divine love 
 flowing from the Lord into every one of them. Such is that 
 peace which conftitutes the joys and happinefs of the bleffed 
 above (195). 
 
 287. From this divine original of peace the Lord is named 
 the Prince of Peace, and fpeaks of himfelf as the author and 
 giver of it : hence likewife the angels are called the Angels of 
 Peace, and heaven the Habitation of Peace, as in the following 
 places : •' Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, and 
 " the government fliall be upon his fhoulder ; and his name 
 " lliall be called. Wonderful, Counfellor, The mighty God, 
 •* The everlafting Father, The Prince of Peace : Of the in- 
 *' creafe of his government and peace there fhall be no end," 
 Ifai. ix. 6, 7. Jefus faid, " Peace I leave with you, my peace 
 " 1 give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you," 
 John xiv. 27. '* Thefe things I have fpoken unto you, that 
 '* in me ye might have peace," John xvi, 33. " The Lord lift 
 " up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace," Numb. 
 vi. 26. " The ambaffadors of peace fhall weep bitterly; the 
 " highways lie wade," Ifai. xxxiii. 7, 8. " The work of 
 " righteoufnefs fhall be peace ; and my people fliall dwell in 
 " a peaceable habitation," Ifai. xxxii. 17, 18. And that by 
 peace in the Word we are to underftand a divine and heavenly 
 peace, will appear from other places wherein it is mentioned, as 
 Ifai. lii. 7. liv. 10. lix. 8. Jer. xvi. 5. xxv. 37. xxix. 11. Hag. 
 xi. 9. Zech. xvili. 12. Pfa. xxxvii. 37. and elfewhere. Foraf- 
 much as peace flands alio for the Lord its author, for heaven, 
 for heavenly joy, and the bleffing cf every good ; therefore the 
 ufual falutation in old times, from whence we alfo derive the 
 cuflom, was, " Peace be with you !" And this received divine 
 
 (195) That by peace, in the higheft (Infc of the word, is meant the Lord, as 
 being the fountain of peace, and in the inward fcnic, lieaven, as the feat of peace, 
 ». 3780, 4681. That peace in the heavens is a divine influx, conltituting cffen- 
 tially the bleflednefs of every good and truth therein, and that the nature: of it is 
 incomprchenfibte by man, n. 92, 3780, 5662, 8455, 8665. That divine peace 
 is in every good, but not in truth void of good, n. 8722. 
 
 faniftion
 
 [ 1/6 ] 
 
 fan<flion from*our Lord, when he fent out his dilclples, faying: 
 ** Into whatfoever houle ye enter, lirll lay. Peace he to this 
 " houfe ; and if the fon of peace be there, your peace fhall 
 *' reft upon it," Luke x. 5, 6. And likewile, when our Lord 
 appeared to the apolllcs, he laid, " Peace be unto you," John 
 XX. 19, 2'i, 26. The ftate of peace is alio fignihed in the 
 Word by, " A Iweet favour unto the Lord," as in Exod. xxix. 
 18, 25, 41. Lev. i. 9, 13, ij. ii. 2, 9. vi. 8, 14. xxiii. 12, 
 13, 18. Numb. XV. 3, 7, 1-^. xxviii. 6, 8, 13. xxix. 2, 6, 8, 
 13, 36. A fwect favour, or a favour of reft, fignifying, in a 
 heavenly fenie of the word, the perception of peace (196). 
 And becaufc peace fignifics the union of the Divinity with the 
 Divine LIumanity in the perfon of the Lord, and his conjunftion 
 with heaven and his church, and with all that receive in both, 
 accordingly was the fabbath inftituted in remembrance thereof, 
 and had its name from reft or peace, being a holy reprefcntative 
 of the church ; and therefore the Lord called himfelf Lord of 
 the Sabbath, Matt. xii. 8. Mark ii. 27, 28. Luke vi. 5. (197). 
 
 288. As the peace of heaven is that inward divine principle 
 which gives blelling to all the good in the angels, lb it only 
 manifefts itfelf to them perceivably by a heart-felt ioy, when 
 in their happieft frames ; as alio by a fweet relifli of the truth 
 which is concordant with their particular good, when they hear 
 it ; and by an exhilarating delight on the union of both, dif- 
 fuling a joyous influence in all thev do, and all they think, and 
 ipanifefting itfelf in all their looks. However, this peace, as 
 
 (196) That odour or favour in the "Word, fignifics the perceptivity of what is 
 well pleafmg, or otherwilc, accorJiiig to the kind or quality of good and faith 
 predicated of, n. 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748, 5C21, 10292. That odour of rcH, 
 when fpoken of Jehovah, fignifics perception of peace, n. 925, 10054. That 
 therefore incenfe, perfumes, and the odours in oils and ointments, become reprc- 
 fentatives, n. 925, 4748, 5621, ioi77' 
 
 (197) That the fabb;;th, in the highcft fen fe of the word, fignifius the union 
 of the Divinity and DJ\inc Humanitv in the perfon of the Lord ; in the inward 
 fcnfcy the conjuniftion of his Divine Humanity with heaven and with his church j 
 and in general, the conjun£lion of good with truth, or the heavenly marriage, 
 n. 8495, 10356, 10730. Hence, that reft on the fabbath day is fignificant of 
 the itate of that union, and, in a relative fenfc, of the conjundtion of the Lord 
 with man, as the efficient caufc of his peace and falvation, n. 8494, 85 ic, 1036c, 
 10367, 10370, 10668, 10730. 
 
 to 
 
 
 I 
 
 ■i-
 
 [ ^77 ] 
 
 to its fpccifick quality and degree, differs in the different hea- 
 vens, according to the ijinocence of their inhabitants rcfpec- 
 tively ; for innocence and peace, as was faid before, go hand 
 h\ hand with one accord, innocence being the fource of heavenly 
 good, and peace the delightful fenlation of that good [jucundiim 
 illiiis boni\ fo that nearly the fame that was f\id in the preceding 
 article, of the liate of innocence in heaven, may be faid of 
 peace in this, as they are conjoined in like manner with good, 
 and its pleafint fruit ; for good is knov/n by the delight it 
 yields, and the particular delight diftinguiihes the kind of its 
 proper good, and is owned by it. Hence it appears, that the 
 angels of the inmofl or third heaven are in the third or inmofb 
 degree of peace, as being in the third or inmoft [higheft] de- 
 gree of innocence; and that the angels of the inferior heavens 
 are in a lower degree of peace, as being in a lower degree of 
 innocence, fee above, n. 280. That innocence and peace go 
 together, like good, and the plealing fenfation of it, may be 
 known by little children, which are in peace, becaufe in inno- 
 cence ; and becaufe in peace, there all things ferve to them as 
 matter of play and harmlefs delight : however, the peace of 
 infants is only external, for internal peace, like internal inno- 
 cence, is only to be found in wifdom, and confequently where 
 good and truth are conjoined, for hence comes wifdom. There 
 is alfo an heavenly or angelical peace in fuch men as are poffeffed 
 -of wifdom from a conjunction of good with truth, and thereby 
 find themfelves refigned to the will of God ; but this peace, 
 during their abode here, lies concealed in their inner man, but 
 is manifefted when they quit the body, and enter into their 
 heavenly reft, for then the things that were hidden will be 
 revealed. 
 
 289. As divine peace originates from the conjundlion af the 
 Lord with heaven, and particularly in every angel, from the 
 conjunction of good and truth, therefore the angels, when '\n 
 their higheft ftate of love, are in their molt pcrfecfl itate of 
 peace, for then good and truth are in their moft perfe<ft con- 
 junction with them (*). That alternate changes of flates take 
 
 (*) The reader, for the better undcrflranding of our author's meaning, is to 
 take with him iJl along, that as the tv/o chief conftitueiit principles cf man's 
 
 Y y l^iritual'
 
 [ ^78 1 
 
 place in the angels, fee above, n, 154 to 160. Similar to this 
 is the regeneration of man, when the conjundtion of good and 
 truth is formed within him ; which more efpecially is effed:ed 
 after temptations, when he enters into the delightful ftate of 
 heavenly peace (198). This peace may be compared to a lovely 
 morning in the fpring feafon, when nature appears revived, as 
 well as beautified, by the warmth and fplendor of the newly 
 rifen fun, whilft grateful odours, exhaling from the vegetable 
 world, mix their rich fweets with the defcending dew of heaven, 
 and at the fame time that they add fertility to the earth, regale 
 the fenfes, and exhilarate the minds of men : and this com- 
 parifon muft appear the more apt, as the morning rcdnefs in 
 the fpring time correfponds to the ftate of peace in the heavenly 
 angels, fee n. 155 (199). 
 
 290. I have alfo converfed with the angels on the fubieift 
 of peace, and told them, that the men of our world call that 
 peace, when wars and hoftilities ceafe between nations, and 
 enmity and difcord between neighbours ; and have no other 
 notion of internal peace, than of that which confifts in a free- 
 dom from anxious cares about things future, and efpecially in 
 a pleafing tranquillity of mind arifing from the fuccefs of their 
 temporal affairs : to which the angels replied, that however fuch 
 eafe and tranquillity might, in their opinion, carr}' in them the 
 appearance of peace, yet they had nothing of the true nature 
 of it, except with thofe who were in the principle of coeleftial 
 good, as in that good only the true peace was to be found, fee- 
 ing that it was a pure influence emaning from the Lord into 
 their inmoll or fupericr faculties, and thence defcending into 
 their inferior ones, and fo producing true reft and tranquillity of 
 
 fpiritiial nature are the will, and the underftanding or intellect, fo the divine good 
 of love is the perfection of the former, and the divine light of truth that of the 
 lattcrr ; and that when thefe two principles or faculties in man arc thus dignified 
 and exalted, he is then in his moll: perfect ftate, as having the highi-rt good and 
 truth conjoined or united in him : hence proceeds, derivatively from the Lord, the 
 rclati\ e perfection both of men and angels. 
 
 (198 J That the conjunction of good and truth in a regenerate perfon is effected 
 when in a ftate of peace, n. 3696, 8517. 
 
 (199) That the ftate of peace in heaven is comparatively as a delightful fpring 
 morning on earth, n. 1726, 2780, 5662. 
 
 mind. 
 
 «»!
 
 - [ 1/9 ] 
 
 mind, and the joy that proceeded thence : but as to thofe who 
 are in the evil principle, they know not what peace is (200) j 
 for as to that apparent tranquillity and pleafure which they have, 
 when things go according to their willies, it is all external and 
 fuperiicial only, whilft enmity, hatred, revenge, and wrath, 
 ■^^ ith other evil paiiions, remain unmortified within, and are 
 ready to break out on the firft provocation or incitement, when 
 unrertrained by fear ; and that therefore what pleafure they are 
 capable of is founded on infinity ; but that of thofe who are 
 principled with good, on wifdom, the difference between them 
 being nothing lefs than that which is betwixt hell and heaven. 
 
 Of the Conjunftion of Heaven with Men. 
 
 291. It is a received doflrine in the church, that all good 
 is from God, and none originally from man, and that therefore 
 no one ought to alfume any merit to himfelf on that account : 
 and it is equally confefTed, that evil is from the Devil ; and 
 accordingly it is common for thofe, who fpcak from dodlrine, 
 to fay of fuch as live well, preach the truth, and are of a godly 
 converfation, that they have God for their guide, and the con- 
 trary of fuch as are of bad life and converfation ; but this could 
 not be fo were there no communication between heaven and 
 hell and men, and that with their wills and intellects, as from 
 thcle the body is ailuated, and the mouth fpeaks. What kind 
 of communication or conjundlion this is, Hiall now be fhewed. 
 
 292. There are good fpirits and evil fpirits prefent with 
 every man ; by the former he has communication with heaven, 
 by the latter with hell ; now both thefe kinds of fpirits belong 
 to that intermediate ftate or world of fpirits which is betwixt 
 heaven and hell, of which we Hiall particularly treat hereafter. 
 When thefe fpirits come to any man, they enter into the whole 
 of his memory, and the whole of his thinking ; the evil fpirits 
 
 (200) That the lull arifing from the love of felf, ?nJ tlie love of the world, 
 hinder all true peace, n. 3170, 566?. That fonie place peace in diflipatioii, ami 
 things contrary to the nature of peace, n. 5662. That there can be iiu true peace 
 till evil lulls be firlt eliminated, n. 5662. 
 
 into
 
 [ iSo ] 
 
 II 
 
 into all the evil that is in his memory and thoughts, and the 
 good fpirits into all the good therein : now thcfe Ipirits know 
 nothing of their being in the perlbn, but ail the time they are 
 with him, fuppofe that his memory and thoughts are tlicir own ; 
 neither do they fee him, for the things in our folar world are 
 not objeds of their fight (201). The Lord has in a particular 
 manner provided, that the fpirits fliould not know that they 
 are prcfent with the perfon, for were they to know this, they 
 would converfe with him, and fo the evil fpirits would have 
 power to deflroy himj for as they are conjoined with hell, they 
 covet nothing more earneilly than his dellruttion, not only as 
 to his foul, or which is the fame, his faith and love, but alfo 
 as to his body : but it is far otherwife when they converfe not 
 with him, for in that cafe they know not that they think his 
 thoughts, nor communicate them to their fellow fpirits, for 
 they converfe together from man, as it were by proxy, whilft 
 at the fame time they believe that they think and fpeak from 
 themfelves ; now as it is natural for every one to efteem and love 
 himfelf, fo thefe fpirits are allured to elleeni and love the man 
 [for their own fakes] without knowing that they do fo. That 
 fpirits are thus conjoined with man, I can and do certify from 
 many years full experience. 
 
 293. That fpirits whicli communicate with hell are alfo t. 
 
 joined to man, is becaufe tliat man is born into all kinds of ^ 
 
 evil, which are, as it were, the elements of his natural life ; '^ 
 
 and therefore, unlefs fpirits fimilar to himfelf were joined to 
 him, he could not live, nor confee]uently be reformed and re- 
 generated ; fo that he is continued in life by means of his com- 
 munication with evil fpirits, and attracted to good by the good 
 fpirits, and fo ftands in a kind of equilibrium between both, 
 and in this equilibrium confifts his liberty or free will, whereby 
 he is in a capacity of efchewing the evil, and chufing the good, 
 
 (201) That angels and fpiiits are prefcnt to every man, and that through them 
 he has communication with the Ipiritual world, n. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 
 4048, 5846 to 5866, 5976 to 5993. That man taiinot live without the aflo- 
 cjation of fpirits, n. 5993- I'hat man does not fee thoCc ipirits, nor is feen by 
 them, n. 5885. That fpirits can fee nothing in this folar world belonging to 
 man, unkfs they arc permitted to converfe with him, n. 1880. 
 
 and
 
 [ i8r ] 
 
 ■and alfo of being principled with the latter, which could not 
 be effcdled, were he not ia the power of free will ; nor could 
 he be thus free, did he not lland in the exa(£l medium between 
 the equal influence of evil fpirits on the one hand, and the 
 counter influence of good fpirits from heaven on the other (*). 
 It has likevvife been made known to me, that if man, as now 
 born and conftituted in his prefent fallen flate, had not the 
 power of being in the evil that he chufes, and was deftitute of 
 free will, he could not continue in life ; as alfo that he cannot 
 be compelled to good, forafmuch as what he does by conftraint 
 makes no part of his proper life, nor continues with him ; but 
 that the good which he receives freely, takes root in his will, 
 and fo becomes, as it were, his own property : and hence it is, 
 that man may have communication with hell, and alfo with 
 heaven. . 
 
 294. What kind of communication fubfifts betwixt heaven 
 and good fpirits, and what betwixt hell and evil fpirits, and 
 confequently what kind of conjunftion is formed thereby re- 
 fpe;.'Hvcly, Ihall here be mentioned. All fpirits in the world 
 of fpirits have communication with heaven or hell, the good 
 with the former, the evil with the latter j and both heaven and 
 
 (*) It muft be owned, that the difcoveries held forth to us in this article or 
 fi.»5tion, are no lefs wonderful than important, as explaining man's relation to e;ood 
 and evil fpirits ; his communication with ht.'.ven or hell through them ; and the 
 origin of free will. Surely, 1 think, that human reafon on invention could never 
 luuc hit on thcfe difcoveries, nor that cool unbiaflcd reafon can eafily reject them 
 when offered, efpecially as they fo well confoit with what is recorded in the 
 facrcd writings concerning the agency and influence of fpirits on the human in- 
 tcllLcl and will : nor is it any new point of belief in the church, that the influ- 
 ence and operations of the Holy Spirit on the hearts and minds of pious Chriflians 
 arc conduiSted by the inflrunienf.ility of the good angels, who are ftiled " iiiini- 
 " firing fpirits fent forth to miniller for them who Ihall be he-irs of falvation :" 
 and by like authority we may conclude, that Satan advances the dominion of fin, 
 and " worketh in the hearts of the children of difobedicnce" by the miniftry of 
 Ims evil angels. And as the holy angels are rcprefcnted in Scripture as miniftring 
 in fpiritual things from God to man, fo are they likewifc there reprefentcd as the 
 mediums or conveyancers through which fpiritual facrifices afcend from m.An to 
 Ciod ; thus Rev. viii. 3, 4, " And another angel came, and flood at the altar, 
 " having a golden cciiler ; and there w.is given unto him much inccnfc, that he 
 "• fliould offer it with the prayers of all f.iints upon tlic golden altar wliich was 
 " before the throne : and the fmoke of the incenfe, with the prayers of the faints, 
 " afccnded up before God cut of the angel's hand." Tr. 
 
 Z z hell
 
 [ i82 ] 
 
 hell are diftinguifhed into leparate focietles, to one of which 
 every particular angel belongs, and as he fublilTs by influx from 
 it, fo he co-operates in all things with it : hence it is, that 
 accordingly as a man is joined to fpirits good or bad, lo is he 
 joined to heaven or hell, and alio to that particular fociety in 
 either, which he refembles moft in his afFedlions or prevailing 
 love ; for all the heavenly focieties are clafled according to their 
 affections of good and truth ; and all the infernal focieties ac- 
 cording to their affeftions of evil and falfe. Concerning the 
 focieties of heaven, fee above, n. 41 to 45, as alfo, n. 148 to 
 
 295. As man is with regard to his affections or love, accord- 
 ingly fimilar fpirits are joined to him, the good fpirits by ap- 
 pointment from the Lord ; but the evil fpirits are attradted to 
 him by man's ownfelf, however the fpirits that are for his com- 
 panions are changed according as his affedions vary ; thus one 
 fort attends him in his infixncy, another in childhood, a tliird 
 fort in youth and manhood, and another in old age : in infancy 
 he is attended by fuch fpirits as are more particularly didin- 
 guifhed for their innocence, and as fuch communicate with the 
 inmoft or third heaven ; in early youth by thofe who are in the 
 affedlion of knowledge, or fuch as communicate with the lowelt 
 or firft heaven ; in riper age by thofe who are in the affedion of 
 truth and good, and fo on to intelledual attainments, and as 
 fuch communicate with the fecond or middle heaven ; and in 
 old age they have for their affociated fpirits fuch as excel in 
 wifdom and innocence, and have communication with the inmoll 
 or third heaven : but this affociation or adjundion is effcded bv 
 the Lord in thofe who are in a capacity of being reformed and 
 regenerated, and not in any elfe, it being otherwife with fuch ; 
 for though perfons, who are in no fuch capacity, have good 
 fpirits attending them to keep them from evil, as fiir as it is 
 poflible to be done, yet their dole connexion [co/iju^iclio] is with 
 evil fpirits that communicate with hell, from whence they are 
 fupplied with affociates of like difpofition with thcmfelves : 
 thus, if they are addidcd to felf-love, given to filthy lucre, i 
 revengeful, or adulterers ; in this cafe fimilar fpirits become 
 prefent to them, and unite with their evil affedions ; and where 
 
 fuch 
 
 ^^i?
 
 [ i83 ] 
 
 fuch a one cannot be kept from evil by the good fplrits, they 
 inflame his evil paflions, and enter in and dvv:-ll Vv'itli him. In 
 this manner bad men are joined to hell, and good men to 
 heaven. 
 
 296. That man is thus under the government of fpirits by 
 divine appointment, is becaufe he is not conftitutcd, in his 
 prefent ftate, according to the laws and order of heaven ; but 
 fubjedl, by the depravity of his nature, to the evils which 
 originate from hell, and as fuch contrary to the order of heaven, 
 to which he muft be reltored, which can only be by the miniftry 
 of fpirits, whereas the matter would be otherwife were man 
 born perfeift according to the order of heaven : for in fuch caf& 
 he would not have been under the mediate government of fpirits, 
 but under that of divine inftinvl:, and fubjeft to the general 
 laws of influx ; and by influx man is now governed as to thofe 
 things which proceed from his thoughts and will into acTt : as 
 for example, his words and aftions ; for thefe flow fpontaneoufly, 
 according to the eftablilhed laws of order in this natural world, 
 with which the fpirits that are joined to him have nothing in 
 common. The inferior animals alfo are governed by a general 
 inllindf, or influx from the fpiritual world, for they are in the 
 appointed order of their nature, which they could not corrupt 
 or dcflroy, as being without rationality (202). As to the dif- 
 ference between men and them, fee above, n. 39. 
 
 297. With refpeft to the conjundtion of heaven with man, 
 we are moreover to know, that the Lord adls upon him accord- 
 ing to the eflablifhed laws of order, both inwardly and out- 
 
 (202) That the clifFercnce betv/ccn ihe humim and the bcftial nature confifts in 
 the capacity of the former tu be exalted to a participation of the divine : that 
 nun are qualified by grace to tiijnlc of God, to love hiiu, and to be joined to the 
 Lord, and confequencly to become heirs of eternal life, of which the brute btafts 
 are in no wile capable, 11. 4525, 6323, 9231. That the brutes come into the 
 world in the appointed order of their nature, and tlierefore in a condition every way 
 fuitable thereto ; but that it is otherwife with man, who is to be introduced again 
 into the primitive order and condition of his nature by inftruction, and the im- 
 provement of his iiUelleftual faculties, n. 637, 585O, 6323. That according to 
 the general law of influx in human nature, thought i'pontancoufly forms itfclf 
 into fpeech, and the will into bodily geftures and adts, n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 621 1. 
 Concerning the general laws of influx from the fpiritual world into the lite of 
 brutes, n. 1633, 3646. 
 
 wardly.
 
 [ i84 3 
 
 wardly, and difpofes him to receive the heavenly influence, that 
 fo both parts of his conftitution, viz. the outward and inner 
 man, may mutually co-operate in an uniform obedience to his 
 government. This influx from the Lord is called immediate, 
 and the former by angels, which depends on this, is called 
 mediate influx : immediate influx is from the Lord's Divine 
 Humanity into the will of man, and through the will into the 
 underftanding ; or, in other words, into his good, and through 
 the good into his truth ; or, which amounts to the fame, into 
 his love, and through the lo\e into his faith, but not alternately, 
 or v/Vt' rerfj, much lefs into a fi\ith without love; or into a 
 truth without good; or into underftanding not influenced by 
 the will. This immediate kind of divine influx never ceafes, 
 and is received in the good principle by the good, but not by 
 the evil, for thefe rejeift, fHfle, or pervert it ; and therefore they 
 continue in that kind of evil life, which in a fpiritual fenfe is 
 called death (203). 
 
 298. The fpirits that are aflbciated to a man, whether they » 
 
 be fuch as communicate with heaven, or with hell, never ope- - 
 
 rate on him by influx from their memory and thoughts ; for in 
 that cafe he would be led to millake their memory and thoughts || 
 
 for his own, fee above, n. 256 ; but the influence v.hich he ^ 
 
 receives from heaven through them is afi^ection principled with 
 the love of good and truth, and that which he receives from 
 hell through them is afi-eiftion principled with the love of what 
 is evil and falfe ; and as the man's affecftion is concordant with 
 the influx, fo far he receives it into his mind and thoughts, for 
 
 (2C3) That influx is twofold, immeilinte from tlic Lord, and medintc through 
 the fpiritual world, n-. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That there is an im- 
 mediate influx from the Lord into the moft minute particular things [/>; omnium 
 /ingu/arij/lma] n. 6058, 6474. to 6478, 8717, 8728. That the divine influence 
 extends to the firft aiui lift in all things, and how, n. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 
 7007, 7270. That the d vine influx is into the good property in man, and through 
 good into truth, and not vice -verfa, n. 5482, 5649, 6027 — 10153. That the 
 vital principle flowing; from the Loid is varied accorJing to the ftatc of iiian, and 
 h'\^ reception of it, n. 2069, 5986, 6472, 7343* That in the wicked, the good 
 influx from the Lord is changed into evil, und truth into falfhood ; this from 
 experience, n. 3643, 463Z. That fo much of good and truth is received by influx 
 from the Lord, as is not obftru<5ted by the contrary properties in man, n. 241 1, 
 3142, 3147, 5828. 
 
 man's 
 
 I
 
 [ i85 ] 
 
 man's inward thoiiglits keep pace with his afFedlion or love ; 
 but in proportion to their dilagreement the influx is rejcdted. 
 Hence it appears, that as man receives not his thoughts through 
 the Ipirits, but only the affedtion of good, or of evil, that he 
 is endowed with elecltion, or is free to receive good or evil, con- 
 cerning which he is inlhuJfed in the written Word j now which 
 of thel'e he receives into his mind with affeftion and defire, that 
 becomes his own, or a principle within him ; but what he does 
 not fo receive, that makes no part of himfelf, or is not appro- 
 priated to him. Thus much may fut^ice to fliew the nature of 
 influx of good from heaven, and of evil from hell in man. 
 
 299. It has alfo been given me to know whence anxiety, 
 grief, and that fadnefs of mind, which we call melancholy in 
 man, proceed : there are certain fpirits which are not yet joined 
 to hell, as being newly departed from the body (of which here- 
 after when we come to treat of the world of fpirits) which take 
 delight in things indigefted and putrid, fuch as meats corrupted 
 in the ftomach, and hold their confabulations in fuch flnks of 
 uncleannefs in man, as fuitable to their impure aff"edtions ; now 
 if thefe their afl*edtions are contrary to thofe in man, they be- 
 come in him the occafion of fadnefs and melancholy ; but on 
 the contrary, if they correfpond to his own affedtions, he is 
 pleafed and delighted therewith. Thefe fpirits appear near tq 
 the ftomach, fome to the right, fome to the left of it, fome 
 higher, fome lower, fome nearer, fome more diltant, according 
 to their difl^erent kinds of affedlion ; and that they caufe un- 
 eafinefs of mind, I am fully convinced by much experience : 
 I have Cten and heard them, and felt the un'eafinefs caufed by 
 them, and I have alfo converfed with them : upon their removal 
 the uneafinefs has ceafed, and returned upon their return ; and 
 I have alfo been fenfible of its increafe and decreafe, according 
 to the degrees of their approach or removal refpedtively : and 
 hence I have learnt whence it comes, that they who have no 
 notion of confcicnce, from not having any themfelves, afcribe 
 the anguilh of it to difordcrs in the ftomach or bowels (204), 
 
 300. The 
 
 (204) That they who are without confcicnce themfelves, have no notion nf 
 what confcicnce is, n. 7490, 9121. 'I'hat there are fome, who, when they hc:!r 
 
 A a a mention
 
 [ i86 ] 
 
 ;oo. The communication [conJimSlio] of heaven with man, 
 is with the interiour of his mind, that is, with his fpiritual or 
 inner man, and with his natural or external man by correfpon- 
 dences, of which more particularly in the following article, 
 wherein we Ihall treat of the conjundlion of heaven with man 
 through the Word. 
 
 301. That the conjun(5l:ion of heaven v?ith man is of fuch 
 a nature, that they have a mutual dependence on each other, 
 fhall be fpoken to in the following article. 
 
 302. I have converfed with the angels on this fubjecfl:, and 
 told them, that fuch as are members of the church on earth 
 do indeed dodtrinally hold, that all good is from God, and that 
 angels are prefent with men ; but that few inwardly and truly 
 believe that they are joined to them, much lefs in their thoughts 
 and affedlions. To which the angels replied, that they knew 
 there was fuch a contradicflion betwixt profefTion and aftual 
 belief among men in this matter, and efpecially in the church, 
 which they wondered at the more in thofe who were in pof- 
 feffion of the Holy Scripture, which inftrudled them in the 
 things of heaven, and man's communication therewith, efpe- 
 cially as his power of thinking, and the whole of his fpiritual 
 life, depended on fuch communication and conjunvflion with 
 fpirits : moreover they faid, that the caufe of this ignorance in 
 man was his belief, that he lived wholly from himfelf, without 
 any connexion with the Author and Fountain of Life ; and that 
 his connexion was through tlie medium of the heaven^, and 
 that were this broken or interrupted man would inllantly die. 
 Did man firmly believe, as is the very truth, that all good is 
 only from the Lord, and all evil from hell ; in that cafe he 
 would not affume any merit to jiimfelf on account of the former, 
 
 mention made of coni'ciencc, turn it into jiiiicule, n. 72/7. That fome believe 
 tiisre is no fuch thing ; others, that it is nothing more than fome natural melan- 
 choly or diforder, occafioned by bodily indifpofition, or difappointment in worldly 
 matters j and fome, that it is only fuperftition in vulgar minds, n. 950. That 
 there is a true confcience, a fpurious confcience, and a falfe confcience, n. 1033. 
 That rcmorfe of confcience is an uncafinefs of mind for fonicthing unjull, deceit- 
 ful, or evil, that a man has done, which ho confiders as contrary to his duty to 
 God or his neighbour, n. 7217. That they, and they only have confcience, who 
 love God and their nclghboiir, n. 831, 965, 2380, 7490. 
 
 uor
 
 [ i87 ] 
 
 nor would the latter be imputed to him i but in all the good he 
 thinks or does, he would look up to, and afcribe the praife of 
 it to the Lord, and all the evil wherewith he is tempted he 
 would give back to hell from whence it came ; whereas by dif- 
 believing all influx, either from heaven or hell, and by fup- 
 pollng that all he thinks and wills is in and of himfelf alone, 
 he appropriates to himfelf the evil, and corrupts the good by 
 a vain conceit of felf-righteoufnefs. 
 
 Of the Conjunflion of Heaven with Man 
 
 by the Word. 
 
 303. All who reafon from any depth of thinking know well, 
 that there is a connexion between all things and their firll 
 caufe through intermediate caufes, and that whatever is not fo 
 connecfted mufl; immediately ceafe to be, as nothing can fubfift 
 from itfelf, but from fomething prior to itfelf, and all things 
 from that which is original, or firft ; and that this connexion, 
 with what is prior to itfelf, is an efFedt from its etlicient caufe, 
 which caufe being removed, the efredl neceffarily ceafes. Hence 
 it is become a maxim among the learned, that fubfiftence is no 
 other than a continuation of exiftence ; and that therefore all 
 things fubfifl; from that firft caufe to which they owe their ex- 
 iitence : but as to the particular connexion of every thing with 
 its prior caufe, and fo back to the firil caufe or origin of all 
 things, this is fo multifarious, as not eahly to be defcribed ; 
 and therefore let it fuffice to obferve in general, that there is 
 Inch a connexion betwixt the fpiritual and natural worlds, that 
 ail things in the latter correfpond to thofe in the former, con- 
 cerning which correfpondence, fee n. 103 to 1 1 5 ; as alio that 
 there is a connexion, and confcquently a correfpondence be- 
 tween all things in man, and all things in heaven, of which, fee 
 above, n. 87 to 102. 
 
 304. Man is fo formed by his nature, as to be capable of 
 connexion and conjunftion with the Lord, but only confociation 
 with the angels of heaven ; and why not conjunction, is becaufe 
 
 he,-
 
 [ i8S ] 
 
 he is by creation fimihir to an angel with reipc(fl to his inward 
 man, having a like will and a like underltanding, and therefore 
 after death, if his life had been according to the divine order 
 and laws, becomes an angel, and of like wifdom with the 
 angels ; and therefore by man's conjunction with heaven is meant 
 his conjundlion with the Lord, and his confociation with the 
 angels ; for heaven is not conllituted from any thing proper or 
 peculiar to the angels, but from the Divinity oi' the Lord ; and 
 that this is fo, fee above, n. 7 to 22. But man has, moreover, 
 this privilege above the angels, that he not only belongs to the 
 fpiritual world with refpedt to his interior part, but is alfo an 
 inhabitant of this natural world in refpeft to his exterior or 
 outward man. Now to this latter part of his compofition ap- 
 pertain all things belonging to his natural or external memory, 
 together with his thoughts and imaginations from thence, as in 
 general is his knowledge of arts and fciences, and the natural de- 
 lights thefe yield him ; as likewife his natural fenfes, fpeech, and 
 aiitions, which conftitute the lowefl part of his nature, and are 
 the ultimate things in which the divine influx terminates ; for 
 it pafles through what is intermediate in man to the moft infe- 
 rior parts of his compofition : whence it will appear, that in 
 man is the laft and lowert: dilplay of the divine influx and order, 
 and, as it were, the balis and foundation of it. Now, as fuch 
 is the tranlit of the divine influx through its medium (the an- 
 gelical heaven) to its ultimatum or termination in man ; and 
 as nothing is unconnected or independent, fo the conjundtion 
 of heaven and mankind forms fo clofe and necellary a relation 
 between them, that neither can fublifk without the other ; info- 
 much that men without heaven would be as a cliain without 
 a fattening [catt'/ia ablato unco] and heaven without mankind, 
 as a houfe without a foundation (205). 
 
 305. But 
 
 (205) That notliiiu: cxills from itfcif, but from a prior caufc, and all things 
 from a firft caufc : that they owe their fiibfiftcnce to that from which they derive 
 their exiflcncc, as fiibiiftcncc is a continuation of cxiftcncc, n. 2886, 2888, 3627 
 — 6056. That divine order terminates not fliort of man, but in man as its ulti- 
 matum, n. 634, 2853, 3632 — 10329, 10335, 10548. That internal and fpiri- 
 tual things pafs by fucccllivc order of influx into external and natural things, as 
 into their extreme or limit, where they cxift and fubfill, n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9216, 
 
 9217. 
 
 M 

 
 [ i89 ] 
 
 305. But forafmuch as man has broken his connexion with 
 heaven, by that which has eflranged his afFeftions from heavenly 
 things, and turned them to felf and the world by the love 
 thereof, and fo withdrawn himfelf from good, that he was no 
 longer in a capacity to ferve for a bafis and foundation to heaven j 
 therefore the Lord has gracioufly provided a fubftitute in the 
 room thereof by the medium of the Word, for his conjunftion 
 with heaven ; and how this ferves for fuch a medium has been 
 fhewed in many places of the work intitled Arcana Ccekjlia, or 
 Heavenly Secrets, which are to be found colle<fled together in a 
 little treatife on the White Horfe, fpoken of in the Apocalypfe j 
 as alfo in the appendix to the Heavenly DoBrine, from which 
 fome articles are adduced in the notes underneath (206). 
 
 306. I have been informed, that the moft ancient church 
 on earth had immediate revelations, as their minds and affedlions 
 were turned towards heaven, and therefore, that then there was 
 
 9217. That interior things exift and fubfifl: in their laft ftate in fimultaneous 
 order, n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099. That all things are continued in a chain of 
 connexion from firft to laft, n. 9828. That therefore the firft and laft fignify the 
 whole of any thing, n. 10044, ^03^95 10335 ; and that the ftrength and power 
 of the preceding efficient caufes are continued to the laft effeft, n. 9836. 
 
 (206) That the Word in its literal fenfe is in a natural form, n. 8783 ; and 
 that becaufe things natural are the laft and loweft form of manifcftation belonging 
 to things inward and fpiritual, and therefore ferve as a foundation in nature for 
 the latter to reft on, n. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436. That the Scripture 
 nay ferve to this end, it is formed by correlpondences in nature, n. 1404, 1408, 
 14O9 — 8615, 10687. That the Word being fuch in the literal fenfe, it is as the 
 containing veffel of the inward and fpiritual fenfe, n. 9407 : and that it is accom- 
 modated to the ufe both of men and angels, n. 1769 to 1772, 1887, 2143 — 7381, 
 8862, 10322 : and alfo the connecting medium between heaven and earth, n. 2310, 
 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375. That the conjunction of the Lord with 
 man is by the Word through the medium of its interior fenfe, n. 10375. That 
 this conjundlion is by the Word throughout, and therefore that it is of wonderful 
 virtue and excelltnce above all other writings, n. 10632, 10633, 10634. That 
 fince the Word was committed to writing, the Lord communicates himfelf to man 
 thereby, n. 10290. That the church in which the Word, and by it the Lord, 
 is known, is to thofe who are without the ciiurch, and know them not, as the 
 heart and lungs in man refpe£tively to thofe parts of the body which derive their 
 vital powers from them, n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853. That the univerfal church 
 on earth is before the Lord as one man, n. 7395, 9276. Hence it is, that were 
 there no church on earth where the Word, and by it the Lord, was known, there 
 would be an end of the human race on this globe, n. 468, 637, 931, 4545, 
 ZO452. 
 
 B b b a con-
 
 [ 190 ] 
 
 a conjuiKftion of the Lord with men ; but that after that time 
 there was no fuch immediate revelation, but a mediate one by 
 corrcfpondences, and that their divine worrtiip confilled in thefe j 
 whence the churches of thofe days were called Rcprefentativc 
 Churches, for they then underftood the nature of correfpon- 
 dences and reprefentations, and that all things on earth corre- 
 fponded to fpiritual things in heaven and in the church, or, 
 which fignifies the fame, reprefented them ; wherefore thofe 
 natural things, in which their outward worHiip confilled, ferved 
 them as means to their thinking fpiritually, and fo with the 
 angels. After the fcience of corrcfpondences and reprefentations 
 was loft, then the Word was committed to writing, all the 
 words and fenfes of which are according to the rules of cor- 
 refpondency, and fo containing that Ipiritual or inward fenfe in 
 which the angels underftand them ; for when a man reads the 
 Word, and underftands it in its literal or external meaning, the 
 angels receive it according to its internal or fpiritual fenfe ; for 
 the angels think fpiritually, as men think naturally ; and though 
 thefe two ways of thinking appear widely different, yet they 
 come to the fame by correfpondency. Thus it came to pafs, 
 that after man had broken off his connexion with heaven, the 
 Lord fubftituted the Word as a medium, whereby to reftore 
 that connexion. 
 
 307. In what manner heaven is joined with man by the 
 Word, fliall here be illuftrated by fome paliliges taken from it. 
 The New Jerufalem is defcribed in the Apocalypfe as follows : 
 " I faw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the firft heaven and 
 *♦ the firft earth were paffed away : and I faw the Holy City, 
 *' the New Jerufalem coming down froni God out of heaven : 
 " and the city lieth four fquare, and the length is as large as 
 " the breadth : a:id the angel meafured the city with the reed 
 •' twelve thouland furlongs : the length, and the breadth, and 
 *' the hciglit of it are equal : and he meafured the wall thereof, 
 •' an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to ihc mea- 
 " fure of a man, that is, of an angel : and the building of it 
 " was of jafper ; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear 
 '* glafs : and the foundations of the wall of the city were gar- 
 " nifhed with all manner of precious flones : and the twelve 
 
 ** gates
 
 L 191 ] 
 
 *' gates were twelve pearls ; and the ftreet of the city was pure 
 " gold, as it were tranfparent glafs," ch. xxi. i, 2, 17, i8, 21. 
 When man reads the above delcription, he takes it only in the 
 literal fenfe, as that the vifible heaven and earth rtiall perifli, 
 and be fucceeded by a new heaven and earth, and that on the 
 latter fhall defcend the holy city Jerufalem, of the above given 
 dimenfions : but the angels take it in a very different fenfe, un- 
 derftanding all thofe things fpiritually, which man underflands 
 naturally. Thus, by the new heaven and the new earth they 
 undcrftand the new church, and by the city Jerufalem coming 
 down from God out of heaven, its heavenly dodtrine as revealed 
 by the Lord : by the length, breadth, and height thereof as 
 equal, and by 12000 furlongs they underftand every good and 
 truth contained in that dodlrine in their complex or total : by 
 the wall thereof they underiland the truths which guard and 
 defend that dodlrine, and by the meafure of the wall, viz. 144 
 cubits, which is the meafure of a man, i. e. of an angel, all its 
 auxiliar truths in their complex, and their feveral kinds : by its 
 twelve gates of pearls, they underiland initiatory or introdudtory 
 truths, luch being meant thereby; and by the foundations of 
 the wall of the city, as garniflied with all manner of precious 
 itones, the knowledges [cognit/o?ies] upon which its dodrine is 
 founded ; and by pure gold like unto tranfparent glafs, of which 
 the city and its ftreet confilted, they underiland the good of love, 
 from which the heavenly dodtrine of the new church originates, 
 together with all its clear, convincing truths. Such are the 
 perceptions of the angels as touching thefe things, and fo dif- 
 ferent from thofe of men ; and in this manner the natural ideas 
 of men are converted and changed into fpiritual ideas in the 
 minds of the angels, without the latter knowing any thing of 
 the literal fenfe of the word, as of a new heaven and earth, of 
 a new city called Jerufalem, of a wall and its foundations, and 
 of mealures : however, the thcnu^hts of the angels coincide with 
 the thoughts of men by correfpcjndency, and meet together like 
 the words of the fpeaker, and the ftnic of thofe words in, the 
 mind of the hearer, who attends not to the found, but to the 
 i'cni'e of the words. From what has been faid, it may appear 
 how heaven is joined with man through the medium of the 
 
 Word.
 
 [ 192 ] 
 
 Word. But to illuftrate the matter by another example from 
 the written Word : " In that day Hiall there be a highway out of 
 *' ^gyP^ **^ Aflyria ; and the AfTyrian Hiall come into Egypt, 
 ** and the Egyptian into AlTyria, and the Egyptians iTiall ferve 
 ** with the Allyrians. In that day iliall Ifrael be the third with 
 '* ^SyP^ ^""^ with Allyria, even a blefling in the midfl; of the 
 " land, whom the Lord of ho/Is fliall blefs, laying : Blefied be 
 " E2:ypt my people, and AfTyria the work of my hands, and 
 ** and Ifrael mine inheritance," Ifai. xix. 23, 24, 25. The 
 difference in thinking and underltanding between angels and 
 men, on reading the above paflage, will appear by giving both 
 the literal and the fpiritual fenie of it. Now, according to the 
 former, men underfland, as meant thereby, that the Egyptians 
 and Affyrians are to be converted, and find acceptance with 
 God, and to make one church in conjuncflion with the people of 
 Ifrael : but the angels interpret it fpiritually, of the man of the 
 fpiritual church, who is there meant, according to the inward 
 fenfe ; and whofe fpiritual part is fignified by Ifrael, his natural 
 part by the Egyptian, and his rational part (which is the me- 
 dium between the two former) by the Affyrian (207) : and yet 
 both thefe fenfes meet in one by correfpondence ; and there- 
 fore, at the fame time that the angels think and underftand in 
 a fpiritual, and men in a natural manner, they are conjoined 
 like body and foul, the internal fenfc of the word being, as it 
 were, the foul, and the literal fenfe its body. Such is the Word 
 throughout, and confequently a fit medium of conjunction be- 
 tween heaven and man, to which the literal fenfe ferves for the 
 bafis or foundation. 
 
 308. There is alfo a conjundtion of heaven, through the 
 Word, with thofe that are without the church, and have not 
 the Word ; for the church of the Lord is catholick or univerfal, 
 confifting of all who believe in a God, and live in charity one 
 with another, for fuch after death are iufirudted by the angels, 
 
 (207) That Egypt and Egyptian in the Word fignifies natural [naturale], and 
 f hence fcientifick, n. 4967, 5079, 5080 — 9340, 93 iQ. That Afhur or Affyrian 
 lignifies rational [rationale], n. 119, 1186. That I(racl fignifies fpiritual [fpiri- 
 tuale], n. 5+14, 5801, 5803, 5812, 5806, 5817, 5826, 5951 — 6868, 7201, 8805, 
 9340- 
 
 and
 
 [ m ] 
 
 and become partakers of divine truth (208) ; of which here- 
 after in its proper place, when we come to treat of the Heathens. 
 The univerfal church in the fight of the Lord is as one man, 
 as was faid before of heaven, n. 59 to 72 : but the church where 
 tlie Word is, and whereby the Lord is known, is as the heart 
 and hmgs in that man. It is well known that all the vifcera 
 and members of the body derive life from the heart and lungs 
 through various channels and conveyances; fo that part of man- 
 kind which is without the church where the Word is, yet derive 
 virtue from it, as members of the fame body : the conjunction 
 of heaven, through the Word, with thofe that are at a diilance 
 from the church, and therefore have it not, may alfo be com- 
 pared to light propagated from its center to the circumference ; 
 now in the Word is divine light, and therein the Lord is pre- 
 fent, and difFufes light, in a meafure, from thence to all that 
 are afar off; which would not be fo but for the Word. This 
 may be farther elucidated by what has been faid before con- 
 cerning the form of heaven, according to which the confocia- 
 tions and communications therein are regulated : but this is 
 among thofe fecrets of wifdom, which are to be underftood by 
 fpiritual minds only ; for as to thofe who are pofleffed of natural 
 light, it will be too hard for them, as the former difcover in- 
 numerable things, which the latter fee not, or fee but very 
 obfcurely. 
 
 309. Unlefs fuch a Divine Word had been difpenfed to the 
 inhabitants of this world, they would have been feparated from 
 heaven, and in that cafe would have ceafed to be rational crea- 
 tures ; for the rationality of our nature proceeds from the influx 
 of heavenly light : befides, men here are fo conftituted, as not 
 to be capable of immediate revelation, and fo to be inflrudled 
 
 (208) That the church, in a more efpecial fenfe of the word, means that church 
 which is in pofTcffion of the \Voicl, and where the Lord is known by means thereof, 
 and confequtntly where divine truths are revealed from heaven, n. 3857, 10761. 
 That in a larger fenfe of the word, the church of the Lord confifts of all through- 
 out the whole world, who lead a good life according to that religion which they~ 
 profefs, n. 3263, 6637, 1 0765. That all who do fo, wherever they are, and 
 believe in God, are accepted of the Lord, n. 2589 to 2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 
 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256 ; and alfo all infants wherefoevcr they axe born, n. 2289 
 to 2309, 4792. 
 
 C c c 
 
 m
 
 [ 194 ] 
 
 in divine truths, like the inhabitants of other worlds (of whom 
 I have treated in a dillin(5t fmall piece) as being more in eartlily 
 affedions than them, and confequently more outward, whereas 
 they are the inward and fpiritu.d only, who are receptive of fuch 
 revelation ; for if they who are otherwife rtiould receive it, yet 
 divine truths would not enter into their intelleftual faculties : 
 and that fuch is the nature of men now o'days on earth, is evi- 
 dent from many within the church, who, although they have 
 been inftrucfted from the Word concerning heaven and hell, and 
 a life after this, yet remain unbelievers in their hearts ; among 
 whom are fome who have fhewed an ambition of being tliought 
 more learned than their neighbours, and confecjuently from 
 whom might have been expected greater proofs of wifdom than 
 from many others. 
 
 310. I have fometimes difcourfcd with the angels concerning 
 the Word, and told them, that fome held it in contempt on 
 account of the fimplicity of its ftyle ; and that as its internal 
 fenfe was no longer underftood, therefore few believed that it 
 contained fuch a rich treafure of wifdom : to which the angels ^, 
 
 replied, that though the ftylc of the Word in the fenfe of the t 
 
 latter appeared fo limple, yet nothing was comparable to it for 
 excellence, as it contained divine wifdom, not only in every 
 fenfe, but in every word, and that the illumination therefrom 
 was manifefl: in heaven, meaning thereby that it was the light 
 of heaven, as being divine truth ; for divine truth has a vifihle 
 fplendor in heaven, fee above, n. 132. Moreover they faid, 
 that without fuch a Divine Word men on earth would have no 
 divine light, nor any conjuncftion with heaven ; for in propor- 
 tion to the former is the latter, and alfo every one's meafure of 
 revealed truth : that man's ignorance as to fuch conjundion 
 through the fpiritu.il fenfe of the Word, in corrcfpondence with 
 its natural fenfe, is the caufc of his ignorance likewife as touch- 
 ing tiie fpiritual perception and language of the angels, and the 
 difference between theirs and thofe of us poor mortals in this 
 our naturd Hate ; without underltanding fomething of which, 
 he can form no judgment concerning the fpiritual fenfe of the 
 Word, and how thereby man may be conjoined with heaven. 
 They moreover fiid, that if man believed that fuch an inward 
 
 and
 
 [ ^95 I 
 
 and fpirltual fenfe belonged to the Word, and in fome fort 
 framed his mind according thereto on reading it, he would 
 advance in wifdom's fchool, and to a nearer conjundtion with 
 heaven, through a greater conformity to the angels in fpiritual 
 conceptions. 
 
 That Heaven and Hell are from Mankind. 
 
 311. That heaven and hell arc from mankind, is a do(5lrine 
 entirely unknown in the Chriftian world, it being therein be- 
 lieved by all, that the angels were firft created fuch, and fo 
 heaven became their dwelling ; and that the Devil or Satan was 
 an angel of light, but on revolting from his obedience was caft 
 down from heaven, together with his rebellious crew, and that 
 fo hell came from them. That fuch a belief fliould prevail 
 among Chriftians is matter of aftonifhment to the angels, and 
 a ftill greater, that they fhould be under a total ignorance as to 
 heaven, though it ought to be fo fundameiftal a dodtrine in the 
 church : as men have been fo long in darknefs touching thefe 
 important points, the angels expreflbd great joy that the Lord 
 was pleafed now at laft to vouchfafe to them farther difcoveries 
 concerning heaven and hell, in order, as far as poffible, to difpel 
 that darknefs which has continued to increafe upon them, and 
 that the rather, as the church [with refped: to its prefent dif- 
 pcnfation] has now entered upon its lafl period, and is near to 
 the end of it '. therefore it is their delire that I would declare 
 upon affurance from them, that there is not a fingle angel in 
 the univerfal heaven that was created fuch at firft, nor a fingle 
 devil in all hell that had been an angel of light, and afterwards 
 caft out from heaven ; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, 
 are of the human race -, in the former, fuch as had lived in the 
 world in heavenly love and faith, and in the latter, fuch as had 
 lived in hellifli aftecftions and difpohtions ; and that the whole 
 of hell taken colleftively, or in its complex, is called the Devil 
 and Satan, as well that hell which is behind (*), in which arc 
 
 (*) Here the author is to be underftood as fpraking of the fituation of thing'? 
 Riul places as thiy ujipear to the Ipectator in the Ipirituai world, ;tnd which always 
 
 ha;c
 
 [ 196 ] 
 
 the evil genii called the Devil, and that hell which appears in 
 front, in which are the evil I'pirits called Satan (209) ; of which 
 fhall be I'poken more dilHiKflly hereafter. They moreover faid, 
 that the erroneous belief of the Chrillian world on thefc fiib- 
 je(fls proceeded from certain palfages in the Word taken accord- 
 ing to their literal fenfe, and not illuftrated by the light of 
 genuine dodlrine, as delivered in the fame Word ; and that the 
 letter of Scripture, if not underftood and explained by the 
 rule of the latter, often mifleads the mind into miftakes and 
 erroneous opinions, from which have arifen herefies in the 
 church (210). 
 
 312. The forementioned error in Chriftian men has given 
 occafion to that other in believing, that no one goes to heaven 
 or hell before the time of the laft judgment, when they fuppofe 
 that the prefent vifible frame of things fliall perilh, and be 
 fucceeded by a new creation, and that our fouls fliall then be 
 reunited to our bodies, and fo we fliall live again as men ; and 
 this belief is connecftcd with that of the angels having been 
 created angels from the beginning, as it cannot be thought that 
 heaven and hell are inhabited by the human race, if none of 
 them go to either before the end of the world : but that the 
 matter may appear from evidence to be othcrwife, the privilege 
 of being in company with angels has been granted to me, and 
 alfo of converfing with fome that are in hell, and that now for 
 
 have the fame afpe£l with rcfpeft to his body, as to right anJ left, bchiiiJ and 
 bt^ore, above and beneath, &c. wherefocver he is, or which way foc\er he turns, 
 fee before, n. 123, 124. Tr. 
 
 (209) That the heils in thtir complex, or the infernals cone(ftively, are called 
 the Devil and Satan, n. 694. That they who were devils in this world become 
 devils after their death, n. 968. 
 
 (210) That the dodlrine of the church muft be taken from the ^V'^o^d, n. 3464, 
 5402, 6832, 10763, 10765. That the Word, as to particulars, is only to be 
 underftood by the general tenor of its doctrine, n. 9021, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 
 10431, 10582. That true dotSrine is a light to thofi- who read the VVord, n. 
 10401. That genuine doctrine muft come from thofc who are in illuftration from 
 the Lord, n. 251c, 2516, 2519, 10105. That they who Tclk in the letter, with- 
 out any knowledge of doctrine, attain not to the underftanding of divine truths, 
 n. 9409, 9410, 10582 ; and alfo fail into many errors, n. 10431. The difference 
 between thofe who teach and learn from the doftrine of the church, as taken 
 from the Word, and thofe who go by the fenfc of the letter only, n. 9025. 
 
 feveral 
 
 I
 
 [ 197 ] 
 
 feveral years together, fometimes from morning till dV'ening, 
 and fo to receive: information concerning both kingdoms j and 
 this to tlie end tivat Chriftian men may no longer continue in 
 their miftaken notions concerning the rcfurrcftion at the hn-il 
 judgment, the ftate of fouls in the mean time, and alio conccrninjj 
 angels and the devil ; which notions, being founded on a fal(e 
 belief, introduce darknefs into the mind, and in thole who arc 
 led entirely by their own reafonings, engender doublings, and 
 at length a total denial of the truth itfelf, whilll they argue 
 thus with themfelves : How can it be that fuch a glorious hea- 
 ven, with all its rich furniture of ftars, together with fun and 
 moon, lliould be deftroyed and perilh ; and how can the ftars 
 fall down from heaven to the earth, which are fo much bigger 
 than it ? How can bodies, after they have been devoured by 
 worms, palled through corruption, and been fcattered by winds 
 to the four corners of the heavens, be reftored to their proper 
 forms for the ufe of their refpeftive fouls ; and what, in the 
 mean time, becomes of the foul, and what fort of a being is it 
 without all fenfe ? With many fuch like difficulties, which, 
 being unintelligible, fall not within the province of faith, and, 
 with refpeiH to many, beget infidelity concerning the immor- 
 tality of the foul, heaven and hell, and other articles of faith 
 as held by the church ; and that they have been producftive of 
 fuch effect we have a proof in all thofe who fay, Who ever came 
 from heaven to tell us what fort of a place it is ? or who from 
 the other world to tell us whether there be fuch a place as hell ? 
 What means beine tormented for ever in fire ? and what the 
 diiy of judgment ? Have not men looked for it many ages in 
 vain ? with many fuch like fpceches, fhewing rank dilhelief of 
 all the articles of the Chriftian faith : left therefore fuch like 
 infidels (among whom are too many of the wife of this world, 
 who pafs for great fcholars) fliould any longer confound and 
 feduce the fimple-heartcd, and fuch as are weak in the faith, 
 fpreading darknefs over the minds of men in relation to the 
 belief of a God, of heaven, of eternal life, and of fuch truths 
 i[^ depend thereon, therefore the Lord has been pleafed to open 
 my fpiritual eyes and fenfes, and given me to converfc with all 
 whom I knew in the body after their departure from it, with 
 
 D d d fomc
 
 [ 198 ] 
 
 fome for days, fome for months, and fome for a year together; 
 and alfy with fo many otliers, that I flioiild come Ihort of the 
 truth were I to reckon tlie number of them all at a hundred 
 thou(^\nd, many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell. 
 I alio fpake with fome two days after their deceafc, and told 
 them that their friends were at that time preparing for their 
 funeral ; to which they replied, that they did well to remove 
 out of the way what was no longer of ufe to them, as it had 
 been, r.nd hade me to tell them, that they were not dead, but 
 yere as truly living men as before ; having only palled out of 
 one world into another, and did not know that they had loft 
 any thing by the change, having a body and fenfes as before, 
 with underftanding and will, as alfo like thoughts, affedfions, 
 and defires, as when they lived in this world. Moft of thofe 
 who w'ere newly departed, on finding themlelves living men as 
 before, and in a fimilar Hate of mind (for immediately after 
 death every one's ffate of life is the fame as when he left this 
 world, but is fuccefiively and gradually changed either for hea- 
 ven or hell) they were affedled with a new kind of joy at their 
 being alive, and laid that they could fcarce believe their fenfes ; 
 and yet wondered at their former hebetude and blindnefs with 
 refpedl to a future flate, and more particularly, that profclTing 
 members of the Chrillian church ihould remain in darknefs as 
 to thefe points of faith, who have opportunities, above all per- 
 fons in the world, of being thoroughly inftrudled in them (211) ; 
 and that they then for the firft time faw the true caufe of this 
 
 (211) That at this day few in the Chriftian world believe that man fliall rife 
 again immediately after death, Pref. to ch. xvi. of Gen. rnd n. 4622, 1075S ; but 
 not till the time of the lali judgment, upon the dilTolution of this vifiblc world, 
 n. 10594. The caufe of this belief, n. 10594, 10758. That notwiihftanding, 
 man will rife again immediately after death, and will be a living man in all re- 
 fpcdts, n. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, H991, 10594, 10758. That the foul which 
 lives after death is the fpirit of a man, which is, properly fpeaking, his true man, 
 zni has a pcrted human form in the next life, n. 322, 188c, 1881, 3633, 4622, 
 4735, 5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594, from experience, n. 4527, 5006, 
 8939 ; from the Word, n. 10597. An explanation of what is meant by the dead 
 being fccn in the holy city. Matt, xxvii. 53. n. 9229. How a man is raifcd from 
 the dead, by experience, n. 168 to 189. Concerning his Itatc after his rcfufcit»- 
 tion, n. 317, 318, 319, 2119, 5079, 10596. Falfe opinions concerning the foul 
 and its refurrcftion, n. 444, 445, 4527, 4022, 4658. 
 
 ignorance^
 
 [ 199 ] 
 
 ignorance, which is, that external things, fuch as mundane and 
 corporeal, have lb captivated and filled their minds, as to render 
 them unreceptive of the light of heaven, and of the truths 
 maintained in the church, any farther, than as to doflrinal 
 knowledge [not as principles of life] and that from fuch earthly 
 and fenfiial affecftions arifes a darknefs with refpeift to any thing 
 farther than niere fpeculative belief. 
 
 313. Many of the learned from the Chriftian world, when 
 they rind themfelves, after death, in a body, in garments, and 
 in houfes, are in amazement ; and when they recolleft their 
 former thouglits concerning a future ll:ate, the foul, fpirits, 
 heaven, and hell, they are covered with fliame, own their paft 
 infatuation, and that the fimple, illiterate believer was far wifer 
 than themfelves. On fcrutinizing into fome of thefe learned 
 fophifters, who had confirmed themfelves in their errors, and 
 particularly in afcribing all to nature, it was found that their 
 interior or fpiritual part was flmt againft all influx from heaven, 
 and their exterior or natural open and expanded, fliewing that 
 they had not turned their thoughts and affedions to heavenly 
 things, but to things earthly, fenfual, and devililh : for accord- 
 ing to the opening or fliutting of the fpiritual or natural part in 
 nian refpedtively, fo are his thoughts and affections direfted to 
 things above, or things beneath ; and as his interiour is formed 
 Jbr the reception of heavenly things, and his exteriour for the 
 things of this world, fo if he receives only the latter, without 
 any thing of heaven at the fame time, he receives likewife an 
 evil influx from the kingdom of darknefs along with them (212). 
 
 314. That the inhabitants of heaven are of the human race» 
 may alfo be gathered from hence, that the minds of angels and 
 men are alike, both poffefs the fame faculties of underltanding,. 
 perceiving, and willing, and both arc equally formed to- receive 
 the heavenly virtue and powers ; for the human mind is capable 
 of like wifdom with the angelical, and the only reafbn why 
 men are not as wife in this world as the angels, is becaufe they 
 
 (212) That in man are conjoined the fpiritual and natural worlds, n. 6057. 
 That the internal or fpiritual part of man is formed after the image of heaven, 
 and his external or natuial part after the image of this woild, n. 3628, 4523> 4524> 
 6057, 6314, 9706, 10156, 10472. 
 
 arc
 
 [ 20O ] 
 
 are here confined to earthly bodies, and in fuch a prifon the 
 fprritual mind can only think naturally, or according to the 
 nature it is joined to -, but when it is fct at liberty therefrom, 
 it no longer performs its operations naturally, but fpiritually, 
 Itretches itfelf beyond the reacli of mortal ken, comprehends 
 things inconceivable by the natural man, and pofiell'cs the wif- 
 dom of an angel ; from whence we may gather, that the inte- 
 rior part in man, called his Spirit, is, in its efience, angelical, 
 fee above, n. 57 (213); and when delivcx-ed from its earthly 
 prifon, appears in the fame perfect human form with the angels : 
 that fuch is their form, fee above, n. 73 to 77 : but when man's 
 internal principle is not open in its fuperior part, but only in 
 its inferior, then, after his feparation from the body, he con- 
 tinues indeed to appear in a human form, but in fuch a one as is 
 deformed and diabolical ; nor can he look up to heaven, but 
 only down to hell. 
 
 315. He that is inftrutfled in the nature of the divine order, 
 may alfo know, that man was created fo as to become an ajigel, 
 forafmuch as the divine order terminates in him, n. 304, and 
 makes a part of his original compofition ; confequently, heavenly 
 or angelical wifdom may be formed, renewed, and augmented 
 in him. Divine order does not flop fhort of its utmoft polliblc 
 progrefs, for if fo, it would not be full and perfect ; but it 
 proceeds to its ultimatum or limit ; and when it has attained 
 thereto, it proceeds afrefli (according to the divine fecundity 
 therein, and by the ufe of appointed means) to new formations ; 
 and thefe it effeiils by the means of procreation, which fo be- 
 comes a new fcminary and difplay of the divine wifdom and 
 wonders. 
 
 316. That our Lord rofe again, not only as to his fpirit, but 
 iilfo as to his body, was becaufe, when in the world, he glori- 
 fied, that is, divinized his whole Hunianity ; for the foul which 
 he received from the Father was the Divinity itfelf [cxje ipfiwi 
 
 (213) That there arc as many degrees of life in man as there are heavens, and 
 that they are opened in him after death, according as his life has been, n. 3747, 
 9594. That heaven is in man, n. 3884. That men, who Ii\c in love and charity, 
 have in themfclves angelical wifdom, but hidden here ; and that they enter upon 
 it after this life, n. 2494. That the man, who is recipient of the good of love 
 and faith from the Lord, is called anjjcl in the Word, n. 10528. 
 
 Dh'mum 
 
 f.
 
 [ 2or ] 
 
 Dhinum fuit'\ and the body was formed after the fimilitude of 
 the foul, that is, of the Father, and fo alfo was made divine ; 
 and therefore he rofe again as to both (214), differently from 
 all other men ; which he alfo declared to his difciples when 
 they took him for a fpirit, faying, " Behold my hands and my 
 " feet, that it is I myfelf: handle me, and fee; for a fpirit 
 " hath not fleljh and bones, as ye fee me have," Luke xxiv. 39, 
 By which he made it appear, that he was man, not only as to 
 his fpirit, but alfo as to his body. 
 
 317. That it might be made known, by fenfible evidence, 
 that man lives after death, and goes to heaven or hell, according 
 to the life which he lived in the body ; therefore many things 
 have been manifefted to me concerning the ftate of man after 
 .death, of which hereafter, when we come to treat of the world 
 of fpirits. 
 
 Concerning the Gentiles, or People without 
 the Church, in Heaven. 
 
 318. It Is a common opinion, that all who are born and 
 die without the pale of the church, fuch as are called Heathens 
 or Gentiles, are not in a way of falvation, as being without the 
 Word, and fo remaining ignorant of the Lord, without whom 
 none can be faved ; and yet we may better conclude on the other 
 hand, that they are in a falvable flate, bccaufe the *' Lord's 
 " mercy is over all his works," and therefore he is merciful to 
 every man, they being men as well as thofe who are born within 
 the pale of the church, and by far the greater number ; and 
 alfo becaufe it is not their fault that they know not the Lord : 
 befides, every one that is in any good degree rational will con- 
 clude, that the Lord made none of fet purpofe for hell, as he is 
 love itfelf, and that it muft be a property of divine love to will 
 the falvation of all men j to which end he has provided, that 
 all fliouid have fome religion, and confequently fome fenfe of 
 
 (214) That man rifcs again only in fpirit, n. 10593, i°594- That the Lord 
 alone rofe again alfo with his body, n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825. 
 
 E e e a God,
 
 [ 202 ] 
 
 a God, and of an Inward fpiritual life, for that all religion 
 teaches, iiiafmuch as it refpeds God, and lb far it turns the 
 tlioughts from the world, and from outward things (215). 
 
 319. That the Heathens are in a falvable flate, as well as 
 Chrillians, is eafy for fuch to know, as know what conltitutes 
 heaven in man ; for heaven, ftridtly fpeaking, is within him, 
 and tlicy who have the heavenly principle within them, and 
 cherilh it, may go to heaven. Heaven is faid to be in man, 
 when he owns a God, and conforms to his will : this is a fun- 
 damental in all religion, without which it cannot fubfiil: j and 
 all religion teaches, that God is to be worfhipped in fome 
 manner, fo as to render the worfliipper acceptable to him. This 
 is an acknowledged principle in the mind of man, and fo far 
 as he is led by it, fo far he afts conformably to the will of God 
 and his confcience. It is well known that the Heathens lead 
 as moral lives as Chrillians, and many of them excel profefling 
 Chriftians in this particular : now morality is that which we 
 pradlife either in refpecfl to God, or in refpetfl to men ; and the 
 former is called the fpiritual life : both outwardly appear alike, 
 but inwardly and in principle they are very different : the one 
 is profitable to falvation ; the other is not ; for he who lives 
 a moral life, as commanded by God, fuch a one is adluated by 
 a divine principle ; but he who does the fame only from human 
 refpedts, is aftuated by a felfifli principle. To illuftrate this by 
 an example: He that forbears to injure his neighbour, becaufe 
 it would be adting contrary to religion, and confequently to the 
 divine will, fuch forbearance is from a fpiritual origin ; but he 
 that refrains from doing the like only through fear of the law, 
 of lofs of character, honour, or advantage ; fuch a one's re- 
 
 (215) That the Gentiles arc faved as ■well as the Chriftians, n. 932, 1032^ 
 1059, 2284, 2589, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197. Of the lot of the Gentilcf, and 
 of people without the church in the other world, n. 2589 to 2604. That the 
 church, in a more fpecial fcnfe of the word, is that which is in pofi'c/Tion of the 
 Divine Word, and where the Lord is thereby known, n. 3857, 10761 : yet not 
 fo to be undcrRood, as if all who had thefe advantages were of the true church, 
 but only fuch therein as live in faith and charity, n. 6637, 10143, 10153, 10578, 
 10645, 10829. That the catholick church of the Lord confifts of all throughout 
 the whole world that lead good lives according to the religion they know, and 
 acknowledge a Supreme Being ; and that fuch are accepted of the Lord, and go 
 to heaven, n. 2589 to 2604, 2861 — 6700, 9256. 
 
 flraint
 
 [ 203 ] 
 
 ftraint from evil being only from felfiih and worldly refpeds, it 
 has nothing of virtue or religion in it ; and as the former is a 
 ipiritual, fo the latter is a mere natural man ; in the one a hea- 
 venly influence opens his interior, and fo proceeds to operate in 
 his exterior life ; in the other a worldly principle from beneath 
 influences his external man, but not his internal ; for no influx 
 is from the natural to the fpiritual world, but vice verja : where- 
 fore, if the good principle from above is not received at the 
 fame time, the interior gate in man becomes iliut, and fuch a 
 one altogether a man of this world : hereby we may know who 
 they are who receive heaven into themfelves, and who do not. 
 But heaven, or the heavenly principle, is not the fame in one 
 as in another, but diifers in every one according to his aifeftion 
 of good and its truth : thus, they who are in the affedlion of 
 good from love to God, they alfo love divine truth, for good 
 and truths of the fame kind love one another by fympathy, and 
 tend to union (216] ; and therefore the Heathens, though they 
 be not in genuine truths in this world, yet in the love-principle 
 receive them in the next. 
 
 320. A certain fpirit from the Heathen world, who had 
 lived in all good charity in his life here, being in company with: 
 fome Chriftian fpirits, heard them difputing on the articles of 
 their belief (for fpirits reafon, efpecially on the nature of good 
 and truth, more fully and acutely than men) upon which, ex- 
 preffing fome furprize at the warmth of their controverfy, he 
 fiid, that he could not endure to hear any more of it, for that 
 their difputc was merely from appearances and fallacies, faying 
 to them thus : If I am in the good principle, I can eafily know 
 the truths that proceed from it, and thole which I fee not at 
 prefcnt may be given me hereafter. 
 
 321. I have been fully taught, that the Heathens, who have 
 led a good moral life, in becoming obedience and fubordination,. 
 and in mutual charity, according to the religion they knew, 
 
 (216) That there is a coiiiurnftlon, like that of marriage, betwreen good and 
 truth [bonum et verumi n. 1094, 2173, 2503. That good and truth ha\e a per- 
 petual tendency to union, and that every good dcfircs its proper truth, and to be 
 united to it, n. 9206, 9207, 9495. How good and truth are joined together, and 
 in whom, n. 3834, 3843, 4C96, 4097—7623 to 7627, 9258. 
 
 and
 
 [ 204 ] 
 
 and thence derived a principle of confcience, arc accepted in 
 the other life, and are there diligently inflruifted by the angels 
 ill all things of good and truth refpec'Ving faith, and readily 
 receive truths fo as to be principled with tiiem, behaving with 
 great modefty, and (hewing a teachable difpofition ; and that 
 they receive inflruftion the more readily, as not having been 
 tindured with erroneous doctrines or prejudices againll the 
 truths of faith, and as fuch to be firll: purged from their minds, 
 much lefs with heretical doftrines concerning our Lord's divine 
 perfon, like many profefiing Chriflians, v\'ho entertain no other 
 conception of him than as of another man ; whereas the Gen- 
 tiles, on the contrarv, as foon as they are informed that God 
 became man, and manifelled himfelf to the world in our nature, 
 they prefently acknowledge and adore the Lord, faying j " It 
 •* muft: needs be true, that God did fo manifeft himfelf, as he 
 " is the God of heaven and earth, and as the human race are 
 *' his offspring" (217). It is indeed a divine truth, that with- 
 out the Lord there is no falvation ; but then it is to be under- 
 ftood thus, viz, that there is no falvation, but from the Lord. 
 There are many worlds in the univerfe, and thofe full of inha- 
 bitants ; and yet very few among them know any thing of our 
 Lord's having afiumed the human nature in this our world j but 
 neverthclefs, as they worfhip the Deity under a human form, 
 they are accepted of the Lord, and taken under his guidance. 
 Concerning which fubjedl, fee a little piece intitled, Df Tellu- 
 ribiis in Univerfo, Of the Worlds in the Univerfe. 
 
 322. There are among the Heathens, as well as Chriflians, 
 both wife and fimple ; and that I might know the difference, 
 
 (217) The difference between the good of the Gentiles, and the good of the 
 Chriftians, n. 4189, 4197- Of truths among the Gentiles, n. 3263, 3778, 4190. 
 That the inner gate of the mind in the Gentiles cannot be fo fhut againft the 
 divine influx as in Chriftians, n. 9256 : nor can truth be vailed from the fight of 
 the firmer by fo thick a cloud, if they live up to the religion they have, as in the 
 cafe of Chriftians who li\'e without charity, and the caufcs of this, n. 1059, 9256. 
 That the Gentiles cni-.not profane holy things like the Chriftians, as the former 
 are in ignorance concerning them, n. 1327, 1328, 2051. That the Heathens are 
 afraid of the Chriitians on account of their bad lives, n. 2596, 2597. That fuch 
 among the Heathens as have lived good lives according to the light they had, are 
 inftrufted by the angels, and readily receive the truths of faith, and acknowledge 
 the Lord's Divinity, n. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600, 2601, 2603, 2661, 2863, 3263. 
 
 I was
 
 [ 205 ] 
 
 I was allowed to converfe with both, fomctlmes for hours, at 
 others for days together ; but of the wife, few fuch are to be 
 found now as in former times, particularly in the ancient church, 
 which fpread over a great part of Afia, and from whence reli- 
 gion was propagated in many other countries ; that I might 
 judge of their abilities, it was allowed me to have familiar can- 
 verfation with fome of them j and accordingly I was in com- 
 pany with one, who was formerly in high reputation for his 
 ■wifdom, and as fuch well known in the learned world, with 
 whom I difcourfed on various fubjeds, and it was imprefl'ed 
 upon my mind that he was Cicero ; and knowing him to be a 
 man of underftanding, I reafoned with him on wil'dom, on in- 
 telledlual knowledge, on order, on the Word, and, laflly, on 
 the Lord : concerning wifdom he faid, that nothing deferved 
 that name, but what related to the condu^fl of life ; and as to 
 true intelleiflual knowledge, that it was the offspring of wif- 
 dom : with refpedt to order, he faid, that it proceeded from the 
 moft high God, and that to live according to it was the beft 
 wil'dom and underftanding : in regard to the Word ; when i read 
 to him a portion from the prophetick writings, he appeared 
 highly delighted, and in particular, that all the names and 
 words therein had an inward and fpiritual meaning, expreffing 
 his wonder at the fame time, that the learned now o'days did 
 not take delight in the ftudy of it ; whereby I could plainly 
 perceive that his mind was inwardly enlightened. Moreover, he 
 laid, that he was not able to attend farther to my reading, as 
 the facred influence that flowed in upon him was too much for 
 his faculties to bear : at laft we entered into difcourfe concern- 
 ing the Lord ; of his being born man, but conceived by the 
 Deity ; and how he put off the human part received from his 
 mother, and put on the Divine Humanity ; and that he is the 
 Great Governor of the univerfe. To which he anfwered, that 
 he knew many things concerning the Lord, which he under- 
 ftood according to the meafure of his capacity ; and that man- 
 kind could not have been faved by any other means. At this 
 time certain heretical profefling Chrifl:ians prefent fuggefted fome 
 fcandalous things on what had been fiid, which he Teemed not 
 to regard in the lealt, faying, no wonder if they, who had cor- 
 
 F f f rupted
 
 [ 2C6 ] 
 
 ruptcd their minds in their bodily life-time with futli irreverent 
 notions on tlicfe fubjecfls, were harder to be convinced than the 
 ignorant, who were not tainted in like manner. 
 
 323. It was alfo allowed me to converl'c with others who 
 lived in old times, who were diftinguilhed fur wil'dom : at iirft 
 they appeared in front at a diftance, and could even there dif- 
 cover my fccret thoughts with fuch fagacity, as to know from 
 a finglc idea the whole train to which it belonged, and alfo how 
 to fill my mind with pleafing images and iiillruc^ive emblems 
 of wifdom ; from which it was eafy to judge, that they were 
 fages of an eminent clafs ; and it was told me, that they were 
 ancients of renown : they then drew nearer, and as I read to 
 them a portion of the Word, the;y appeared greatly delighted j 
 and I could perceive, that it gave them a more particular plea- 
 fure to find that all and fingular the things I read to them out 
 of the Word, were reprefentative and defcriptive of coeleAial and 
 fpiritual things : they told me, that when they lived upon earth, 
 their manner of thinking, fpeaking, and writing, was of tlw; 
 fame kind, and therein confifted their fludy of wifdom. 
 
 324. As to the modern Heathens, they come iliort of the 
 ancient in wifdom, but moft of them are men of great fimpli- 
 city ; and fuch among them as lived in mutual charity on earth 
 readily receive wifdom from their inftradiors in the other world, 
 of which I ihajl here give an example or two. As I was reading 
 the hiftory of Micah, Judg. ch. xvii and xviii ; how the Danitcs 
 took away his graven image, his Teraphim, and his Levite ; 
 a certain fpirit from the Gentile world was prefent, who, in 
 the time of his living in the body, had been a worlliippcr of a 
 graven image j and upon hearing of the injury done to Micah, 
 he was fo afFedted with it, as to be overwhelmed with grief, 
 Ihewing unqueftionable marks of his innocent and tender affec- 
 tions ; which fome Chriftian fpirits prefent taking notice of, 
 they wondered that an idolater could be affedted with fuch ten- 
 dernefs of compaffion on the occafion : prefently after this, two 
 ^ocd fpirits joined him, and told him that no image was to be 
 worfliippcd, and that he might know fo much, as a rational 
 creature, or man ; and therefore, that he ought to extend and 
 "^ireit his thoughts and woriliip beyond fuch fenfelcfs objects to 
 
 the
 
 [ 2<^7 ] 
 
 the Great God, the Creator and Governor of heaven and earth, 
 and that God is the Lord. Upon uttering thefe words, it was 
 given me to perceive (by communication with his i'pirit) an 
 affefting fenfe of interior, devout adoration within him, beyond 
 that of many Chriftians j from which we may gather, that 
 many from the Heathen world gain a more eafy admitTion into 
 the kingdom of heaven than many modern profeiring Chriftians, 
 according to thofe words of our Lord : " And they fliall come 
 " from the Eaft, and from the Weft, and from the North, and 
 " from the South, and ftiall fit down in the kingdom of God : 
 " and behold, there are laft which (hall be firft, and there are 
 " firft which ftiall be laft," Luke xiii. 29, 30; for in the ftate 
 in which he was, he was capable of being imbued with all 
 things pertaining to a true faith, and of receiving them into his 
 aftedlions ; in him was compalfion from the love-principle, and 
 in his ignorance was innocence ; and where thefe are conjoined, 
 true faith gains a fpontaneous and welcome admiflion : after 
 this he was received into the fociety of angels (*). 
 
 325. One morning I heard a company [chorus] at a diftance, 
 which by their badge of diftinition (reprefenting a kind of 
 woolly goat, a cake of millet, an ebony fpoon, and a floating 
 city) appeared to be Chincfe : on their nearer approach fome of 
 them delired to be alone with me for the fake of private con- 
 verfation ; but they received for anfwer, that their companions 
 refentcd the propofal, as having a right to be prefent alfo ; upon 
 which, perceiving anger rifing in their minds, they began to 
 queftion with themfelves, whether they had not fome how given 
 juft caulc of offence to their brethren ; and ftiewed marks of 
 trouble and fliame, as though they had done them wrong, giving 
 proof hereby of a tender confcience, and of their being in tlie 
 principle of charity. Soon after, I ejitered into converfation 
 with them, and turned the fubjed: of it to our Lord, under the 
 
 (*) It is to be noted, that this and the foregoing trar)fa<^ions in the two pre- 
 ceding articles, are to be underftood as having paitcd in the world of fpjrits, or 
 that intermediate ftate betwixt heaven and hell, in which fpirits receive their laft 
 prcparatioi) for the one or the other, accordingly as they have been principled with 
 good or evil in this lift, of which our aythor diftijwSlly treats in the following part 
 of this work. Tr. 
 
 name
 
 [ 2o8 ] 
 
 name of Chrift ; on which I perceived them to fliew fome re- 
 pugnance when I mentioned the name of Chrift, and found that 
 it proceeded from fonie prejudice they had been tinc^tured with 
 in this life from feeing the Chrirti^ins lead worfc lives, and to 
 fhew lefs of charity than their own countrymen ; but when I 
 only ufed the name of the Lord, they gave tokens of a devout 
 reverence : tiiey were then i-nformed by the angels, that the 
 Chriftian dodrine recommended and enjoined love and charity 
 beyond all other religions in the world, but that few of its pro- 
 felfors lived according thereto. There are fome Gentile fpirits, 
 who in their life-time here, knowing from character and con- 
 verfation with them, how Chriilians, many of them, lived in 
 adultery, hatred, flrife, drunkennefs, and other vices, which 
 the Gentiles held in abhorrence, they become thereby more 
 timid in the other world in embracinff the truths of the Chrirtian 
 
 o 
 
 faith, till initrufted by the angels, that the Chriltian religion 
 teaches the very contrary to fuch pratflices, though the gene- 
 rality of its profeflbrs walk lefs by its rules and precepts than 
 the Heathens themfelves ; upon which, though after fome delay, 
 they embrace the faith, and worship the Lord. 
 
 326. It is cuftomary for fuch of the Gentiles, as were wont 
 to worfliip any fuppofed god under the form of an image or 
 ftatue, to be introduced, on their entrance into the other world, 
 to fome fpirits who were to reprefent fuch gods or idols, and 
 that, in order to expofe and cure them of fuch vain and foolirti 
 phantafies ; and after ftaying with them fome days they are dif- 
 mifled : and they who have been given to worlhip men, are 
 introduced to thofe very men, or fome appointed to reprefent 
 them ; as many of the Jews are to Abraham, Jacob, Mofes, or 
 David, and when they find that they have no divine power to 
 help them, they are put to confufion, and remanded to their 
 proper ftations. Of all the Gentiles, the Africans meet with 
 the kindeft reception in heaven, as they Ihew the readied dif- 
 polition to receive all the good things and truths of that king- 
 dom : they chufe to be called the obedient, and not the faithful, 
 faying, that the latter charadter belongs to the Chriftians, as 
 being in the faith, and not to them, unlefs they had received it, 
 or arc, as they term it, capable of receiving it. 
 
 327- I 
 
 I
 
 f 209 ] 
 
 327. I have coiiverfed with fome who were of the ancient 
 church (that is here called the ancient church which was next 
 after the deluge, and which fpread over many kingdoms, viz. 
 Allyria, Mefopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Lybia, Arabia, Egypt, 
 Philiftia to Tyre and Sidon, through the land of Canaan on both 
 fides of Jordan (218) : and they who at that time were inftrudled 
 in the dodrine of our Lord's Advent upon eartli, and received 
 the fliith, but afterwards departed from it to idolatry, had their 
 ihition in front to the left, in a dark place, and were in a mi- 
 ferable condition ; the found of their voice was a piping aiono- 
 tony, and they fcarce talked rationally : they faid, that they 
 had been there many ages, but were at times fet at liberty to do 
 drudgery and fervile oHices for others. By their condition was 
 given mc what to think of many profeffing Chriftians, and of 
 their ftate in the other world ; I mean fuch as, though not 
 outward idolaters, yet are fo inwardly, worfliipping themfelves 
 and the world with an affedionate fervice, and denying the Lord 
 in their hearts. 
 
 328. That the church of the Lord confifts of members dif- 
 perfed over the face of the earth, and therefore it is denominated 
 catholick or univerfal, including all of whatfoever religion that 
 live confcientioufly according thereto j and that the church, 
 which is in pofleirion of the Word, and has attained to the 
 knowledge of the Lord thereby, is to all that are without the 
 pale of it, as the heart and lungs in man, from which all the 
 
 (218) That the firft and moft ancient church on earth was that which wc 
 read of in the lirft chapters of Gencfis, and that it was coeleftial, and the chief 
 of all churches, n. 607, 895, 920, 1121, 1122, 1123, "24, 2896, 449,^, 8891, 
 9942, 10545. Concerning the quality and ihite of its members in heaven, n. 1 1 14 
 t<j 1 125. 'I'hat there were diverfc churches foon after the deluge, called the an- 
 cient churches, n. 1125, 1126, 1127, 1327, 10355. Men of the ancient church, 
 of what condition, n. 609, 895. 'I'hat the ancient churches were rcpr f. ntative 
 churches, n. 519, 521, 2896. That the ancient church had a revealed "Word, 
 but that it was long ilnce loft, n. 2897. Of the ancient church when it began to 
 apoftatizc, n. 1 128. The difference between the moft ancient and the ancient 
 church, n. 597, 607, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 4493. That the ftatutes, judg- 
 ments, and laws, commanded to be obfcrvcd in the Jewifh church, are in part 
 like thofe that were in force in the ancient church, n. 4288, 4449, ioia.9. That 
 the Lord was the CJod of the moft ancient, and alfo of the ancient church, and 
 that he was called therein Jehovah, n. 1348, 6846. 
 
 G g g vifcera
 
 [ 210 ] 
 
 vifcera and members of the body derive life, according to their 
 different forms, fituations and conjunftions, fee above, n. 308. 
 
 Of Infants, or Little Children, in Heaven. 
 
 329. According to the belief of fome, no other infants go 
 to heaven than thofe which arc born in tlie church, and the 
 reafon they affign is, becaufe fuch are baptized, and by bap- 
 tifm initiated into the faith of the church : but fuch perfons 
 are to be told, that baptifm is not the procuring caufe either of 
 heaven or of faith to any one, but ferves only for a fign or me- 
 morial that fuch pcrfon is to be regenerated ; and that they who 
 are born in the church have the means of being fo, as therein 
 is the Word, which contains thofe divine truths by which rege- 
 neration is effedled, and whereby the Lord is known, who is 
 the author of regeneration (219) : and they are alfo to know, 
 that every infant, dying fuch, whether he be born in the church, 
 or out of the church, whether of godly or ungodly parents, is 
 accepted of the Lord, and educated by angels, according to 
 divine order ; and thus being formed to good affedtions, and 
 through them to the knowledge of truth, when advanced in 
 underflanding and wifdom, he is introduced into heaven, and 
 becomes an angel. Every one that thinks rationally may know 
 of a truth, that none were ever dcilgnedly born for hell, bur, 
 on the contrary, all for heaven ; and confequently, that who- 
 ever goes to the former, muil owe it to his own fault, wliich 
 cannot be the cafe of infants. 
 
 330. All who die infants are equally fuch in the other world, 
 of like infmtile minds, of like innocence in ignorance, and 
 a like tendernefs in all things^ being only as the young plants 
 
 (zig) That baptifm is a fign of regeneration from tlie Lord thrcKij,h the truths' 
 of faith revealed in the Word, n. 4255, 5120, 9089, 10239, 10386, 10387, 1038X, 
 10392. That baptifm is a fign of our belonging to that church, where the Lord, 
 who is the Author of Regeneration, is acknowkJged, and in which is the revealed 
 Word, from which we derive thofe truths of faith, by means of which regene- 
 ration is cffeded, n. 10386, 10387, 10388. That the outward baptifm neither 
 gives faith nor falvation, but is a fign and pledge of their being received by the 
 regenerate, n. 10391. 
 
 that
 
 [ 211 ] 
 
 that are to grow up to angels ; for infants are not angels as yet, 
 but only in the w^y of becoming fuch, feeing that every one 
 appears, upon his entrance into the other world, in the fame 
 ftate in which he departed this, whether infant, child, youth, 
 adult, or aged, but, in fome time after, every one's ftate is 
 changed ; but it is to be obferved, that the ftate of infants has 
 this advantage over others, that being in innocence, actual evil 
 by confent of will has not taken root in them, fo that they are 
 eahly receptive of all heavenly good ; for innocence is the pro- 
 per receptacle of the truth of faith and the good of love. 
 
 331. The ftate of infants in the other world is much higher 
 than in this, as there they are not invefted with an earthly body, 
 but with one like to that of the angels ; for the earthly body 
 being grofs, does not receive its firft fenfations and movements 
 from the interior or fpiritual, but from the exterior or natural 
 world, and therefore infants here muft learn to walk, behave, 
 and fpeak, nay, their very fenfes, as feeing and hearing, muft 
 be formed by ufe j but not fo in heaven, for then, being fpirits, 
 they are acftuated by an interior impulfe, walk fpontaneoufly of 
 themfelves ; they alfo fpeak, but at firft only confufedly from 
 the impulfe of affedlion in general, without any diftindt arrange- 
 ment of ideas ; but this they foon come to, as their exterior 
 part is conformable to their interior. That the difcourfe of 
 angels flows fpontaneoufly from their atfedtions modified by their 
 ideas, and therefore fpeak as they think, fee above, n. 234 to 
 
 245- 
 
 332. Infants, as foon as raifed from death, which is imme- 
 diately after their deceafe, are taken up into heaven, and are 
 delivered to fuch of the female angels as, when in this world, 
 were more particularly fond of children, and who alfo loved 
 God : now as fuch, from a certain maternal tendernefs in their 
 nature above common, loved all little children, fo they receive 
 them as their own, and the children in return love them as their 
 ov.n motliers, each of which takes as many of them under her 
 care as her tendernefs for them prompts her to take. This par- 
 ticular heaven appears full in front in the lame direftion of 
 view wherein the angels behold the Lord, and that becauie all 
 little children arc under the immediate tuition of the Lord ; and 
 
 their
 
 [ 212 ] 
 
 their influx is from the heaven of innocence, which is the third 
 heaven. 
 
 333. Little children are of different difpofitions, feme like 
 the Ipiritual, fome like the coeleflial angels : fuch as are of the 
 furmcr clafs appear in heaven Rationed to the left hand ; thofe 
 of the latter clafs, to the right hand : and all little children iu 
 the Grand Man or heaven, are in the province of the eyes ; fuch 
 as refemble the fpiritual angels, in the province of the left eye ; 
 and fuch as refemble the cadcrtials, in the province of the right 
 eye ; and that becaufe the Lord appears to the angels of his 
 fpiritual kingdom, fronting the left eye ; and to the angels of 
 coeleftial kingdom, fronting the right eye, fee above, n. iiS. 
 Little children being thus in the province of the eyes, denotes 
 them to be under the immediate guardianihip and protevflion of 
 the Lord. 
 
 334. How infants are educated in heaven fliall here briefly 
 be told. They are firft taught to fpeak by thofe that have the 
 care of them : their firfl utterance is only a kind of aff'edlionate 
 found, which, by degrees, grows more diftind:, as their minds 
 become furniflied with ideas -, for the ideas of the mind fpring- 
 ing from the afi^edtionate part, immediately give birth and form 
 to the fpeech of the angels, as mentioned above, n. 234 to 245. 
 Into their affedtions, which all proceed from innocence, the 
 delegable things, which are the objedls before them, firfl: in- 
 linuate themfelves -, and as thefe are of a fpiritual origin, they 
 ferve as receptacles of fuch heavenly things as are of ufe to open 
 their minds, and enlarge their faculties in the way of intellec- 
 tual attainments : after completing this their firfl: age, they are 
 tranflated to another heaven, where they are inflrufted by ange- 
 lical mafters, and fo pafs on to further improvements. 
 
 335. Little children are firfl taught by beautiful fimilitudes 
 and inftrudlive emblems, adequate to their genius and capacity, 
 containing leflbns of wifdom beyond imagination : thus they are 
 gradually formed to that wifdom, which has goodnefs for its 
 efl'cnce. To mention here only two fimilitudes or reprefentatives 
 that I was witnefs to, whereby to judge of the reft : and firfl, 
 they reprefented our Lord as rifing from the fcpulchre, and alfo Ui 
 the uniting of his humanity with the divinity, and that with 
 
 fuch
 
 [ 213 ] 
 
 fuch divine Hvill, as far exceeded all human wifdom, and, at 
 the fame time, with infantile fimplicity : they reprcfented like- 
 wife tlie form of a fepulchre, and alfo of our Lord, but in fo 
 delicate and refined a manner, as fcarcely to be perceived ; and 
 that becaufe there is fomething fo affedtingly mournful and fad 
 in that image of mortality, which they thus prudently foftened : 
 they then caufed to pafs into the fepulchre, as it were, a thin 
 lucid vapour, remotely to reprefent the fpiritual life fignified in 
 baptifm. After this I faw a reprefentation of our Lord's defcent 
 to the fpirits in prifon (i Pet. iii. 19, 20.) and his afcent with 
 them into heaven, conduced with incomparable ikill and pious 
 reverence j and in order to accommodate the reprefentation to 
 their childiih minds, they let down, as it were, fmall cords of 
 the fineft texture, to aid in the elevation of his body ; guarding 
 at the fame time, with religious caution, againfl admitting any 
 thing into the reprefentation that did not image and lead their 
 tender thoughts to fomething fpiritual and heavenly ; not t» 
 mention other kinds of emblematical fcenery made ufe of, in 
 order to inftil into them good affeftions, and to form their minds 
 to truth, by entertainments adapted to their faculties. 
 
 336. I had alfo a proof of the delicacy of their fentiments 
 once, as I was praying the Lord's prayer, when they joined their 
 ideas with mine ; and I became fenfible of an influx proceeding 
 from their intelledlual part, as that of tender affedtion ; and that 
 their minds were open to the Lord, fo that I could perceive, 
 that what at firfl feemed an influx from them, was a transflux 
 through them ; for there is a near communication from the 
 Lord to the minds of little children, as not being (hut againfl 
 the divine influx like thofe of adults, and neither oppofmg the 
 entrance of truth through the refitlance of error, nor hindering 
 the admiflion of good, and fo of wifdom, by any wilful and 
 acquired evil. Hence we may learn, that infants do not enter 
 upon the angelical ftate immediately after death, but are gra- 
 dually prepared for it by the knowledge of good and trutii, 
 according to heavenly order ; the Lord providing means fuited 
 to their capacities and difpofitions, to fit them as recipients for 
 all the trutlis pertaining to good ['vera boni^ and all the good 
 things pertaining to truth [bona vert^, 
 
 H h h 337. It
 
 [ 214. ] 
 
 ^■^j. It has alfo been fliewed to me, how things inward and 
 fpintual inlinuate thenifclves into their tender minds, through 
 I'uch external delights as arc accommodated to their genius re- 
 fpedively, I have leen them beautifully drefled, and adorned 
 on tiicir little arms and breafls with flowers of coelcftial colours ; 
 and thus I £Iuv them once walking with their angelical inftruc- 
 tors and virgins in one of the gardens of paradife : the garden 
 was not fo much adorned with trees, as with what may be 
 compared in a fort to our laurel efpaliers and arched walks, with 
 alleys leading to fweet recefles ; and as the little children drew 
 near, the borders of flowers feemed to glow with frefh and more 
 lively luflre ; from whence we may gather what pleafure they 
 muft receive from fuch exhilarating fcenes, miniftering to the 
 increafe as well as delights of innocence and charity, through 
 the bounty and influence of the Lord. 
 
 338. It has been lliewed to me by a manner of communi- 
 cation common in the other world, what kind of ideas infiints 
 have of the objedls they fee ; and it was found, that they all 
 appeared to them as having life, from whence the idea of life 
 became joined with all their thoughts. It appeared alfo to me, 
 that children here on earth have much the fame ideas in all their 
 little diverfions, as not having yet attained, like thofe of a more 
 advanced age, to know by reflexion what it is to want life. 
 
 339. It has been faid above, that all little children are by 
 difpofition and genius diflinguiflied into coelefl;ial and fpiritual 
 refpeftively : now they of the former clafs are eafily known by 
 this, viz. that there is fomething foft and gentle in all they 
 think, fay, and do, as if it fpontaneoufly flowed from a prin- 
 ciple of good within, of love to the Lord, and to other little 
 children ; whereas the latter fliew not the like foftnefs, but 
 fomething quick and fmart \_alatum et 'vibratile'\ in all their be- 
 haviour (*). The like alfo appears in their refentmcnt, and 
 other ways. 
 
 340. Many may think that little children keep their flate in 
 heaven, and fo continue children among the angels ; and they 
 who know nothing of the nature of angels may be confirmed 
 
 (*) Sec n. 241. 
 
 in
 
 ^ [ 215 ] 
 
 in this miRakc, by feeing angels painted and carved in the 
 churches : but tlie matter is quite otherwife ; for as underftand- 
 ing and wifdom are eHential to an angel, fo children, being 
 delHtute of thefe, though among the angels, yet are not of 
 their number ; but as foon as they have attained thereto, they 
 then firft become angels ; and then, which was matter of won- 
 der to me, they no longer appear as children, but as adults, 
 having, through wifdom, changed the infantile genius and cha- 
 radler for that which is angelical. That children in heaven, 
 when perfected in underftanding and wifdom, appear in the 
 form of adults, or as youths, is becaufe underftanding and wif- 
 dom is their true fpiritual food (220) ; and what is nourifliment 
 to their minds, ferves for the fime to their bodies alfo, and this 
 by corrcfpondency ; for the form of the body [with refped: to 
 all in the other worlds] is the form of the fpirit within. It is 
 here to be noted, that in heaven children advance not in their 
 external form and appearance beyond youth, or the flower of 
 their age, but flop there for ever : that I might know this for 
 certain, it was permitted mc to converfe with fome that were 
 educated in heaven as children, and grown up -, and alfo with 
 fome others whilfl: they were children, and with the fame after- 
 wards, when they had attained to their flower of youth ; and 
 from both I received information concerning their progreflion in 
 life from ftate to ftate. 
 
 341. That innocence is the receptacle of all heavenly good 
 things, and therefore that the innocence of little children is the 
 plane or ground of all their affedions for good and truth, may 
 appear from what has been faid before, n. 276 to 283, concern- 
 ing the innocence of the angels in heaven ; that it confifl:s in 
 a rcfigned fubmiflion to the government of the Lord, and a 
 renunciation of man's own will, who is only fo far in innocence 
 
 (220) That fpiritual food is the fame with knowledge, underftanding, and 
 wildom, and alfo conflitutes the good and truth from which they proceed, n. 31 14, 
 4459, 4792, 5147 — S^JSfc"* 8562, 9003. Hence that food, in a fpiritual fenfe of 
 the word, fignifits all that procecdfth out of the mouth of God, Matt. iv. 4. n. 
 681. As bread fignifics all kinds of food in general, confequcntly fo does it fig- 
 nify all coelcftial and fpiritual good, n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 61 18, 8410 ; 
 and that becaufe the latter nourifhcs the mind, which is the inner man, n. 4459, 
 5293, 5576, 6277, 8418. 
 
 as
 
 [ 2i6 ] 'V 
 
 as he is remote from felf, and fo far only Is he in the Lord, or 
 partakes of his righteoufnefs and merits : but the innocence of 
 little children, as obferved before, is not genuine innocence, 
 becaufe void of wifdom ; for genuine innocence is wifdom, and 
 fo far only is any one to be reputed wife, as he is refigned to 
 the will of the Lord, or is content to be under his guidance : 
 and therefore children are conducfted from their primary external 
 innocence of infancy to that internal innocence of wifdom, 
 which crowns their education and progreis j and when they have 
 attained to this, their formal external innocence, which was the 
 ground of the latter, is joined with it, and fo they become 
 perfect children or angels. The innocence of children was 
 imaged to me by the reprefentation of a child in wood with 
 fcarce any thing of life in it, but which was vivified gradually, 
 anfwerably to the progrefs of children in their knowledge of 
 truth, and their affecftion for good : and afterwards I had a re- 
 prefentation of genuine innocence in a very beautiful child quite 
 lively and naked ; for the innocents which are in the inmolt 
 heaven, and as fuch ncarcfl to the Lord, appear as little chil- 
 dren, and fome of them naked; for innocence is reprefented by 
 nakednefs without fliame, as we read of the firft man and his 
 wife in paradife. Gen. ii. 25 ; but v/hen they loll their inno- 
 cence, they were afhamed, becaufe of their nakednefs, and hid 
 themfelves, ch. iii. 7, 10, 11. In a word, the more the angels 
 excel in wifdom, the higher is their degree of innocence ; and 
 the higher their degree of innocence, the more do they appear 
 to one another as little children : hence it is, that infancy in 
 the Word fignifies innocence, fee above, n. 278. 
 
 342. I have converfed with the angels concerning infmts, 
 and afked them, if they were pure from all evil, feeing they had 
 not committed adlual evil, like adults ; to which they anfwered, 
 that they were in evil as well as the latter ; nay, that of them- 
 felves they were nothing but evil (221); but were kept from 
 evil, like as were the angels, and preferved in good by the Lord, 
 
 and 
 
 (221) That all men, without exception, are by nature born to all kinds of 
 evil, fo that as to their proper felves, they are nothing but evil, n. 210, 215, 731, 
 874, 875, 876 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That therefore man mud be born again, 
 that iSj legenerated, n. 3701. That it is an hereditary evil in man to love himfelf 
 
 more 
 
 ■ 
 
 w
 
 [ 217 ] 
 
 and that in a way fo little perceived by them, that it appeared 
 to them as if they were good of themfelves j and therefore all 
 infants, after they are grown up in heaven, in order to cure 
 them of fuch a falfe conceit of themfelves, as though they 
 poffefTed any good but from the Lord, are fometimes left to 
 their own hereditary evils for a while, to convince them of the 
 truth of the matter : one fuch, who was a certain king's fon, 
 and had died an infant, but was grown up in heaven, had con- 
 ceived the foregoing erroneous opinion, and was therefore fuf- 
 fered to be poifcfTcd of his own hereditary innate evils ; upon 
 which I perceived from his fphere, that he was of an imperious 
 mind, and made light of adultery, having inherited thefe pro- 
 penfities from his parents : but after feeing what he was by 
 nature, and being humbled at the fight, he was received again 
 into the fociety of angels to which he belonged. No one fuffers 
 punilhment in the other world merely for hereditary evil, as 
 that was not contradled by his own fault, but only for that 
 adtual evil which proceeded from himfelf; and confequently, 
 only for fo much of hereditary evil as he adopted and appropri- 
 ated to himfelf by his own will and deed : nor are infants, when 
 grown up to adults in heaven, configned for a time to their 
 proper natural ftate of hereditary evil merely for the lake of 
 punilhment, but in order to their conviftion, that of themfelves 
 they are only evil, and therefore delivered from hell, which 
 belongs to an evil nature, by the mere mercy of the Lord j 
 confequently, that their heavenly inheritance is from his free 
 gift, and not from any merit in themfelves ; and therefore they 
 have nothing to glory in, or whereof to efteem themfelves above 
 others, on account of any felf-affumed good ; for that in fo 
 doing, they would as much tranfgrefs the law of mutual love, 
 as the true dodtrine of faith. 
 
 more than God, and this world more than heaven, and to eftcem his neigiibour as 
 nothing in comparifon of himfelf, or only for himfelf, fo that he may be faid to 
 be love of felf and of the world in the very abftracSt, n. 694, 731, 4^17, 5660. 
 That the prevailing love of felf and of the world is the root of all evil, n. 1307, 
 1308, 1321, 1594, i6pi — 10038, 10742, fuch as contempt of others, enmity, 
 hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, &c. n. 6667, 7372, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10038, 
 10742 : and that from thefe evils proceeds every falfe [ownc fh/fum] n. 1047, 10283, 
 10284, 10286. 
 
 I i i 343. Oft
 
 [ 2iS ] 
 
 343. Oft times when companies [Ciori 1 (*) of little cliil- 
 dren have been with me, and their fpeech founded in a foft 
 confufed manner, as not having yet attained to fpeak in concert 
 as when grown up, I obfcrved with fomething of furprize, 
 that certain fpirits prefent could not refrain from urging them 
 to fpeak in another manner, on which the infant chorus fhewed 
 a repugnance, denoting fomething like refentment, faying, when 
 given them to fpeak, t/jal it jhould not be fo. This I have often 
 perceived, and was told, that it was for their trial, and to ac- 
 cuftoni them to refift any temptation to what is fulfc or evil, as 
 alfo not to fuffer themfelvcs to be compelled to think, fpeak, 
 or adl by diredlion from any other than the Lord only. 
 
 344. Thus much may ierve to flievv in what manner infants 
 are educated in heaven, that fo through the knowledge of truth, 
 and the wifdom of good, tliey may be qualified for the angelical 
 life, confifting in that love to the Lord, and one another, which 
 has its ground in innocence : but how contrary is the education 
 cf children with many on earth ! To give only the following 
 inftance. As I was one day walking in the flreet of a certain 
 great city, I faw fome boys fighting, which prefcntly drew a 
 great croud round them, which feemed much pleafed with the 
 light ; and I was told, that the parents of the young warriors 
 were among them, encouraging their fons to the combat : cer- 
 tain good fpirits and angels then prefent with me faw all that 
 pafled, through my eyes, and were aftedled, even to horror, at 
 the fight, more efpecially at the encouragement given to the 
 fray by the parents ; faying, that all fuch ways of inciting chil- 
 dren to hatred and revenge, tended to extinguidi in them all 
 mutual love and innocence implanting in them by the Lord; 
 confequently, that they did all in their power to difqualify their 
 own children for heaven, where all is love. May fuch parents 
 as wifh well to their children take warning hereby. 
 
 345. And here for a word concerning the difference between 
 thofe who die in their infant ftate, and thofe who die adults. 
 
 (*) By the word Chori In this place, the author means fuch companies of fpirits 
 or angels as think in unity, and fpeak in fymphony, fo concentrating, as it were, 
 their thoughts and words, as if they conftitutcd but one perfon : but this is hard 
 to defcribe, fee above, 11. 242, 255. Tr. 
 
 Now
 
 [ 219 ] 
 
 Now the latter have In this life acquired a ground or plane [/>/«- 
 num] which they take with them to the other world, and which 
 conlifts of their memory and prevailing natural afFe^5tion ; this 
 remains fixed, and though quicfcent after death as to any activity, 
 yet it ferves as an ultimate ground or bafis to the thoughts ; and 
 hence it follows, that according to the quality of this ground 
 or plane, and the correfpondence of the rational part therewith, 
 fo is the man after death (*) : but fuch as die inf-mts have no 
 fuch plane, but one that is natural-fpiritual [p/anum 7iaturale 
 Jpirituali\ as not having contrafted any impurity from this ma- 
 terial world and earthly body, and therefore not being infefted 
 with the like grofs afFedions and cogitations, but having im- 
 bibed all they have from heavenly influence : befides, infants 
 know nothing of their having been born in this world, but look 
 upon themfelves as natives of heaven, being ignorant of every 
 other kind of nativity than what is fpiritual, and effedled by 
 knowledges of good and truth, and that underftanding and wif- 
 dom from which man is only properly denominated man ; and 
 as thefe are only from the Lord, fo it is their belief, and their 
 rejoicing therein, that they are the Lord's. But notwithfland- 
 ing this, the condition of men, who have had their time in this 
 world, may be equally perfedt with that of infants in the next, 
 if they put away from tHem their corporeal and earthly afi-'ec- 
 tions, which are the love of felf and of the world, and in the 
 room thereof become receptive of fpiritual loves. 
 
 (*) As it is very difficult to give a clearer tranflation of the foregoing pafTage ; 
 fo probably, few of our readers, befidcs thofe who have been accuftomed to think- 
 ing abftradtediy, will readily enter into the author's meaning : let it fuffice here 
 to cbfcrve in general, that by the acquired ground or plane (or fund) here fpoken 
 of, we arc to underftand fuch an habitual difpofition or tendency to the things of 
 this world as remains with us after death, and by a kind of fecret influence of habit 
 withholds the thoughts and afFedtions from heavenly things ; and yet not fo to be 
 vmderftood, as if this tendency were not to be done away by the methods appointed 
 for our purification in the intermediate flate, where it was not by free choice and 
 determination of the will become radical and eflential in the conftitution of the 
 foul. Let it be obferved, that the leffon here held forth to the reader is of infinite 
 importance, as it denotes, that grace may be fo extinguiflied, and the habitual 
 love of fin fo confirmed in this life, as to place us beyond the poiFibility of help 
 in the next, according to thofe words of the prophet : " Can the Ethiopian change 
 *' his fkin ? or ihe leopard his fpots ? then may ye alfodo good that are accuftomed 
 " to do evil," Jcr. xiii, 23. Ti. 
 
 Of
 
 [ 220 ] 
 
 Of the Wife and the Simple in Heaven. 
 
 346. It is commonly believed, that wife men will be exalted 
 in heaven above the fmiple in honour and dignity, becaufe wc 
 pead in Daniel xii. 3. that " they that be wife fliall fliine as the 
 *' brightnefs of the firmament, and they that turn many to 
 *' righteoufnefs, as the ftars forever and ever;" but few feeni 
 to know who are meant here by the wife, and by thofe that turn 
 many to righteoufnefs ; it being generally thought, that this is 
 fpoken of the learned and the wife docftors in the church, who 
 excel in do(ftrinal knowledge and preaching, and more efpecially 
 fuch among them as have converted many to the faith ; thefe 
 are called men of wifdom and underftanding in this world, but 
 they are not fo in a fpiritual fenfe, unlefs their wifdom be of a 
 heavenly quality, which lliall here be fpoken to. 
 
 347. True underflanding, in a heavenly fenfe of the word, 
 is interior underflanding, fpringing from the love of truth, and 
 not from any motive of glory either here or hereafter, but from, 
 a pure regard to truth itfelf in minds intimately alfedted and 
 delighted with it ; and all fuch love the light of heaven or divine 
 truth, and confequently the Lord himfelf, who is the truth 
 itfelf, fee above, n. 126 to 140. Now this heavenly light of 
 truth only enters the interior receffes of the mind, as being its 
 proper receptacle ; and as it enters and is received there, it gives 
 delight, as is the property of all influx from heaven to do ; fuch .» 
 is the origin of genuine affeiffcion for truth, for its own fike j M 
 and they who are in this affection or love, they are in tiie true 
 heavenly underllanding, and " fhine as the brightnefs of the 
 *• firmament :" they are faid to fliine, becaufe divine truth in 
 heaven appears fplendent, fee above, n. 132 : and the firmament 
 or expanfe of heaven fignifies by correfpondency that interior 
 intelledlual part both in angels and men, which is in the light 
 of heaven : but as to thofe who love truth only for the fake 
 of honour here, or glory hereafter, fuch Ihine not in heaven, 
 forafmuch as their delight is not in the light of heaven, but 
 of this world, which of itfelf, without the former, is mere 
 
 darknefs j 
 
 I
 
 [ 221 ] 
 
 darknefs (222) -, for all fuch confider felf only as the end, and 
 truth but as the means fubfervient to that end; and therefore as* 
 their view is diredied, not to heaven, but to this world, not to 
 the Lord, but to themfelves, confequently, they are not in the 
 light of heaven, but in that of this world only : thefe, indeed, 
 to outward appearance, and before men, feem as knowint^ and 
 wife as the children of light, nay, and fometimes wifcr, as 
 being more warmed with the fire of felf-love, and having 
 learned to fpeak the fame language with them, and alfo to make 
 a fliew of heavenly affedlions ; but inwardly and in the iight of 
 the angels they appear very different. Let this fliffice to fhew, 
 who are meant in Scripture by the wife, who Ihall '• fhine in 
 *' heaven like the brightnefs of the firmament :" and now for 
 a word as to fuch as are meant by thofe '* that turn many to 
 " righteoufnefs, who fhall fhine as the ftars." 
 
 348. By fuch as turn many to righteoufnefs are meant the 
 truly wife, and they only are called fuch in heaven, who are 
 in the good of life, or who apply divine truths immediately to 
 praftical ufe j for divine truth, when fo applied, becomes good, 
 as being animated with free will and love, which conftitutes the 
 very ef fence of wifdom ; whereas they who are called intel- 
 leftual or underflanding men, live not from truth as a principle, 
 but commit it firfl to their memory, and from thence as a flore- 
 houfc draw occafionally the documents of truth, whereby to 
 regulate their life (*). In what particulars thefe two clafTes 
 
 difi'er 
 
 (222) That the light of this world is for the outward, and the light of . luaven 
 for the inner man, n. 3222, 3223, 3337- That tlic light of heaven is in the 
 natural light by influx, and that the natural man becomes wife only fo far as he 
 receives of the light of heaven, n, 4302, 4408. That the things of heaven are 
 not vifible by the light of this world, n. 9754, 3108. That the light of this 
 world is as darknefs to the angels, n. 1521, 17B3, i88c. 
 
 (*) The difference between wife and intelkdlual men, according to our author's 
 dif.nition, appears to be this, viz. that the former receive divine truths into their 
 uftecftions (and not fpeculatively only ) and ar,- led thereby fpontaneoufly, as from 
 a divine principle or inllinit into all good ; whereas the latter treafure up truth in 
 the memory, and fo fit the external lite theii-to by a kind of reflex operation of mind ; 
 ("0 that the good life of the former fecms, as it were, natural, and the good life 
 of the latter, as it were, ftudied and artificial. I wifti that I may have fo exprcflej 
 niyfelf here, as to render the matter more clear to the reader. Let it be remem- 
 bered, that the author dots not always ufe thefe two words, underftanding and 
 
 K k k wifdom 
 
 f
 
 [ 222 ] 
 
 dii^cr ill the heavens may he feen in the article concerning the 
 two kingdoms of heaven, the ccelellial and the Spiritual, n. 20 
 to 28 J and alio in the article concerning the three heavens, n. 
 29 to 40. They who are in the ccelellial kingdom ot the Lord, 
 which is the third or inmolt heaven, are called Righteous, and 
 that becaufe they afcribe no righteoulhefs to themlclves, but all 
 to the Lord only. Now righteoufnefs in heaven lignifies good 
 proceeding from the Lord (223), and they who receive the 
 lame, and miniller therefrom to the converfion of others, arc 
 fuch as the Lord fpeaks of. Matt. xiii. 43. " Then lliall the 
 •' righteous fhine forth as the fun in the kingdom of my Fa- 
 " ther." Their (hinino; as the fun, is from their b?in<j in love 
 to the Lord from the Lord, as that love is fignitied by the fun, 
 fee above, n. 116 to 125 : their light alfo partakes of the bright- 
 nefs of flame ; and their ideas are vivacious and correfponding 
 thereto, inafmuch as they receive the good of love imniediately 
 from the Lord as the heavenly fun. 
 
 •^49. All who have acquired true underftanding and wifdom 
 in this world are received into lieaven, and become angels, every 
 one according to the meafure and qualitv thereof; lor whatfo- 
 ever principle any one has acquired and tixed in himfelf in this 
 world, that remains with him after death, and is alfo aug- 
 mented to fulnefs, but that within the degree of his affedion 
 .md deiire of good and truth, and not beyond it ; they who 
 have little affecftion and deiire, receive but little, but yet as 
 much as thev can contain ; and tliev who have much afledion 
 and defirc, receive increale accoriiiiigW ; tlie degree ot atle^.'^ion 
 and deiire in everv one bcin<j the meafure that is to be filled : 
 the reafon of this i>s, becaufe love, the properties of which are 
 
 wifdom [intclUgentla (t Japietit'itil piccillly according to tlafc dctiiiitioiis ; but 
 wlicrc thiy arc ipoktii of in diltinction, ilicy are to be undcrltood according 
 thereto. Tr. 
 
 (223) That the merit and righteoufnefs of the Lord is properly that good which 
 prevails and reigns in hea\en, n. 94^6, 9986. That the rigliteous or julliiied j)er- 
 fon is he to whom is imp.jrted th;'.t merit and righttoLirners ; and he the uurlglueous 
 and unjulHficJ pcrfon, who builds upon his own fancied righteoufnefs and merit, 
 r. 5069, 9203. The condition of the felf-righteous In the other lite, n. 942, 
 2027. That righteoufnefs or juftice in the Word is fpoken of good, aud judg- 
 ment of truth ; and therefore, to do iuflice and judgment mtans there, to acl 
 accoiding to good and truth, n. 2235, 9857. 
 
 affe<!tioji 
 
 f
 
 [ 223 ] 
 
 afre(flion and defire, receives what is anfwerable or luitable tcs 
 itlelf according to its meafure, as figniiied by thofe words of 
 our Lord, " Whofoever hath, to him ihall be given, and he 
 " rtiall have more abundantly." '* Good meafure Ihall be given 
 " unto you, preffed down, and fliaken together, and running 
 " over," Matt. xiii. 12. -xxv. 29. Luke vi. 38. 
 
 350. All are received into heaven, who have loved good 
 and truth as fuch ; and they who have loved them much are 
 called wife, and they who have loved them little are called 
 fniiple ; the former enjoy much light in heaven, the latter lefs ; 
 each according to tiie degree of his love : to love good and truth 
 as fuch, or for their own fake, is to will and to do them from 
 choice, for fuch only can be faid to love them ; and they are the 
 people who love the Lord, and are loved by him ; for good and 
 truth are from the Lord, and confequently the Lord is in them 
 as proceeding from him, and alfo in all fuch as receive them 
 into their life's principle by willing and doing them. Man alfo, 
 confidered in himfelf, is no other than his meafure of good and 
 truth from the Lord, tlie former conilituting his will, and the 
 latter his underftanding ; and as the will and underftanding are, 
 fuch is the man : hence it follows, that fo far any is loved ot 
 the Lord, as his v/ill is formed by good, and his underftanding 
 by truth : to be loved of the Lord is infcparable from love to 
 him, for love is reciprocal, and to him whom the Lord loveth 
 he givcth to love him again. 
 
 351. It is commonly believed in the world, that they wlio 
 are men of learnins: and fkill in the doftrines of the church and 
 the letter of Scripture, or in the fciences, are more acute dil- 
 ccrncrs of truths than other men, and confequently excel them 
 in true underftanding and wifdom • and fuch form the like 
 Judgment as touching thcmfelves ; and therefore we fliall pro- 
 ceed to fticw Avhat true imderilandiiig and wifdom is, what is 
 tlie ipurious, and \vhcit tlic falfe. True underftanding and wif- 
 dom confifts in feeing and perceiving ^\■hat is good and what is 
 true, and tliereby what is falfe and evil, and in accurately dif- 
 titiguiHung betwixt them, and that from an interior intuition 
 and difcernment. There is in every one an interiour and an 
 exteriour, the former belonging to the inward or fpiritual, and 
 
 the 
 
 /
 
 [ 224 ] 
 
 the latter to the outward or natural man ; and accordingly as 
 the interiour is formed and co-operates with the exteriour, fo 
 a man fees and perceives. The interiour of man can only be 
 formed in heaven ; but the exteriour is formed in this v^^orld. 
 When the interiour is formed in heaven, then heavenly things 
 pafs by influx into the exteriour, which is from this world, and 
 form it to a correfpondence with the former, that fo both may 
 co-operate or adl as one ; and when this is effected, then the 
 man fees and perceives from an inward fight. In order to the 
 formation of the interiour, this one medium is requilite, viz. 
 that man look up to a Divine Supreme Being, and to heaven ; 
 for, as was faid before, the interiour is formed in heaven ; and 
 a man is then faid to look up to the Divine Being, when he 
 believes in him, and that he is the fountain of all good and 
 truth, and confequently of all underflanding and wifdom ; and 
 is willing to be led and governed by him : fo, and fo only, the 
 interiour of man is opened to divine things. A man in this 
 belief, and living according thereto, is in the power and capacity 
 of becoming intelledlual and wife ; but in order to his being 
 really fo, he has many things to learn, both concerning heaven 
 and this world; as touching the former, from the Word and 
 the doftrines of the church ; and as touching the latter, from 
 fcientifick knowledge j and is alfo to take along with him, that 
 in the fame proportion that he applies knowledge to the pur- 
 pofes of good life, fo far only is he worthy of being reputed an 
 underftanding and wife man, as in that degree and no farther, 
 his interior fight, which is the property of his intellecft, and 
 his interior affedtion, which is that of his v.'ill, derive their 
 progrefs to perfection. The fimple are of the following clafs, 
 viz. fuch as have their interiour open to divine things, but their 
 underftanding not fo well cultivated by truths, fpiritual, moral, 
 civil, or natural ; fuch have indeed a fight of truths, and re- 
 ceive them when heard, but have no inward clear perception of 
 them : but they who are denominated wife, are as follows, viz. 
 fuch who have not only their interior affedtions open to divine 
 good, but alfo their intelledtual faculties fo cultivated and en- 
 larged, that they fee divine truths by an internal evidence. 
 
 Thus 

 
 f 225 ] 
 
 Thus much may ferve to fliew what iS meant by true under- 
 llanding and wildoni. 
 
 352. A Cpurious underrtanding and wifdom is, not to fee 
 wliat is true and good, and from thence what is falfe and evil, 
 from any interior fight, but only to believe it fo on the autho- 
 rity of others, and then to lludy to confirm ourfelves in that 
 belief. Now as fuch perfons receive not truth by the light of 
 truth, but on the credit given to another, they are equally liable 
 to embrace falfehood as well as truth, and to confirm themfelves 
 in the former by reafonings and arguments adapted thereto, fo 
 as to give it the appearance of truth, for whatever is fo con- 
 firmed puts on that appearance ; and there is nothing but what 
 is capable of fuch kind of confirmation. Now the interior 
 faculties of fuch perfons are only open from beneath, but their 
 exterior in proportion to the degree of fuch confirmation ; and 
 therefore the light they fee by is not the light of heaven, but 
 the light of this world, or natural light, in which light what 
 is falle may appear as true, and when confirmed by a fpecious 
 kind of arguments, may carry in them an apparent luftre of 
 evidence, but not fo when viewed in a heavenly light. Of this 
 clafs fuch are lead intelligent and wife, who have dealt moft in 
 this way of confirmation ; and they come neareft to wifdom, 
 who have pradlifed it the leall. Plence may be gathered what 
 is meant by fpurious underftanding and wifdom i however, we 
 range not under this clafs what has been received by children 
 on the authority of their teacheri, if when grown up to the 
 ufe of reafon they do not implicitly enflave themfelves to their 
 documents, but lludy to find out the truth, and cherilh it when 
 found : as fuch are led by a fincere affed:ion for truth for its 
 own fake, they fee it in the light of its own evidence before 
 they let themfelves to confirm it by arguments (224). To illuf- 
 trate this by an example : Certain fpirits were reafoning together, 
 
 how 
 
 (224) That it is the part of a wife man to fee and perceive the truth of a doc- 
 trine before he goes about to confirm it by arguments, and not becaufe it is held 
 for truth by others, n. IC17, 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950- To fee and perceive the 
 truth by its ow2i native evidence without the aid of argument, is the privilege of 
 thofc only who love truth for its own fake, and as a rule of life, n. 8521. That 
 the evidence arifmg from confirmation l>y argument is a natural, not a fpiritual 
 
 L 1 1 light, 
 
 /
 
 [ 226 ] 
 
 how It came to pafs that the brute animals were born to all 
 knowledge congruous to their nature refpeftively, but not man ; 
 upon which they were told, that the former Itood in the pri- 
 mitive order of their nature, but man not fo, and therefore he 
 is to be led back into it by inftruftion and difcipline ; whereas 
 if man had preferved his original perfection, conlifting in loving 
 God above all things, and his neighbour as himfelf ; in that 
 cafe he would have been born with innate underllanding and 
 wifdom, and to the belief of all truth, according to the enlarge- 
 ment of his faculties. Now the good fpirits immediately per- 
 ceived the evidence of this argument by the light of truth ; but 
 the fpirits, who had confirmed themfelves in folihdianifm, and 
 thereby had caft afide divine love and charity, could not receive 
 it, as their confirmation in error had obfcured in them the light 
 of truth. 
 
 353. Falfe underftanding and wifdom is that which is fepa- 
 rate from the acknowledgment of a Divine Being in all thofe 
 who place nature in the room of God : all fuch think as mere 
 animals, and are no other than fenfualifts, whatever charai^ler 
 they may have in the world for erudition (225) ; for their learn- 
 ing reaches no farther than to the objefts of fenfe laid up in 
 their memory, and viewed in the light of material nature, 
 though the fame natural fciences are of fubfervient vAe to form 
 the minds of perfons truly intellertual : by the fciences we 
 underftand experimental knowledge of various kinds, phy- 
 
 light, and fuch as fenfual and bad men may Iiavc, n. 8780. That all things, 
 even Inch as are falfe, m.ny he fo confu-mcd by fpecious arguments, as to put on 
 the appearance of truth, n. 2482, 2490, 5035, 6865, 8521. 
 
 {225) That the fenfual part is tlie lowcft degree of the life of man, as apper- 
 taining to his corporeal nature, n. 5077, 5767, 9212, g:ii6, g^i, 9730- That 
 he is called a fenfual man, who forms all his judgment and conclufions trom his 
 bodily fenfcs, and believes nothing; but what he can fee with his eyes, or touch 
 with his hands, n. 5094, 7693. That fuch a one thinks in his extremities, and 
 not in his interiour, n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. That his interior or fpiritual 
 part is (hut againft all light of divine truth, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. That he is 
 in the dim light of nature, and can fee nothing that is difcoverable only by the 
 light of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564 — 6622, 6624. That he is therefore in- 
 wardly in a (late of oppofition to all things that relate to heaven and the true 
 church, n. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949. That even the learned, who 
 have confirmed themfelves againft the truths of the latter, are no better thati fen- 
 fual men, n. 6316. A defcription of the fenfual man, n. 10236. 
 
 ficks> 
 
 V
 
 [ 22? ] 
 
 ficks, aflronomy, chymiflry, mechanicks, geometry, anatomy, 
 metaphyficks, philolbphy, the hiftory of kingdoms, and of the 
 learned world, criticifm, and languages. Now as to thofe who 
 prefide in ecclefiaftical matters, who at the fame time difbelieve 
 the operations of a divine principle, and have no higher fcnti- 
 ments of religion than what relate to the outward man ; fuch 
 fee nothing farther in the Scriptures than others do in their fci- 
 ences, nor confider them as containing matters that are to be 
 underftood only by a reafon enlightened from above ; and this 
 becaufe the inner gate of their minds, and the faculties next to 
 them, are fiiut againft divine illumination ; and this becaufe 
 they have turned away their affecftions and underflanding from 
 heavenly to earthly things ; and therefore it is that truth and 
 good are to them as darknefs, and falfe and evil as light : but, 
 notwithftanding, mere fenfual men can play their part at reafon- 
 ing, and fomc of them very acutely, but then it is from the 
 fallacies of fenfe in which they have confirmeu themfelves by 
 the fubtleties of fcience, and becaufe of their adroitnefs herein 
 they conceit themfelves to be wifer than others (226) j and their 
 love of felf and the world is the fire that gives earneftnefs and 
 warmth to their reafon ings : fuch are they who are in falfe 
 underflanding and wifdom, and are meant by thofe words of our 
 Lord, Matt. xiii. 13, 14, 15. " Seeing they fee not, and hear- 
 " ing they hear not, neither do they underftand, &c." xi. 25. 
 " Thou hall hid thefe things from the wife and prudent, and 
 " revealed ihem unto babes." 
 
 354. I have had the privilege of converfjng with many 
 learned men after their deceafe, fome of them of great fame, 
 and celebrated in the learned world for their writings ; and with 
 others of Icfs note, but of deep underflanding : now fuch of 
 them as inwardly dilbelieved a Divine Being, though they out- 
 wardly profeffed one, became fo ilupid in the other world, as 
 
 (226) That fenfual men often reafon with great fubtlcty and acutenefs, from 
 an inferior underllanding joined to a prompt corporeal memory, n. 105, 196, 5700, 
 102'^6 : but this from the fallacies of the fenfcs, n. 5084, 6948, 7693. That the 
 (tnlual are fubile and knavilh above others, n. 7693, 10236. That fuch were 
 called by the ancients, fcrpents of the tree of knowledge, n. 195, 196, 197, 6398, 
 4)949, 10313. 
 
 not
 
 [ 2?8 ] 
 
 not to be able to comprehend truths relating even to civil mat- 
 ters, much lefs fuch as are fpiritual : and 1 could alio perceive, 
 nay, behold (for in the Ipiritual world luch things arc repre- 
 fented in a vifible manner) that their interiour was lb darkened, 
 even to blacknefs, and lo fliut againll: every thing fpiritual, as 
 to be inaccelhble to all heavenly light and influx : and that 
 inward blacknefs appeared more particularly intenfe in thofc 
 who had confirmed themfelves in unbelief by their fcientifical 
 reafonings. All fuch in the other world greedily imbibe falfe- 
 liood and error, as a fponge does water, and nejedl all truth, as 
 rain is repelled from the tile of an houfe ; nay, I have been 
 informed, that the interiour of thofe, who have exalted nature 
 in the room of God, appears, as it were, olTified ; and their 
 heads, even to the noflrils, have the refemblance of ebony, in 
 token of their being dellitutc of all fpiritual and intelle(ftual 
 perception : they who are of this clafs are plunged into a kind 
 of gulphs or bogs, where they are difquieted and terrified with 
 phantafies produced by the falfities they had adopted and che- 
 ridied : the infernal fire of their life is a thirll: of glory and the 
 pride of diftindlion, by which they are incited to exafperate one 
 another, and to torment all they can fuch as refufe to worfhip 
 them as deities ; and this they do by turns. Such is the end 
 of all the learning and wifdom of this world, which, not having 
 its foundation in the faith of Almighty God, is utterly deftitute 
 of heavenly light. 
 
 355. That fuch is the lot of the perfons before mentioned, 
 in the other world, may be gathered from hence ; viz. that all 
 things in their natural memory, and immediately conncfted 
 with their bodily fenfes (as are the fcientifical acquifitions fpoken 
 of above) arc then totally quiefcent, and only the conclufions 
 or principles formed from thence remain as a fund for to fupply 
 them with thoughts and matter for converfation j for though a 
 man carries his natural memory along with him, yet what he 
 had laid up therein falls not under his intuition as before, as 
 not being concordant with the light of a different world, and 
 therefore he cannot call them forth to ufe ; whereas things of 
 a rational and intelledtual nature, grounded on fcientifick prin- 
 ciples, quadrate with the light of the fpiritual world ; confc- 
 
 quently.
 
 [ 229 J 
 
 quently, fo far as any one has attained to rationality by the ufe 
 of the fcienccs in this world, fo far he is rational after he is fct 
 free froni the body, it being the lame fpirit that thinks in both 
 worlds (227). 
 
 356. But as to thofe, who, by the cultivation of their minds, 
 by the fciences and different kinds of knowledge, have acquired 
 true underftanding and wifdom, as is the cafe with thofe who 
 apply all their attainments to the purpofcs of good life, walk 
 in the fear of God, reverence his Word, and adhere to fpiritual 
 morality (fpiritualem moralem vitarn, fee above, n. 319). To 
 fuch the fciences ferve, as the means of attaining to wifdom, 
 and of rtrengthening the things appertaining to faith : it was 
 given me to perceive the interiour of their minds, wherein all 
 appeared tranfparent from the light within them, and reprefent- 
 ing the fparkling colours and brightnefs of the diamond, the 
 ruby, and the fapphire, in degree of luftre, according as they 
 had employed their knowledge of the fciences in proof and con- 
 firmation of divine truths : fuch is the appearance which true 
 underftanding and wifdom exhibit, when reprefented as vifible 
 in the fpiritual world (*), and this anfwerably to the nature of 
 
 (227) That things fcientifical appertain to man's natural memory whilft in the 
 bodv, n. 5212, 9922. That man carries with him his whole natural memory 
 after death, n. 2475. This from experience, n. 2481 to 2486 : but that he can- 
 not draw from that memory in the other world, as he did in this, and that for 
 many reafons, n. 2476, 2477, 2479. 
 
 (*) It is by no means incredible, that things fpiritual and intelleftual fhould be 
 reprefented under vifible appearances in the other world, as nature in this abounds 
 with fuch fignificant emblems and expreffions far beyond what is generally fup- 
 pofcd : how do the paffions and affections, the virtues and vices, and even the 
 intclleftual powers, figure themfelvcs in the countenance and geftures of the body ! 
 and how do many of the flowers readily excite in us the ideas of mental properties 
 and qualities, as of modefty, innocence, and purity, &c. inducing us, by confent, 
 to denominate them by fuch epithets refpedtively ! and thus heavenly tliir.gs arc 
 pictured to us by fuch as are natural, according to an ancient doftrine alluded to 
 by the fublime Milton in the following lines : 
 
 " I (hall delineate {o, 
 " By liic'ning fpiritual to corporeal forms, 
 " As may exprefs them beft, though what if earth 
 " Be but the fliadow of hcav'n, and things therein 
 " Each to other like more tlian on earth is thought." 
 
 Par. Lost, Book V. 
 
 M m m hcavenlv
 
 [ 230 ] t 
 
 heavenly light, which is divine truth from the Lord, who is 
 the original Iburce of all true underftanding and wildom, fee 
 above, n. 126 to 133. The grounds [p/ana] of that light in 
 its fcveral variegations of colours, are the interior recelfes of the 
 mind ; and the illuftrations and confirmations of divine truths 
 by fuch things as are in nature, and therefore in the fciences, 
 produce thofe variegations (228) ; for the more interior and 
 fpiritu.il part in man contemplates what is laid up in the natural 
 memoi-y, and whatever is therein employed for the confirmation. 
 of divine truth, it fublimates, as it were, by the fire of cceleflial 
 love, takes it to itfelf, and fpiritualizes it : whilft man is in the 
 body, he continues a ftranger to this procedure of the mind, 
 and that becaufe during his abode therein he thinks in a double 
 capacity, both fpiritually and naturally, but has no perception 
 of the former, but only of what palles in his natural thoughts; 
 but when he enters upon the fpi ritual world, he has then na 
 longer any perception of what he thought naturally in this 
 world, but only of what he thought fpiritually (*) ; and this 
 by change of ftate. Hence it may appear, that men through 
 knowledge and inftruiftion in the fciences, as the means of wif- 
 dom, may become fpiritual, if this obfervation be confined to 
 fuch as live in the faith and fear of God : nay, fuch meet with 
 a more particular acceptance in heaven, and obtain a place in 
 the center of their rcfpeftive focieties, n. 43, as being more 
 illuminated than their fellows. Thefe are the underflandinsr and 
 wile ones, who are faid to fliine as the brightnefs of the firma- 
 ment, and as the ilars in the heavens : but they are denominated 
 fimple, who indeed had faith in God, reverenced his ^^'^ord, and 
 
 (228) That there are moft beautiful colours in heaven, n. 1053, 1624. That 
 thofe colours are the modifications or variegations of the light of heaven, n. 1042, 
 104-^ — 4922, 4742, and confcqucntly fo many appearances of truth from good, 
 and fignify things appertaining to underftanduig and wifdom, n. 4530, 4922, 4677, 
 9466. 
 
 (*) Let it be noted here, that the author docs indeed, in many parts of his 
 writings, (peak of departed fpirits as rccolledtin^: and refcrriiig to pall tranfaftions 
 in the body from their natural memory ; but then this is not to be underilood 
 according to the ftated laws of the other world, but as a particular privilege, per- 
 miflion, or flate, to anfwer certain purpofes ; and accordingly he generally pre- 
 mifes on thcfe occafions, that they were placed in fuch a ftate as when in the body, 
 ir the like. Tr. 
 
 lived 
 
 f
 
 [ 231 ] 
 
 lived fpiritual and moral lives, but had not much improved 
 their intelledlual part ; for the mind of man, like any foil, rifes 
 in value according to the degree of its cultivation. 
 
 Of the Rich and the Poor in Heaven. 
 
 357. Various are the opinions concerning admiffion into the 
 kingdom of heaven, whilil fome fuppofe that the poor only, 
 not the rich, meet with a reception there ; others hold, that 
 both rich and poor are admitted alike ; and a third fort, that 
 the former can gain no admittance without firft diverting them- 
 felves of their wealth, and entering into a voluntary poverty : 
 and all thefe fupport their diiferent opinions by paifages from 
 the Scriptures : but they who make fuch diilinftions between 
 the rich and the poor, in refpetft to their qualification for heaven, 
 fhew them.felves ftrangers to the right meaning of the Scriptures, 
 which have both a recondite or fpiritual, and alfo a literal or 
 natural fenfe ; and they who interpret them only according to 
 the latter, mufi: miftake their true meaning in many places, par- 
 ticularly in what is fpoken therein concerning the rich and the 
 poor in relation to this fubjeftj as for inftance, that it is as 
 impoflible for the rich to -enter into the kingdom of heaven, as 
 for a camel to pafs through the eye of a needle ; but that it is 
 eafy for the poor, as we are therein told, that " theirs is the 
 " kingdom of heaven," Luke vi. 20, 21 ; v/hereas they who 
 know any thing of the fpiritual fenfe of the V/ord, underftand 
 thefe fayings very differently, being convinced on the authority 
 tlicreof, that the kingdom of heaven is appointed for all who 
 live the life of faith and love, whether they be rich or poor ; 
 and who they are that are meant by this diftincftion in Scripture 
 ihall be explained in what follows. From much converfation 
 jind long abode with the angels, I know of a truth that the 
 rich find as ready admilfion into heaven as the poor, and that 
 no one is excluded merely on account of his wealth, or received 
 becaufe of his poverty in this world ; both clafles are there alike, 
 and more of the rich in the higher flations of blifs and glory 
 than of the poor. 
 
 358. I fliall
 
 [ 232 ] 
 
 358. I fliall enter upon this fubjeft with obferving, that a 
 man may lawfully acquire riches, and increafe his ftore, accord- 
 ing to the opportunity afforded him, provided he keep free from 
 fubtle devices, and every evil art ; may eat and drink of the 
 beft, if he place no part of his happinefs therein ; may dwell 
 magnificently, if according to his rank in life ; converfe like 
 others upon common worldly topicks, and mare in the publick 
 diverfions; that tliere is no need of feverity of behaviour, dov/n- 
 caft looks, and other appearances of mortification ; but he may 
 be pleafant and chearful ; nor is under any other obligation ot 
 diverting himfclf of his goods to beftow them on the poor, than 
 what his own particular impulfe or choice may lay upon him ; 
 in a word, that as to externals, he may live in a common way 
 like other orderlv people, without anv bar to his admilTion into 
 heaven, provided that he inwardly cheriflies a due reverence and 
 fear of the Lord, and afts juftly and with all good confcience 
 towards his neighbour ; for every one's real charadler is to be 
 eftimated according to his internal fentiments and affedlions, or 
 by his faith and love ; for thefe are the principles that give life 
 and charadter to all that proceeds from him, as the life of the 
 adl is in the will, and the life of the fpeech is in the fentiment ; 
 for as we atl from the will, fo we fpeak from the thought ; and, 
 therefore, where it is fiiid in Scripture, that every one lliall be 
 judged according to his deeds, and recompenfed according to 
 his works, we are to underftand it, as if it were faid, according 
 to his thoughts and afFecftions, from which his works proceed, 
 or which are in his works ; for without the former, the latter 
 are of no confideration, and therefore receive their quality and 
 charader from them (229). Hence we fee, that it is not the 
 
 exteriour, 
 
 (229) That it often occurs in Scripture, that man ftiall he judged and recom- 
 penfed according to his deeds or works, n. 393+- By deeds and works there, we 
 are not to underftand them as they appear in their external form, but as they arc 
 in their root or inward principle ; for even bad men do works apparently good in 
 their external form, but only good men fuch as. arc both outwardly and inwardly 
 good, n. 3934, 6073. That all moral deeds, as well as bodily adts, proceed from 
 man's inward faculties and powers, as his thinking and willing, and owe their 
 cfTencc and qualities thereto ; and, therefore, according to the internal principle is 
 the external production, n. 3934., 891 1, 10331 ; confequently, according to a man's 
 love and faith, n. 3934, 6073, 10331, 10333; that therefore the works contain 
 
 their
 
 [ ^ll> J 
 
 exterlour, but the interiour, which commands the exteriour» 
 that does all in man. To illuflrate this by the following in- 
 flance : He that refrains from defrauding another only through 
 fear of the laws, and of the lofs he might other wife fuffer in 
 his reputation or irtfercfl, and who but for fuch rcftraints would 
 not fcruple to take all advantages of him in his power ; fuch 
 a one, however honefl his dealings may appear outwardly, yet 
 he is guilty of deceit and fraud iit his thoughts and will, and 
 is governed by a principle from beneath \jnjermu7i in Je habet\. 
 On the other hand, the upright man, who refrains from taking 
 all undue advantages of another, though fecure from difcovery, 
 and th;it becaufe it would be contrary to his duty to God and 
 his neighbour j fuch a one makes a confcience of his willing 
 and thinking, and is under a heavenly influence : their dealings 
 outwardly are the fame in both, but inwardly and in principle 
 they are widely different. 
 
 359. As then a man may purfue an ordinary courfe of life 
 in externals, may acquire riches, and live elegantly according 
 to his rank, as to good cheer, drefs, and dwelling ; carry on 
 his worldly bufinefs like other men, and take pleafure in the 
 good things of this life, to the comforting both of his body 
 and mind, provided that he lives in the true fear of God, and 
 in love towards his neighbour. 'As this is the cafe, it will not 
 appear fo difficult a matter to get to heaven, as fome imagine (*) : 
 the main difficulty lies in relilling the love of felf and of the 
 world, that they gain not the viftory over us ; as from this 
 quarter all our danger proceeds (230) : and that otherwife our 
 
 way 
 
 their principle, or arc the principle itfelf in cfTeiTt and operation, n. 10331. There- 
 tore, to be judged and recompenfed according to our deeds and works, is the (ame 
 as if fpoken of our principles, n. 3147, 3934, 6073, ^9^'j i033I> i°333- 1 hat 
 thofe wprks which have rcfpeft to felt, and the world, arc not good works, but 
 only fuch as refpcdt the Lord, and the good of our neighbour, n. 3147. 
 
 (*) It uuift be owned, that our author here is far from fhewing any thing of 
 the prccifian, or of inonaftick rigour ; and yet his doilrine, when taken along 
 with the applied .rellrictions, is as far from giving countenance to careleflhefs, or 
 over-indulgence ; and the danger he iubjoins that we arc in from the love of felf 
 and of the world, and whatever wrong habits we may have contradled thcrebv, 
 will be found to mlnifter to the beft of us abundant matter for repentance, felf- 
 denial, and watchfulnefs. Tr. 
 
 (230) That all evils originate f.om the love of felf and of the world, n. 1307, 
 
 N n n 1308,
 
 [ 234 ] 
 
 way is not fo hard to make, as feme fuppofc, we may learn 
 from thofe words of our Lord ; " Learn of me, for I am meek 
 ** and lowly in heart, and ye fhall find reft unto your fouls ; 
 *' for my yoke is eafy, and my burden is light," Matt. xi. 29, 
 30, Now the yoke of the Lord is eafy, and his burden light, 
 fo far as man renounces the evils flowing from the love of felf 
 and of the world, for fo far the Lord is his guide, and gives 
 him the maftery over them. 
 
 360. I have converfed with fome after their deceafc, wJio 
 had in this life abdicated the world, and betook themfelves to 
 folitude, that they might be the more at leifure for devout 
 excrcifes, as the fafer way to heaven : but fuch moftly appear 
 of a melancholy caft in the other world, lightly efteem thofe 
 that are not like themfelves, and are dilfatisfied, through a fup- 
 pofed merit in themfelves, that they are not exalted to a higher 
 ftate than others ; they have little aifecftion for others, and there- 
 fore are backward to exercife thofe offices of love, which is the 
 bond of a heavenly conjun(fl:ion (*) : they exceed, it is true, in 
 an ardent defire for heaven, but when they are exalted to be 
 with the angels, they carry with them a certain fadnefs that 
 damps the joys of the former ; wherefore they are disjoined 
 from them, and betake themfelves to a kind of lonely fituations, 
 where they lead a reclufe life, as they did in this world. Man 
 can only be formed for heaven in this world, where his affec- 
 tions have their beginning objects, but vanifli and come to 
 nothing, if not exercifcd in focial connexions, or rather are 
 fwallowed up folely in felf, to a total negledl of his neighbour; 
 fo that a life of charity towards our neighbour, confiding in a 
 confcientious difcharge of every relative and focial duty, is the 
 path-way to heaven, and not a mere fpeculative piety ieparated 
 therefrom (231) ; now adtion, and not inadion, is the vital fup- 
 
 port 
 
 1308, 1321, 1594 — 93+8, 10038, 10742; fuch as contempt of others, enmity, 
 hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, &c. n. 6667, 7372, 7373 — 10038, 10742. That 
 man is born with a natural propcnfity to thofe two loves, and that his hereditary 
 evils are from thence, n. 694, 4317, 5660. 
 
 {*) Hitherto we arc to undcrlland them as in the intermediate ftate. Tr. 
 
 (231) That charity towards our neighbour confifts in doing every thing that is 
 good, jaft, and right, in all our aits and relations rcfpeding him, n. 812c, 8121, 
 
 8122 ; 
 
 i
 
 [ ^3S ] 
 
 port of charity. I ihall here give an inftance of this from ex- 
 perience : I have known more in the regions of blifs among 
 thofe that had acquired riches in trade by an honcil induftry, 
 than among fuch as had become wealthy through the emolu- 
 ments of high and honourable offices in the ftate j as the latter 
 are fo liable to be infedlcd, on account of their honours and 
 importance, with the pride of life and love of the world, which 
 have a natural tendency to beget felf-love, and confequently to 
 alienate the affedlions from heavenly things. 
 
 361. The lot of the good rich, when tranflated to heaven, 
 is that of being in a condition of greater apparent fplendor than 
 others ; fome of them dwell in ftately palaces, richly furnifhed 
 and ornamented as with gold and filver, together with abun- 
 dance of all things miniftering to the delights of life ; however, 
 they place no part of their affedlions on thefe things, but only 
 on their ufes ; of thefe they take good notice, but the mere 
 ornamental part, as gold and filver, this they regard with little 
 attention, and that becaufe when in this world their minds v/ere 
 fet on ufes, and they confidered gold and filver only as means 
 fubfervient thereto. Now ufes in the other world appear in 
 fplendid forms, the good of ufe as gold, and the true of ufe as 
 fjlver (232) ; and according to their pradtical ufes in this life, 
 fuch is the fplendor and fuch the delights of their ftate in the 
 following. Among the good ufes, are thofe of providing things 
 needful for ourfclves and dependants fuitably to our rank ; to 
 feek the means of promoting the publick good ; and alfo to have 
 
 8122 ; and therefore it extends to all that a man thinks, wills, and does, n. 8124. 
 That a life of piety without charity avails nothing, but joined with charity leads 
 fo every good, n. 8252, 8253. 
 
 (2'?2) That every good has its particular delight from uf;-, and according to its 
 ufe refpc£l:ively, n. 3049, 49H4, 7038 ; and alfo its fpccificic quality, confequently 
 as is the ufe fuch is the good, n. 3049. That all the delight and comfort of life 
 IS from uf.s, n. 997. That, generally fpealcing, life confilts in ufes, n. 1964. 
 That the angelical life confills in the goods of love and charity, confequently in 
 the exercifc of ufes, n. 453. That the Lord, and confequently the angels deriva- 
 tively from him, has principally only regard to final caufes, which anfwer to ufes 
 among men, n. 1317, 1645, 5844. That the kingdom of the Lord is the king- 
 dom of ufes, n. 453, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038. That the fervice of the 
 Lord confifts in the pL-rformanee ot ules, n. 7038. That all have their diftin- 
 guiftiing charaiiter from the ufes they perform, n. 4054, 6815. This illuftratcd, 
 n. 7038. 
 
 where-
 
 [ 236 ] 
 
 n-herewith to help our neighbour, which he that abounds, can 
 better do than he that does not ; befides, that fuch a diligence 
 to procure what may be for the good of them that lack, pre- 
 serves us from idlenefs, that pernicious kind of life which gives 
 our innate evil the power to take pofielfion of us. Thefe are 
 among the good ufes, as far as they are invigorated bv a divine 
 principle, or fo far as man is actuated therein by motives of- 
 duty to God, and regards worldly means only as fubordinatc 
 thereto. 
 
 362. But quite contrary is the lot of fuch rich pcrfons in 
 the other world, as lived without religious taith in this, nav, 
 hardened themfelves in unbelief: all fuch are in hell, where 
 filth, mifery, and want of every comfort, is their portion ; for 
 into thefe are riches changed, when loved for their own fike ; 
 and not only their riches, but alfo the ufes to which they ap- 
 plied them, fuch as their luxury and felf-indulgence for the 
 gratification of their other corrupt paffions, or to evidence their 
 pride and contempt of others : riches in fuch hands, having 
 nothing but what is earthly and vile in their ufe, become 
 changed into vilenefs at lafl. A fpiritual ufe and application of 
 riches is, as it were, a feafoning and prefervative to them, and 
 may be compared to the loul in the body, or to the light and 
 heat of the Inn in their eifedls on a humid foil ; but in the 
 other cafe, riches may be confidered as a body without a foul to 
 preferve it from putrefaftion ; or to a fwampy ground in a deep 
 valley {haded from the light of the lun : fuch are the men who 
 fuffer riches to alienate their hearts from God. 
 
 363. Every one's darling afFed:ion or ruling palTion con- 
 tinues with him after his departure from this world, nor is it 
 extinguilhed in eternity (*) j for the fpirit of a man is as the 
 love that prevails in and polIelTes him ; and, moreover, (which 
 has hitherto been a fecret on earth) the body of every Ipirit and 
 angel is the external form of the love that prcfides in him, and 
 
 (*) It muft here be obfervcd to the reader, that a more concerning doiHrinc 
 (and highly credible it appears from fcriptural authority) or one that infers more 
 important caution as to what aft'edtions and habits we contrail, cannot prefent 
 itfelf to the mind of man ; and therefore the fubjecl of this particular number is 
 warmly recommended to his ferious attention, Tr. 
 
 correfponds
 
 I ^Z7 ] 
 
 correfponds to the internal form of his mind and will, infomuch 
 that fpirits know one another by their countenances, geftures, 
 and fpeech ; and by the fame correfpondent marks it would be 
 known what fpirit a man is of in this world, were he not ac- 
 cullomed to atl the counterfeit in thefe particulars ; the ruling 
 pafiion would equally manifeft itfelf in time, as it does in eter- 
 nity. I have couvcrlcd with fome that lived fevenfeen centuries 
 ago, whole lives are recorded in the writings of thofe days j and 
 they appeared to be governed by the fame affedlions and difpo- 
 litions by which they are charadtered therein j from which we 
 may gather, that the lame love of riches, and for the fame ends, 
 continues with every one hereafter, though with this difference, 
 that the riches which had been applied here to good purpofes 
 are changed into heavenly pleafures to the owners in the other 
 world according to their ufes refpedlively ; and that the riches, 
 which had been applied here to bad purpofes, become changed 
 to the owners into filth and corruption hereafter, anfwerably to 
 the evil ufes they had made of them ; nay, fuch naflinefs they 
 take pleafure in, as correfponding to thofe filthy lufts to which 
 they had made their riches fubfervient, or to that fordid avarice 
 which conlifls in the love of riches for their own fake ; for fuch 
 paflions are a fpiritual filthinefs defiling the foul. 
 
 364. The poor are not qualified for heaven by their poverty, 
 but by their principles and life, for thefe follow every one, be 
 he rich or poor, nor is there any diflinguilhing mercy for the 
 one more than the other (233) ; but he is I'eceived whofe life 
 has been good, and he is rejedled whofe life has been evil : be- 
 lides, poverty may be turned into as great a fnare and himlcrance 
 to a man in his way to heaven, as riches themfclves, feeing that 
 many of the poorer fort fall into difcontcnt at their condition, 
 covet many things above their rank, and looking upon riches 
 as the greatcft of bleflings (234), grudge if they be not fatisfied, 
 
 and 
 
 (233) Th;it mercy is not arbitrary and immediate, but rcfpe<£tive and mediate; 
 and that all they, who live in the fear of the Lord, are under his merciful pro- 
 te«Slion and guidance both here and for ever,- n. 8700, 10659. 
 
 (234) That riches and honour arc not real blcflings in themfelvcs, arvd therefore 
 are given alike both to the good and the evil, n. 8939, IO775, 10776. That the 
 true blefling is love and faith from the Lord, cffeding a union with ium, and there- 
 
 O o o by
 
 [ 238 ] 
 
 and indulge murmurings againft God's providence; add to thefe, 
 their envjings againll- others, their fraudulent pradices, and 
 grofs fcnfual indulgences : how different will be the lot of 
 thefe from that of the contented induftrious poor, who pafs 
 the time of their fojourning in all godlinefs and honefty ? I have 
 fometimes convcrfed in the other world with certain departed 
 pealants, who had lived here in the fear of God and all good 
 confcience, who, having an affedlionate defire to know the truth, 
 fought to be more particularly inftrudted as to faith and charity, 
 having heard much concerning the former in this world, and 
 more concerning the latter in the other ; on which it was told 
 them, that charity has refpeft to every thing belonging to life, 
 and faith to every thing belonging to docftrine ; confequently, that 
 the former confifts in willing and doing every thing that is juft 
 and right, and the latter in thinking and believing according 
 thereto ; and that when any one wills and does what he thinks 
 and believes to be right and good, then faith and charity are 
 no longer two but one, juft as thought and will unite in form- 
 ing a determinate ad: of the mind : this they well underftood 
 and received with pleafure, faying, that when in this world they 
 did not look upon believing as a thing different or feparate from 
 living. 
 
 365. From what has been offered on this head, it will ap- 
 pear, that the rich may find as eafy an admifllon into heaven as 
 the poor ; and the notion of its being more difficult to the 
 former is from a wrong -underftanding of thofe places in Scrip- 
 ture, where both are mentioned. By the rich there, in a fpi- 
 ritual fenfe, we are to underftand fuch as abound in the know- 
 ledge of good and truth, and accordingly thofe who are within 
 the church where the Word is known ; and by the poor, fuch 
 as are deflitute of that knowledge, but defire it, confequently 
 thofe who are without the church, and ftrangers to the Scrip- 
 tures. By the rich man cloathed in purple and fine linen, who 
 was caft into hell, is meant the Jewilh nation, which being in 
 pofTefHon of the Word, and through that abounding in the 
 knowledge of good and truth, is reppefented by the rich man ; 
 
 by becoming the procuring caufe of man's eternal happinefs, n. 1420, 1422, 2846 
 —4981, 8939, 10495. 
 
 by
 
 [ 239 ] 
 
 by purple clotlilng, is meant the knowledge of good ; and by 
 fine linen, the knowledge of truth. By the poor man, who lay 
 at his gate, and defired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from 
 the rich man's table, and was carried into heaven by the angels, 
 we are to underftand the Gentiles, who had not the foremen- 
 tioned knowledge, but defired to have it, Luke xvi. 19, 31. 
 By the rich, who were invited to the great fupper, and excufed. 
 themfelvcs, is alfo to be underflood the Jewith nation ; and by 
 the poor, who were called to fupply tlieir place, are underflood 
 the Gentiles, or fuch as were without the pale of the church, 
 Luke xii. 16, 24; and as to the rich man, concerning whom 
 the Lord faith, that " it is eafier for a camel to go through the 
 " eye of a needle, than for fuch a one to enter into the king- 
 ** dom of heaven," Matt. xxix. 24. we are to underftand as 
 mean rich men both in a literal and figurative fenfe ; in the 
 former, fuch as abound in riches, and fet their hearts upon 
 them ; in the latter, fuch as abound in natural knowledge and 
 the fciences ; for thefe are their fpiritual riches, by which, 
 through the effort of their own underftanding, they prefumptu- 
 oully think to poffefs themfelves of the knowledge of divine 
 things, which method being contrary to the divine order, it is 
 fald to be harder, than for a camel to pafs through the eye of 
 a needle ; for in this fenfe catnel fignifies fcientifical knowledge in 
 general, and by the eye of a needle is fignified fpiritual truth (235). 
 That thefe are fignified by camel, and the eye of a needle, is not 
 undcrftood at this day, becaufe the key to that knowledge, which 
 
 (235) That by camel in the Word is fignified, in general, fcientifical know- 
 ledge, or what paffes through the fcnfes, n. 3048, 307 1, 3143, 314s. What is 
 fignified by embroidery and iiecdle-work, and confequently by neeille, n. 9688. 
 That to enter into the truths of faith by fuch kind of knowledge is contrary to 
 the divine order, n. 10236. That they who attempt this are infane with re!"pe£t 
 to things pertaining to heaven and the true church, n. 128, 129, 130, 232, 233, 
 6047 ; and appear as intoxicated in the other world when they think of fpiritual 
 things, n. 1072. Their particular dilpofition, n. 196. llluftration by examples, 
 th;it fpiritual things arc not to be comprehended by fuch natural knowledge, n. 233, 
 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. That by means of Ipiritual light we may fearch out 
 the fcientifical knowledge of the natural man, but not vice verfa, becaufe fpiritual 
 Influx dcfcends into nature, but nature afcends not up to fpirit, n. 3219, 5119— 
 9H0, 911 1. That divine truths are firft to be admitted and received into the 
 mind, and then we may apply to things of fcientifical kjiowkdgc for illuftration, 
 but not vice vcrfci^ n. 6047. 
 
 explains
 
 [ 240 ] 
 
 explains how fpiritual things are fignihed by the literal fcnfe of 
 the word, is not in the hands of the church ; for there is both 
 a fpiritual and a natural fenfe throughout the Word, it being 
 written according to correfpondcncy between things natural and 
 fpiritual, to the end that there might be an alliance between 
 heaven and earth, and between angels and men, fince the time 
 of their immediate communication ceafed. Thus we have 
 fliewed who are meant in particular by the rich in the Word, 
 viz. fuch as abound in the knowledge of good and truth, and 
 that by the feveral kinds of this knowledge are meant the riches 
 there fpoken of, as may be feen in the paffages here referred to, 
 Ifai. X. 12, 13, 14. ch. XXX. 6, 7. xlv. 3, Jer. xvii. 3. xlvii. 7. 
 1. 36, 37. li. 13. Dan. v. 2, 3, 4. Ezek. xxvi. 7, 12. xxvii. i. 
 to the end. Zech. ix. 3, 4. Plal. xl. 13. Hof. xii. 9. Apoc. iii. 
 17, 18. Luke xiv. 33. et alibi : and that by the poor are meant 
 thofe who have not the fame means of knowledge, but are 
 defirous of them, fee Matt. xi. 5. Luke vi. 20, 21. xiv. 21. 
 Ifai. xiv. 30. xxix. 19. xli. 17, 18. Zeph. iii. 12, 18. All 
 thefe paffages referred to may be feen explained according to 
 their fpiritual fenfe in Arcana Coelestia, n. 10227. 
 
 Of Marriage in Heaven. 
 
 366. As heaven Is inhabited by the human race, and the 
 angels there are of both fexes ; and as by the order of creation 
 the woman is for the man, and the man for the woman, and 
 the love of each for the other innate in both, it follows, that 
 there are rfiarriages in heaven as well as on earth, though very 
 different in kind. Now wlierein they differ, and wherein they 
 refemble each other, fhall be the fubjeft of the following chap- 
 ter (*). 
 
 (*) The reader will have no reafon to be offended at the title of this chapter, 
 when he is told, that the fpiritual union here treated of under the name of mar- 
 riage, is quite of a different kind, boch as to means and end, from that marriage 
 which our Lord declares to have no place at the refurreftion, as will evidently 
 appear to him as he proceeds. Tr. 
 
 367. Mar- 
 
 f
 
 [ 241 ] 
 
 367. Marriage In heaven is the conjuntfllon of two in unity 
 of mind, the nature of which Ihall here be explained. The 
 mind confiils of two parts, one of which is called the intelleft 
 or underftanding, and the other the will, and where both thefe 
 co-operate or adt in union, they form one mind. Now the 
 hufband there reprcfents and exercifes the intelledual part, and 
 the wife the province of the will ; and when the interior union 
 of both manifells itfelf in the exterior or fenfitive part, it is 
 called conjugal love; whence it appears, that conjugal love de- 
 rives its origin from the conjundlion of two in unity of mind, 
 ■and this is called in heaven cohabitation, without the idea of 
 di(lin(;:l:ion of parties -, and, therefore, where two arc fo united in 
 fpiritual marriage, they are not called two, but one angel (236). 
 
 368. That fuch is the proper conjundlion and intimate unioa 
 of minds between huiband and wife, is indicated by their very 
 formation, the man being formed more for intellectual purpofes, 
 and of deeper thought ; but the woman naturally to be led and 
 a<5luated more by the motions of the will. The like alfo feems 
 denoted by the particular genius and form of each refpecftively ; 
 Ijf the genius, in that the talent of the man confifts more in the 
 exercife of reafon ; that of the woman in the difplay of affec- 
 tion : and by the difference of for?}i, in that man has a rougher 
 and lefs comely afpedt, a harflier fpeech, and a more robuft 
 body J whilfl a lovely countenance, a foft voice, and a tender 
 frame, recommend the female : nor is the difference lefs be- 
 tween the underftanding and will, or thought and affedlion ; 
 and fo alfo between truth and good, and faith and love ; for 
 truth and faith refpedl the vmderftanding, as good and love 
 refpedt the will. Hence it is, that in the Word, by youth and 
 fuan, in a fpiritual {cnic, are meant the underftanding of truth ; 
 and by virgin and ivoman, the affedlion of good ; and likewife, 
 that the church, from its affedtion to good and truth, is repre- 
 fented and denominated woman, and alfo virgin j as likewife, 
 
 (2.36) That men little know now o'days what and whence true conjugal love is, 
 n. 2727. That true conjugal love confifts in unity of will, n.2731. That fuch as 
 are in it have, as it were, but one mind, n. 2732, I0i68, 10169. From this 
 conjunction of minds proceeds fpiritual love or union, n. 1594, 2057, 3939 — 7081 
 to 7086, 7501, 10J30. 
 
 P p p that
 
 [ 242 ] 
 
 thiU all, who are in the afFedlion of good, are filled virgins ; 
 thus in Apoc. xiv. 4. (237). 
 
 •^69. What has been faid above is not fo to be uiidcrftood, 
 as if hufhand and wife were not each feparately endowed with 
 underftanding and will, but only that the intclledlual part has 
 the afcendant in the former, and the will part in the latter, and 
 each is denominated from the predominant property, though, 
 ftridly fpeaking, there is no predominancy in the heavenly mar- 
 riages, becaufe the will of the wife is that of the huiband, and 
 the intelleft of the hufband is that of the wife, both willing 
 and thinking the fame, and confequently of one mind : and 
 this union is the more clofe and intimate, as the will of the 
 wife joins itfelf to the intelledl of the hufband, and the intcl- 
 k(5l of the hufband to the will of the wife, and that more efpe- 
 cially when they face each other ; for, as has been faid more 
 than once, there is then a mutual communication of thoughts 
 and affediions in the heavens, and more efpecially between huf- 
 band and wife through greater mutual afFtftion. Thus much 
 may fuf^ice to explain that conjundlion of minds, which is the 
 bond of fpiritual marriage in the heavens, and is the fource of 
 conjugal love, viz. when each freely communicates their fpi- 
 ritual good things to the other. 
 
 370. I have been told by the angels, that as far forth as 
 any two are conjoined in this bond of mental union, fo far are 
 they advanced in conjugal love, and alio in underftanding, wif- 
 dom, and happinefs, and that becaufe divine truth and good, 
 from whence proceed all true underftanding, wif'dom, and hap- 
 pinefs, have their ingr-efs into conjugal love, as their proper 
 plane or ground, wherein truth and good unite ; for as there is 
 
 (237) That by young inert in the Word is meant the underftanding of truth, 
 or the pcrfons that iinderftand it, n. 7668. That men fignifies the fame, n. 158, 
 265, 749, 915, 1007 — 9007. 'I'hat by woman is fignifitd the afFeftion of good 
 and truth, n. 568, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994. The church by the fame, as alfo 
 by wife, n. 252, 253, 749, 770 — 252, 253, 409, 749, 770 : under what dif- 
 ference, n. 915, 2517, 3236, 4510, 4822. That hujband and ^uife, taken in 
 their moft exalted fenfc, are fpoken of the Lord, and his conjuudlion with lieaven 
 and the ciuirch, n. 722. That virgin fignifics the afte(Sion of good, n. 3067, 
 31 10, 3179, 3189, 6731, 6742 : and alfo the church, n. 2362, 3081, 3963, 4638, 
 6729, 677s, 6778. 
 
 a con- 
 
 I 
 
 ♦^ 
 
 ti
 
 [ 243 ] 
 
 a conjundlion of intelleft and will, fo is there alfo of truth and 
 good, becaofe the intelledl is that which receives divine truths, 
 and is formed thereby ; and the will is that which receives divine 
 good, and alio receives its form from it ; for wnat a man wills, 
 that is his good ; and what he receives into his underftanding, 
 that appears to him as truth ; and, therefore, it comes to the 
 fame, whether you call it a conjunction of the intelledt and 
 will, or a conjunction of truth and good. The conjunction of 
 truth and good conftitutes an angel, and alfo his underflanding, 
 wifdom, and happinefs j for according to fuch conjuniftion is 
 the degree of angelical perfecftion ; and, therefore, as far as truth 
 and good, or, which comes to the fame, as far as faith and love, 
 are conjoined in any angel, fuch is his angelical charadtcr and 
 excellence. 
 
 371. That a divine virtue proceeding from the Lord is the 
 influencing principle in true conjugal love, is becaufe the latter 
 is derived from the conjunction of good and truth ; for, as 
 was faid above, it is all the fame, whether we call it the con- 
 junction of intellect and will, or the conjunction of good and 
 truth: now this conjunction of good and truth derives its origin 
 from the divine love of the Lord towards all in heaven and 
 earth. From this divine love proceeds divine good, and divine 
 good is received both by angels and men in divine truth as its 
 proper receptacle -, and, therefore, he, who is in no degree of 
 divine truth, can receive nothing from the Lord and from hea- 
 ven ; but as far forth as good and truth are conjoined in any 
 one, fo far is he joined to the Lord and heaven. Such is the 
 origin of true conjugal love, and accordingly a fit plane or 
 ground for the reception of the divine influx ; and hence it is, 
 that the conjunction of good and truth is called in heaven the 
 coelefliial marriage, and that heaven in Scripture language is 
 compared to and called marriage ; and alfo that the Lord is 
 called the bridegroom and hufband, and heaven with the church, 
 his bride and wife (238). 
 
 372. Good 
 
 (238) That true conjugal love derives its origin, caufc, and efltnce from the 
 conivindtion [cofijugto'] of good and truth, and is therefore of heavenly extradtion, 
 n. 27285 2729. Of the heavenly fpirits, who have a perception of it from this 
 
 idea, 
 \
 
 [ 244 ] 
 
 372- Good and truth, as conjoined in angel cr mm, are not 
 two, but one, becaufe there the good is in the trutli, and the 
 trutli in the good : this conjundtion is as when any one thinks 
 of what he wills, and wills what he thinks of, for fo the think- 
 ing and willing co-operate and conllitute one mind, the thought 
 being the form to tiie will, and the will as the ellence and life 
 of the thought ; and hence it is, that where two are joined 
 together in this fpiritual marriage, they are not called two in 
 heaven, but one angel. In this fenfe are to be taken thofe 
 words of our Lord : " Have ye not read, that he who made 
 " them from the beginning, made them male and female r And 
 *' faid. For this caule fliall a man leave father and mother, and 
 " cleave unto his wife, and they twain ihall be one flelh ; 
 " wherefore they are no more twain, but one fielli ; wherefore 
 ** what God hath joined together, let not man put aliinder : 
 " all men cannot receive this laying, but they to wiiom it is 
 ** given," Matt. xix. 4, ^,6, u. Mark x. 6, 7, 8, 9. Gen. ii. 
 24. In thefe words are defcribed the heavenly marriage of the 
 angels, and alfo the conjunction of good and truth ; and by a 
 man's being forbid to feparate what God hath joined together, 
 we are to underfland, that good is not to be feparated from 
 truth. 
 
 373. Thus has been explained the origin of true conjugal 
 love, and fliewed how it is lirrt: formed in the minds of the 
 parties, and thence defcending to the corporeal part, is there 
 fenfibly experienced as love ; for whatever is perceived in the 
 bodily affedions is derived from man's fpiritual part, viz. his 
 underltanding and will, which conftitute the fpiritual man ; 
 and though in fuch defcent it affumes a different form, yet it is 
 fimilar and confentaneous to its principle, jull as the body adls 
 conformably to the dircftion of the foul, or as the effeft is 
 
 idea, n. 10756. That conjugal love exaftly rcftmbles the conjim£lion of good 
 and truth, of which, n. 1094, 2IJ3, 2429 — 9206, 9495, 9637. How the con- 
 junclion of good and truth takes eftcdt, and in whom, n. 3834, 4096, 4301 — 7623 
 to 7627, 9258. That none know what true conjugal love is, but thev who are 
 in good and truth from the Lord, n. 10171. That by marriage in the Word is 
 fignitied the marriage of good and truth, n. 3132, 4434, 4834. That in true 
 conjugal love is the kingdom of the Lord and hea\cji, n. 2737. 
 
 obfequious
 
 [ H5 ] 
 
 obfequlous to the efficiency of its caufe, according to what has 
 been laid down in the two articles concerning correfpondences. 
 
 374. I heard an angel defcribe true conjugal love, and its 
 coeleftial delights, as divine good and divine truth from the 
 Lord in two perfons, fo united, as to form in a manner but 
 one J and he faid, that every married pair in heaven was an 
 inftance of this heavenly love, forafmuch as the good and truth 
 in every one is his proper fclf both in mind and body, feeing 
 that the body is the exprefs image of the mind, as being formed 
 after its likenefs. He inferred from hence, that a divine like- 
 nefs is imaged in two perfons that are in true conjugal love, and 
 confcquently that they are a fimilitude of heaven, as the uni- 
 verfal heaven is divine good and divine truth proceeding from 
 the Lord, and confequently that the whole of heaven was repre- 
 fented in that love, together with beatitudes and delights in- 
 numerable, which indefinite term he exprefled by a word that 
 fignifies myriads of myriads. He exprefled aftonifhment, that 
 members of the Chriftian church fhould continue fuch ftrangers 
 to this truth j whereas that church is the Lord's reprefentative 
 of heaven on earth, and heaven exhibits a complete marriage 
 of good and truth. He likewife appeared amazed at adultery 
 being more commonly pracftifed within than without the church, 
 as the inordinate gratification of that paffion in every fpiritual 
 view is thf love of falfe joined with evil, and the pleafure of it 
 of an infernal nature, being diametrically oppofite to the de- 
 lights of heaven flowing from the love of truth conjoined with 
 good. 
 
 375. Every one knows that two married perfons, who are 
 in mutual love, have an interior bond, as it is effential to the 
 true conjugal ftate that there be a union of minds and affedtions, 
 and according to the quality of thcfe fuch is the union, and 
 confequently the love : now the mind is entirely formed of the 
 fpecies of truth and good that it has imbibed, for all things in 
 the univerfe have fome relation to good and truth (real or ap- 
 parent), and alfo to their conjundlion ; wherefore tlie union of 
 minds is according to the quality and kinds of truth and good 
 from which they are formed, and that the moft perfcdl union 
 where the latter are pure and genuine. It is to be remarked 
 
 Q^q q here.
 
 [ 246 ] 
 
 here, that there is no ftronger fympathy than between truth 
 and good, and accordingly from this fourcc it is that true con- 
 jugal love deduces its origin (239) : there is alio a fympathy 
 between falfe and evil, from which proceeds a love, but of an 
 infernal kind, and the end of which is hell. 
 
 376. From what has been here faiu concerning the origin 
 of conjugal love, we may be able to pronounce who are in con- 
 jugal love, and who are not : now of the former clafs are all 
 they, who, through divine truths, attain to divine good, con- 
 jugal luve being only fo far pure and genuine, as the truths 
 which arc joined to the good are fo : and as all good in union 
 with its truths is from the Lord, it follows, that no one can 
 be in a ftate of perfed: conjugal love, unlefs he acknowledge the 
 Lord and his divinity, for otherwife the divine influence and 
 prefence are not in the truths, which a man has, to faniflify and 
 make them divine. 
 
 377. From hence we may conclude, that they who come 
 under the predicament of falfe (*), or oppofite to the truth, 
 [jtt/ infaljis\ more efpecially if from an evil principle, \in faljis 
 
 (239) That all things in the univerfal heaven and world have fome relation to 
 good and truth, n. 2451, _3i66, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122 ; and to their 
 conjunftion, n. 10555. That there is a marriage between good and truth, n. 
 1094, 2173, 2503. That good loves, and confequcntly defires truth, and to be 
 joined to it, and that there is a perpetual tendency to union in both, n. 9206, 
 9207, 9495' That the life of truth is from good, n. 5089, 1997, 2379, 4070 — 
 5147, 9607. That truth is the form of good, n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 9J54' That 
 truth is to good as water is to bread, n. 4976. 
 
 (*) It is not eafy to render our author's meaning in this place intelligible to the 
 common reader without a paraphrafe, not only on account of the difference of 
 idioms in the two languages, but alfowith refpc»ft to the conception of the matter. 
 Thus where he fpeaks of the falfe of evil, anvi the true of good, he not only ufes 
 thofe words as fubftantivcs, which are adjcdtives in the Englifh, but in a fenfe 
 which we have no fubftantivcs that fully exprefs. Thus, the error, falfchood, or 
 falfity of evil, conveys not the idea meant ; but the falfe of e\ il here fignifies a 
 contrariety to whatever is right and true, proceeding from a difpofition of mind 
 or principle contrary to every thing" that is good, or a wrong imdcrftanding ifTuing 
 from a pcrvcrfe will and depraved afFe£tions. Thus, the unconverted, natural 
 man, who loves only himfelf and the world, is an enemy to all fpiritual truth 
 through the malignity of his nature ; and all that fuch a one thinks, fays, and 
 does, is contrary to the divine order and will ; as there is no divine love in his 
 heart, there is no divine light in his mind and underftanding, but fuch a one is in 
 fpiritual darkucfs, or in tiie falfe of (from) evil. Tr.
 
 [ 247 ] 
 
 ex malo] cannot experience any thing of true conjugal love, a«! 
 their inward gate is (hut againft tlie heavenly influx, and their 
 e^cternal or natural part occupied by falfe and evil, which, 
 through their clofe conjunction, form an infernal kind of mar- 
 riage ; fome inftances of which I have feen : they converfe 
 indeed together, and have external fellowfhip in lewdnefs y but 
 inwardly hate one another beyond all defcription. 
 
 2)7^ • Neither can there be true conjugal love between two 
 perfons of different religions, as the true of one agrees not with 
 the good of the other ; but two diflimilar and difcordant per- 
 fuafions cannot confift with unanimity, and therefore their love 
 cannot be of fpiritual extraftion ; or if they cohabit and agree,, 
 fuch agreement is the eft'edt only of natural caufes (240) ; for 
 this reafon marriages in the heavens are formed only of thofe 
 who belong to the fame fociety, as being in good and truth of 
 the fame kind and quality : that all there of one and the fame 
 fociety are in like good and truth, and differ from thofe of other 
 focieties, fee above, n. 41, &/eq. This was reprefented among 
 the Ifraelites by their marrying within their own tribes, and ia 
 particular into their own families, and not with others. 
 
 379. Neither can there be true conjugal love between a 
 hufband and different wives at the fame time, as this counteradls 
 the fpiritual origin and end of marriage, which is the union of 
 two nunds, and confequently hinders the interior conjunction 
 of good and truth, which is effential to this love : now mar- 
 riage with more than one wife is like an underfbanding divided 
 into many wills, or as a man that joins himfelf to different 
 churches, whereby his faith is fo diffrafted, that it comes to 
 nothing. The angels declare, that to marry feveral wives is 
 abfolutely contrary to the divine order, and that they are affured 
 of this many ways, particularly from hence, that as foon as 
 they entertain any notion of fuch marriages, they lofe their 
 heavenly peace and joy, and become, as it were, intoxicated 
 tlirough a feparation between their internal good and truth : and 
 if their mental faculties become fo difordered through thinking 
 
 (240) That it is unlawful for perfons of difFtrcnt religions to contr.i<£l marriage,, 
 as this hinders the conjun<5lion of like good and like truth in the afFcitions and 
 imderftanding, and coniec^utntly unanimity, n.. 8998. 
 
 with.
 
 [ 248 ] 
 
 with the leafi: inclination on polygamy, they conclude with 
 the flroiigeil: convidlion, that the engagement itlelf would darken 
 their minds, and banifli their joys, and that from a heavenly 
 conjugal love they fliould fall into a grofs inordinate pallion 
 inconfiflent with the purity of Cffileftial delights (241) : .they 
 lay, that it is difficult for men now o'days to form any con- 
 ception of this matter, as fo very few have any experience of 
 true conjugal love, without which they mult remain entire 
 flrangers to that inward fatisfadion which refults from it, whilft 
 they experience nothing more than the gratification of the i'cn- 
 fual part, which in a little time changes into dirgufl: j whereas 
 the Spiritual delight of pure conjugal love not only lafts even 
 to old age in this world, but after death makes a part of the 
 joys of heaven, where it is exalted to higher fpirituality and 
 perfedion in eternity : they moreover faid, that the beatitudes 
 of truly fpiritual conjugal love might be reckoned up to many 
 thoufands, of which not one was fully known by mortal man, 
 nor can be thoroughly experienced by any who are not in that 
 flate of heavenly marriage, which confifts in the union of good 
 and truth from the Lord. 
 
 380. Love of dominion in one of the married parties over 
 the other banifhes true conjugal love and its heavenly delight ; 
 forafmuch as the latter, as was obferved "before, confifts in a 
 conformity of wills on both fides by mutual con feat and choice, 
 which the thirft of dominion in the party aiming at government 
 totally defeats, by exalting the will of felf over that of the 
 other, and obftrutSting that free and equal communication of 
 love and its friendly offices, in which the happincfs of marriage 
 
 (241) As hufband and wife fliould be one in the eflential principles of life, and 
 as they conftitutc one angel in heaven, therefore true conjugal love cannot fubfiil 
 between one hufband and different wives, n. 1907, 2740. That to have more 
 wives than one at the fame time is contrary to the divine order, n. 10835. That 
 marriage can only be between two, evidently appears from thofe who belong to the 
 Lord's ccelcftial kingdom, n. 865, 3x46, 9902, 10172 ; and that bccaufe the 
 angels of that kingdom arc in the mod intimate union of good and truth, n. 3246. 
 That it was permitted to the Ifraelites to have more wives than one at the fame 
 time, and alfo to keep concubines, but not fo to Chriftians ; and the rcafon of the 
 difference is, becaufe the former were only in the externals of religion, but the 
 latter are called to inward and fpiritual religion, and confcqucntly to the internal 
 marriage of good and truth, n. 3246, 4837, 8809. 
 
 confifts ;
 
 [ 249 ■] 
 
 confifts ; nay, fo oppofite is the luH: of power and rule to every 
 thing that is ca-leftial and fpiritual in that flate, as to render 
 the very mention of it ridiculous. Where one will§ and loves 
 as the other docs, there is liberty in both, for liberty is the 
 ofFipring of love ; but where the fpirit of governing prefidcs, 
 all is fcrvitude, for the party, who is inftigated by the defire of 
 dominion, is a fervant to the imperious paflion. Thefe things 
 will not appear in their full evidence to fuch as are wholly 
 ftrangers to the fweet liberty that is in heavenly love ; but 
 enough has been faid on this fubjeCl to fliew, that the exercife 
 of dominion is fo far from uniting, that nothing tends more 
 to di\ ide minds ; it may indeed fubdue, but a mind fubdued or 
 fubjugated, is either without a will of its own, or has an op- 
 polite will ; if it has no will, it confequently has no love ; and 
 if an oppofite will, the paflion that prevails in it is hatred and 
 not love ; and fuch married perfons as are in this condition and 
 charafter, are all at ftrife and war within, however they may 
 fmooth over their behaviour towards one another with an ex- 
 ternal decency for the fake of peace. This inward hoftility 
 manifefts itfelf in the other world, where they attack each other 
 with fury and open violence when they meet, as I can teftify 
 from having been a fpedlator of their quarrels and vindictive 
 rage, as in the intermediate flate every one appears outwardly 
 wliat he is inwardly, being free there from thofe reftraints and 
 motives to fave appearances, by which they regulate their be- 
 haviour in this world. 
 
 381. We have indeed inflances of apparent coniugal love 
 in fome, but without the reality, if they are not in the love of 
 good and truth ; and it is not unufual to counterfeit this ap- 
 pearance from various motives, as for example, that the parties 
 may live quietly and at eafe in their families, may be properly 
 accommodated in ficknefs and old age, or that the children they 
 arc fond of may be duly taken care of ; fome praftife an afl-ec- 
 tionate behaviour through fear of the other party, through 
 regard to charaifler, to prevent bad confcquences, and in fome 
 cales on account of natural paflion. Conjugal love has alfo its 
 diftl-rent degrees in married perfons ; fome have it in a higher, 
 and fome in a lower degree, nay, one may be in 'a difpofltion 
 
 R r r for
 
 [ 250 1 
 
 for it, and the other In none at all ; and under fuch difference 
 marriage may be to one as heaven, and to the other as hell. 
 
 382. The moft perfect conjugal love is in the inniofi: hea- 
 ven, as the angels there are moll highly graduated in conjoined 
 truth and good, and alfo in innocence : the angels of the infe- 
 rior heavens are alfo (according to their degree in innocence) in 
 pure conjugal love, which, confidered in itfelf, is a Itatc of 
 innocence, and attended with heavenly delights, whilll the 
 bielled pairs, from an infantile fimplicity of dilpol'ition, receive 
 pleafure from all that they fee, and give pleafure in all that they 
 do ; for a heavenly virtue tintlures all things to them : and 
 hence it is, that conjugal love is reprefented above by the moft 
 delightful emblems ; accordingly I have fecn it reprefented by 
 a virgin of exquifite beauty, girt about, as it were, with a white 
 cloud ; and it was told me, that all the angels derive their 
 beauty from conjugal love, that all the particular affedions and 
 fcntiments, that ilTued from this fource, were reprefented by 
 adamantine atmofpheres intermixed with carbuncles and rubies, 
 exciting fenfations that penetrated even to the mental affedlions. 
 In a word, heaven reprefents itfelf by conjugal love, and that 
 becaufe the conjuniflion of good and truth in the angels con- 
 ftitutes heaven, and the fame conjundlion conilitutcs the clfcnce 
 of true, fpiritual, conjugal love. 
 
 382. Marriage in the heavens differs from marriage on earth, 
 and herein more particularly, that die latter is inftituted for 
 the procreation of children, whereas the end of heavenly mar- 
 riages is the procreation or multiplication of good and truth, 
 in the conjunction or union of which fuch n;iarriage conlifls ; 
 and as the love of good and truth is the bond of it, fo are thefe 
 the fruit of it : hence it is, that by births and generations in 
 the Word, we are to underlland fuch as are fpiritual, viz. of 
 good aad truth ; by father and mother, truth conjoined with 
 good as the propagating principles ; and by fons and daughters, 
 the truths and goods propagated; and by fons and daughters-in- 
 law, the conjundions of thefe, and fo on (242). It is evident 
 
 from 
 
 (242) That conception, delivery, nativities and generations, have alfo a Cpi- 
 litual meaning in reference to good and truth, or love and faith, n. 613, 1145, 
 
 i775>
 
 [ 251 I 
 
 from hence, that marriages in the heavens are very different from 
 marriages on earth, the fonner being fpiritual, and not fo pro- 
 perly called nuptials, as conjundlion of minds through the 
 union of good and truth ; whereas on earth they are properly 
 nuptials, as confifting not only in a fpiritual, but alio a carnal 
 conjundion ; and forafmuch as fuch kind of nuptials is not in 
 heaven, therefore the two mates or married perfons are not 
 there called hulband and wife ; but each other's partner [cofT/ux] 
 is named (from an idea in the angels of two minds united) by 
 a term anfwering to his or her tnutual, or fecondfelf. What has 
 been here faid may lead us to the true meaning of thofe words 
 of our Lord concerning marriage, Luke xxi. 35, 36. 
 
 383. It has been given me to fee haw marriages are con- 
 tracted in the heavens : now it mufl be obferved, that through- 
 cut heaven, fuch as are of like difpolitions and qualities are 
 confociated into particular fellowfliips ; and fuch as differ in 
 thefe refpeds are diflbciated or feparated, fo that every fociety 
 in heaven confifls of fimilar members ; and thefe are brouglu 
 together by the Lord, and not through their own feeking, fee 
 above, n. 41, 43, 44, ^ feq. In like manner the hufband and 
 wife are brought together, being fuch whofe minds are capable 
 of union with each other, on v/hich they love each other with 
 mutual cordiality at firil: light, immediately perceive their ap- 
 pointed union, and enter into marriage : thus all marriages in 
 heaven are from the Lord only : they alio celebrate a feflival on 
 tlie occafion in the prefence of many ; thefe fcftivals differ in 
 different focieties. 
 
 3 84. As marriages in this world are the feminaries of man- 
 kind, and alfo of future angels (for, as was obferved under its 
 proper article, heaven is peopled by the human race) and being 
 
 1755, 2020 — 8042, 9325, 10197. That hence, by fpLritiial application we reml 
 of regcntration and new birth through f;iith and love, 11. 5160, 5598, 9042, 9845. 
 'I'hat A'lot/jfr f;gnifies the church in refpcfl to true do£trine, and Faiber good, and 
 alfo good of the churcli, n. 2691, 2717, 3703, 5580, 8897- That Sam lignify 
 the aftedions of truth, and confequently truths, n. 489, 491, 533, 8649, 9807 ; 
 and Daughters, the aftections of good, and alfo good in general, n. 489, 490, 
 491 — 6778, 9055. That Son-in-law fignifies truth afibciated to the aftcdtion of 
 good, n. 2389. That Daughter-in-law fignifies good affociatcd to its proper truth, 
 n. 4843. 
 
 according
 
 [ 252 ] 
 
 according to the tnie inftitution of them of a fpiritual origin 
 through the conjunftion of good and truth, and the divine blef- 
 fing on pure conjugal love ; on thefe accounts they are con- 
 iidered as holy by the angels j and, on the other hand, they 
 look upon adultery, tiie oppofite to conjugal love, as profa-' 
 nation ; whilll they beliold in one the image of heaven, through 
 tlie conjunction of good and truth therein ; and in the other an 
 image of hell, through the conjundtion of fi\lfe with evil : 
 wherefore, on the very naming of adultery, they turn their 
 backs in token of a\erfion : from this contrariety in it to every 
 thing facred, it comes to pafs, that the gate of heaven is fluit 
 againrt the adulterer, the confequence of which is his turning 
 infidel, and renouncing the faith of the church (243). That 
 all in hell are enemies to conjugal love was given me to per- 
 ceive by an imprelTion on my mind by the fphere exhaling 
 thence, which feemed as a continued effort to diffolve and vio- 
 late the marriage bond ; denoting thereby, that the ruling paf- 
 fion in hell is that of adulterv, and confequentlv an enmity to 
 the union of good and truth, which is the foundation of heaven. 
 From which we may conclude, that the gratification of this 
 inordinate paffion is nothing fliort of an infernal pleafure, and 
 diametrically oppofite to the innocent fatisf^dlion of pure con- 
 jugal love, which is a heavenly pleafure. 
 
 385. There were, on a time, certain fpirits, wlio, from a 
 pradifed behaviour in this life, followed me witli an over- 
 officious fedulity, and with an air of foftnefs that rcfembled the 
 humility of good fpirits ; but by the influx from their fpheres; 
 I could perceive fallacy and guile within. At length I entered 
 into convcrlation with one of them, who, I found, had been 
 a commanding military officer, and, as I difcovered fomething 
 of the libertine in his ideas, I turned the difcourfe to the fub- 
 
 (243) That adultery i"; profanation, n. 9961, 10174. That the gate of heaven 
 is fhut againll adulterers, 11. 275. That they, who place their delight in this fin, 
 difqualify thcnifclves for iica\cn, n. 539, 2733, 2747, 2748, 2749, 2751, 10175. 
 That adulterers arc unniercitul, and without religion, n. 824, 2747, 2748. That 
 in the other world they dilight in naftincfs, and are in hells fiiitcd thereto, n. 2755, 
 5394, 5722. 'I'hat their ideas arc filthy, n. 2747, 2748. That by adultery 1n the 
 AV'ord, in a fpiritual fenfe, is fignified the adulterating of good ; and by fornica- 
 tion, the perverting of truth, n. 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865, 8904, 10648. 
 
 jca
 
 [ 253 ] 
 
 jedl of marriage, in that way of fpiritual converfation which is 
 by reprefentatives, equally exprefiive with any other, and much 
 more copious, though laconick ; and he told me, that in this 
 world he had made light of adultery : I had the freedom to tell 
 him, that adultery was abominable, whatever pains they who 
 were guilty of that fm- might take to reafon themfelves into a 
 perfuafion of its- lawfulnefs ; and that he might know this from 
 marriage being the feminary of the human race, and alfo of the 
 coelefUal kingdom, and confequently not to be violated, but 
 held as facred ; moreover, that, as he was in the fpiritual world, 
 and in a ftate of perception, he ought to know that conjugal 
 love, as a fpiritual principle, was derivative from the Lord 
 through heaven ; and that mutual love, which is the cement of 
 heavenly blifs, proceeded from the fame fource ; as likewifc 
 from hence, that adulterers, as foon as they approach the coe- 
 leftial focieties, become fenfible of their own impurity, and 
 being unable to bear the holy efflux, fpontaneoufly precipitate 
 themfelves down to hell : I farther obferved to him, that at the 
 leaft, he could not but know, that to violate the laws of mar- 
 riage was contrary to all laws both divine and human, as well 
 as to the didlates of unbiaffed reafon ; to which I added other 
 arguments. To all which he only replied, that he was of a dif- 
 ferent way of thinking when in this world, and fliewed an incli- 
 nation to difpute the matter with me ; but I told him that plain 
 truths did not allow of reafonings, and that arguments might 
 be invented to plead for any thing a man liked, nay, in defence 
 of any error or evil ; and that he would do well to confider the 
 unanfvverable reafons that had been offered ; or» to view the 
 matter in another light, that he would try the cafe by that well 
 known unalterable rule of equity ; that no man fliould do to 
 another what he would not that another fhould do to him, and 
 by thus making the cafe his own, afk himfelf ; If any one 
 fliould have feduced a wife he had loved, whether under the 
 frefh fenfe of the injury he would not have exprclTed the utmoft 
 deteftation of adultery, and have employed the fkill in reafon- 
 ing, to aggravate the guilt of it, which he now meant to em- 
 ploy in the defence of it ; nay, if he would not, in the bitter- 
 
 S f f nefs
 
 [ 254 ] 
 
 nefs of his refentment, have adjudged the criminal to the pit 
 of hell. 
 
 ■^86. I have had a perception of the delights of pure con- 
 jugal love in their progrelTion to the heavenly ftate, and alfo of 
 the impure pleafures of adultery in theirs to the infernal ftate, 
 in the other worlds ; and faw how the former were fublimated 
 by an increafe of innumerable and unfpeakable beatitudes, from 
 more to more, till they were exalted to the joys of the inmoft 
 heaven, or that of perfecfl innocence, and that with the like 
 increafe of liberty ; for all liberty proceeds from love, and the 
 higheft degree of it from conjugal, which is alfo cceleftial love : 
 but the progreflion of adulterous love is by inverfe degrees to- 
 wards hell, and fo on to the lowermoft hell, where all is dire 
 and horrible : fuch is the lot of adulterers in the other world. 
 By adulterers is here meant, they who take delight in the gra- 
 tification of this linful pafTion, but have no relifli for the in- 
 nocent delights of pure conjugal affedion. 
 
 Of the Funftlons of the Angels in Heaven. 
 
 387. The fundlions of the angels in heaven cannot be enu- 
 merated or defcribed in particular ; and therefore, being inde- 
 finite and various according to the different offices and fervices 
 of the feveral focieties, we can only fpeak of them in a general 
 way. Every fociety has its particular offices, for they are all 
 diftin<5l according to their peculiar excellencies and fpecies of 
 good (fee above, n. 41.) and confequently according to their 
 ufes ; for that only is confidered as good by all in heaven, which 
 is good by operation and adt : there every one performs good 
 offices ; for the Lord's kingdom is the kingdom of ufes (244). 
 
 (244) That the kingdom of the Lord is the kingdom of ufes, n. 453, 696, 1 102, 
 3645, 4054, 7038. That to fervc the Lord is to do ufes, n. 7038. That all in 
 ■ the other world are appointed to ufefulnefs, n. H03 ; and that this extends even 
 to bad and infernal fpirits, and in what manner, n. 696. That all have their 
 chara<5ter and denomination from the ufes they perform refpedlively, n. 4054, 6815. 
 This illuftrated, n. 7038. That angelical bleflcdnefs confifts in doing goad offices 
 of love, n. 454. 
 
 388. There
 
 [ ^ss ] 
 
 388. There are different adminlftratlons in the heavens as 
 well as on earth, viz. ecclefiaflical, civil, and domeftick ; of 
 the firft has been fpoken in the article concerning divine vt'orlhip, 
 n. 221 to 227; of the fecond, in the chapter concerning go- 
 vernments in heaven, n. 213 to 220 j and of the laft, in the 
 chapter concerning the habitations and manfions of the angels, 
 n. 183 to 190 J and alfo in the lafl: chapter concerning marriages 
 in heaven, n. 366 to 386 ; all which make appear, that there 
 are fevcral functions and adminiftrations eftablilhed in every one 
 of the heavenly focietics. 
 
 389. All things in the heavens are inftituted according to 
 divine order, which is preferved throughout by the adminillra- 
 tions of angels j thofe things which relate to more general good 
 or ufe, by the angels who are moft eminent for wifdom ; and 
 fuch as are of more private or particular confideration, by thofe 
 which are lefs eminent, and fo on ; all in fubordination to divine 
 order according to their ufes refpedtively ; and hence it follows, 
 that to every angelical office is annexed a dignity according to 
 the dignity of its ufe ; however, the angel affumes not the 
 honour to himfelf, but afligns it to the ufe, and as the ufe is 
 the fame with the good which he adminiflers, and all good is 
 from the Lord, therefore to him he afcribes all the praife : nay, 
 were any difpofed to appropriate to himfelf any part of the 
 honour, he would thereby difqualify himfelf for any high office 
 in heaven, as feeking his own glory more than the ufe of his 
 office, and the honour of God. By ufe here is to be underftood 
 the Lord, feeing, as was faid before, ufe fignifies the fame as 
 good, and all good proceeds froni him. 
 
 390. From what has been faid,. a judgment may be formed 
 concerning the nature of fubordination in heaven ; and how 
 every one there not only loves, efteems, and honours the good 
 ufe of adminiftrations, but alfo the inflruments employed in 
 conducing them, and that in proportion to their humility and 
 gratitude in giving glory to the Lord in that behalf j for in 
 proportion thereto is their wifdom, and the extent of their 
 ufefulnefs ; and as fpiritual love, eftimation, and honour rc- 
 fpedt the ufe,. fo the honour of the perfon miniflering it arifcs 
 
 thence.
 
 [ 256 ] 
 
 thence (245). He alfo that confiders men by the ftandard of fpi- 
 ritual truth, forms his judgment according to the fame rule : he 
 fees one man refembling another, whether in a higher or lower 
 degree of office and dignity, and eflimates the difference onl,Y 
 by the difference of wifdom that is in him, viz. the wifdom of 
 loving ufefulnefs, whether for the good of his fellow-citizen, 
 of his focicty, his country, or the church he is of. In this 
 exercife of ufes confifts our love to the Lord, from whom pro- 
 ceeds all the good that is in ufes -, and alfo our love to our 
 neighbour, whofe real good and benefit is to be the obje^fl of 
 our love and beneficence, whether confidered under the cha- 
 ni(5ler of fellow-citizen, or the complex relation of fociety, 
 country, or church. 
 
 391. All the focletics in the heavens are diftin6t [or diftin- 
 guiflied] according to the adminiftration of ufes therein, in the 
 fame manner as they are diftinguilhed according to their refpec- 
 tive goods [kinds of good] and thofe goods are adlual, or goods 
 of charity, as obferved above, n. 41, et feq. or, in other words, 
 goods of ufes : thus fome focicties are appointed to the charge 
 of infants ; others to inftrudt and educate them till they arc 
 grown up : there are particular focieties inftituted for the im- 
 provement of fuch young perfons of both fexes as have been 
 prepared for heaven in this world by a virtuous and pious edu- 
 cation ; and others to form for heaven fuch as are well dif- 
 pofed, but ignorant : fome whofe office it is to inffru(fl thofc 
 that arc from the various heathen nations : fome to receive the 
 novitiate fpirits, or fuch as are newly arrived from this world, 
 
 (245) That by the love of our neighbour is not meant the love of his pcrfon, 
 but of his principles and qualities, which are the conftitucnts of him, n. 5025, 
 10336. That they who love the perfon, without refpedting the principle, love 
 good and evil alike, n. 3820. That fuch befriend the evil as well as good, which 
 is being injurious to the latter, and makes no part of love to our neighbour, n. 
 3820, 6703, 8120, 81 21. The judge, who punifties criminals for their refor- 
 mation, and to the end that the good may not be injured or fuftcr by them, thereby 
 docs an ad of love for his neighbour, n. 3820, 8120, 8121. That every man 
 and focicty in particular, as alfo our country and church, and, in an univerfal fenfe, 
 the kingdom of the Lord, is our neighbour, and that to do good thereto from the 
 love of good, according to their refpedlive qualities and flatcs, is fticwing love to 
 our neighbour, confcquently their benefit, which is to be confultcd by us, is our 
 neighbour, n. 6S18 to 6824, 8123. 
 
 and 
 
 k
 
 [ ^S7 J 
 
 and to defend them againfl all affaults from evil fpirits : feme 
 alfo there are, whofe defignation is to minifier to'thofe who are 
 detained for a while in the inferior regions on earth (*) : fome, 
 whofe province it is, by turns, to prefide as overfeers in the 
 infernal kingdom, to reflrain the evil fpirits from tormenting 
 one another beyond due meafure ; and laltly, fome are appointed 
 to the care of thofe who are raifed from death (246). In ge- 
 neral, the angels of every fociety are employed about men, in 
 order to preferve and lead them from evil affeftions, and the 
 thoughts which they are apt to excite in their minds ; and to 
 infpire them with good afFedlions, as far as they can receive 
 them confiftently with free will ; and hereby they guide and 
 influence their works and actions, and bend their inclinations 
 from evil, as far as may ftand with the nature of free agents. 
 The angels, whilfl they are prefent with men, refide, as it were, 
 in their affedtions, and are nearer to or further from them, 
 according to their degree of good life from true dodlrines : but 
 all thefe adminiflrations are from the Lord through the angels, 
 which adt only as his inftruments therein. Hence it is, that by 
 angels, in the inmofl fenfe of the word, is meant fome attribute 
 or operation of the Lord, and alfo that the angels in Scripture 
 are called gods (247). 
 
 392. The forementioned are the common fundlions of the 
 angels ; but befides thefe, every angel has his charge or office 
 in particular ; for every common or general ufe is compounded 
 of innumerable others, which are called mediate, miniftering, 
 
 (*) By thefe probably are meant the fouls defcribed by St. John as under the 
 altar, Rev. vi. 9, 10. 'I"r. 
 
 (246) Concerning the angels appointed to the care of infants, grown children, 
 and fo on in fucceflion, n. 2303. That man is raifed from death by angels ; this 
 from experience, n. 168 to 189. lliat angels are fcnt to the infernal f]Mrits, to 
 prevent their tormenting one another beyond meafure, n. 967. Concerning the 
 good offices of angels to men on their arrival in the other world, n. 2131. That 
 angels and fpirits are prefent to all men, and that man is led by the Lord through 
 their inllrumentality, n. 50, 697, 2796 — 5847 to 5866, 5976 to 5993, 6209. 
 That ang.ls have dominion over evil fpirits, n. 1755. 
 
 (247) That hy angels in the Word is fignified fome divine property from the 
 Lord, n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 628c, 8192. That angels in the Word are 
 called gods, from their reception of divine truth and good from the Lord, n. 4295, 
 4402, 8301, 8192. 
 
 T t t or
 
 [258 ] . 
 
 or attendant ufes ; all and every of which, whether co-ordinate 
 or fubordinate, are according to divine order, and in their com- 
 plex conftitute and perfeift the common ufe or common good. 
 
 393. They who loved the Word in this world, and ftudi- 
 oufly invefligatcd the truths therein, not for honour or fecular 
 advantage, but for purpofes of practice and good life, both with 
 refpedt to themfelves and others ; fuch are thofe who are ap- 
 pointed to the ecclefiaftical fundlions in heaven, and according 
 to the degree of fuch their pious purfuit is their illumination 
 and wifdom from the Word in the heavens, the fenfe of which 
 there is not natural, as in this world, but wholly fpiritual, fee 
 above, n. 259. Thefe exercife the office of preachers, and ac- 
 cording to the eftabliflied laws of divine order excel in eminence 
 of rank and dignity, as they are fuperior to others in divine 
 illumination. As to matters of civil adminiftration, they con- 
 ftitute the province of fuch as in this world loved their country, 
 and preferred the good of it to their own private advantage, 
 doing that which is juft and right from affedion and principle : 
 as far as thefe took pleafure to improve their minds in the 
 knowledge of the laws of juftice and equity, in fuch degree are 
 they qualified for offices in the heavenly ibcieties, which they 
 adminifter, each according to his intclledlual abilities, wliich 
 are in proportion to the degree of their affisdtionate zeal for the 
 common good. In a word, the offices, adminiftrations, and 
 employments in heaven are innumerable, and far exceeding thofe 
 that are to be found in this world, and all that arc concerned 
 therein take delight to be fo engaged from their love of ufe- 
 fulnefs ; where no one is adluated by felfifli or lucrative motives, 
 or under the temptation of anxious care for the needful accom- 
 modations of life, as thefe are all minillered to them gratui- 
 toufly, as fuitable habitations, veflments, food convenient, &c. 
 From all which it follows, that they who have loved felf and 
 the world above ufefulnefs, have no place nor portion in heaven ; 
 for the ruling paffion or affedion, which has taken pofieffion 
 of the heart of any one in this world, follows him in the next, 
 and is not eliminated in eternity, fee above, n. 363. 
 
 394. Every one in heaven is in his office according to cor- 
 refpondency, but correfpondcnce refpedls not merely the out- 
 ward
 
 [ 259 ] 
 
 ward office or adl, but its ufe and tendency, fee above, n. 112; 
 and there is a correfpondence in all things, n. 106. He, who 
 in heaven is in any fundlion or work, correfponding to its ufe, 
 is in a fimilar ftate of life to that which appertained to him in 
 the body (for things fpiritual and natural are the fame by cor- 
 refpondence) with this difference, that there his delight in good 
 is more interior and central, anfwerably to his fpiritual life, 
 which is more receptive of heavenly joy (*). 
 
 Of the Joys and Happinefs of Heaven. 
 
 395. Few or none at this time have any conception of hea- 
 ven, and the joys and happinefs thereof; nay, the ideas of 
 thofe, who have exercifed their minds moft on thefe fubjedts, 
 are very grofs, or next to none ; I had the beft opportunity of 
 knowing this from the fpirits, who had newly been tranflated 
 from this world to the other, and which, left to themfelves, 
 think as they had done before. Now this ignorance in men 
 concerning the joys of heaven arifes from their conceiving them 
 to be fimilar to the outward gratifications of the natural man 
 in this world, and from their having no notion of the inward 
 and fpiritual man, nor of what conftitutes the happinefs of his 
 condition, infomuch, that were anyone to defcribe to them fuch 
 fpiritual delights from his own experience of them, the defcrip- 
 tion could take no hold of their grofs material ideas, nor excite 
 any perception in their minds of what was told them, but be 
 immediately rejefted by them : and yet it is rational to conclude, 
 that when any man is diverted of the external or natural part 
 of his compofition, he mull wholly enter upon that which is 
 internal and fpiritual, and confequently, that his pleafures and 
 
 (*) There is confcffcdly fome difficulty in comprehending the fcnfe of our 
 author in this paflagc, which feems to be as follows, viz. the interior ftate of a 
 good man on earth has its correfponding ftate in heaven, though the fwcet reiifh 
 and dcledtahle fcnfation of it is different in thefe different kingdoms : thus the love 
 of God and the peace of God are the fame divine aflections in the foul in both 
 worlds, yet their beatitudes can only be fully experienced in the angelical ftatc, 
 as free from the impcrfc6lions and impurities of animal nature. Tr. 
 
 joys
 
 i 
 
 [ 260 ] : 
 
 joys muft be of the fame nature with himfelf, and if inward f 
 
 and fpiritual, fo neceffarily more pure and refined, in order to 
 be fuitably accommodated to the condition of a foul or fpirit. 
 This may ferve to evince, that what his fpirit took delight irj 
 here mull conflitute the delight of his fpirit hereafter; as to 
 the corporeal gratifications of our nature, being of the earth 
 earthly, they can make no part of a heavenly Hate ; but the 
 things of the fpirit of a man follow him into the other world, 
 where he lives fpiritually. 
 
 396. All pleafures flow from love as their only fource, -for 
 what any one loves, that is pleafint to him ; confequently, ac- 
 cording to the kind of love, fuch is the pleafure it yields : all 
 corporeal or fenfual pleafures iflue from the love of fclf, and the 
 love of the world, from which proceed all kinds of concupif- 
 cence and voluptuoufnefs j but all true delights of the foul or 
 fpirit originate from love to God, and love to our neighbour ; 
 and from thefe fources are derived our affeftions for good and 
 truth, and our moft fatisfying interior pleafures. Thefe two 
 loves, with their concomitant pleafures, proceed by influx from 
 the Lord, and from heaven by internal emanation from above, 
 and afi^edl the inmoft recefles of the foul ; but the former fpu- 
 rious loves, with their pleafures, ilfue from the carnal part, and 
 from the world outwardly, or from beneath, and affedl the ex- 
 terior fenfes. As far therefore as the two heavenly loves before 
 mentioned are received and affcA us, fo fir the inward gate of 
 the foul or fpirit fliands open to the divi;ie influences ; and as 
 far as the other two fpurious loves are received and aftedl us, 
 fo far the outward gate of the bodily fenfes ftands open to this 
 world and its evil influences : and as thefe difi'ercnt kinds of 
 love gain admiffion into our hearts, fo alio do their refpecftive 
 pleafures, thofe of heaven into the inward, and thofe of the 
 world into the outward man ; for, as was faid before, every 
 pleafure is attendant on its parent love. 
 
 397. Heaven is fo conflituted, as to abound with pleafures ; 
 infomuch that, confidered in itfelf, it is an aggregate of beati- 
 tudes and deledlations ; and that becaufe divine good, proceeding 
 from the divine love of the Lord, conllitutes heaven both in 
 the general, and alfo in particular, in every c>ne there : now it 
 
 is
 
 [ 26i ] 
 
 is the property of divine love, to will the falvation and happi- 
 nels of all, and that intimately and fully ; fo that whether you 
 fay heaven, or the joys of heaven, it comes to one and the fame 
 thing, 
 
 398. The pleafures of heaven are unutterable, as they arc 
 innumerable ; but innumerable as they are, no man that is ab- 
 forbed in carnal and fenfual gratifications can have the leatt 
 notion of any one of them, and that becaufe, as was faid before, 
 all his receptive faculties are turned backward from heaven to 
 this world, and confequently, being immerfed in the love of 
 felf and of the world, he is incapable of taking pleafure in any 
 thing but the honours and riches of this world, or in fenfual 
 gratihcations i whereas thefe things do, as it were, extinguifh 
 or fuffocate all fenfe of the refined pleafures of heaven, even fo 
 far as to render the reality of them incredible -, fuch a one 
 would be ready to wonder, were you to tell him that there are 
 pleafures, of which honours and riches make no part ; and ftill 
 more, fliould it be affirmed, that in heaven there is an endlefs 
 variety of delights, to which the mofl fplendid enjoyments of 
 tliis world, added to the higheft: gratifications of fenfe, are not 
 worthy to be compared : how can it feem llrange, that perfons 
 of fo grofs an apprehenfion fliould be unable to form any notions 
 of coelefiial happinefs ! 
 
 399. Something of an efiimate may be made concerning the 
 fuperlative felicity in heaven from the following fingle con- 
 fideration, viz. that it conftitutes part of the happinefs of angels, 
 tp communicate their joys to one another ; and as all of them 
 are like minded in this matter, how joyous mud be the efteft ! 
 feeing, as was faid above, n. 268, in the heavens there is a 
 mutual communication between one and all ; and this refults, 
 as was faid before, from the twofold love that prevails there ; 
 love to the Lord, and love to their neighbour, both of wJiich 
 are of a communicative nature. Now love to the Lord is his 
 own gift proceeding from his divine goodnefs, which commu- 
 nicates of his blefi'ednefs to all as far as they can receive it, for 
 he wills the hajipinels of all : and all who love him partake of 
 his fpirit, which is the bond of communion and communication 
 in his holy angels ; and that love towards their neighbour is of 
 
 U u u like
 
 ^ 262 ] 
 
 like tendency and effedt will appear from what follows ; though 
 what has already been offered may fuffice to indicate the natural 
 tendency of thefe loves in thofe that polTefs them, to commu- 
 nicate of their bcft things : but it is far otherwife with rcfpeift 
 to the love of felf and the love of the world j for the former of 
 thefe is a greedy dehre of enriching felf at the expence of others, 
 and therefore draws all to it, feeking only its own things ; whilft 
 the love of the world grudges to others the fliare they polfefs 
 of it, thinking that themfelves can never have enough ; fo that 
 thefe two loves are dellrucftive of all pleafant and friendly com- 
 munication ; or where fuch perfons do communicate to others, 
 it is for their own fakes, and that it may fome way or other 
 redound to their own profit or pleafure : that this is the cafe, 
 I have had frequent experience when in company with fpirits, 
 who had been addiifted to thefe loves whillt they lived in the 
 body, always finding my pleafant frames to depart from me 
 upon the firft approach of fuch ; and I have alfo been told, that 
 when they draw nigh to any angelical fociety, the members of 
 it feel a diminution of their joy according to the nearnefs of 
 their approach ; and what is no lefs flrange, that the evil fpirits 
 on their part receive a proportionable increafe of pleafure : hence 
 we may know, that the ll:ate of any one's fpirit, after its fepa- 
 ration from the body, is fimilar to what it was upon leaving it; 
 and that thofe here fpoken of have the fame covetous defire for 
 the goods of others in the other world that they had in this, 
 and take the fame pleafure in procuring to themfelves the pof- 
 feflion of them : and it may be farther obferved from what has 
 here been faid, how deftrudive of heavenly joys the love of felf 
 and of this world are, and confequently how contrary to the 
 loves of that blefiTcd kingdom, the effential property of which 
 is to be communicative. 
 
 400. It is here to be noted concerning thofe who are under 
 the dominion of the love of felf and the love of the world, that 
 the pleafure they feel on their approach to any of the heavenly 
 focieties, is the pleafure of their own evil concupifcence, and 
 diredlly oppofitc to every cceleftial delight, and that fuch plea- 
 fure proceeds from depriving others of their heavenly joy ; but 
 when no fuch deprivation takes place, the cafe is quite other- 
 wife 
 
 f
 
 [ 263 ] 
 
 wife with them,' for then they dare not advance a ftep towards 
 them, or if they fliould, they would be fure to fufFer great per- 
 turbation and anguifh, and therefore they feldom have the bold- 
 nefs to come near them ; and as I have often had experience of 
 this, I Hiall here relate fomething by way of inftance. There 
 is nothing which fpirits newly arrived in the other world more 
 earnellly delire than their immediate admiffion into heaven ; this 
 is the cafe with almoll; all, fuppoling that to be in heaven is no 
 other than to be introduced and received into a certain place ; 
 and accordingly, purfuant to their longing, they are conducted 
 to fome fociety in the firll or loweft heaven. Now as foon as 
 they who are in the love of felf and of the world approach to 
 the entrance of heaven, they begin to feel fuch internal pains 
 and anguilli, as to find a hell inilead of a heaven within them, 
 and therefore precipitate themfelves thence, without being at 
 reft till they join company with their fellows in hell. It often 
 happened, that fome of this clafs had a longing defire to expe- 
 rience fomething of the joys of heaven ; and upon being told 
 that thefe were only experienced in the fenfations of the angels, 
 they defired communication with them, which was granted j for 
 what any fpirit, which is not yet in heaven or hell, defires, is 
 readily granted, if it may be of any ufe : now upon fuch com- 
 munication being opened between them and the angels, they 
 felt fuch agonizing pains, that they could not contain them- 
 felves, bending their heads down to their feet, rolling on the 
 ground, and twifting themfelves into various forms, like fo 
 many ferpents, through the anguifh they felt within. Such 
 effects had the heavenly fenfations of the angels, when com- 
 mvmicated to thofe, vvhofe fouls were immerfcd in the love of 
 felf and of the world, fuch corrupt concupifcences being quite 
 contrary to thofe pure affedlions, which are the inmates of 
 angels : when one oppofite ads upon another, the efFecl is vio- 
 lence and ftrife ; and thus the ca-leftial virtues of the angels, 
 operating on the evil qualities of the other party, occafioncd the 
 violent diforder within them, which produced thofe contortions 
 and conflid:s. The caufe of this contrariety, as afiigncd before, 
 is, that they who are influenced by the divine graces of the love 
 of God, and charity towards their neighbour, are liberal and 
 
 commu-
 
 [ 264 ] 
 
 communicative of wliat they have ; whereas they who are under 
 the dominion of thofe evil pallions, tlie love of felf and the 
 love of the world, are grudging and greedy of what belongs to 
 others : hence it is, that heaven and hell are not only feparate, 
 but oppofite to each other. Now all in the latter are fuch as 
 in this life abandoned themfelves to temporal and carnal grati- 
 fications from the love of lelf and the love of the world j and 
 all in the former, fuch as here took delight in fpiritual things 
 from love to the Lord, and love to their neighbour ; and con- 
 fequcntly, as their loves were oppofite, fo are the kingdoms to 
 which they belong, infomuch, that were they who are in the 
 hellilli kingdom to extend but a finger beyond the fphere of it, 
 they would fufi'cr pain thereby. This I have often been witnefs 
 to. 
 
 401. The man who is in the love of felf and of the world, 
 is, during his bodily life here, feniibly affected therewith, and 
 the pleafures refulting from them ; whereas he wlio is in the 
 love of God and of his neighbour, has feldom, during his life 
 here, the fame manifefl: fenlations thereof, nor of the fweets of 
 the good affecftions refulting therefrom ; but in their room feels 
 only a kind of fecret fatisfadion in tiie center of his foul, dark- 
 ened and covered, as it were, with this natural, corporeal inte- 
 gument, and deadened, in a manner, by the cares of this life : 
 but thefe fi:ates are quite altered after death ; for then the plea- 
 fures refulting from the love of felf and of the world are changed 
 into horrors, fignified by the name of hell-fire, and alternately 
 into fuch kinds of nafiinefs and filth, as correfpond to thofe 
 impure gratifications, in which (liovvever llrangc it may be 
 thought) he takes pleafure : but that which, as obferved before, 
 was no more than an inward, fecret, and obfcure fatisfaftion in 
 thofe who were in the love of God and of their neighbour, is 
 then changed into clear perceptions, and joyous fenfitions, and 
 what was before a hidden, though fpiritual root of blefiednefs, 
 does, in their manifefted Hate of fpiritual life, bring forth the 
 pleafant fruit of fpiritual delights. 
 
 402. All the pleafures of heaven are connedled with and 
 infeparable from ufes, thefe being the good fruits of love and 
 charity in the angels ; and according to the quality of the ufes, 
 
 and 
 
 ■i
 
 [ 265 ] 
 
 and tlieir alacrity to perform them, is the degree of their joy : 
 that this is fo may be illullrated by comparifon with the five 
 bodily fenfes in man, each of which derives its pleafure from 
 exercife and ufe ; the fight from beholding beautiful objefts ; 
 the hearing from harmonious founds ; the fmelling from odo- 
 riferous fcents, and the tafte from food of good favour; and the 
 ufes which they feverally perform by their refpecftive offices are 
 well underft:ood by thofe that attentively confider them, more 
 efpecially if they are acquainted with their correfpondent rela- 
 tions in refpevft to the intclleftual and animal oeconomy : thus 
 the pleafure annexed to feeing, is from its fubfervient ufefulnefs 
 to the underflanding, which is the internal fight of the mind ; 
 and the pleafure of hearing from the fervice it minifters to the 
 intellect and will, by hearkening, in order to obedience (*) : 
 the fenfe of fmelling has its pleafure from the refreflmient and 
 aid it yields to the brain and lungs ; the tafte from its ufe in 
 fupplying the ftomach with food for the nourifliment of the 
 whole body ; and the touch, confidered in a conjugal view, 
 from its eminent ufe in the propagation of the human fpecies, 
 and thereby providing a feminary for ccElelHal inhabitants. All 
 thefe pleafures with innocence are communicated to the fenfes 
 by influx from the heavenly world, where every delight has its 
 ufe, and is in proportion to its degree of ufe. 
 
 403. Certain fpirits, from a notion they had entertained in 
 this world, fancied that the happinefs of heaven confifted iii a 
 life of eafe and indolence, and being ferved in all things by 
 others ; but it was told theiii, that no fociety could fubfifl hap- 
 pily in fuch a fi:ate, and that where all were to be ferved, there 
 could not be any to ferve ; moreover, that a life of idlenefs 
 would render them ftupid and good for nothing ; that action 
 was effential to felicity, and reft only the means of fitting them 
 the better for it : they were likewife given to underfl:and, that 
 tlie life of angels principally confiflcd in doing ofiices of love 
 
 (*) Obedience is fignificd by bcaykcn'nig in many places of the Sacred Writings; 
 thus in particular, A(its iv. ig. " Whether it be right to hearken unto you more 
 " than unto God, judge ye." To hear likewife has the fame fignification, not 
 only in Scripture language, but alfo in many other writings ; thus: Ni que audit 
 (uirui hahenui. Virg. Georg. I. Tr. 
 
 X X X and
 
 [ 266 ] 
 
 and life, and that it was their higheft delight to be fo employed : 
 and then, to make them afliamed of fo abfurd a notion, as that 
 of happinefs in heaven confifting in eveilafting indolence, there 
 vas given them a perception of fuch a ftate, by which it ap- 
 peared to tliem moft irkfome and melancholy, and fuch as would 
 not only be deftrudlive of every joy, but in a little time be 
 attended with difguft and loathing. 
 
 404. Some fpirits, which thought themfelves wifer than 
 their fellows, had conceived an opinion in this world, that hea- 
 venly joy confifted altogether in praifmg and worlliipping God, 
 and that this conftltuted the adlive life of angels ; but it was 
 told them, that God needed not their praifes and worlhip, but 
 willed rather that they fliould moftly be employed in performing 
 offices of ufe and love to one another ; but this they confidered 
 more as a talk of fervitude than true happinefs, although the 
 angels alTured them, that it was a mofl free and delightful em- 
 ployment, as proceeding from the mofl affectionate good will, 
 and which they executed with unfpeakable pleafure. 
 
 405. Almort all, on their arrival in the other world, think 
 that all infernal fpirits have one and the fame hell, and all cce- 
 leftial fpirits one and the fame heaven ; whereas there is an 
 endlefs variety in both, neither is one hell or one heaven quite 
 fimilar to another, as there are no two men, fpirits, or angels, 
 that exaftly refemble each other, not even in the face ; and 
 when I went about to figure to my imagination two fuch exadly 
 the fame, the angels feemed to fhudder at it, telling me, that 
 every whole was formed by the harmonizing confent of many 
 different parts, and that as was the harmony or agreement of 
 the component parts, fuch was the aggregate or whole ; and 
 that in this manner every fociety in heaven was one body formed 
 of feveral different individuals, and the univerfal complex of 
 heaven was formed of all the different focieties, and that the 
 bond of their union was love from the Lord (248). Ufes in 
 
 the 
 
 (248) That every whole confifts of various different parts, from which it re- 
 ceives its form and quality ; and according to the harmony and confent of its 
 component parts, is the degree of its pcrfeflion, n. 457, 3241, 8oo?. That 
 there is an infinite \ aricty in the works of God, and no two things exaaly alilce, 
 o. 7236, 9002. The fiimc holds true in the heavens, n. 5744, 4C05, 7236, 7833, 
 
 7836,
 
 [ 267 ] 
 
 the heavens have alfo their like variety and dlverfity, no two 
 of them being exadtly fimilar or the fame, nor yet the pleafures 
 refulting from them, though to every ufe belong innumerable 
 pleafures, and though all different, yet fo orderly difpofed and 
 connedled, as to harmonize together, like the ufes of every 
 member, organ, and bowel in the human body, nay, which is 
 ftill more, of every veffel and fibre in each member, organ, and 
 bowel, which are all fo wonderfully adjuftcd, as to co-operate 
 with their affociates, and perform their diftindl offices one in 
 all, and all in every one ; whilll fepavately, yet conjuncftly, they 
 form one regular fyilem of complicated ufes without the leaft 
 confufion or diforder. 
 
 406. I have fometimes converfed with fpirits newly come 
 from this world concerning their eternal ftate, obferving to 
 them, that it nearly concerned them to know who was the fove- 
 reign of the kingdom, what the conftitution of it, and what 
 the particular form of its government ; and that if fuch as 
 travelled into a foreign country in this world confidcred it of 
 confequence to be acquainted with thefe and the like particulars 
 relating to it, it was of ftill greater importance to them to be 
 informed of the fame in reference to the kingdom in which they 
 now were, and wherein they were to live for ever : that there- 
 fore they were to know, that the Lord of glory was the King 
 of heaven, and alfo the fupreme Governor of the univerfe, and 
 therefore that they were his liege fubjedts ; and moreover, that 
 the laws of his kingdom were eternal truths founded on that 
 univerfil indifpenfable law of loving the Lord above all things, 
 and their neighbour as themfelves ; nay, what was ftill more, 
 that now, if they would be as the angels, they ought to love 
 their neighbour more than themfelves : on hearing which they 
 were ftruck dumb ; for though in this world they might pof- 
 fibly have heard of fuch a dodtrine, yet they gave no credit to 
 it ; and therefore wondered at fuch love, even in heaven ; nay, 
 
 7836, 9002. Hence, that all the focieties in the heavens, ami every angel in 
 each fociety, have their diftiiict charadtcrs, and their dificrcnc kinds and degrees 
 as to good and ufe, n. 6go, 3241, 3519 — 7236, 7833, 3986. That the divine 
 love of the Lord gives them their heavenly form, and makes them to be as one 
 man, n. 457, 3986, 5598. 
 
 tliat
 
 [ 268 ] 
 
 that it was ponible for any one to love his neighbour better than 
 himfelf : but they were informed, that all kinds of good be- 
 came immenfely increafcd in the other world, and though in 
 this life, few, through the impcrfedion of human nature, could 
 go farther than to love their neighbour as themfelves, as being 
 here fubjedt to corporeal affedlions ; yet on their removal from 
 thefe impediments, true love became more pure and exalted,, 
 even to an angelical ftandard, which is to love their neighbour 
 more than themfelves, and to eftcem it their happinefs to do 
 good to others without feeking their own good, unlefs for the 
 fake of their neighbour, that he may receive the benefit of it 
 by communication ; and that this was properly to love their 
 neighbour better than themfelves : and with refpecfl not only to 
 the poflibility, but alfo to the reality of fuch love, they were 
 told, that many convincing proofs might be brought from 
 examples in this world; thus in the conjugal flate, where one 
 of the parties had fufFered death to fave the other ; in mothers, 
 many of which would endure hunger, rather than their children 
 ihould want food ; in inflances of clofe friendlhip, where the 
 one had expofed himfelf to the greateft hardfliips and dangers 
 for the fake of the other ; nay, even in decent and polite com- 
 pany, where fuch kind of love is only imitated, how common 
 is it for people of good breeding to offer preference, and the 
 beft things to others, from mere civility and fhew of greater 
 refpedl j and laftly, they were told, that it was of the very 
 ell'ence and nature of true love to do all kind offices to the objcdls 
 of it, not from felfilh views, but from difinterell:ed affediion. 
 But notwithflanding the force of thefe arguments, they who 
 were deep in the love of felf, and had been greedy of filthy 
 lucre in this world, could not receive fuch docTtrinc, and the 
 covetous leall of all. 
 
 407. A certain fpirit, who, in the life of the body, was in 
 high power, and llill retained tlie love of command, was told, 
 that his authority was now at an end, he being in a very dif- 
 ferent kingdom, where every one's eltimation was only accord- 
 ing to the good and truth that was in him, and from the mercy 
 of the Lord, who had tranflated him thither j and it was more- 
 over told him, that the country to which he now belonged had 
 
 indeed 
 
 f
 
 [ 269 ] • 
 
 indeed this in common with the world he came from ; that 
 riches and the favour of the prince conferred preeminence, hut 
 then it was to he remcmhered, that good and truth were the 
 only riches there accounted of i and that the favour of tlie prince 
 was no other than the Lord's mercy to thofe, who had been 
 fiitliful ftewards of the grace they had received from hini in 
 this world ; and confequently, that to claim any farther autho- 
 rity than was founded hereon, would be nothing better than 
 ufurpation and rebellion againll the laws of his government : on 
 hearing this he was put to Ihame and confufion. 
 
 40S. I was in converlation with fome fpirits, which had a 
 notion that heaven, and the joys thereof, conlifted in being 
 great there, when it was told them, that he which is leafl: is 
 greateil in the kingdom of heaven, and that by leaft is meant 
 he, who, being without ftrength and wifdom, defires not to 
 have either from himfelf, but from the Lord only ; now fuch 
 a leaft one is the happieft, and confequently the greateft, for 
 the Lord is to him both ftrength and wifdom ; and what means 
 greateft but happieft, or what do the mighty propofe by their 
 power, or the rich by their riches, but to be happier than 
 others ? Moreover, it was told them, that it made no part of 
 heavenly happinefs to defire to be leaft, in order thereby to be 
 the greateft, for that was afpiring after grandeur ; but that it 
 confifted in heartily wifliing better to others than to themfelves, 
 and in doing them the beft fervices for their own fakes with a 
 dilinterefted love. 
 
 409. What heavenly joy is, in its eflence, will not admit 
 of defcription, as being feated in the inmoft principles of life 
 in the angels, from which it diftufcs itfclf into all their tlioughts 
 and affedlions, and thence into every thing they lay and do : it 
 is as if the fecret reccfles of their fouls were wide open to the 
 divine influence, in order to give it free admiflion into every 
 fibre of their fpiritual bodies, thereby to excite perceptions and 
 fenfations of delight furpafting the power of expreffion j for 
 what takes its rife in the center is propagated through all the 
 derivations from it to the circumference, or external parts. The 
 good fpirits, which have not as yet been received into heaven, 
 nor confequently entered into this joy, arc even tranfported at 
 
 Y y y the
 
 [ 270 ] 
 
 the fcnfation of it, when communicated to them by the efflux 
 or fphere of love ilTuing from any angel, as is fomctimes granted 
 to thofe who have an earnell defire to taltc of heavenly joy. 
 
 410. Certain fpirits, on a time, were anxious to feel fome- 
 thing of this joy, and accordingly they were permitted to tafte 
 as much of it as they were able to bear ; and though the quan- 
 tity communicated to them was fo extremely fmall, as fcarcely 
 to deferve the name of angelical, yet they deemed it to be highly 
 cceleftial, as being fuperlative with regard to their fenf\tions ; 
 which convinced me, not only that there are many degrees in 
 heavenly joy, but alfo, that what is the highert degree to one 
 fcarcely equals the lowefl: degree in another ; and alfo, that every 
 one has his limited or utmoll: mcafure of joy, which is heaven 
 to him, and that more, inflead of increafing his happinefs, 
 would be painful and more than he could fuftain. 
 
 411. There were fome other fpirits of no bad difpofition, 
 which funk into a trance, and were favoured with heavenly 
 vifions ; for fpirits, even before the gate of communication is 
 opened in their interiour, may be tranllated into heaven, and 
 there become acquainted with the happy flate of angels : I favv 
 them in this ftillnefs for half an hour, and then reltored to their 
 former ftate in full remembrance of all they had feen : they 
 faid, that they had been with the angels in heaven, and feen 
 flupendous things glittering like gold and filver, with various 
 forms of cxquifite beauty, which changed thcmfelves into others 
 in a wonderful manner ; but that the angels did not feem to be 
 pleafed fo much with thofe external objefts, as delighted with 
 the things reprefented by them, which were unutterable, as 
 full of divine wifdom : they likewifc declared, that they had 
 been given to know innumerable things, which could not be 
 defcribed in any human language to the ten thoufandth part, 
 nor quadrate with ideas converfant with material objedts. 
 
 412. The ignorance of almoll all that enter into the other 
 world, in relation to coeleftial happinefs, proceeds from their 
 being fuch Grangers to true internal joys, and having been ac- 
 cuflomed only to relilh the pleafures of fenfe, and of this world ; 
 and therefure what they know not pafTcs with them for nothing; 
 whereas fenfual and worldly pleafures are as nothing when com- 
 pared 
 
 I
 
 [ 271 ] 
 
 pared to the former : therefore it is, that for the in/lruftion of 
 fome good fpirits in this matter, who are without any notioa 
 of the nature of heavenly joys, they are at firlf entertained with 
 a light of paradifiacal reprefentations, which, for their beauty, 
 furpafs the reach of imagination ; upon which they fuppofe that 
 they are in the true heavenly paradife ; but are told, that they 
 are as yet far fliort of it. In the next place, they are brought 
 into a flate of internal joy to fuch a degree as they are capable 
 of receiving ; and then into a ftate of heavenly peace ; at which 
 they exprefs a fenfe of joy that exceeds the power of words to 
 defcribe, or even of thought to conceive : thus they are gra- 
 dually formed to the experience of true fpiritual and coelellial 
 good. 
 
 413. That I might be inwardly convinced both of the 
 reality and nature of coeleftial joys, the Lord has gracioufly been 
 plealed to grant me an experimental fenfe thereof, and this often 
 and long together ; and therefore I can teftify to them, though 
 not defcribe them ; however, a word fliall be fpoken on the 
 fubje<fl, in order to convey fome imperfeft idea thereon. It is 
 an affeftion or ftate of the foul, in which innumerable lefTer 
 pleafures and joys form one total or aggregate, in which the 
 component particular ones harmonize, but are not diftindlly and 
 feverally perceived, but only as forming one general or common 
 perception or fenfation ; however, I could find that there were 
 innumerable others therein difpofed in marvellous manner ac- 
 cording to heavenly order, for in all, even the very leaft, fuch 
 order is obferved, though all combined form but one. general 
 fenfation according to the quality of the recipient. In a word, 
 in every general are infinite particulars, every one of which has 
 its vital influence and operation, and that from the inmoft ground 
 or center from which heavenly joys proceed. I perceived alfo, 
 that this joy and delight iffued, as it were, from the heart, dif- 
 fufing itfelf gently and fweetly through all the original fibres^ 
 and from them to their feveral ramifications and complications,, 
 and that with fo cxquifite a fenfe of pleafure, as if every fibre 
 were a fountain of joyous perceptions and fenfations, in com- 
 parifon to which, grofs corporeal pleafures are but as the muddy 
 waters of a putrid lake to the wholfome ventilations of refrefh- 
 
 ing
 
 [ 272 ] 
 
 ing breezes. I found by experience, whenever I was prompted 
 by a motive of benevolence to communicate the joy I felt to 
 ajiy other, that in the room of what was fo communicated, a 
 frelh and more copious llream of joy flowed in upon my foul, 
 and that according to the degree of fuch benevolence. This 
 I perceived to be from the goodnefs and free bounty of the 
 Lord, 
 
 414. All who are in heaven continue in their progrefs to- 
 wards the flower and perfedion of life, and the more thoufunds 
 of years they pal's, the more pleafantly and happily they advance 
 on in an eternal progreflion, according to their proficiency in 
 love, charity, and faith (*). There luch of the female fex as 
 had departed this life broken with the iniirmities of old age, 
 but after having; lived in the faith of tlie Lord, in' charitv to- 
 wards their neighbour, and in all the focial duties of conjugal 
 affedlion, after a fuccelTion of ages appear as advancing towards 
 perfedion in the bloom of youthful beauty furpalfing defcription, 
 whilft goodnefs and charity add graces to their perfons, and 
 exprefs themlelves in every feature of their faces, infbmuch that 
 they may pafs for forms of charity : certain Ipirits that beheld them 
 w^ere afloniflied at the fight. Such is the form of charity, which 
 in heaven is reprefented to the life, for it is charity that pour- 
 trays it, and is pourtrayed in it, and that in a manner fo expref- 
 five, that the whole angel, more particularly as to the face, 
 appears as charity itfelf in a perfonal form of exquifite beauty, 
 ali^eding the foul of the Ipedator with fomcthing of the fame 
 grace. In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow in youth 
 
 (*) Something has been faid before in a former note concerning faith in heaven ; 
 and it may not be improper further to obferve in this place, that though it be a 
 generally received opinion in the church, that faith in heaven will ceafc, as being 
 fwallowcd up in vifion and the accomplifhment of the promifes, yet however a 
 human faith, as to the reality and certainty of future things, will ceafc when 
 thofe things now future {hall come to pafs ; yet it follows not that a divine, de- 
 pendent, confidential faith in the Lord for the continuance of his goodjicfs and 
 bleflings will ever fail, as it is the exercife of a duty naturally fpringing from the 
 relation fubfifting between the moft exalted of created beings, and their adorable 
 Creator and Benefadtor, to whofc free bounty and goodnefs they ftand indebted 
 both for the continuation of their exiftence, and the happinefs of it; of which, 
 faith, love, and obedience, may be the abfolutc conditions, though no lefs volun- 
 tary on their part on that account. Tr. 
 
 and
 
 r 273 ] 
 
 and beauty, as is the cafe with all thofe who have here lived in 
 love to the Lord, and in chirity towards their neighbour. Such 
 are the forms of the coeleftial inhabitants, though with unfpeak- 
 able dillindtion and variety. 
 
 Of the Immenfity of Heaven. 
 
 415. That heaven is of immenfe extent may be gathered 
 from many things laid down in the foregoing part of this work, 
 and particularly from what has been faid concerning its being 
 inhabited by all good people of the human race (fee above, n. 
 311 to 317) both from within and without the church, from 
 the creation of the earth. He that knows any thing of geo- 
 graphy may form fome judgment how vafl a multitude muft 
 people this our world, and will find, upon a moderate calcu- 
 lation, that feveral thoufands die every day, and fome millions 
 in the fpace of a year, and that mortality has been going on 
 with us from the earlieft times now for fome thoufands of years, 
 palling thus continually into the world of fpirits : how many 
 of thefe have and do become angels cannot be known j but thus 
 much I have been told, that very many fuch there were in an- 
 cient times, for then men were more fpiritually minded, and 
 miore heavenly in their affedlions ; but not fo many in the fol- 
 lowing ages, as in procefs of time they turned more to the 
 world, and more fet their affeiftions on things below. From 
 this firft confideration it may appear, that heaven is of great 
 extent from the number of inhabitants therein from this world 
 only. 
 
 416. But the immenfity of heaven will llill farther appear 
 from confidering, that all infants that depart this life, whether 
 within or without the church, are adopted by the Lord, and 
 advanced to the angelical ftate, and that the number of thefe 
 amounts to the fourth or fifth part of the human fpecies on 
 earth. That every infant, wlierever born, and whether fprung 
 from good or bad parents, is after death received by the Lord, 
 educated in heaven, and, according to an efiabliHied order of 
 that kingdom, principled v/ith good affedlions, and inftrudled in 
 
 Z z z the
 
 [ 274 ] 
 
 the knowledge of the truth ; and, when perfedted hi underftand- 
 ing and wirdom, adopted into the order of angels, fee above, n, 
 329 to 345. How great a multitude of angels may we fuppofe 
 to come from this lingle feminary from the creation to this 
 prefent time ! 
 
 417. Another proof of the immenfity of heaven is deducible 
 from hence, viz. that all the planets, fo vifible to our fight in 
 this folar fyflem, are fo many worlds or earths ; and that there 
 are ulio innumerable others in tlie univerfe, all inhabited, con- 
 cerning which I {hall quote the following pallage extradled from 
 a little work written by me, intitled, De Telluribus in Unhcrjb. 
 " That there arc many worlds inhabited by men, who after- 
 " wards become fpirits and angels, is a truth well known in 
 " the other life ; for every one there, that defires it from the 
 ** love of truth and ufeful knowledge, is allowed to converfe 
 " with the fpirits from other worlds, in order to be convinced 
 " of the plurality of worlds, and that not this earth only, but 
 ♦* alfo innumerable others are peopled by the human fpecies. 
 " I have fometimes converfed with fpirits from our world on 
 *♦ this fubjeft, and told them, that any man of rational under- 
 '* flanding might conclude from things clearly known, that 
 " there are more worlds befides this, inhabited by human crea- 
 " tures, as it was highly reafonable to conclude, that fuch 
 " great bodies as the planets, fome of which exceed our earth 
 " in magnitude, are not mere folitudes, and created only to 
 " revolve round the fun, and flied a little inconfiderable light 
 " on our earth, but defigned for far more important ufes. He 
 " that believes, as every rational man muft, that Divine Omni- 
 " potence created the univerfe for human cre?.tures, and through 
 " them for heaven, they being the feminary for the peopling 
 " of heaven, cannot but believe that every world is inliabited 
 ** by mankind. That the planets, which are fo confpicuous to 
 " us within the limits of our folar fyftem, are fo many habitable 
 " worlds, manifcllly appears from their exhibiting all the pha;- 
 " nomena of terreftrial bodies, fuch as rcflecfting to us the light 
 " of the fun, and, when viewed through a telefcopc, not 
 " fhewing themfelves as glittering maifes of fire, but as folid 
 •* globes of earth variegated with dark fpots ; as alfo from their 
 
 '* rcfembling
 
 [ ^1S ] 
 
 " refembling our earth in their revolutions round the fun in 
 " their progrefs through the zodiack, thereby delcribing their 
 '• annual courfes and leafons of fpring, fummer, autumn, and 
 " winter j and likcwife in their diurnal revolutions round their 
 " their own axis, whereby they effed: the fame regular vicilfi- 
 ** tudes of morning, noon, evening, and night, as with us : 
 " add to this, that fome of them have their moons, called Sa- 
 " tellites, which perform their ftated revolutions round them, 
 " as the moon does round our earth ; and that the planet Sa- 
 " turn, as being moft diftant from the fun, is furrounded with 
 *' a large girdle or belt, that retleds much light to that ter- 
 *' reftrial globe. Who, that knows and confiders thefe things 
 *' in a rational light, can believe that thefe ftupendous bodies 
 " are without inhabitants, and fo without ufe. In converfation 
 " with the fpirits before mentioned, I took occafion to obferve 
 " further, on the great probability of there being more worlds 
 " than one, from the immenlity of the ftarry heavens fo be- 
 *' fpanglcd with fhining fpheres, and that it muft appear highly 
 " credible to the attentive obferver, that each of them did the 
 " fame office with our fun to their refpedlive planets, thus 
 " ferving as fubordinate means to the ultimate end of creation, 
 " which doubtlefs was to provide and prepare for heaven an 
 ** infinite number of human beings, to be blefl'ed with the 
 " divine prefence and communications ; whilll fo many ftars 
 " fcrved as fo many funs to enlighten, warm, and fruftify fo 
 *' many earths for the fupport of men, that Ihould in due time 
 " become angels in the kingdom of heaven. What rational 
 '* man can fuppofe, that fuch an immenfe provifion of means 
 ** fhould not be in order to a proportionate end ; or be weak 
 " enough to imagine, that fo llupendous an apparatus lliould 
 " all be for the fake of the inhabitants of one earth only, when 
 '* as myriads of worlds are but as the duft of the balance to an 
 " Infinite Omnipotent Creator ? There arc certain fpirits, who 
 " n:iake it their bulinefs to acquire knowledges, as placing their 
 ** whole delight therein ; and thefe are allowed the liberty of 
 " expatiating far in the univerfe, and to pafs from one iolar 
 " fyltem to another, in order to procure intelligence. Thcfc 
 *' affured me, that there were not only more tcrreihial worlds 
 
 " befides
 
 [ 276 ] 
 
 *' befides this in our folar fyftem, but alio an immenfe number 
 " of others beyond it I'cattered throughout the ibirry heavens : 
 *♦ thefe ipirits were from the planet Mercury. Upon forming 
 " a calculation it was found, that upon the fuppolltion of there 
 ♦' being a million of worlds in the univerfe like ours, and inha- 
 '* bitants to the number of three hundred millions in every world ; 
 *' and fuppofing two hundred generations of men to take place in 
 " the compafs of fix thouiand years, and every man or fpirit to 
 •' be allowed a fpace of three cubical yards ; that in this cafe 
 " the number of men or fpirits colledted together would not 
 *' fill this cur earth, nay, little more than one of the Satellites 
 " of the planets, which would be but as a point compared to 
 *' the univerfe, as any one of the Satellites ken from our earth 
 " is hardly vifible to the naked eye : and what is this, or an 
 " univerfe of worlds, to Infinite Power ? I have had conver- 
 " fation with fomc angels on this fubjedl:, who exprcfied like 
 " fentiments on the matter, laying, that their thoughts were 
 " more employed about ftates than fpace j but that it was very 
 ** evident, that all the generations of men, and countlefs my- 
 " riads of worlds, were as nothing compared to infinity." As 
 to the worlds in the univerfe, and their inhabitants, and fpirits 
 and angels from thence, fee the little work before mentioned : 
 all therein related was revealed and Ihewed to me, in order to 
 make manifell: fomewhat of the immcnfity of heaven, and that 
 all the inhabitants thereof were originally of human extradion ; 
 and alfo to make known, that our Lord is every where acknow- 
 ledged for the God of heaven and earth. 
 
 418. The immenfity of heaven will farther appear from 
 hence, that heaven in its whole complex refembles one man, 
 and alfo correfponds to all and fingular the parts in man, and 
 that fuch corrcfpondency cannot be fo full, as to admit of no 
 increafe, feeing it not only has relation to all the members, 
 organs, and vifcera of the body in general, but alfo to the moft 
 minute particulars thereof, and to every vellel, nerve, and fibre; 
 and not only to thefe, but alfo to thofe moit fubtle organized 
 forms, which in the inmoll recefies of material fubftances are 
 firfl aded upon by the heavenly influx, and whence arife thofe 
 interior adtive powers, which are the next immediate inftruments 
 
 fubfervient
 
 [ ^77 J 
 
 fubfcrvient to the operations of the human mind ; for whatever 
 internally exifls in man, exifts in fomc fubftantial form as its 
 fubjeft, without which it is nothing : now there is a correfpon- 
 dence between all thefe and the heavenly world, fee ch. Of the 
 Correfpondetice of all T/jwgs in Heaven tviib all Things in Man, 
 0. 87 to 102. This correfpondency can never be at its ne plus 
 ultra, becaufe the more numerous the angelical confociations, 
 which correfpond to any one member, the higher is the degree 
 of perfecftion in heaven, for all perfedtion there increafes accord- 
 ing to plurality, and that becaufe in the heavens one end is 
 purfued in all things, and by the unanimous confent of all ; 
 now this end is the comm.on good, from which arifes benefit to 
 the individuals, and from the good of the individuals arifes 
 benefit to the community ; this proceeds from the Lord turning 
 all in heaven towards himfelf (fee above, n. 123) j and thereby 
 making them all one in himfelf. That the unanimity and con- 
 cord of many, more efpecially from a divine original, and fuch • 
 a bond of union, muft produce perfection, every one of found 
 judgment will readily allow. 
 
 419. I have been favoured with a fight of the heaven that 
 is inhabited, and alfo of that which is not inhabited, and I faw 
 that the former was of fuch vafi: extent, as not to be filled in 
 eternity, on a fuppofition that there were many myriads of 
 worlds like this of ours, and every one of them equally full of 
 inhabitants, concerning which ice my little work, De Telluribus 
 in Univerjb, n. 168. 
 
 420. Some erroneoufly fuppofe, that heaven is not of fuch 
 vaft extent as is here mentioned, but rather comparatively fmall, 
 being led into this error by Ibnie palfages in Scripture ill under- 
 i1:ood, as where it feems to .be implied, that the poor only are 
 admitted into heaven ; or none but the elcit ; or fuch only as 
 are within the church ; or thofe alone in whofe behalf the Lord 
 intercedes ; as alfo where heaven is reprefented as being fliut 
 after having received its full number, and that there is a fixed 
 time appointed for this purpofc : but let them know, that 
 heaven will never be fhut ; ami that there is no appointed time 
 for any fuch cxclufion, and no certain number limited for ad- 
 miflion thereinto ; and alfo, that by the eleft are meant all who 
 
 A a a a arc
 
 [ 278 ] 
 
 are in the life of good and truth (249) ; and that by the poor 
 are fignified fuch as arc without the knowledge of good and 
 truth, but earncftly dtfire to have it, and that from fuch defire 
 they are called thofe that hu?iger (250). 'All they who have 
 fuch confined notions of heaven, and of the number of its in- 
 habitants, do greatly miftake the fenfe of the Scriptures, whiKt 
 they fuppofe that all there make up one general aflembly rtiut 
 up in the fame place, whereas heaven confills of innumerable 
 diftindt focieties (fee above, n. 41 to 50) ; and moreover are of 
 opinion, that every one receives his appointment to heaven by 
 a mere arbitrary grant of immediate mercy, and confequently, 
 that coeleftial happinefs means no more than admiifion into a 
 certain place by mandate or form of defignation, not under- 
 Aanding that the Lord leads every one by his mercy that receives 
 him ; and that to receive him is to live according to the laws of 
 divine order, or his precepts of love and faith ; and that to be 
 under his leadings from the beginning to the end of our lives in 
 this world, and fo on in eternity, is what we are to underlland 
 by his mercy : therefore let all fuch know, that every one is 
 defigncdly born into this world for heaven, and that he is re- 
 ceived into it, who receives into himfelf the qualifyiiig heavenly 
 principles in this world, and that no other is excluded than he 
 who rejeifls them. 
 
 (249) That thofe are called EleSi, who :iie in the life of good and truth, n. 3755, 
 3900. That elciStion and reception into heaven is not according to an arbitrary 
 dillinclion of mcrcv, as fome underftand it, but according to the inward life, 
 "• 5057» 5058' That there is no fuch immediate arbitrary mercy rtfpcdting fal- 
 vation, but mediate c>r through the ufe of means, that i?, to thofe who live ac- 
 cording to the Lord's precepts, and whom he mticifuUy guides inthis world, and 
 hereafter in eternity, 11. 10659, 8700. 
 
 (250) That by Poor in the Word, we are to underft::.iij to be meant fuch as 
 are poor in a fpiritual fenfe, or fuch as are ignorant of the truth, but defiruus of 
 inftruction, n. 9209, 9253, 10227. That thefe are figmficd by thofe that hunger 
 and thirli, th.it is, defire thofe knowledges of good and truth, which are intro- 
 uuiltory to the cliurch and to hcaveiij n. 4958, 10227. 
 
 \ 
 
 Of
 
 t 279 ] 
 
 * 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WORLD OF SPIRITS, 
 
 ANDOFTHE 
 
 State of Man after Death. 
 
 421. What is called the world of fpirits is neither heaven nor 
 hell, but a place or ftate betwixt both, into which man enters im- 
 mediately after death, and after ilaying there a certain time, longer 
 or Ihorter, according to what his paft life had been in this world, 
 he is either received up into heaven, or caft down into hell. 
 
 422. That there is fuch an intermediate place appointed for 
 man after this life has been manifefted to me from having i'een 
 hell beneath, and heaven above it, and that man whillt there is 
 in neither of them. The heavenly ftate in man is from the 
 conjunction of good and truth within him, and the hellifh ftate 
 in man is from the conjundlion of evil and falfe within him ; 
 by the former he is prepared for heaven, and by the latter for 
 hell ; nov/ this ccnjunition is completed in the world of fpirits, 
 or the intermediate ftate : whether wc call it the conjundlion of 
 the underftanding and will, or the conjundlion of good and 
 truth, it comes to the fame thing. 
 
 423. Something muft be prcmifed here concerning this con- 
 jundlion of the intelledl and will, ahd their correlatives good 
 and truth, as com.pleted in the world of fpiiits. To man belong 
 underftanding and will j the former is the recipient of truths, 
 and is formed by them, and the will is the recipient of goods, 
 and is formed thereby : fo that whatever a man underftands, and 
 brings into thought, that he calls truth ; and what he wills and 
 brings into thought, that he calls good. A man may think from 
 his intellcdlual part, and thence perceive what is true, and what 
 is good ideally ; but he thinks it not from the will part or 
 faculty, unlefs he chufes and does it; but when he wills it, and 
 
 *" from
 
 [ 28o ] 
 
 from the operation of willing alfo does it, then It is both in the 
 underftanding and in the will, and confequently in the man, 
 who confifts of both jointly, but not of either fmgly and fcpa- 
 ratcly ; and therefore in that cafe only it is appropriated to him, 
 or becomes properly his own ; whereas what a man has only 
 intelledlually and in theory, however it may ferve liim to reafon 
 upon, and to make a counterfeit fliow of outwardly, yet having 
 got no hold on his will, it makes no part of himfelf, but is only 
 a matter of memory and fcience, which he can take up or lay 
 down, but gains no eifential form in him. 
 
 424. It is provided that man (hould be able to think from 
 the intclle(5tual part feparately from the will, to the end that he 
 may be reformed and changed ; for he is reformed by means of 
 truths, and thefe appertain to the intclleft, as was faid before. 
 Man is born into the world with natural propenfities to evil, 
 whence it is that he is fo fwallowcd up in the love of felf, 
 as to grudge and covet the good things of others, and to take 
 pleafure in their lofs if it may turn to his gain, being only in- 
 tent on the honours, riches, and pleafures of this \\'orld : now 
 that this malignity of his nature may be reformed, he is endowed 
 with the power of apprehending truths in his underftanding, 
 that he may thereby cuunteradt and fubduc the evil afFe(ftions in 
 his will : hence it is that he can fpeculate truths in his intellecfl", 
 and bring forth into fpeech, and aiit according to them ; yet they 
 are not properly hii own till they be didlated from his heart and 
 will, and flow fpontaneoully into his life and anions ; and where 
 this is the cafe, the thoughts of a man's mind, or uiider/tanding, 
 conrtitute his faith ; and the thoughts of his heart or will, con- 
 ftitute his love; and fo his fiich and love, like his underftanding 
 and will, are united and agree in one. 
 
 425. As far therefore as truths in the underftanding arc 
 conjoined with good [6onis] in the will, and confequently, as 
 far forth as any one is freely actuated thereby in the practical 
 manifeftation of them, fo far he has heaven in himfclf, or is in 
 a heavenly ftate ; for, as was faid before, the conjuncTiion of 
 good and truth is heaven in the foul ; but as far as the falfe 
 [Ja//a] in the underftanding is conjoined with evil in the will, 
 fo far a man has hell in himfelf, or is m a helliih ftate ; for the 
 conjuncftion of falfe and evil conftitutes hell : bat as far as truth 
 
 in
 
 [ 28l ] 
 
 In the underftanding is not united with good in the will, fb far 
 man is in a middle ftate between both ; now almoft all at this 
 time are in a ftate of knowing fomething of truth intellecftually 
 or fcientifically, whilft: fome live more, fome lefs, and fome not 
 at all according to it, nay, fome quite contrary to it through 
 the love of evil, and from thence through a falfe belief; there- 
 fore, that every one may have his full preparation and fitnefs for 
 heaven or hell, he palles immediately after death into the world 
 of fpirits, where the conjunftion of good and truth is com- 
 pleted in thofe whofe lot is to heaven ; and the conjunftion of 
 evil and fdfe in thofe who are to have their portion in hell : for 
 in thofe two kingdoms none are allowed to be divided betwixt 
 good and evil, or to think one way, and will another; and 
 therefore the angels in heaven, who have their wills in good, 
 have their underftandings in truth ; and the fpirits in hell, who 
 have their wills in evil, know only the falfe j confequently, in 
 this intermediate ftate of final preparation, whatever of falfe 
 [^f<^lfa] has cleaved to the good fpirits is done away, and fuch 
 truths as are accordant and conformable to their good are given 
 them ; and from the bad fpirits are taken away luch adventitious 
 or fpeculative truths as they may have acquired, and they he- 
 come poffefled of fuch falfities [/^^(^] in their room, as are 
 accordant and conformable to their evil nature (*). Thus much 
 may fuffice to explain what is meant by the world of fpirits. 
 
 426. In 
 
 (*) However obfcurc at firft fight this and the three preceding numbers may 
 appear to feme of our readers (though wc have ufcd our bert endeavours to render 
 the matter intelligible to all) it nuift be obfervcd, that they hold forth to us a 
 tloclrine of great importance, and worthy of their moft attentive conilderation ; 
 and the knowledge thereof is highly conducive to the clearer underftanding of the 
 author in many parts of his writings : he therein treats of the two grejt (onfti- 
 tuent principles of man, the und;.-rli:ani!ing and will, and {hews how the depraved 
 affections of the latter arc to be fubdued and reformed here by the light and power 
 of truth received from the former ; in which cafe the undcritanding and will are 
 in union, and truth fprings not fo much from the exercife of reafoning, as from 
 the principle of good in the will ; the tree being made good, the fruit is confe- 
 quently the fame : but v/ithout this union the underllanding and will may be con- 
 trary to each other, and the former think the things that are excellent, whilft the 
 latter follov.-s thofe that are contrary thereto, as is the cafe with the fpeculative 
 believer, whofe life is not as becometh the Gofpcl of Chrifl, but contrary to his 
 faith. Now in the world of fpirits, where all are finally prepared for heaven or 
 hell, the underftanding and will arc united both in the good and the bad fpirits, 
 when the latter, having their underftanding darkened through the evil in their 
 
 B b b b will.
 
 [ 282 ] 
 
 426. In the world of Ipirits is always a very great number 
 of them, as there is the firll rcfort of all, in order to their 
 examination and preparation ; but there is no fixed time for 
 their llay there, for fome are tianflated to heaven, and others 
 configned to hell foon after their arrival, whilrt: fome continue 
 there for weeks, and others for feveral years, though none more 
 than thirty, this depending on the correfpondencc or non-cor- 
 refpondence between the interiour and exteriour of men. How 
 they pafs from one itate to another in this world, in the courfe 
 of their preparation, fhall be fpoken of in what follows. 
 
 427. As foon as they arrive in the world of fpirits, they are 
 all cLilTed by the Lord according to their feveral qualities and 
 difpofitions, the evil with fuch infernal focieties as they had 
 communication with in this world in the ruling pairion ; and 
 the good with fuch of the heavenly focieties as they had com- 
 munication with in love, charity, and faith : but however they 
 are thus diverfely clallcd, yet all meet and converfe together in 
 tliat world, when they have a defire fo to do, who have been 
 friends and acquaintance in this life, more efpecially hufbands 
 and wives, brothers and fiflers : I have feen a father converfing 
 with his fix fons with a perfect remembrance of them all, and 
 alfo many others with their kindred and friends; but as mort: of 
 them were of different inclinations and habits of mind, accord- 
 ing to their different ways of life here, they were foon parted ; 
 but it mulT: be noted both concerning thofe that go to heaven, 
 and thofe that go to hell, that after their arrival in thofe two 
 different kingdoms, they no more fee or know one another, 
 unlets they are of like minds and affedions. The reafon why 
 they meet and know one another in the world of fpirits, and 
 not fo in heaven or hell, is, bccaufe in the firil of thele worlds 
 they pafs through the fame flates they were in, in this life, and 
 fo from one to another 3 but afterwards, all are fixed in one 
 
 will, know only what is falfc, or contrary to truth, ■wihilft the former liave their 
 undeiftanding cnirghtened with the knowledge of the truth from their love of good 
 ill the will ; and fo both good and bad fpirits think and fpeak and adt in all things 
 confiftently with the governing principle within them refpeiflively. Let it be noted 
 here, that this intermediate Itate has nothing in it of the probationary kind, for 
 that is all over with the life of this world, but is a ftate of feparation, or reducing 
 every one to his proper prevailing principle, and, as fuch, finally preparatory for 
 heaven or bell. Tr. 
 
 permanent 
 
 i
 
 [ 283 ] 
 
 permanent ftate refpedilvely, according to the ftate of that love 
 which prevails in them, in which one knows another from fimi- 
 larity of condition ; for, as was obferved above, n. 41 to 50, 
 fimilitude joins, and diflimilitude feparates. 
 
 428. As the world of fpirits is a middle flate in man betweea 
 heaven and hell, fo is it alio a middle place, having the hells 
 beneath, and the heavens above. All ^he hells are fliut next to 
 that world, except that fome holes or clefts, like as in rocks, 
 or wide mouths, are left open, and thefe fo guarded, that none 
 can pafs through them but by permiffion, which is granted on 
 particular occafions, of which hereafter : heaven likewife ap- 
 pears as fenced all round, fo that there is no pafling to any of 
 the heavenly focieties, but by a narrow way, which is likewife 
 guarded. Thefe outlets and inlets are what in Scripture are 
 called the doors and gates of heaven and hell. 
 
 429. The world of fpirits appears like a valley between, 
 mountains and rocks, here and there finking and rifing. The 
 doors and gates opening to the heavenly focieties are only f en 
 by thofe who are in their preparation for heaven, nor are they 
 to be found by any others : to every fociety in heaven there is 
 an entrance from the world of fpirits, after pafling which there 
 is a way, which, as it rifes, branches into feveral others : nor 
 are the doors and gates of the hells vifible to any, but thofe that 
 are going to enter therein, to whom they are then opened j at 
 which time there appear, like as it were, dark and footy caverns 
 leauii^g obliquely down to the deep, where there are alfo m »"£ 
 gates. Through thofe dark and difmal caverns exhale certain 
 fetid vapours, which are moft olTenfive to the good fpirits, but 
 which the evil ones are greedily fond of; for as was the evil 
 which any one took moft delight in when in this world, fuch is 
 the flink correfponding thereto that moft pleafes him in the other ; 
 in which they may be aptly compared to thofe birds and hearts 
 of prey, as ravens, wolves, and Iwine, that are attrafted by the 
 rank elHuvia emitted from carrion and putrid carcafes : I once 
 heard one of thofe unhappy fpirits loudly bemoaning him (elf, 
 as from fome inward anguifli, on being ftruck with a fragrant 
 odour from heaven ; and afterwards relieved from his mifcry on 
 fcenting a fetid exhalation from hell. 
 
 430. There
 
 [ 284 1 
 
 430- There are alfo in every man two gates, the one of 
 which opens towards hell, and to all that is evil and falfe [malis 
 et faljis\ proceeding thence ; the other gate opens towards hea- 
 ven, and to all good and truth \bonis et veris\ that ifTue thence : 
 the infernal gate is open in thofe who are in evil and its falfe \in 
 malo ct hide JalJo\ and they receive from above only fome glim- 
 mering of heavenly light, juft fufficient to fervc them to think, 
 reafon, and talk of heavenly things ; but the gate of heaven 
 ftands open in thofe who are in good and its truth \jn bono et 
 inde 'vero\. There are alfo two ways leading to the rational mind 
 in man, the fuperior or internal, by which good and truth is 
 communicated from the Lord ; and the inferior or external way, 
 by which evil and falfe are communicated from hell, and the 
 rational mind is in the midll: of thefe two ways ; hence it is, 
 that as much of the heavenly light as any man admits into his 
 mind, fo far is he truly rational ; and fo much as he admits not 
 of it, in fuch proportion he is not rational, hov.'cver he may 
 think himfclf fo. Thefe things are here offered, to (liew the 
 correfpondence that fubfilts between man and heaven and hell ; 
 for his rational mind, during the formation of it, correfponds 
 to the world of fpirits, the tilings above it being in heaven, and 
 the things beneath it in hell ; the former arc opened, and the 
 latter (as to all influx of evil and falfe) are fhut with refpedt to 
 thofe who are in their preparation for heaven ; but, on the other 
 hand, the things from beneath are opened, and the things above 
 are (hut (as to all influx of good and truth) with refpe<ft to 
 ihofe who are in their preparation for hell ; confequently, the 
 latter can only look down to the things beneath them, or to 
 hell ; and the former only to the things above them, or to hea- 
 ven. Now to look up is, by correfpondence, to look to the 
 Lord, who is the common center to which all heavenly things 
 point their afped: and tendency ; but to look downwards is to 
 turn from the Lord to the oppofite center of attrartion to all 
 things of a hellilh nature, fee above, n. 123 and 124. 
 
 431. They who are in the world of fpirits are fpoken of in 
 the preceding numbers under the denomination of Sph-i's, and 
 they who are in heaven, under the denomination of An^elsm 
 
 That
 
 f 285 ] 
 
 That every Man is a Spirit as to the Inner 
 
 Man. 
 
 432. Whoever rightly confiders the matter, cannot but 
 know, that it is not the body, or material part, but the foul, 
 or fpiritual part, that thinks within him. Now the foul is his 
 fpirit, immortal in all its properties, and receptive of what is 
 fpiritual, as having a fpiritual life, which confifts in thinking 
 and willing ; confequently, the whole of the rational life ap- 
 pertains thereto, and not to the body, though manifefted therein ; 
 for the body, as obferved before, is only thoughtlefs matter, 
 and an adjund: or inftrument to the fpirit of man, whereby it 
 may manifeft its vital powers and functions in this natural world, 
 where all things are material, and as fuch void of life : it is 
 indeed cuflomary to afcribe adlion, motion, and power to the 
 body in the common forms of fpeaking ; but to fuppofe that 
 thefe properties belong to the inllrument, and not folcly to the 
 principle that aftuates it, is erroneous and abfurd. 
 
 433. As all vital power, both of adiing and thinking, ap- 
 pertains folely to the fpirit, and in no wife to the body, it fol- 
 lows, that the fpirit is truly and properly the man, and that 
 without its influence and operation there is neither thought nor 
 life from the crown of the head to the fole of the foot ; con- 
 fequently, that the feparation of the body from the fpirit, which 
 we call death, takes nothing from tliat which in reality con- 
 flitutes the man. I have been informed by the angels, that 
 fome, even after death, before they are raifed to their fecond life, 
 have fenfible perceptions for a while, as if flill in the body, though 
 without the power of bodily motion. 
 
 434. Man would not be capable of thinking and volition, 
 unlefs there were in him a fubftance to fcrve as the fubjed of 
 thefe operations, and to fuppofe otherwife would be afcribing 
 exigence to non-entity, as may appear from man's not being 
 able to fee without that organ, which is the fubjcdl of vifion, 
 or to hear without the. organ of hearing; thefe fenfes being no- 
 
 C c c c thing
 
 i 
 
 [ 286 ] , 
 
 thing without fuch fubjcds of their operations. Now thought * 
 
 is internal vifion, or the light of the miiid, as perception is the -i 
 
 internal hearing, and thefc withou't internal organized fubftances, 
 as their proper fubjeds, c;'.nnot cxill : fo that the fpirit of a 
 man has equally a form, and that a human one, as alfo its {cn- 
 fory and fenfes, when diverted of its material body, as it had 
 before ; for all the perceptive life of the eye and the ear, and 
 of every other fenfe that appertains to man, is not frojn Jiis 
 materi.'.l body, but from his Ipirit, and the vital powers thereof, 
 in alland fingular the organs and parts of his body : hence it is, 
 that fpirits fee, hear, and feel, as well as men, in the fpiritual 
 world (*), though not in this natural world after their feparation 
 from this mortal body. That the fpirit had natural fenfations 
 in this world was owins: to its union with a natural or material 
 body J but then alfo it had its fpiritual fenfes exercifed in the 
 various modes of thinking and willing. 
 
 435. The foregoing dodlrine is here offered, to convince the 
 rational reader, that man, confidered in himfelf, is a fpirit, and 
 that the corporeal part of his compofition annexed to him in 
 this natural and material world is in order to his relation thereto, 
 and what he has to do therein, but is not the man himfelf, but 
 only defigned to be inftrumental to the operations of his fpirit : 
 but, as few are capable of receiving abilradl reafonings, and 
 many are apt to run them into matter of doubtful difputation, 
 by arguments drawn from fallacious appearances of fenfe, I 
 
 (*) To fuppofe a human fpirit void of a liumnn form and fenfes, is to anni- 
 hilate the very idea of fpirit ; for as every ciVcnce has its proper form, and every ■■' 
 form its own efTence (they being neccflary correlatives) fo every Ipirit has its body ,| 
 Juited to the \vor!d it belongs to, according to that diftincf^ioii laid down by the a 
 apoftle : " There is a natural body, and there is a fpiritual body :" and indeed, it > 
 is as rational to conclude, that a human fpirit fhould have a human, organized j 
 body endued with fpiritual fenfes in a fpiritual world, as that the fam.c fpirit fliould ' .1 
 be invefled with a material organiz-ed body with natural fenfes in this natural 
 world. It is to be lamented, and the more for its tendency to promote infidelity, 
 that many of the learned, fo called, ha\e in a manner defined and refined fpiritual 
 nature into nothing, by diverting it of fubllaiuiality, to which it has a m.ore pe- 
 culiar right ; nor is the body of an angel lefs fubftanti.il in a proper fenfe of the 
 word than a folid rock, though not according to the condition of material nature. 
 Upon the whole, the common ideas of the vulgar and illiterate come m\ich nearer 
 to the truth and reality of heavenly things than the \aia conceits of fuch fpccu- 
 lating fciolilts. Tr. 
 
 chufc.
 
 [ 28; ] 
 
 chufe, for confirmation of the doiftrine in hand, to appeal to 
 truths founded on experience. Such as have confirmed them-i 
 felves in the belief of the contrary fide, are given to think, that 
 as the beafts have life and fenfations as well as men, fo they 
 have both the fame fpirit and the fame end ; but this is a grofs 
 error, as the fpirit of a beaft immcnfely differs from that of a 
 man, as being deftitute of that fublime principle of a heavenly 
 life, by Vv'hich the latter is made receptive of the divine influx, 
 and capable of being exalted to a participation of the divine 
 nature ; and therefore it is that man is fo highly privileged above 
 the beafls, that he can think of God, and the things pertaining 
 to his kingdom both in heaven and earth, and be led thereby to 
 love the Lord, and to be united to him : now that which is in 
 the capacity of fuch union is not liable to perifli like that which 
 is not. As to this inmoft or fupreme part in man above v/hat 
 the hearts poffefs, fomething has been faid before, n. 39, but 
 which it is thought proper to repeat in this place, as appofite to 
 the fubjeft before us, viz. " I am here led to fay fomething 
 ♦' concerning the angels of the three heavens, which has hitherto 
 " continued a fecret, through want of knowledge as to the 
 " three degrees of the divine order, fpokcn of, n. 38, viz. that 
 " there is in every angel, and in every man, an inmoft and 
 " fupreme degree or part, which more immediately admits the 
 *' divine influx from the Lord, and whereby all that is within 
 " man in the inferior degrees are orderly difpofed and regulated. 
 " This inmoft or fupreme part of the fpirit or foul, may be 
 " called the Lord's entrance into angels and men, nay, his very 
 " habitation in them ; and hereby it is, that man is diftin- 
 *' guiflied from the brute animals (which have it not) and is 
 " rend red capable of near cominunications with the Lord in 
 " the inner man, of believing in liim, loving him, and of feeing 
 " him : nay, from hence it is that man is a recipient of under- 
 " ftanding and wifdom, and alfo that he is endowed with a 
 " rational life, and an heir of immortality : but how or what 
 " the Lord operates in this inmoft recefs or fupreme part of 
 " man, exceeds the capacity of an angel to comprehend." 
 
 436. That man is a fpirit internally, has been given me to 
 know from an experience, which would lake up many fheets to 
 
 relate.
 
 [ 288 ] i 
 
 relate. I hav'^c converfed with fpirits, as a fpliit, and alfo as a 
 man in the body, and when I converfed with them in the former 
 charadler, I appeared to them as a fpirit in a human form like 
 to themfelves, my interior part being in all things conformable 
 thereto, for at fuch times the corporeal material part did not 
 appear. 5 
 
 437. That man is a fpirit internally, may alfo be evinced 
 from hence, that upon his feparation from the body by death, 
 he ftill continues a living man as before : that I miglit be certi- 
 fied of this, it has been allowed me to converfe with almofl- all 
 
 that I was acquainted with in their life-time here, with fome | 
 
 only for hours, with fome for weeks and months, and with '* 
 
 fome for years ; and this was permitted, to the intent that '1 
 might be confirmed in this truth, and alfo be qualified by expe- g 
 
 rience to bear teftimony to the fame. * 
 
 438. To what has been faid I have permiffion to add, that ' 
 every one whilll here in the body is, as to his fpirit, in fome 
 fociety of fpirits, though he knows it not, and by means of 
 
 them has communication either with fome heavenly or infernal i 
 
 fociety, accordingly as he is good or bad, and alfo that he is 
 joined thereto after death. This is often told and fliewed to 
 thofe who pafs from hence into the world of fpirits : not that 
 a man appears, whilft he lives in this world, as a fpirit in fuch 
 fociety, and that becaufe he as yet exercifes his thinking faculties 
 according to his flate in nature ; but where any are fuch as think 
 abftradtedly from the body, they being in a fpiritual frame, do 
 fometimes appear in their refpedive focieties, and are v.-ell dif- 
 tinguiflied by the fpirits that are of it ; their manner is to go 
 about mufing and filent, without looking at others, and as if 
 they did not fee them j but as foon as any fpirit fpeaks to them, 
 they immediately difappear. 
 
 439. To illuflrate that a man is interiorly a fpirit, I fliall 
 here fhew from experience, what it is to be withdrawn from the 
 body, and what it is to be carried by the fpirit to another place. 
 
 440. As to the firft, viz. to be withdiax-. n from the body, it 
 is in this manner : a man is brought into .; middle flate betwixt 
 fleeping and waking, during which he kno\^s no other than that 
 he is perfeftlv awake, forafmuch as all his fenfes are as lively 
 
 as
 
 [ 289 ] 
 
 as ever, his fight, his hearing, and what appears ftill more 
 ftrange, even his feeling ; nay, this lad is at ilich a time more 
 exquilite than at others. In this ftate I have feen fpirits and 
 angels to the life, have heard them fpeak, and, what will be 
 thought ftill more wonderful, have touched them, though the 
 material body then bore no part therein : it is in reference to 
 this ftate that we read of being " ablent from the body;" and 
 alio of " not knowing whether one is in the body, or out of 
 " the body." Into this ftate I have been brought only three or 
 four times, to the intent that I might have fome experience of 
 it, and alfo know that fpirits and angels are poftTeft'ed of every 
 fenfe, and man alfo in fpirit when withdrawn from the body. 
 
 441. As to the fecond of the ftates mentioned, viz. that of 
 being tranflated by the fpirit to another place ,• this I have had 
 living proof of, though only twice or thrice ; my experience of 
 which is as follows. As I was walking in the ftreets of a certain 
 city, and at another time out in the fields, to all feeming per- 
 feftly in the ufe of my bodily fenfes, and feeing my way as at 
 other times, I was in a trance, converfing with fpirits, and faw 
 in the vifion groves, rivers, palaces, houfes, men, and many 
 other objedls ; when after walking thus for fome hours, I fud- 
 denly returned to my natural fight, and found myfelf in a far 
 diftant place ; at which I was at firft greatly amazed ; but on 
 recollection perceived, that I had been in the like ftate witii 
 thofe that are faid to have been carried by the fpirit into another 
 place; for during the trance or tranfit, the perlbn has no idea 
 or thought concerning the way, though of many miles ; nor of 
 the time, though it Ihould be of many hours, or even days ; 
 neither is he fcnfible of any fatigue. Thus he is condui^l:ed 
 through ways he is an entire ilranger to, by a certain direction, 
 to the place appointed. 
 
 442. Fut thefe two ftates of man, as being of the more in- 
 terior kind, or, which fignifics the fame, when he is in the 
 fpirit, are an extraordinary difpcnfition, and only occafionally 
 made known to mc as realities acknowledged by the church j 
 but to converfe with fpirits, and to be with them as one of their 
 own focicty, is a privilege which has been granted to me in the 
 
 D d d d moft:
 
 [ 290 ] 
 
 •moH; perfed ufe of all the bodily fcnfes, and that now for many 
 years. 
 
 443. That man, as to his interior ftate, is a fpirit, may 
 further be confirmed by what has been laid above, n. 31 1 to 317, 
 on the fubjed: of heaven and hell, as confiiling of the humaa 
 race. 
 
 444. That fuch alfo is the nature of man, may be learned 
 from his faculties of thinking and willing, which are fpiritual, 
 and conilitute the very elTence of the human fpecies ; and alfo, 
 according to their rcfpedlive difference therein, the particular 
 diftindion of one individual of it from another. 
 
 Of Man's being raifed from Death, and his 
 Entrance into ImmortaHty. 
 
 445. When the body of a man is no longer able to perform 
 its natural fundlions correfponding to the thoughts and affedions 
 of his fpirit, and which are derived to him from the fpiritual 
 world, then he is faid to die ; which comes to pafs when the 
 lungs and the heart ceafe their refpiratory and contradile mo- 
 tions, not that man then fuffers extindlion of life, but only is 
 feparated from that corporeal part of his compofition, which 
 ferved him for an inftrument of ufefulnefs in this world ; but 
 he ftill continues a living man, and that in a proper and literal 
 fenfe of the expreffion, inafmuch as man receives his denomi- 
 nation, not from his body, but from his fpirit, lince it is the 
 latter that thinks in him, and that thought with affedion ellen- 
 tially conAitute the man ; fo that when any is faid to die, it 
 means no more than that he pafTes from one world into another; 
 and hence it is, that by Jeatl in the Scripture, according to the 
 internal fenfe of that word, is fignified rcfurredtion, and con- 
 tinuation of life (251). 
 
 446. There is a very near communication and correfpondence 
 betwixt the fpirit and refpiration, and the motion of the heart 
 
 (251) That <■/(•«//; in the Word fignifies refurredtion, forafinuch as life is con- 
 tinued to man after death, n. 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6222. 
 
 [the 
 
 I
 
 [ 291 ] 
 
 [the fyftole] betwixt thinking and refplratlon, and betwixt the 
 affcdion of love and the heart (252) j fo that when thefe two 
 motions ceafe In the body, a feparatlon presently enfues ; for 
 thefe two motions, viz. that which is refpiratory In the lungs, 
 and that which is called the fyftole or contrtictile power of the 
 heart, are the two bonds of union, which when broken, the 
 fpirit is left to Itfelf, and the body, being deftitute of life from 
 the fpirit, becomes cold and putrities. That fo intimate a com- 
 munication fubfifts between the human fpirit and refplratlon,. 
 and the heart, is becaufe all the vital motions in this world 
 depend thereon, not only In common, but alfo in every parti- 
 cular part of the body (253). 
 
 447. The fpirit of a man remains fome little time in the 
 body after all figns of life difappear, but not longer than till 
 a total ceffatlon of all power in the heart enfues, which varies 
 according to the nature of tlie difeafe he dies of, for the motioix 
 of the heart continues long after in fome, but not fo in others j 
 but as foon as the total ceffatlon of it happens, the refufcitation 
 of man commences, and this by the fole power of the Lord. 
 By refufcitation here is meant the liberation of the fpirit of a 
 man from his body, and the introduction of it into the world 
 of fpirits, and commonly called refurre(Slion. That the fpirit 
 of a man is not feparated from his body before all motion and 
 power in the heart entirely ceafes, is becaufe the heart corre- 
 fponds to the affecftion of love, which Is the very life of man» 
 for it is from love that every one derives his vital heat (254) ; 
 therefore fo long as this conjun<ftion kifts, fo long correfpon- 
 
 (2,52) That the heart correfponds to tlie will, confequently to the affcflion of 
 love ; and that the rcfpiration of the lungs correfponds to the undcrftanding, con- 
 fequently to thought, n. 38S8. That the heart in the Word fignifies will and 
 love, n. 7540, 9C50, 10336 ; and that foul or fpirit fignifies unJerftanding, faith, 
 and truth ; that therefore, fro>u the foiil^ and from the heart, from the will, love, 
 and good, ji. 2930, 9050. Of the corrcfpondence of the heart and lungs with 
 the grand man or heaven, n. 3883 to 3896. 
 
 (253) That tile pulfe of the lirart, and the rcfpiration of the lungs, hold do- 
 minion throughout the whole body, and influence every part of it, n. 3887, 3889, 
 3890. 
 
 (254) That love is the efTence of life in man, n. 5002. That love is a (piri- 
 tual heat, and confequently the vital principle in man, n. 1589, ZI46, 3338 — 9954» 
 10749. That aftectiou is the continuation of love, 11. 3938> 
 
 deiicc
 
 [ 292 ] 
 
 dence continues, and it is from correfpondency that the fpirit 
 actuates and communicates life to the body. 
 
 448. The manner in which refufcitation is performed, has not 
 only been told to me, but alfo manifclved to mc by aiftual expe- 
 rience in myfelf, to the end that I might be fully certified 
 thereof. 
 
 449. I was brought into a ftate of infenfibility with refpedl 
 to the bodily fenfes, and nearly into that of dying pcrfons, the 
 interior life, together with the power of thinking, remaining 
 at the fame time pcrfecflly entire, fo that I could perceive and 
 retain in memory what happened, and alfo know how it is with 
 thofe who are raifed from the dead : I perceived likewife that 
 the lungs fcarcely continued their otlice, but there remained an 
 interior refpiration in my fpirit joined with a gentle and almojft 
 imperceptible breathing of the body: I then hvl\ experienced a 
 communication of the pulfe of the heart with the heavenly king- 
 dom, for that kingdom correfponds to the heart in man ; fome 
 angels alfo appeared from thence, fome at a diftance, and two 
 placed themfelves near to my head, upon which all concern and 
 regard for myfelf ceafed, however thought and perception remained 
 W"ith me : in this ftate I continued for fome hours. At length the 
 fpirits that were about me departed, fuppofmg me to be dead ; and 
 at the fame time an aromatick odour, like that of a body em- 
 balmed, difFufed itfelf around ; for on the prefence of the coe- 
 leftial angels, that which would be otherwife a cadaverous fmell, 
 is changed into fuch a fragrancy (*), which is io offenfive to 
 bad fpirits, as to hinder their approach ; and it is by this means 
 that they are kept from molclling fuch as are in their pallage to 
 eternal life. The angels which had placed themfelves at my 
 head were filent, only communicating their thoughts to mine, 
 which being received, they know that the fpirit of the man fo 
 recipient, is in a proper llate to be conveyed from the body. 
 
 1 (*) This may fervc to explain what many readers liave met with, as related by 
 authors of good credit, concerning certain perfons of eminent pictv, who are faid 
 to have died in the oJiur of fandity, from the fragrancy that iftued from their 
 bodies after death. A truth cafily admilTible by all who believe an intercourfc as 
 fubfifting between the fpiritual and natural worlds ; and they who do not, arc ill 
 qualified to receive benefit from our author's writings. Tr. 
 
 The 
 
 ^1
 
 [ 293 ] 
 
 The manner of communicating their thoughts to mc was by 
 looking at me full in the face, for fuch is the manner of like 
 communication in heaven. As thought and perception all along 
 remained with me, to the end that I might know and remember 
 the way of rcfiifcitation, fo I perceived that the angels before 
 mentioned fcrutinized into my thoughts, to know whether they 
 were like to thofe of dying perfons, which are generally em- 
 ployed on the fubjefts of eternal life, and alfo I found, that 
 they endeavoured to direcft my thoughts that way : I was told 
 afterwards, that the fpirit of every dying man was preferved ia 
 his laft beft thoughts, till the prevailing power of thofe, which 
 proceeded from his ruling love or paiVion when in the world, 
 took polleirion of him. I was given to perceive and experience, 
 in a particular manner, a certain violent attraction of my inward 
 man or fpirit from my body ; and it was told me, that this was 
 from the Lord, and introdudlory to refurrecftion. 
 
 450. The coeleflial angels, after joining themfelves to any 
 raifed fpirit, do not leave him, for they are loving to every one j 
 but if he be one that is not qualified to be their companion, he 
 earneftly wiihes to be feparated from them, on which he is 
 joined by fome of the angels from the middle or fpiritual hea- 
 ven, who bring him to a fight of the external light, for hitherto 
 all had pafled with him inwardly in vifion. 1 beheld the man- 
 ner in which this appeared to be done, namely, by an evolution 
 of the external coat of the left eye back to the fence or feptum 
 of the nofe, in order to give a free ingrels of light to the eye 
 for the purpofe of vihon (*). This fecms to be a real operation 
 to the fpirit, though it is only fuch in appearance : upon this 
 
 (*) It is eafy to forcfee what kind of r'prefcntation men of a j^fting and ludi- 
 crous turn are likely to give of this among other like pafi'agcs of our author's 
 writings : It may not therefore be amil's to caution them againlt indulging a vein 
 of liberty bordering on profanencfs, as far as it may extend to the parables of our 
 Lord, and the vifions in the Prophets and the Apocalvpfe, wherein fpiritual things 
 in the hea\ens are rcprefented by natural fimilitudes on earth. Btfides, it is very 
 rcafoitable to fuppofc, that to fpirits newly arrived from this world all things arc 
 imaged by corrcfponding figns or appearances accommodated to the apprehenfions 
 and ideas they carry with them ; nay, that all things fpiritual will eternally be 
 vifibly reprefentcd under fignificant emblems, both for the inflruclion and enter- 
 tainment of the heavenly inhabitants, as this may conllitutc no liiiall part of 
 coeleflial delights. 
 
 E e e e an
 
 [ 294 ] 
 
 an imperfcdl light at firfk appears, fomcthing like that which is 
 difccrncd through the eye-lids upon a man's firfi: waking in the 
 morning : it leemcd to me to be of a CGL'leftial colour, but I was 
 told afterwards, that it appears dift'crently to different perfons : 
 after this, a kind of tegument or veil is perceived to be gently 
 removed from the face, but this alfo is in appearance only, fuch 
 evolution reprefenting a fpiritual frame of mind and thinking, 
 fucceeding to that which before was natural only. Moreover, 
 thcfe angels ufe their beft endeavours to hinder any fentiment 
 or affe<ftion from being excited in the mind of the new raifed 
 fpirit that is not tindtured with love ; after this they give him 
 to know, that he is now a fpirit. After thefe miniilrations of 
 light and knowledge as to his condition, the fpiritual angels 
 fliew all kind offices to the new fpirit that accord with his ftate, 
 and inflru<ft him in things pertaining to the other life, fo far as 
 confifl with his prefent capacity ; but if he is fuch a one as is 
 not capable of receiving benefit from their friendly endeavours, 
 in that cafe he defires to be feparated from their company, not 
 that they leave him, but he quits them ; for the angels love 
 every one, and it is their highell delight to attend, inftrud, and 
 to condu(5l them to heaven. When he has thus feparated himfelf 
 from their fociety, he is next received by the good fpirits [in 
 the intermediate Itate] into their fociety, who, in like manner, 
 do him all kind offices ; but if his life in this world has been 
 fuch as difqualifies him for their fociety, he is defirous, as 
 before, to be feparated from them alfo ; and fo on, till he can 
 affociate with fuch as are like himfelf, in whofe company he 
 finds his true enjoyment ; and with them he lives (however 
 flrange it may feem) a life conformable to that which they chofe 
 in this world. 
 
 451. But this way of life in his new ftate lafts only for fome 
 days ; after which he continues his progrefs frorh ftate to ftate, 
 till it finally terminates in heaven or hell, as will appear in the 
 fequel, and of which I have had con\'incing proof. 
 
 452. I have converfed with fome tiie third day after their 
 deceafe, when they paffed through all that has been mentioned in 
 the foregoing numbers, 449, 450 ; and alfo with three, who were 
 of my aciijuaintance in this world, whom I informed, that their 
 
 friends 
 
 I
 
 [ 295 J 
 
 friends were at that time preparing their funerals, and that they 
 were then on the point of interment ; at which account they 
 appeared aftoniflied, faying, that they knew themfelves to be 
 alive, and therefore that they could only bury what had been 
 of ufe to them in this world, but now belonged to them no 
 more ; and prefently after expreffed their wonder, that whLHl 
 in this world, neither they, nor fo many others in the church, 
 truly believed in fuch a life after the death of the body. Such 
 as in this world had little or no belief of a life after death, 
 appear confounded and afliamed when they experience the con- 
 trary ; but as to thofe who had taken pains to confirm them- 
 felves in unbelief as to this matter, they are clafTed with their 
 fellows, and feparated from fuch as had lived in the belief of 
 it ; and as to the greater part of them, they are in chains with 
 a certain hellifli fociety, which in this world had denied God, 
 and held the fundamental dodlrines of the Chrillian church in 
 contempt ; for as far as any one ftudies to confirm himfelf in 
 the difbelief of a future ftate, fo far he declares himfelf an 
 enemy to heavenly things, and to the church of God. 
 
 That Man after Death is in a perfefl: Human 
 
 Form. 
 
 453. That the form of the fpirit of a man is in a human 
 form, or, in other words, that the fpirit is the true formed 
 man, may be evinced from many of the foregoing articles, par- 
 ticularly from thofe, wherein is fhewed, that every angol is in 
 a perfedt human form, n. 73 to 77 ; and alfo that every man is 
 a fpirit as to his inner man, n. 432 to 444 ; and that the angels 
 in heaven are from the human race, n. 311 to 317. This alfo 
 more evidently appears from man's being denominated man from 
 his fpirit, and not from his body, and becaufe the corporeal 
 form is an adjune^l to the fpirit alter its form, and not contra- 
 riwile, the former being but the cloathing of the latter. More- 
 over, the fpirit is the fole moving power in man, afting upon 
 and adUiating every the moll minute part of the body, infomuch 
 
 that
 
 [ 296 ] 
 
 tluu, when any part no longer derives vital influence tlierefrom, 
 it prefently dies. Now the ruling powers, which govern the 
 body as their lubjeifl, arc the thought and the will ; but thele 
 are from the fpirit only, nay, conftitute its very eirence. The 
 realbn why we do not Tee any feparate Ipirit, nor yet that of 
 another man whilft in his body, in its human form, with our 
 prelliit organs of fight, is becaufe thele organs of vilion are 
 material, and therefore only capable of difcerning objefts of a 
 material nature, whereas fpiritual things mull; be feen by a fpi- 
 ritual eye (^) ; but when the corporeal fight is extinguilhed by 
 the death of the body, and the fpirit's eye is opened, then fpirits 
 appear to one another in their human form, not only in the 
 fpiritual world, but they alfo fee the fpirits of thole who yet 
 live here in the body. 
 
 454. That a human form is proper to a human fpirit, fol- 
 lows from man's being created in the form of heaven, and alfo 
 receptive of all things of a heavenly nature and order (255), 
 confequently with the faculty of receiving underftanding and 
 wifdom J for whether we exprefs it by the words, faculty of 
 receiving underftanding and wifdom, or, the faculty of receiving 
 heaven, it comes to the fame, as may appear from what has 
 been faid before concerning the light and heat of heaven, n. 126 
 to 140: concerning the form of heaven, n. 200 to 212: con- 
 cerning the wifdom of angels, n. 265 to 275 j and in the article 
 wherein is fliewed, that heaven, as to its form, rcleniblcs a man 
 both in whole and in part, n. 59 to 77, and this from the Divine 
 
 (*) It is to be noted here, that when fjiiiits are fccn by any one in tlic body, 
 they are not Iccn with tlic corporeal organs of vifior., but by the fpirit of the 
 beholder abftrafledly from the body, though the appearance is exactly :he fame in 
 both cafe?, as implied in thole words of the apoftle, where, fpcaking of his vifions, 
 he fays : " Whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell." \N'h;it is 
 here obfervcd is not intended by wav of objection to the fiippofuion, that fpirits, 
 for certain purpofes, may he permitted to allunie corporeal \chiclcs vifibic to the 
 bodily eye. Tr. 
 
 (255) That man is the fiibject participating of all things relative to the divin* 
 order, and that by creation he was a form of divine order, n. 4219, 4220, 4223, 
 4523 — 9706, 10156, 10472. That as far as any one lives here according to divine 
 order, fo far he aj)pcars pcrfcft, and of beautiful form in the other world, n. 4839, 
 6605, 6626. 
 
 riumanitv
 
 [ 297 ] 
 
 Humanity of the Lord, from whom heaven and its form ori- 
 ginate, n. 78 to 86. 
 
 455. What has hitherto been faid on this fubjecTt may be 
 underftood by the rational man, from his view of caufes and 
 their effed:s, of premifes and their confequences ; but not fo 
 by the obftinately irrational, and that for many aflignable rea- 
 fons ; but principally, becaufe he is averfe to all dodtrines whicii 
 are contrary to the falfe principles that he has adopted in the 
 room of truths ; and he that has thus fliut up his mind, hath 
 fhut the gate of heaven againft himfelf, fo that no light from 
 thence can illuminate his rational faculties -, and yet that gate 
 might be opened if his will did not refifi:, fee above, n. 424. 
 That any man (free from natural defedl) may form a rational 
 conception of truth when offered, if his will be not averfe to 
 it, I have had convincing proof. Thus I have known bad 
 fpirits, who, having rendered themfelves irrational by a wilful 
 oppofition to divine truths, and by confirming themfelves in 
 unbelief, yet, when compelled to turn themfelves towards thofc 
 who were in the light of truth, they became intelligent like 
 the angels, had a clear comprehenfion of the truth, and con- 
 felled it ; but they no fooner returned to themfelves, and the 
 bias of their prevailing love or will, than they lofl all, and de- 
 clared themfelves on the contrary fide : I have alfo heard fome 
 infernals confefs, that their adtions were indeed evil, and their 
 thoughts contrary; but that they could not refift the ruling 
 paffion or bent of their will ; and moreover, that under the 
 influence thereof upon their minds, they faw evil as good, and 
 falfe as truth. This makes it evident, that they who are in falfe 
 thinking from an evil principle [1/2 faljis ex malo] might be 
 pofTelled of a rational underftanding, if they were in a willing 
 difpofition for it, and that the rcafon why they are not fo, is 
 becaufe they love the falfe above the true [fdlfa prce 'ucris] as 
 more agreeing with the evil they have adopted, and which they 
 chufe to follow. It is to be obferved, that to love and to will 
 a thing is the fame j for what a man wills he loves, and what 
 he loves that he alfo wills. As men are thus conflitutcd, to be 
 in a capacity of receiving the truths relating to the kingdom of 
 God both in heaven above, and in his church on earth, if their 
 
 F f f f wills
 
 [ 298 ] 
 
 1 
 
 wills be accordant thereto ; therefore I have been called to this 
 miniftration of confirming the truths in both kingdoms by ra- 
 tional arguments, that fo the errors which have been introduced 
 by falfe reafoning may be difcuffed and refuted by fuch as are 
 true, if fo be that any by this means may be brought to the 
 knowledge of the truth ; for to confirm fpiritu;il truths by ra- 
 tional arguments, is the proper province of thofe who are in 
 the pri:iciple of truth; for how fliould any one rightly interpret 
 or underfland the Sacred Writings from the literal expreflion, 
 without the aid of reafon enlightened from above ! To the want 
 of this qualification in expofitors it is owing, that fo many 
 heretical doftrines have been introduced into the church (256). 
 
 456. That the fpirits of men are real men after their fepa- 
 ration from the body, I can teftify to from a daily experience 
 of many years, and after having fecn and heard them a thoufand 
 times : I have alfo difcourfed with them on the incredulity of 
 many here on earth as to this matter, and how they who are 
 believers in this refpedl are confidered by the learned as weak 
 and credulous. The fpirits exprefied a heart-felt grief, that 
 fuch ignorance fliould prevail among men, efpecially in the 
 church, faying, that this incredulity took its rife from the 
 learned, who, from their grofs, fenfual ideas of fubftance, as 
 appropriated to material bodies, conceived no otherwife of the 
 foul than as of mere thought without any vifible fubjeft to in- 
 here and fubfift in, and fo vanifliing into a kind of volatile fubtle ^ 
 aether upon its feparation from the body : but as the church J 
 believes in the immortality of the foul on the evidence of the W 
 Scriptures, they could not but afcribe to it fome vital property, 
 as of thought, though they diveft it of all human fenfitive per- 
 ception till its re-union with the body, according to their doc- 
 trine of the refurredtion at the time of the laft judgment. 
 
 (256) Tliat we fhould fet out with an affent to fundamental truths grounded oiv 
 plain fcriptural evidence, and then we may proceed to fcicntifick knowledge for 
 the purpofcs of illuftration, n. 6047 ; but that they who are in unbelief, and on 
 the negative fide, are in no wife qualified to judge of divine truths from natural 
 knowledge, n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6C47. That it is according to divine order to- 
 proceed from fpiritual truths to the rational inveftigation of fuch as are natural, 
 and not contrarywife, and that becaufe influx is from the fpiritual into the natural 
 world, aai not vice ver/dy n. 3219, 5119, 5259 — 911c, giii. 
 
 Hence
 
 [ 299 ] 
 
 Hence it is, that when any one thinks of the foul according to 
 their hypothefis, he has no conception of it as a fpirit in a 
 human form ; and this falls in with the general ignorance as to 
 the nature of fpiritual beings, whether angels or others ; whence 
 it comes to pals, that almoll all, upon their arrival in the other 
 world, ftand amazed on finding themfelves to be living men, 
 and that they can fee, hear, fpeak, and ufe their bodily fenfes 
 equally as in this world, fee above, n. 74. But when this won- 
 der is over, they wonder next at the great ignorance in the 
 church concerning fuch a flate after death, as alfo concerning 
 heaven and hell, when they fee all after their departure from 
 this lite as truly living, human perfons as they were before ; 
 and as fome of them feemed to be totally at a lofs to account 
 for fo important an article of belief not being put beyond all 
 doubt by vifions and fupernatural appearances to men in this 
 world ; they were informed, that nothing was ealier to be done, 
 by divine permiflion, than this ; but that all fuch, as had con- 
 firmed themfelves in a contrary perfuafion, would not even be- 
 lieve their own fenfes on the occafion ; and moreover, that it 
 was dangerous to confirm any thing by fupernatural evidence to 
 thofe who have grounded themfelves in filfities [injaf/is] as after 
 convidlion at firil by fuch evidence, they would afterwards depart 
 from it, which would fubjeft them to the guilt of profaning 
 fuch truths ; for to receive a truth, and afterwards to renounce 
 it, is the fin of profanation, and fuch profme perfons have their 
 portion in the deepeft lake hereafter (257). This is the great 
 
 ** danger 
 
 (257) That profanation is a commixture of good and evil, and of what is true 
 and falfe, n. 6348. That they are find to profane good and trutii, or what is 
 facrcd, who at firft acknowledge them, more cfpccially if they have lived accord- 
 ing to them, and afterwards depart from the faith, and live to themfelves and the 
 world, n. 593, IC08, loic — 4601, 10284, 10287. That if a man relapfes, after 
 repentance and contrition, he is guilty of profanation, and hi^ Lift ftate is worfc 
 than his firft, n. 8394. That they are not guilty of profaning facrcd things, who 
 did not know or oelieve them to be fuch, n. 1008, loio, 1059, 8188, 10284. 
 l^hat the Gentiles, who arc without the church, and knew not the Scriptures, 
 cannot be guilty of this profanation, n. 1327, 1328, 2051, 2081. That there- 
 fore fpiritual truths were not revealed to the Jews, as othcrwife they would not 
 have profaned them, n. 3398, 3489, 6963. That the lot of profane perfons in 
 the other world is the moft mifcrable of all, as the good and truth which they 
 acknowledged remains in their belief, joined with the evil and falfc they had 
 
 adopted
 
 [ 300 ] 
 
 danger fignified by tliofe words of our Lord : " He hath blinded 
 ** their eyes, and hardened their hearts, left they fhould fee 
 " with their eyes, and underlland with their heart, and be con- 
 ** verted, and I fliould heal them," (*) Joh. xii. 40. And with 
 reference to fuch as have fo hardened themfelves in unbelief, as 
 to be proof againft all convicftion, are fpoken the following 
 words : " If they hear not Mofes and the Prophets, neither 
 ** will they be perfuaded, though one rofe from the dead," 
 Luke xvi. 31. 
 
 457. When the fpirit of a man firft enters into the world 
 of fpirits, which is foon after his refufcitation (of which men- 
 tion has been made before) he as yet retains the lame face and 
 voice that he had in this world, as being hitherto in his exterior 
 flate, that of his interiour being yet unmanifeiled ; and this 
 is his firft ftate after death : but fome time after, his face be- 
 comes entirely changed, fo as to correfpond with the particular 
 affedlion or love that pofTelfed his fpirit when in the body j for 
 the face of a man's fpirit differs greatly from that of his body, 
 the latter being derived from his parents, but the former a cor- 
 refpondent to his predominant affedion, of which it is the fig- 
 nature or image, and which becomes appropriated to man in 
 the other world, upon the manifcll:ation of his interior ftate ; 
 this is his third ftate. I have feen fome upon the firft of their 
 arrival in the other world, whom I knew by their face and voice j 
 but, when I faw them fome time after, they were fo changed, 
 that I knew them not ; fuch of them as were endowed with 
 good aft'edlions appeared with beautiful countenances, and they 
 whofe affedlions were contrary looked deformed and ugly ; for 
 the fpirit of a man rightly confidered is the fame with his pre- 
 dominant afte(ftion or love, and his face is the external form of 
 it. This change refpeding faces in thofe who pafs from hence 
 into the other world, is founded on this law j that no diflimu- 
 
 adopted, and from this commixture their life is a ftate of contrariety and diftraflion, 
 n. 571, 582, 6348. That therefore the Lord has provided the moft cfFciSlual bars 
 againlt the fin of profanation that may be, n. 2426, 10384. 
 
 (*) This pafTage is beft underflood with a fuppofition of apofbafy forefcen in 
 fuch as (hould otherwife have been converted, as it is Icfs dangerous to continue 
 ignorant of the truth, than to depart from and renounce it after having received 
 it. Tr. 
 
 lation
 
 r 301 ] 
 
 lation or counterfeiting Is there allowed, but all mufl appear to 
 be what they really are, and confequently exprefs their thoughts 
 in their words, and their afFedions and delires in their looks 
 and adions, fo that the faces of all there reprefent their minds 
 relpedively. Hence it is, that though all who knew one another 
 in this world are alike mutually acquainted in the world of 
 fpirits, yet it is otherwife in heaven and in hell, as fliewed 
 before, n. 427, (258). 
 
 458. The faces of hypocrites undergo not their proper change 
 fo foon as the faces of others, and that becaufe they have by 
 cuflom contradted a habit of forming their minds to a kind of 
 imitation of good fentiments and affedlions, and therefore they 
 appear not uncomely for fome time ; but as the difguife gra- 
 dually w^ears off, and their inmoll thoughts and affed:ions mani- 
 feft themfelves, they appear more ugly than others. The hy- 
 pocrites here fpoken of, are fuch as know how to talk like 
 angels upon divine fubjedls, and yet in their hearts exalt nature 
 on God's throne, and difbelieve all heavenly truths, as acknow- 
 ledged in the church of Chrift. 
 
 459. It is to be obferved, that the human form of every 
 man after death is beautiful in proportion to the love he had 
 for divine truths, and a life according to the fame, for by this 
 llandard things within receive their outward manifeftation and 
 form, fo that the deeper grounded the affeftion for what is good, 
 the more conformable it is to the divine order in heaven, and 
 confequently the more beauty the face derives from its influx. 
 Hence it is, that the angels of the third or inmoft heaven, whofe 
 love is of the third or higheft degree, are the moft beautiful of 
 all the angels j whereas they whofe love for divine things had 
 been in a lower degree, or more external than that of the coe- 
 
 (258) That the face is formed for correfpoiulcncy with the inner or fpiritual 
 man, n. 4791 to 4805, 5693. Of the corrt-fpondence of the face and its coun- 
 tenances with the aftl-dtions of the mind, n. 1568, 2988, 2989 — 5168, 5695, 9306. 
 That the face and inward ftate in tiic ai)ii;cls arc perfcc'lly confcntancous, n. 4796, 
 4797, 4798, 4799, 56955 8250. That ilicrcfore by /rtiv in the Word is fignificd 
 the ihitc of the nnnd with rcfpeft to its aftl-dtions and thoughts, n. 1999, 2434, 
 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546. How the influx from the brains in pro- 
 cefs of time became changed, and thereby the countenances in regard to corrc- 
 fpondency with the interior ftates of the mind, n. 4326, 8250. 
 
 G g g g IclHal
 
 [ 3<^2 ] 
 
 leftial or highcfl angels, poffcfs an inferior degree of beauty ; 
 and the tranllucent luftre in their faces, as proceeding from a 
 leflcr degree of divine virtue within them, is comparatively dim : 
 for as all perfection rifes in degrees from the inward to the 
 inmoft, fo the external beauty, to which it gives life and vigour, 
 has its degrees in the fame proportion (*). 1 have feen the faces 
 of fome angels belonging to the third heaven, of fucii exquifite 
 luftre and beauty, as no painter on earth could defcribe, even 
 to the thoufandth part ; though a confummate artift might be 
 able to give us fome near refemblance of the faces of the loweft 
 angels, or fuch as belong to the firft heaven. 
 
 460. I ftiall conclude this chapter with mentioning what has 
 hitherto remained a fecret to all, viz. that all that good and 
 truth [omne bonuin et I'erum] that proceeds from the Lord, and 
 conftitutes heaven, has a human form both in whole and in part, 
 even to the Icaft portion thereof j and that this form has rcfped: 
 to and influences every one that receives good and truth from 
 the Lord, and alfo is the caufe of everv one in heaven havin? 
 a human form according to his reception of it refpedtively : and 
 hence it is, that heaven is fimilar to itfclf, as well in every par- 
 ticular, as in its complex, inafmuch as the lame human form 
 that belongs to the whole, belongs in like manner to every 
 fociety, , and to every individual angel therein, as has been fet 
 forth in four articles, from n. 59 to 86 ; to which it muft here 
 be added, that the fame holds true with refpedl to every thought 
 in the minds of angels, that takes its rife from coeleftial love. 
 
 (*) That beauty fpring? from goodnefs or virtue as its foiircc, or is the form of 
 it, is a dod:rinc that fcems to carry its genuine evidence with it, and is received as 
 fooH as propofcd to the virtuous mind. The two lalt lines of the following well 
 Itnown epitaph t;.prcfs much of this idea. 
 
 " Underneath this ftone doth lie 
 " As much virtue as could die, 
 " Which when alive did vigour give 
 " To as much beauty as could live." 
 
 Nay, the wifer heathens annexed the idea of pulchritude to the excellency of 
 virtue ; v^htnce that faying, I think, of TuHy ; " That if virtue were to aflume 
 •' a human form, all her beholders would be ravilhcd with the charms of her 
 " beauty." 
 
 But
 
 [ 3^3 ] 
 
 But this doftrine will not eafily gain admittance into the human 
 mind, though it is clearly undcrftood by the angels. 
 
 That Man, after Death, retains every Senfe, 
 as alfo the fame Memory, Thoughts, and 
 AfFe(9:ions which he had in this World, 
 and leaves nothingr behind him but his 
 terreftrial Body. 
 
 461. That when a man pafles from this natural world into 
 the Spiritual, which is at the time of his death, he takes with 
 him all that belonged to him as man, has been manifefled to 
 me by repeated experience : for when any one enters into the 
 fpiritual world, or into the life after death, he is equally in the 
 body as before, nor is there to all appearance the leaft difference : 
 but his body then is a fpiritual body, and feparate from all the 
 groffnefs and impurity of matter ; and as when a fpiritual body 
 fees and feels th.it which is fpiritual, it appears the fame as 
 when a natural body fees and feels that which is natural, fo 
 man, when firll become a fpirit, feems to himfelf to be as he 
 was in this world, and knows not as yet that he has pafTed 
 through death. Man, when become a fpirit, poffefies every 
 fenie, both external and internal, that he pofi'effcd before ; he 
 fees, hears, and fpeaks as before j has the fame fmelling, tafle, 
 and feelhig as before; and he has the fame appetites and defires ; 
 the fame thoughts, reflexions, and affedlions as before ; and he 
 who took delight in lludying, reads and writes as before. In 
 a word, when a man paffes from one life to another, or, which 
 is the fame thing, from one world to another, it is but as re- 
 moving from one place to another ; for he takes all with him 
 that belongs to him as a man, fo that he cannot be faid to have 
 left any thing behind him but his mere earthly covering : 
 moreover, he takes with him his natural memory, retaining 
 all that he ever heard, faw, read, learned, or thought in the 
 world, from his infancy to his leaving it ; but as to the me- 
 mory
 
 [ 304 ] il 
 
 mor)' of fuch natural objects, which there is nothing In the 
 fpiritual world to revive the ideas of, that is quiefcent, like as 
 in a man when he thinks not of them ; however, thefe alfo are 
 again excited in the mind occalionally, by the divine permifllon, 
 to anfvver certain purpofes : but with refpeifl to this fpecies qf 
 memory, and the (late of it after death, more will be faid here- 
 after. Such a ftate of man as this after death, will appear in- 
 credible to the mere fenfualift, who is incapable of receiving 
 any ideas even of fpiritual things, but according to natural ; for 
 fuch a one, being led only by fenfe, makes no account of any ' 
 
 thing but what he can fee with his eyes, and feel witli his hands, S 
 
 as is fiid of Thomas, John xx. 25, 27, 29. Concerning the 
 fenfual man, fee above, n. 267, and aho in the note (i^) there. 
 
 462. But notwithftanding what has been faid above, there -j 
 
 is a very great difference between the life of any one in the 
 fpiritual world, and the life of the fame in the natural v/orld, 
 and that with refpedl both to his external and internal fenfes, , 
 
 and the affcdions thereof refpedively. Thus, for inftance, all 
 in heaven have their fight, their hearing, and all their fenfes, in 
 far greater perfedion than when in this world, and alfo their 
 minds more abundantly replete with wifdom ; for they fee by 
 the light of heaven, which greatly exceeds that of this world, 
 fee above, n. 126; and they hear through the medium of a 
 fpiritual atmofphere, to which that of our earth is not com- 
 parable, n. 235. The comparative difference between thefe two 
 fenfes there and here, is as that of a bright llcy to a thick fog, 
 or as the luflre of the meridian fun to the diilk of the evening. 
 Now the light of heaven, which is divine truth, makes manifcil 
 the minutell things to the perception of angels, and as their 
 external correfponds to their internal or intelledual fight, fo by 
 mutual influx they co-operate in forming tlie high porfedlion 
 of angelical perfpicuity. In like manner their fenfe of hearing 
 correfponds to their perception, botli in the underftanding and 
 will, fo that in tlic found of the voice, and in the words of the 
 fpeaker, they can trace the moft minute particulars of his affec- 
 tions and thoughts ; in the found what relates to his affedlions, 
 and in the words what concerns his mind or thoughts, fee above, 
 n. 234. to 245 : but it is to be obfcrved, that the other fenfes 
 
 of
 
 [ 305 ] 
 
 of the angels are not in the fame high degree of perfedllon with 
 thofe of light and hearing, and that becaufe the latter are the 
 fubfervient inftruments to their underftanding and wifdom, and 
 not fo the others, which, if equal in power, would leflen their 
 preference to intelleftual delights over and above thofe of their 
 ipiritual bodies, as we find to be the cafe with men in this world, 
 who, according to their greater relifli and indulgence as to their 
 grofTcr fenfes, have the lefler appetite and fenfibility with rcfpedt 
 to fpiritual things. That the interior or fpiritual fenfes of the 
 angels, (viz. fuch as refpedt their thoughts and aftedlions) are 
 more exquifite and perfedt than they had been in this world, has 
 been declared before, in the article Cojicerning the Wifdom of 
 Angels, n. ibz^ to 275. As to the difference of flate in thofe 
 who are in hell, compared with thofe that are in this world, 
 this alfo is very great ; for in proportion to the exceeding excel- 
 lence and perfeftion both of the external and internal fenfes in 
 the angels above thofe on earth, is the comparative imperfeftion 
 and degradation of thofe that are in hell ; but of the flate of 
 ^he latter in what follows. 
 
 462. That man takes with him all his memory from this 
 world into the other, has been fully fliewed before : I have had 
 much fenfible and memorable experience of this, part of which 
 fliall here be orderly related. There were certain fpirits in the 
 other world, who denied the crimes and enormities which they 
 had been guilty of in this ; and therefore, to the end they might 
 not pafs for innocent in thefe matters, all the capital fins they 
 had committed in the courfe of their pall life, particularly thofe 
 of adultery and fornication, were fet before them in cu'dcr, as 
 they were recorded in tlieir own memory ; as likewifc fume 
 others, who, by various artifices of deceit and fraud, had wronged 
 their neighbours, to whom alfo their various afts of craft and 
 injuflice were enumerated, many ot which were known only to 
 tliemfelves ; and as thefe were difcovered to them with clearnefs 
 of evidence, even to all their circumftances, and alfo what had 
 paflcd in their own minds relating thereto, they could not but 
 confefs their guilt. There were fume who had fat in the feat 
 of judgment, and fuffered themfelves to be corrupted by gifts 
 and bribes, whofe memories were fcrutinized, and all their mal-. 
 
 H h h h vcrlations 
 
 iif*
 
 [ 3o6 ] 
 
 :i:' 
 
 verfations and iniquitous pradices in office produced againft 
 them, to the number of fome hundreds, together with the time, 
 place, and the ftate of their minds during fuch tranfadions ; 
 nay, however wonderful it may appear, the very books in which 
 they had entered thefe things were opened, and read to them 
 page by page. There were others who had feduced and violated 
 the chaflity of virgins, who were brought to the fame trial, and 
 convidtcd by the evidence of their own memory made manifeft, 
 even as to time, place, converfation, and other particulars, nay, 
 the very faces of the virgins and women they had feduced, were 
 all at once fully reprefented, and that fometimes for hours to- 
 gether. A certain fpirit, who in this world had been much 
 addidled to flandering and backbiting, which he had here ftudi- 
 oufly endeavoured to conceal from the parties injured, was there 
 cxpofed to open fhame by a publick recital of his calumnies and 
 defamation, and that in his own words, together with the names 
 of the perfons before whom he uttered them. Another, who 
 had deceitfully deprived a kinfman of his inheritance, was in 
 like manner judged and convidted, and, which will appear very 
 flrange, the letters and writings, that had paiTed between them, 
 were read in my hearing ; and I was told that they were exaft 
 to a word : the fame fpirit had a little before his death taken 
 away the life of his neighbour by poifon, which was made 
 manifefl under the following reprefentation : he appeared as jj, 
 
 digging a hole in the ground, and having ended his work, a -;| 
 
 man was feen to rife out of it as from his grave, crying out to tj 
 
 him, What have you done to me ? Upon which he made a full 
 difcovery of the truth, and related how the poilbner befpoke 
 him in a friendly manner, and handed to him the fatal cup ; 
 and alfo what pafled in his mind, and what followed after : upon 
 this evidence the delinquent was fentenced to hell. In a word, 
 all murders, robberies, fraudulent devices, and hns and crimes 
 of every kind, are fo evidenced from the memories and con- 
 fciences of all offenders to their full convidlion in the other 
 world, and all the circumftances of them fet in fo clear a light, 
 that not the leafl room is left them for evafion or denial. I have 
 alfo heard from the memory of a certain fpirit, as viewed and 
 examined by the angels, all that had pafled in his mind from 
 
 day 
 
 
 T
 
 [ 307 ] 
 
 day to day for a month together, without the leafl miftake, and 
 that by a revocation of particulars as to the perception of the 
 party himfelf, in as clear a manner as at the time of the firll 
 impreffion. Thefe examples may ferve to evince, that man 
 retains the memory of pall things after he has entered upon the 
 other world ; and that nothing is kept i'o fecret here, as not to 
 have its manifeilation there, and that in the prefence of many 
 witneffes, according to thofe words of our Lord : " There is 
 ** nothing covered, that fliall not be revealed ; neither hid, that 
 *' fliall not be known. Therefore, whatfoever ye have fpoken 
 " in darknefs, fliall be heard in the light; and that which ye 
 " have fpoken in the ear in clofets, Oiall be proclaimed upon 
 " the houfe-tops," Luke xii. 2, 3. 
 
 463. When all that a man had done here in his natural body 
 is made manifeft to him after death, then the examining angels 
 infped: his face, and commence their inquell, which begins at 
 the fingers of each hand, and is from thence continued through- 
 out the whole body : as I wondered at this way of proceeding, 
 I was told, that as all the particulars belonging to thinking and 
 willing have their firft fignatures in the brain as their fubjedt 
 and beginning to manifeltation, fo are they continued through 
 the whole body, and terminate in its extremities ; fo that a man 
 is entirely fimilar to himfelf in whole and every part, according 
 to the quality of his will and intelledt : thus an evil man is his 
 own evil ; and the derivative good in any one conftitutes the 
 good man (259). What has here been faid explains what is 
 meant by the book of life in the Word, viz. that all the deeds 
 and thoughts of any one are fo infcribed upon his whole man, 
 that when recollefted by his memory they appear legible as in 
 a book i and are imaged in his very perfon, when he is viewed 
 in the light of heaven. I rtiall here add the following remark- 
 able particular concerning man's memory, as remaining with 
 
 (259) That the- good and truth in every good man, fpirit, and angel, conftitiites 
 his identity, and that he receives his particular denomination from the quality 
 thereof, n. 10298, 10367 ; and that becaufe good coaftitutes his will, and truth 
 his intclleft, and will and intellect are the conftituent principles of life in man, 
 fpirit, and angel, n. 3332, 3623, 6065. It is of like import to fay, that every 
 man, fpirit, and angel, is the fame with his particular predominant love, n. 6872, 
 10177, IC284. 
 
 him 
 
 9rt>
 
 [ 3o8 ] 
 
 hlin after death ; whepeby I am convinced, that things not only 
 in their general, but alio in their moft minute particulars, aro 
 never totally obliterated in him : I faw Ibme books there written 
 in charafters like thofe in ufe with us, and was told that they 
 were penned from the memory of the writer, without the dif- 
 ference of a fingle word from thofe written by the fame author 
 in this w'orld ; which fliews, that from the memory of any 
 other perfon many particulars might be collefted, which he 
 himfelf had forgotten in this world ; and the reafon of this was 
 explained to me, viz. from man's having a twofold memory (*), 
 the one external or natural, and the other internal or ipiritual ; 
 and that all the thoughts, defires, and a*ftions of a man, and 
 the things that he had heard and feen, are infcribed on his in- 
 ternal memory (260), nay, on the very members of his fpiritual 
 body, as was faid before, never to be obliterated, for that his 
 fpirit was formed according to his thoughts and adfs of volition : 
 1 know that thefe things will appear as paradoxes, and gain 
 credit with few ; but they are no lefs true for that. Let no one 
 
 (*) That there may be a memory within a memory, unknown to that which is 
 outward, will not appear incredible to the attentive reader, when he reflects that 
 our minds are chiefly formed by what we learned and read many years ago, little 
 of which we have a diftiniSl remtinbrance of : thus wc may have received much 
 inftrudtion, to the improvement both of heart and mind, from books that wc do not 
 remember to have read, nor even the names of, which muft ha\e been laid up 
 fomewherc. In a word, this diilinction of the human faculties and powers into 
 exterior and interior, or natural and fpiritual, has its foundation in the nature of 
 man, and opens many myfterious things in a being, which is an inhabitant of two 
 worlds, even in this life, without knowing it. l"r. 
 
 (260) That man has two memories, the exterior ami interior, or the natural 
 and fpiritual, n. 2469 to 2494.. That man has no knowledge ot his interior me- 
 mory, n. 2470, 2471. The fuperior excellence of his interior above his exterior 
 mernory, n. 2473. That the things of his exterior memory arc in il)e light of 
 the world, but thofe of his interior in the light of heaven, n. 5212. That it is 
 from his interior memory that man is qualified to think and fpeak intelkctually and 
 rationally, n. 9394. T hat all ajid fingular the things which m;.n has thought, 
 fpokcn, done, Iccn and heard, are recorded in his interior memory, n. 2474, 9386, 
 0841, 10505. That in the interior memory are the truths which conllitute taith, 
 and the good which confHtutes love, n. 5212, 8067. That tliofe things which 
 are become habitual, and have entered into the forms of life, and thereby are ob- 
 literated in the exterior memory, remain in the interior, n. 9394, 9723, 9841. 
 That fpirits and angels fpeak from their interior memory, and thence have the 
 univcrfal language, n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493. ^ hat Iwiguages in this world 
 belong to the exterior memory, n. 2472, 2476. 
 
 therefore 
 
 «l 
 
 I
 
 [ 309 J 
 
 therefore flatter himfclf, that any thing which he has thought 
 or done in fecret will not be known after death, for all will 
 then be made manifefl as in open day. 
 
 464. Although the external or natural memory remains with 
 man after death, yet things merely natural are not reproduced 
 therein in the other life, but only fuch fpiritual things as are 
 adjunvfts to the natural by correfpondence, which neverthelefs, 
 when exhibited to fight, appear in the fame form as in this 
 natural world ; for all things in the heavens appear in like man- 
 ner as they do on earth, though in their elTence they are not 
 natural, but fpiritual, as may be feen in the chapter, Coticerning 
 Rep?-efe}itc!tives and Appearances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176. But 
 then it muft be obferved, that the fpirit, by means of that ex- 
 ternal or natural memory, derives no ufe from thofe appearances 
 with refpedt to materiality, time, fpace, and other natural pro- 
 perties, as it did in this world ; as here (when not in the ufe of 
 of his intelleftual powers, but of his external fenfes only) he 
 thought naturally, and not fpiritually ; but in the other life 
 (where he is a fpirit in a fpiritual world) he no longer thinks 
 naturally, but fpiritually : now to think fpiritually, is to have 
 the mind intellecftually or rationally employed. Hence it is, 
 that the external or natural memory, in relpedl to all things 
 material, is quiefcent in the other world, making no ufe of any 
 of that nature, but fuch as he had applied to rational and intcl- 
 lecflual improvement in this. The reafon why the external 
 memory is quiefcent with refpe6t to material things in the fpi- 
 ritual world, is through want of things of a fimilar nature there 
 to excite or reproduce ideas of that kind ; for fpirits and angels 
 converfe from their afteftions, and the thoughts which fpring 
 from them in the mind ; nor can they exprefs any that are hete- 
 rogeneous thereto, as may be feen in what has been mentioned 
 before, concerning the converfation of angels in heaven with 
 one another, and alfo with man, n. 234 to 257. This may fervc 
 to (hew, that it is not the mere knowledge of languages and 
 fciences as fuch, but the intelledual ufe and improvement from 
 them that renders the fpirit more rational both here and after 
 death.' I have convcrfcd with m.iny, who flattered themfelves 
 with a belief that they fliould be highly accounted of in the 
 
 I i i i other
 
 [ 3^0 ] 
 
 ether world for their learning, becaufe of their being acquainted 
 with the ancient languages, as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, whilll 
 at the fame time they had negletfled to cultivate their minds 
 with the ufcful truths written therein ; whereas they appeared 
 there as arrant novices in all found literature, as they who were 
 totally ignorant of thofe tongues -, nay, fome of them Ihipid, but 
 yet ehited with a fancied futhciency of their fuperior wifdom. 
 I have difcourfed with others, who fancied that a man's wifdom 
 was in proportion to what he retained in his memory, and therefore 
 had furniflied their own with a pretty large flock of other men's 
 fayings; thus afFeding to be rich in what did not belong to them, 
 as not having any fund of truth in their own minds j but fome 
 of thefe were very dullards, others of them foolifli, not being 
 able to diftinguidi between right and wrong in common matters : 
 and I have had converfition with fome, who had publilhed 
 many things in the fcientifick way, and had acquired fome repu- 
 tation in the world by their writings j fome of thefe could rcafon 
 about truths, whether they were fucli or not, and could alfo 
 under ftand them when they turned to thofe that were in die 
 light of truth ; but when they turned back to their own con- 
 fufed dark minds, they would not receive, but rejeded them ,-, 
 and fome of them were as void of true knowledge, as the illi- 
 terate vulgar ; to fo little purpofe of real intelledlual improve- 
 ment had they fludied the fciences. But as to thofe, who, by 
 an abufe of their fcientihcal learning, have lludied to draw 
 argumentb from it againil: the trutlis oi religion, and to confirm 
 themfelves in unbelief; all tliey have gained by it is a trick of 
 difputing and reafoning without rationality (however it may 
 pafs for fiich with the world) and of giving to error the ap- 
 pearance of truth by a fallacious fophilliry : it is impollihle for 
 fuch to attain to a right underlianding, whilil they adhere to 
 the falfe principles they have adopted ; for though by the light 
 of truth we can deted: error, yet in the darknefs of error we 
 cannot find the way to truth. Now to oppofe divine truths is 
 to fliut the gate of communication betwixt heaven and our fouls ; 
 and as the foil of a garden or field, however fowed with feed, 
 cannot bring forth fruit without the frudiifying influence of the 
 fun, fo neither caa the rational part in man, however cultivated 
 
 by I 

 
 [ 3" J 
 
 by natural knowledge, attain to wifdoni without the light of 
 heaven, which is divine truth, and the heat of heaven, which 
 is divine love. It is matter of great grief to the angels, that fo 
 many of the learned, through the oppositions of fcience, falfcly 
 fo called, (liould fo far facrifice to the pretended fovcreignty of 
 nature and natural knowledge, as to exclude all communication 
 of divine light from their minds ; on which account it is, that 
 all fuch in the otlier world are deprived of the faculty of reafon« 
 ing, and appointed to be in defart places, to the end that they 
 may not flumble or perplex the limple, good fpirits with their 
 infidel notions and Ibphiflry. 
 
 465. A certain fpirit feemed much dillurbed at his not being 
 able to remember many things that he knew in this world, and 
 exprefled grief for the pleafurc he loft thereby : but he was told, 
 lliat, properly fpcaking, he had loft nothing, but was in pof- 
 feilion of all knowledge that could be of any ufe to him ; that 
 the things which he no more remembered did not fuit with his 
 prefent ftate, and that he ought to be fatisfied that he could 
 now think and fpeak more perfectly than before, without having 
 his mind depraved with grofs, material ideas, which could 
 anfwer no good end in the kingdom where he was at prefent, 
 and where he was richly fupplied with all things conducive to 
 an eternal happy life ;, and moreover, that true intclleftual know- 
 ledge was fo far from being kflencd by the removal of all ma- 
 terial images from the memory, that the more the mind was 
 •difengaged from all fuch natural impediments of the outward" 
 man, the more it was at liberty to make higher advances in the 
 contemplation of fpiritual and heavenly things. 
 
 466. Different kinds of memory are fometimcs reprefented 
 in the other world under iignificant forms known only there, 
 many things which the mind is only fufceptible of here, being 
 there imaged under vifible appearances^ Thus tlie exterior 
 memory is there reprefented under the figure of a callus, or 
 denfe fubftancc [if/Jlar calli] ; but the interior memory, like the 
 medullary part of- the human brain, to denote the diftindtion 
 between them : they who only ftudicd to furnifli their memory 
 here with ideas, whilft they nefjledled to cultivate their rational 
 part, their callofity appears of a ftill harder texture, and ftreaked 
 
 within.
 
 [ 312 ] 
 
 xvithin as with tendons: they who in this life ftuffed their 
 memory only with faliities and figments, their callus appears 
 rough and hairy from the confufed heap and lumber therein : 
 they who retained nothing in their memory, but what was con- 
 nected with the love of felf and of the world, their callus re- 
 prefented a glutinous confillence bordering upon odification : 
 they who lludied to fearch out the divine fecrcts by their fcien- 
 tifical, and more efpecially their philofophical in\ elligations, 
 with full purpofe to believe nothing but what fquarcd therewith, 
 their memory was reprefcnted under the appearance of, as it 
 were, a gloomy cavity, which abforbed the rays of light, and 
 converted them into darknefs : theirs who had been given to 
 hypocrify and deceit, was figured by a boney fubftance, like as 
 of ivory, rcliedting the rays of light : but as to all thofe who 
 have lived in the good of love towards God and their neighbour, 
 and in the truths of faith j with them there is no fuch ap- 
 pearance of callofity, for their interior memory tranfmits the rays 
 of light to the exterior, in which they terminate, as their proper 
 bafis or ground; for the exterior memory is the lowed degree of 
 order in man, and may be confidered as the laft refidence or 
 receptacle of fpiritual and heavenly things, \\here they friendly 
 join themfelves to the correfpondent good and truth \^bonis et 
 ven's] they meet with therein. 
 
 467. Men who live in love towards the Lord, and in cha- 
 rity towards their neighbour, poflcfs even in this life angelical 
 underftanding and wifdom, but fo hidden within the recef- 
 fes of their interior memory, that they are not manifefled to 
 their knowledge till they have quitted their mortal bodies ^ 
 then their natural memory becomes quicfcent, or as alleep, and 
 they awaken to their interior memory, and fo fucceflively to the 
 angelical. 
 
 468. A few words fliall here be fpoken concerning the cul- 
 tivation of the rational faculty in man. Genuine rationality 
 conhfts in truths, not in falfes [nou in falfis\. Now truths are 
 of three kinds, civil, moral, and fpiritual : civil truths relate 
 to judicial matters, and fuch as refpeft publick government, 
 and, in a general confideration, juilice and equity : moral truths 
 have relation to the condud: of life with refped to focieties and 
 
 leffer 
 
 i
 
 [ 3^3 ] 
 
 Icfler connexions ; In general, to fincerity and reditude -, and ia 
 particular, to virtues of every clafs : but fpiritual truths relate 
 to the things of heaven, and of the church on earth; and in 
 general to the good of love, and the truths of faith. There are 
 three degrees of life in every man, fee above, n. 267 : the 
 rational part in man is opened to the firit degree by civil truths ; 
 to the fecond by moral truths ; and to the third by fpiritual 
 truths. But let it here be obfcrved, that man's rational part is 
 not opened and formed merely by his knowing fuch truths, but 
 by living according to them when known, thit is, by loving 
 them with a fpiritual affeiliion, or the affection of his fpirit, or, 
 in other words, by loving juftice and equity as fuch, fmcerity 
 and reftitude of manners as fuch, and good and truth as fuch j 
 whereas to love them only from external regards, is loving them 
 for the fake of felf, for one's own charadter, honour, or profit ; 
 and therefore fuch a love, as it terminates in felf, gives not a 
 man any right to the chara<fter of rational, as fuch a one ufes 
 truths as a lordly mafler ufcs his fervants, viz. for his pleafure 
 or intereft ; and where this is the cafe, they make no part of the 
 man, nor opsn fo much as the firft degree of life in him, but 
 only have a place in his memory, like other fcientifical ideas 
 under a material form, where they unite with the love of felf 
 in mere animal nature. Hence it may appear how man becomes 
 truly and properly rational, viz. in the third or highcll: degree, 
 by the fpiritual love of good and truth, or the things of heaven, 
 and its reprefentative the church; in the fecond degree, by the 
 love of fincerity and redlitude ; and in the firft degree, by the 
 love of julliceand equity; which two lall loves become fpiritual 
 by influx of the Ipiritual love of good and truth from the higheft 
 degree, by joining itlelf to the inferior loves, and forming in 
 them its own likcnefs (*). 
 
 (*) This fomcwhat obfcure paflage may be reiiJcrcii more intelligible thus. 
 There are three degrees in man corn rpondiii<^ to the three hiavens ; and as the 
 third or higheft heaven does, as it were, faiictifv the two interior heavens by the 
 delcendiiif:; influx of its coeleftial fupcrior virtui-, (b ihe fpiritual love of all that 
 is good and true in man (correfponding to the third heaven) ipirituali/xs or fanc- 
 tifics his virtues, though of an inferior clafs : thus, to give a cup of cold water to 
 another, is a little thing ; but when it is the moft we can do, and love is in the 
 doing of it, the aft has in it the efTence of Chriftian charity. Tr. 
 
 Kkkk 469. Me-
 
 r 3H 1 { 
 
 469. Memory alfo belongs to fpirits and angels in like man- 
 ner as to men, and they retain whatever they hear, fee, think, 
 will, and do : hereby their rationality incrcafes to higher degrees 
 of improvement even to eternity, and tliey grow in underiland- 
 ing and wifdom through increafing knowledges of truth and 
 good, as the human fpecies here on earth. Tliat fpirits and 
 angels are endowed with memory I have frequently been witnefs 
 to, when they have given proofs of it by a recital of what they 
 had thought and done, both openly, and alfo in private com- 
 pany with other fpirits ; and I have alfo known fome fimple, 
 good fpirits, with but a moderate degree of the light of truth, 
 advanced by the gift of knowledge to higher degrees of intel- 
 Icdlual light, and then raifed up to heaven [from the interme- 
 diate ftatej ; but then it muft be obferved, that the meafure of 
 fuch illumination is according to the kind of affedion for good 
 and truth they were in during their life in tliis world, and not 
 beyond it ; for every fpirit and angel continues to poffefs the 
 fame kind of affeftion, or a lo\e of tiic fame quality that he 
 poflefl'ed in this life, in which he advances hereafter to higher 
 and higher degrees of perfedtion eternally j for there is no end 
 to perfection there, but every good, as proceeding from an in- 
 finite caufe, is capable of infinite variation and increafe. That 
 fpirits and angels continue to advance to higher and higher de- 
 grees of underflanding and wildom by increafing knowledges 
 [cogriitiones] of good and truth, fee in the chapters Concerning 
 the Wifdom of Angels, n, 265 to 275: Concerning the Gentiles 
 and Peoples ivithout the Church, in Heaven, n. 318 to 328 , and. 
 Concerning Infants in Heaven, n. 329 to 345 : and that fuch pro- 
 greffion is according to the quality or kind (*) of aftedtion in 
 good and truth, and not beyond it, n. 349. 
 
 (*) The v/QxA gradus in the original, here and before in this number tranflated 
 quality or kind, refers to a diftini5lion of the author (fee the foregoing number) as 
 to the three degrees in man with rcfpeft to flates, and not to degrees of the fame 
 ftate ; which, if not kept in mind, would miflead the reader, as if implying, that 
 the bledcd in the other world did not advance in degrees of the fame good begun 
 here, in con tradition to tlie author's meaning, which is, that good of the fame 
 dafs or charader in anyone here, is increafcd m the other life by degrees ad infi- 
 nitum, according to the cjuality or kind of that good, and that progreflion in de- 
 grees of perfection is only from good begun in this world, 1"r. 
 
 That 
 \
 
 [ 3^5 ] 
 
 That the Condition of Man after Death is 
 according to his paft Life here. 
 
 470. That every one's life follows him to the other world, 
 is a truth known to all that believe the Bible, which tells us 
 in many places, that every man fhall be judged and recompenfed 
 according to his deeds and works ; and whofoever eftimates 
 things according to the nature of good and of truth, cannot but 
 conclude, that a good life leads to heaven, and an evil life to 
 hell : but the unconverted man, efpecially when vifited with 
 ficknefs, thinks otherwife concerning his future flate, not being 
 willing to believe that his lot will be according to how he has 
 lived here, but that admiflion into heaven is a grant of pure 
 favour and mercy to any one, whatever he had done in the body, 
 provided he has but faith, which faith he conliders feparately 
 from a good life. 
 
 471. From the many declarations in Scripture, fetting forth 
 that man fliall be judged and recompenfed according to his deeds 
 and works, I fliall here feled: the following : ** The Son of man 
 " fhall come in tlie glory of his Father, with his angels ; and 
 ** then he fliall reward every man according to his works," 
 Matt. xvi. 27. *' Blefl'ed are the dead which die in the Lord : 
 " even fo, faith the Spirit, that they may rell from their labours, 
 " and their v/orks do follow them," Apoc. xiv. 13. " And I 
 ** will give unto every one of you according to your works," 
 Apoc. ii. 23. " And I faw the dead, fmall and great, ftand 
 " before God, and the books were opened ; and the dead were 
 ** judged out of thofe things which were written in the books 
 ** according to their works : and the fca gave up the dead which 
 " were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which 
 ** were in them ; and they were judged every man according to 
 ** their works," Apoc. xx. 12, 13. " And behold J come 
 " quickly, and my rew.ird is with mc, to give every man ac- 
 ** cording as his work fhall be," Apoc. xxri. 12. ** Whofoever 
 *' heareth thefc flyings of mine, and docth them, I will liken 
 
 " hiiu
 
 [ 3i6 ] . I 
 
 " him unto a wife man which built his houfe upon a rock : and 
 •'. every one that heareth thele fayings of mine, and doeth tiiem 
 " not, rtiall be likened unto a foolifli man, which built his 
 " houfc upon the land," Matt. vii. 24, 26. " Not every one 
 " that faith unto me. Lord, Lord, Hiall enter into the kingdom / 
 
 " of lieavcn, but he that doth the will of my Father which is / 
 
 " in heaven : many lliall I'xv unto me in that day. Have we not 
 ** propheficd in thy name, and in thy name caft out devils j and 
 ** in thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will 1 
 *' profefs unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye q. 
 
 *' that work iniquity," Matt. vii. 22, 23. '* Then ihall ye 
 ** begin to fay. We have eaten and drunk in thy prefence, and 
 *' thou haft taught in our ftreets : but he fliall fay, I tell you, 
 " I know you not whence ye are : depart from mc all ye workers 
 " of iniquity," Luke xiii. 26, 27. " I will recompenfe them 
 " according to their deeds, and according to the works of their 
 " own hands," Jer. xxv. 14. " Thine eyes are open upon all 
 " the ways of the fons of men, to give every one according to 
 *' his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings," Jer. xxxii. 
 19. " I will punifh them for their ways, and reward them 
 " their doings," Hof. iv. 9. ** According to our ways, and 
 " according to our doings, fo hath he dealt with us," Zach. i. 
 6. Our Lord, in his prcdidions of the lail: judgment, makes 
 mention only of works, and declares that they who have done 
 good fliall enter into life eternal, and they who have done evil 
 into everlafting fire. Matt. xxv. 32 to 46 ; and alio in many 
 other places, where he fpeaks of the falvation, and the con- 
 demnation of man. Now it is evident, that works and deeds 
 are man's outward life, manifefting the principle of life within \, 
 
 him. 
 
 472. But by deeds and works here, we do not mean fuch 
 confidercd only in their external form, but according to what 
 they are internally ; for it is allowed by all, that every a6t and 
 deed of man mull proceed from his tliought and will, otherwife 
 it would be no better than the movement of a piece of mecha- 
 nifm } but what we call a man's act or deed, is an effedl which n' 
 
 has its caufe and principle in the huni.in mind, and may be faid 
 to be the thought and will of a man exprelfed or repici^nted in 
 
 an
 
 [ 317 ] 
 
 an external form ; confequently, as is the thought and will, 
 which give being and life to the ad-, fuch is the quality of the 
 adt J if the former be good, fo is the aift or deed ; but if evil, 
 then fuch is the deed or work likewife, however they may both 
 have the fame outward form. A thoufand men may do the 
 fame adl, fo like in appearance, as not to admit of diftindion, 
 and yet the adt of every one of them may be different in quality, 
 through the difference in the will, or motive of the doer. Thus 
 for example, in the adl of dealing juftly and faithfully with 
 one's neighbour ; one may difcharge this office, as to the out- 
 ward part, for the credit and reputation of paffmg for an upright 
 man ; another, for the fake of lucre and worldly advantage j 
 a third, with a view to recompenfe ; a fourth, from fome par- 
 ticular attachments of friendfliip j a fifth, through fear of the 
 law, lofs of charader, or employment ; a fixth, in order to 
 bring fome over to his party ; a fcventh, that he may gain credit 
 for an opportunity of deceiving afterwards to greater temporal 
 benefit, and fo on : but all fuch apparent honelly and juftice, 
 however good as to the external ad;, is entirely void of it, or 
 contrary to it, relatively to the party, and to principles, as not 
 being done for the fake of truth and juftice, but from the love 
 of felf and of the world, to which they ficrifice even the fem- 
 blance of virtue, as it may fervc their turn, as an imperious 
 mailer ufes his Haves, merely in fubferviency to his iutereft, and 
 the gratification of his paffions, and turns them off when they 
 can no longer anfwer thefe purpofes. On the other hand, the 
 fame external ads of julHce and fidelity towards their neighbour 
 are done by fuch as are principled in thefe virtues ; fome from 
 the obedience of faith, as being enjoined by the authority of 
 God's Word j others from a religious confcience ; fome from 
 charity towards their neighbour ; and fome from love to the 
 Lord, having a nncere affedion for juftice, truth, and goodncfs 
 of every kind, as proceeding from him, and partaking of his 
 divine nature. Now as the ads of thefe perfons are from the 
 fource of a good internal princij'le, fo are they properly and 
 truly good works; for it is the quality of the thought and will, 
 as obfervcd before, that determines their diftindion and kind, 
 and without whicli they are no better than mere mechanical 
 
 L 1 I 1 movements.
 
 [ 3iB ] I 
 
 movements. Thus much may fuffice to fliew what is meant by 
 deeds and works in the Scriptures. 
 
 473. As works and deeds derive their nature from will and 
 thought, Co conlequently from love and faith, and are of the 
 fame quality with them ; now whether we fay the love or will 
 of a man, or the faith or thought of a man, it amounts to the 
 fame, for what he loves, that he wills ; and what he believes, 
 that he thinks; and if he loves what he believes, then he wills 
 and does it according to his power. That love and faith ap- 
 pertain to the willing and thinking, and are not extraneous to 
 them, is allowed by all, as the will has its fire from love, and 
 thought its light from faith, fo that to think wifely is to have 
 the mind or thoughts enlightened by the truths of fliith. Thus 
 every wife man thinks and wills the truth, or, in other words, 
 believes and loves it (261). 
 
 474. But we arc to obferve here, that it is the will that 
 properly conftitutes the man, and thought no farther than as it 
 iffues from the will, and that deeds or works proceed from 
 both } or, which comes to the fame, that love conftitutes the 
 man, and faith only fo f;ir as it fprings from love, and that 
 works proceed from both ; confequently, that will or love is the 
 man himfelf, for that which proceeds belongs to the fource or 
 principle it proceeds from : now to proceed from a thing, is to 
 be produced by it in a proper form or mode of operation, for 
 the fake of manifestation (262). It is an obvious conclufion 
 from the premifts, that what is called fliith, fcparated from love, 
 
 has 
 
 (261) That as all things in the uni\erfe, which cxift according to their nature, 
 bear relation to good r.nd truth, fo in mr.n, to will and underftandin^, n. 803, 
 10122 -, and that, becaufe his will is the recipient of good, and his undcriianding 
 of truth, n. ^332, 3623 — 030c, 993c. Whether we fay truth or faith, it comes 
 to the fame, becaufe they ate correlatives like good and love, n. 4353, 4997, 7178, 
 IC122, 10367. Hence it follow?, that the undcrilanding is the recipient of faith, 
 and the will of love, n. 7178, 10122, 10367. And as the underftanding of 
 man is receptive of faith in (Jod, and the will of love to God ; fo man, by f.uth 
 and love, may be joined to God, and he that is capable of being joined to God 
 by love and faith, cannot die eternally, n. 4525, 6323, 9231. 
 
 (262) That the will of man is the elVence of his life, as being the receptacle 
 of love or good ; and that his underftanding is the cxiftence [form] of his life from 
 fhence, as being the receptacle of faith or truth, n. 3619, 5002, 9282. There- 
 fore, that the life of the will is the principal life of man, and tliat the life of the 
 
 under-
 
 [ 3^9 . ] 
 
 has no reality of faith in it, but is only a notional thing void 
 of all fpintiuJ life : in like manner, works, that proceed not 
 from love, Ir.'.ve no virtue or life in them, and confequently are 
 dead works ; and as to whatever appearance of life they may 
 have from an evil love and a falfe faith, it is in Scripture deemed 
 and ftiled fpiritual death. 
 
 475. It is farther to be noted, that the whole man {lands 
 repreiented in his deeds or works, and that his willing and 
 thinking, or his love and faith, which are the principles of his 
 inner man, are not complete till they are imaged in the works 
 of his outward man, as being the ground or limit in which they 
 terminate j and without fuch termination or fixednefs, they are 
 but vague, uncertain things, without refidence or body. To 
 think and will without arting, where power is not wanting, 
 may be compared to a candle (hut in a clofe vefTel, where it is 
 foon extinguifhed ; or to feed fowed in the fand, where it lofcs 
 its prolifick virtue, and perirties ; whereas to think and will, 
 and thence proceed to adl, is like the fame candle fet in a proper 
 place diffufing its light around it ; or to feed fowed in good 
 ground, where it thrives and ripens into a flower or tree. Who 
 does not know, that to will, and not to adl when one may, is 
 the fame with not willing ; and to love, and not do good when 
 opportunity fervcs, is not to love, but only to fancy that one 
 loves, and but as the phantom of a thought, which vanifhes 
 into nothing : whereas love or will is the very life and foul of 
 action, and forms to itfelf a body (or makes itfelf fubftantial) 
 by operation : jull fo it is with the fpiritual body, or the body 
 of a man's fpirit, which is formed of that which proceeds from 
 
 uiidcrftanding is from thence, n. 585, 590, 3619 — IOIO9, JOIIO, as light iffues 
 from fire or flame, n. 632, 6314 ; confequently man is man from will, and its 
 fequent undcrllanding, n. 8911, 9069,9071, I00"6, 10109, lOiiO.* That every 
 (lie is amiable and eilimable for the good that s in his will and underftanding 
 jointly ; and that to have a good uiiderftaiuiing, and no good will, is a con- 
 lemptiblc cliaradkr, n. 891 1, iOG-76. That the condition of man after death is 
 according to the flate of his will and mind (or underftanding) as formed thereby, 
 Ji. 9069, 9071, 9386, 1C153. Tliat therefore the condition of man after death 
 is according to his love and faith refulting therefrom ; and that matters of belief 
 tailed faith, which are not joined with love, then vanifh into nothing, as not 
 being in nor of the man, n. 553, 2364, 10153. 
 
 a man's
 
 [ 320 ] I 
 
 a man's love or will (*), fee above, n. 463. In a word, the | 
 
 works of a man arc the image and likenefs of himfclf (263). • 
 
 476. We have here feen what is meant by that life which 
 remains with every one after death, viz. that of his love and 
 faith, not only in their principle, but ad, confequently in deeds i 
 and works, as thefe are the produdl of all that appertains to 
 
 love and faith in every one. 
 
 477. There continues a ruling love in every one after he * 
 has left this world, which changes not its particular kind even ^, 
 in eternity; and tliough he may he faid to have many aftedions, <= 
 yet they all have relation to the principal one, and co-operate 
 
 with it, as many ingredients in one compound. All the ope- 
 rations of the will, which accord with the ruling palTion, bear 
 the name of loves ; and thefe are both interior and exterior, 
 fome of them are immediately connefted with the principal or ij 
 
 ruling paflion, fome mediately, and many of them fubfervient 7 
 
 to it different ways ; but, confidered colledively, form, as it 
 were, one kingdom or government in man in their different 
 offices and places ; and though a man knows nothing of their 
 order and arrangement in this life, yet fomething of it is mani- 
 fefled to him in the other, for according thereto is the diredion 
 of his thoughts and aifedions there ; to the heavenly focieties, r 
 
 (*) This hint of our author ftarts a fuhjcct to the mind no kfs important, than ^ 
 
 of new and curious confidcration, viz. how the (piritual body, which we fliall 
 have in the other world, is formed in this life from the uffccflions, qualities, and 
 properties of the fpirit acquired here, even (if thvr comparifon may be allowed) 
 as the fhells of certain animals are formed from the juices tranfpiring from the 
 body of the animal within : if fo, as is the nature, qualities, and properties of 
 the fpirit of a man here, fuch will be thofe of his fpirituul body herenfter. Qu. 
 If this is not to be underftood in Scripture as meant by the refurrt-ction-bcoy ? 
 N. B. Let all fuch as aie in lo\c with true beauty, be heedful what fpirit they 
 are of. Tr. 
 
 (263) Tl)»t the interior things of a man's fpirit communicate thcmfelves by 
 influx to the outward man, and fubfift therein, as in their ground and limit, n. 
 634, 6239, 6465, 9216, 9217 ; ajid that thty not only fiicceflivtly pafs-into the 
 outward, but alfo have therein a finiultaneous i'libfiftence, and in what order, n. 
 5897, 6451, 8603, ICC99. That fo fpiritusl things have a connexion and form 
 in natural thinu;s, n. 9828. That deeds or works are their ultimate form, n. 1C331. 
 Therefore to be judged and recompcnfed according to works or deeds, means the 
 fame as according to all things appertaining to love and faith, or to the will aivd 
 thoughts of man, as thefe form the efience and quality of fuch works, n. 3147, 
 3934"'> 6073, 891 1, IC331, 10333. 
 
 if
 
 [ 321 ] 
 
 if his prevailing love confifts of heavenly affedlions ; and to the 
 infernal focieties, if it confifts of infernal affedlions. That all 
 the affei5lions and thoughts of angels and fpirits have a dired:ion 
 or extenfion to fome particular focieties, fee above, in the 
 chapter Concerning the Wijdom of the Angels, as alfo in that 
 which treats Of the Form of Heaven, with rcfpe£l to the Confo- 
 ciations and Communications therein. 
 
 478. But what has hitherto been f\id on this fubjefl is of 
 deep confideration ; in order therefore to render it more intel- 
 ligible and plain to all, I fliall here adduce fome experiences, 
 by way of illuftration and confirmation, to fhew, firfl:, that 
 every man's ruling love or will continues after death to be his 
 effential felf. Secondly, that his particular charader or quality 
 for ever remains according thereto. Thirdly, that every one, 
 whofe prevailing love is fpiritual and heavenly, goes to heaven ; 
 and that every one, whofe prevailing love is fenfual and mun- 
 dane, and as fuch contrary to all that is heavenly, goes to hell. 
 Fourthly, that all faith, which has not heavenly love for its 
 root, vaniflies into nothing after death. Fifthly, that operative 
 love is that only which continues with him, and conftitutes his 
 true life. 
 
 479. That every man's ruling love or will continues after 
 death to be his eflential felf, has been evidenced to me by full 
 experience. The univerfal heaven is diftinguiflied into different 
 focieties according to their different degrees in the good of love 
 refpedtively ; and every fpirit that is exalted to heaven, and fo 
 becomes an angel, is firll: condu(ited to that fociety, which is in 
 the fame love with himfelf ; and when he is joined to it, he is, 
 as it v/ere, at home in his proper felf: this he becomes imme- 
 diately fenfible of, and enters into intimacy with his friendly 
 affociates. When he leaves them at any time to make an occa- 
 fional vifit elfewhere, it is with a kind of reludlance, and he 
 always feels an attraction to the fociety of thofe with whom he 
 is in the clofell fellowlhip of the fame love. \n this manner 
 confociations are formed in heaven -, nor is it otherwife in hell, 
 according to their infernal loves. That both heaven and hell 
 confiil of focieties diflinguifhcd and ranked according to their 
 refpediive different loves, fee above, n. 41 to 50, and n. 200 to 
 
 M m ni m 212: 
 
 i 
 
 y '
 
 r 1 I 
 
 [ 322 ] I 
 
 212 : and that it is every one's love that conftitutcs his proper 
 lelf after de.uh, may further appear from hence, that every 
 thing is then removed or taken from a man that does not accord 
 with his ruling love j thus all adventitious evil and falfe is 
 removed from the good, as not agreeing with his governing 
 principle; and every apparent good and truth from the man of 
 evil principle ; that fo every one may be wholly and confiilently 
 in that love, which is the ruling power of his life : and this 
 feparation is efFedted when a fpirit advances to iiis third llate, 
 of which in ^vhat follows. No\v when this has taken place, the 
 fpirit has always before his eyes the objed: of his love, which 
 way foever he turns himfelf, fee above, n. 123, 124. All fpi- 
 rits are led by thofe who have hold of their aftcvftions, even as 
 they lift ; and though the former know it, tJiey have not power 
 to relifl, but are drawn as with a ftrong cord : I have often ken 
 the experiment made, whether they would rcfifl: the attrad:ion, 
 and found they could not. The cafe indeed is much the fime 
 with men in this world, who are under a ftrong influence of the 
 prevailing affedlion, and the leading of others who have hold 
 thereon ; but the fame operates ftill with greater flrength when 
 they become fpirits in the other world, as then they are not 
 fubjedt to the counteraftion of any other pafiion, which may 
 lay a reftraint on their inclinations. The thefis at the head of 
 this article is further confirmed by what frequently happens in 
 the converfation of fpirits in the other world. Thus, where 
 any one does or fays in company what is agreeable to the pre- 
 vailing love of fome particular fpirit, the latter appears to be 
 of an expanded, pleafant, and lively countenance ; but when 
 ajiy thing is done or faid in oppofition to fuch love, his coun- 
 tenance prefently changes, and is obfcured, and at length be- 
 comes totally invifible, as if he were not prefent. On my 
 Ihewing fome amazement at this, as a thing unknown in this 
 world, it was told me, that the like thing happened to the fpirit 
 of man in this world, which, upon conceiving an averfion to 
 another, became invifible to him (*). That every fpirit is one 
 
 and 
 
 (*) This pafTage is of difficult comprehcnfion, but from other parts of the 
 author's writings leems to mean thus, viz. that the fpirits of men in this life (if 
 
 they
 
 [ 3 = 3 1 
 
 and the fame with his ruling love, is evident from his earneflly 
 coveting and appropriating to himfelf all things relative and 
 correfponding, and his rcjedling all things contrary thereto ; juft 
 as the fpongy root of a plant attradts and imbibes thofe juices 
 which favour its peculiar kind of vegetation, and repels the 
 others ; or as the brute animals are led by a native inuindl to 
 chul'e only that particular kind of food which is fuitable to their 
 nature : fo every love is fupported by that which is congruous . 
 to its nature, an evil love by that which is falfe, and a good 
 love by truths. Accordingly, I have fometimes feen good fpirits 
 apply themfelves to inftrudt fuch as were evil, upon which the 
 latter left them with fpeed, and went to their fellows to feail 
 on folly fuited to their tafte ; and alfo when good fpirits have 
 been difcourfing together upon divine truths, to which thofe of 
 their own clafs liftened with attention and delight, that fuch as 
 were of a contrary difpofition appeared quite heedlefs and un- 
 concerned. In the world of fpirits there is an appearance of 
 highways or roads, fome of them as leading to heaven, others 
 to hell, and every one of them to fome particular fociety there- 
 in : the good Ipirits take thofe that lead to heaven, and to fuch 
 focieties therein refpedively as poffefs the fame particular good 
 love with themfelves, nor do they fee the other ways ; but the 
 evil fpirits take thofe that lead to hell, and to fuch particular 
 focieties therein refpei5lively as beft fuit with their own depra- 
 vity and corrupt afifeftions, neither do they fee any of the other 
 ways, or, if they do, they go not in them. Thefc appearances 
 of ways in the fpiritual world correfpond to verities and falfities 
 [ven's et fnljis] and accordingly truth and error are fignified by 
 ivays in the Scripture (264). Thefe proofs from experience 
 
 confirm 
 
 they arc in good agreement) are vifihie to each other, otheCwife not: and though 
 this be not known to us here, whilft we think in or according to nature, yet it is 
 not ir.ore to be wondered at than that our fpirits, even whillt connected with thefc 
 bodic;;, fhould at the fame time communicate with fpiritual fcicietics in the other 
 world without our knowing; it ; and yet it is founded on nothing lefs than Scripture 
 eiidi-'iicc, that fpiritual Ciiriftians have in this life fcllowfhip with " the general 
 " afTembly and church of the firfl-born, and an innumerable company of angels, 
 " and the fpirits of juft men made pcrfetSt," Heb. xii. 22, 23. Tr. 
 
 (264) That il^cy, path, Jireet, tic. fignify truths leading to good, as alfo errors 
 leading to evil, n. 627, I'^'H', 10422. That to prepare the way fignifics to fit or 
 
 difpofc
 
 [ ZH ] 
 
 confirm what was i^aid before from reafon, viz. that every man 
 after death is one and the llunc with his ruling love or will, 
 which are fynonymous terms. 
 
 480. That man alfo continues for ever in the fame will or 
 predominant love that he takes with him into the other world, 
 has been confirmed to me by many convincing proofs : it has 
 been granted to me to converfe with fome that lived above two 
 thoufand years ago, whofe lives and manners are tranfmitted 
 down to us in hiftory j and they in all things anfwcred the cha- 
 radters therein given of them, and as to the ruling pallion that 
 influenced their adlions : others I have converfed with that lived 
 above feventeen hundred years ago, in like manner charactered 
 in hiflory, with others that lived above four centuries ago, 
 others above three, and fo on ; and they were all found to 
 anfwer the defcription given of them, and to pollefs the fame 
 predominant aftedion as in this life, only with this ditference, 
 that their delight was placed in the correfpondences of thofe 
 things which they were palTionately fond of here, I was told 
 by the angels, that the predominant aftedlion did not change in 
 eternity, and that becaufe every one was the fame with his 
 governing love, and therefore to deprive a fpirit of that would 
 be to deprive him of his being : the angels farther afligned this 
 reafon for it, viz. that man was no longer capable of being 
 reformed by inftrudlion after death, as in his life-time here j 
 and that becaufe his ultimate plane or ground, which confillis 
 of natural knowledges and affecftions, was then quiefcent, and 
 could no more be opened, as not being fpiritual, fee above, n. 
 464 : and that upon this ground or bafis, as a foundation to a 
 houfe, the interior things of the human mind refted, and had 
 their fixednefs j therefore a man could not change his fettled 
 afFeftions after this life, no not in eternity. The angels greatly 
 wonder, that man Hiould be fo ignorant of his being effentially 
 one and tlie fame with his predominant love, and that fo many 
 can truft for their falvation to a mere inoperative fi\ith in im- 
 mediate, unconditional mercy, however they have lived, not 
 
 difpofe the mind for the reception of truth, n. 3142. To make known the way, 
 when fpoken of the Lord, fignificsto inftruil in truths leading to good, n. 10564. 
 
 knowing 
 
 I
 
 r 325 ] 
 
 knowing that the divine mercy is mediate, or through the ufe 
 of means, particuhirly that of refigning ourfelves to tlic divine 
 leadings both in time and for eternity, and that they only are 
 under the divine leadings who efchew evil, and chufe the good ; 
 and moreover, that the Gofpel faith is a fincere affedtion for the 
 truth proceeding front that divine love, which is tlie Lord's 
 own gift. 
 
 481. That the man ivho is infiuenced here by divine and fpiritual 
 love goes to heaven ; and he who is under the dominion of carnal 
 and worldly love, without any thing of the heavenly, fpiritual life 
 in him, goes to hell, has been evidenced to me by all whom I 
 have feen taken up into heaven, and call into hell, all they of 
 the former clafs being in the firft, and all thofe of the latter 
 clafs, in the fecond of thofe loves. Now it is the eflential pro- 
 perty of heavenly love to love goodnefs, truth, and julHce for 
 their own fake, and to be led thereby to the praftice of them, 
 which is the true heavenly life, as herein confifts the love of 
 God and of our neighbour, for thefe duties themfelves bear to 
 us the relation of neighbour (265) : but it is the property of 
 carnal \corporeus'\ and worldly love to love goodnefs, truth, and 
 juftice, not for their own lake, but the fake of felf, and as the 
 means of procuring to ourfelves the glory, honour, and gain of 
 this world. All fuch, as having no' regard to the Lord and 
 their neighbour in what they do, turn virtue into vice ; and, 
 whilH they appear in the garb of truth and juflice, are inwardly 
 
 (265) That in the liigheft fenfe of the word, the Lord (confidcred in his Hu- 
 manity) is our proximus, or neareft neighbour, as dcfcrving our love above all 
 things. Now to love the Lord, is to love all that proceeds from him, as bearing 
 his image, imd confequently all good and truth, n. 2425, 34.19, 6706, 67 1 1 — 8123. 
 That to love good and truth, as proceeding from him, is to live accordir.g thereto, 
 ftnd that this is properly to love the Lord, n. 10143, '°I53 — 10578, 10641). That 
 every man and fociety, as alfo our country, the church, and in an univerfal I'eniV, 
 the whole kingdom of the Lord is our neighbour, and that to do good to thcni, 
 according to their dilFerent relations, is to love our neighbour, n. 6818 to 6824, 
 8123. That alfo moral good or fincerity, and civil good, which is juftice, are 
 our neighbour ; and to act fincerely and judly, from the love of fincerity and 
 juftice, is to love our neighbour, n. 291 5, 473O, 8r20, 8121, 8122, 8123. There- 
 fore, that charity to our neighbour extends through the whole life of man, n. 2417, 
 8121, 8124. That the dotStrine more particularly infilled on in the ancient church 
 was the doctrine of charity, and that this conilitutcd a great part of their wifdom, 
 n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628. 
 
 N n n n g>-'ilty
 
 [ 326 ] 
 
 guilty of hypocrify and deceit. As every one's life is thus efT-i- 
 mated according to the quality of his love, therefore all, at 
 their firft arrival in the world of fpirits, undergo a fcrutiny with 
 refpe(fl to the ftate of their affedtions, and are clafled with thofe 
 of fimilar difpofitions either for heaven or hell ; and after having 
 gone through their firft and fecond ftates, are feparated fo as to 
 fee and know one another no more, for then every particular 
 difference in their loves within becomes fignatured accordingly 
 in the form of the body, the features of the face, and the 
 found of the voice, fo that the exterior part is a correfpondent 
 image and likenefs of the interior. Thus, fuch as are in cor- 
 poreal and earthly loves, appear grofs, dark, or black, and 
 deformed refpeftively ; but fuch as are in heavenly loves, ap- 
 pear lively, ihining, fair, and beautiful ; nor is there lefs 
 difference in their minds and intelleftual capacities, for as the 
 former are ftupid and fooliffi, fo the latter are intelligent and 
 wife : alfo when permilllon is given to infpeft the interior ffate 
 and frame of the affeftions and thoughts of tliofe who are in 
 heavenly love, fome of them appear in the form of a fliining 
 light, fome of a flame colour, and fuch of them as are neareft 
 to fenfe, beautifully variegated like rainbows ; whilft the fame 
 in fuch as are of grofs, corporeal affecStions, prefent a black 
 appearance, and in fuch as are fubtle and malicious, a refem- 
 blance of a dufky, fiery rednefs, whilft the more external ftate 
 of their minds appears of a difmal hue and afpedl ; for it is 
 to be noted, that both the inmoft and outermoit ftates of the 
 mind, and its operations in the fpiritual world, are at times, 
 by divine permiltion, reprefented by vifible appearances. Thefe 
 here laft mentioned fee nothing in the light of heaven, for that 
 is to them as darknefs, and that fo terrifying to their inward 
 fight or underftanding, as to affe<fl them with madnefs ; where- 
 fore to avoid it they hide themfelves in dens and caverns, of a 
 depth proportionate to their degree of falfe from evil {fo/fa ex 
 ma/is]. But they, on the other hand, who are in ctt;leftial love, 
 the farther they advance into the light of heaven, the more 
 clearly they fee all things, and the more beautiful do all things 
 appear to them ; and what is ftill more, the brighter and deeper 
 is their underftanding and wifdom. Again, they who are in 
 
 grofs 
 
 i
 
 [ 327 ] 
 
 grofs corporeal affections cannot live in the heat of heaven, 
 which is ca'lcftial love, but only in the heat of hell, which is 
 the love of unmercifulnefs to all that are not obfequious to 
 them ; for contempt of others, enmity, hatred, and revenge, 
 are the elements and comfort of their lives, whiliT: they know 
 not what it is to do good to others from any thing of benevo- 
 lence ; and when they do any apparent good, it is from an evil 
 principle, and to an evil end. And, laftly, they who are of 
 this clafs have no ufe of refpiration in heaven, for when any 
 fpirit comes thither, he gafps as if in an agony ; whereas they 
 who are in the coeleftial love, the farther they advance into 
 heaven, the more free is their refpiration, and the more com- 
 plete is their enjoyment of life. From the foregoing obferva- 
 tions we cannot but infer, that cceleftial and fpiritual love is 
 heaven in man, as carrying with it the fignatures of all heavenly 
 things; and that grofs, corporeal affeftions are hell in man, as- 
 bearing the image and fuperfcription of all things hellifli. Thus 
 much may ferve to confirm the foregoing thefis. That he who 
 lives under the influence of cceleftial and fpiritual love goes to 
 heaven, and that he who is governed by a fenfual and earthly 
 love, without any principle of heavenly life in him, goes to 
 hell. 
 
 482. T'/jut no faith abideth ivith man, that docs not fpring from 
 heavenly Icve. The truth of this has been manifefted to me fo 
 abundantly, that were I to relate the whole of what I have ken. 
 and heard concerning this matter, it would fill a volume ; and 
 from which 1 can tcftify, that they who live to the world and 
 to fenfe, without any affcdlion for fpiritual things, neither have 
 nor can have true faith j whilft that which palTes with them 
 for fuch, is no better than natural Icience. or a fiiith of pcr- 
 fuafion, which they make fubfervient to their inclinations and 
 widies. I have known many fuch, who fancied themlelves pof- 
 feffed of true faith, who, after I'ome free communication with 
 fuch as were really in the faith, were brought to confefs that 
 they had no right faith, and that mere ailcnt to divine truths 
 delivered in the Scriptures was not a faving faith, but only the 
 love of it from a fpiritual principle joined to good life, and a 
 willing obedience thereto : and it was likewilc demonftratcd to 
 
 them.
 
 [ 328 ] 
 
 them, tlut the perfualion which they called faith, was but as the 
 light in winter, which, being deftitute of genial heat, had not the 
 power of communicating the vital warmth of vegetation to the 
 torpid earth : and not only lb, but this glimmering light of their 
 faith of perfualion, when penetrated by the rays of cceleftial light, 
 is extinguilhed, nay, turned into darknefs, which fo far obfcures 
 and confounds their intelle(ftual faculties, that they become, as 
 it were, mad with folly j and therefore the light of divine truth 
 from the Word and found dodrine is withheld from them, and 
 they are left to that falfe judgment which bell fuits with their 
 evil life : for there all join themfelves to, and, as it were, in- 
 corporate with their own proper loves, and the delulions that 
 are fuited thereto, and then become haters of the truth, as ini- 
 mical to the principles they have adopted. This I can teftify 
 to from the whole of my experience, as to the things of heaven 
 and hell ; that all Solifidians, who had profefl'ed the doctrine of 
 being faved by faith alone, after having led wicked lives, are all 
 in hell ; I having feen feveral thoufands of them call in thither : 
 concerning which fee my little work, intitled. Of the laji fudg- 
 nienty and Babylon dejlroyed. 
 
 483. That love in a5l, or operative love, is that ivhich remains 
 •with man, and confequently is the proper life of man. This pro- 
 pofition follows from what has been here advanced from expe- 
 rience, as its proper inference j and alio from what has been 
 faid above concerning works and deeds. Now love in ail or 
 exercife, is the fame with work and deed. 
 
 484. It is to be remembered, that all outward a<fts and 
 works appertain either to the moral or civil life, and compre- 
 hend all the duties of fincerity and redlitude of manners relative 
 to the former, and all the duties of juftice and equity relative 
 to the latter ; and the love they proceed from as their principle, 
 is either coeleftial or infernal : the works and adls both refpefting 
 moral and civil life are cceleftial or heavenly, if they are done 
 from a heavenly love ; for then they are of the Lord's doing in 
 us, and by necefl'ary confequence are good ; but if the fame 
 works are done from an infernal love, then are they alfo of an 
 infernal nature. Now infernal love is the love of felf and of 
 the world, and fuch works, as proceeding only from man's felf 
 
 I or
 
 [ 329 3 
 
 or fallen nature, are in themfelves evil, becaufe man confidered 
 fingly in himfelf is nothing but evil (266). 
 
 That the Delights of every one's Life are 
 changed after Death to Things corre- 
 fponding thereto. 
 
 485. That the ruling affe(5lion or love continues with man 
 for ever, has been fhew^ed in the preceding article ; and that 
 the pleafures or gratifications of that love are changed in the 
 other world to things correfponding thereto, will in this place 
 be made appear. By being changed into correfpondences, is 
 meant into fuch fpiritual things as correfpond to their natural 
 exemplars or types ; and the reafon of fuch change arifes from 
 man's different condition of exiftence j as, whilll in this natural 
 world, he is in a terreftrial body, and when removed to the 
 fpiritual world, he is clothed with a fpiritual body. That both 
 angels and men appear in a perfedt human form, and have fpi- 
 ritual bodies in the other world, fee above, h. 73 to "jj, and 
 n. 453 to 460 ; and what is fignified by correfpondence between 
 fpiritual and natural things, n. 87 to 115. 
 
 486. All the delights belonging to man have relation to his 
 ruling love ; for what gives him pleafure but that which he 
 loves, and what the greateil but that which he loves moft ? 
 
 (266) That it is the property of man in fallen nature to love himfelf above 
 God, and this world above heaven, and to think lightly of his neighbour com- 
 pared to himfelf, and confequently, that he is a lover of felf and of the world, 
 n. 634, 731, 4317- That this property is innate in man, and is cillntial evil, 
 n. 210, 215, 731, 874, 875 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That from this innate 
 property of man all evil and falfe proceed, n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286, IO731. 
 That the evils which proceed from this felfifli property in man, are contempt of 
 others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and deceits, n. 6667, 7372, 7373, 7374, 
 9348, 10038, 10742. That fo far as felf in man prevails, fo far the good of love, 
 and the truth of faith, are either rcjedted, extinguifhed, or perverted, n. 2041, 
 7491, 7492, 7643, 8487, 10455, I0743' That propriety, or the felfifli property 
 in man, is hell within him, n. 694, 8480. That the apparent good which man 
 does from the principle of fclfifhnefs, or as his proper own, is not real good, but 
 real evil, n. 8478. 
 
 O o o o Now
 
 [ 33° ] 
 
 Now thefe pleafures are as various as the different kinds of love, 
 or as many in number as there are men, fpirits, and angels ; for 
 the predominant affeftion is not exactly fimilar in all refpecfts ia 
 any two of them ; and therefore it is, that no two have exaftly 
 the fame face, for the face is the image of the mind in every 
 one, and in the fpiritual world it is a true index of the predo- 
 minant affedion. There is alfo an infinite variety in their par- 
 ticular pleafures and gratifications, as well in thofe that are fuc- 
 ceflive, as in thofe that are fimultaneous ; and yet thefe parti- 
 cular different pleafures in every one are all relative to the go- 
 verning love, nay, are fo many ingredients in it, and as fuch 
 make one with it ; and as all particular delights in every indi- 
 vidual are relative to the predominant affedlion, fo the general 
 kinds of alfedtion in all, both in heaven and hell, correfpond in 
 each to one univerfal love, viz. to the love of the Lord in 
 heaven, and to the love of felf in hell. 
 
 487. As to the kind and quality of thofe fpiritual delights, 
 into which thofe that are natural and peculiar to every one here 
 are changed after death, this can only be known from the doc- 
 trine of correfpondences ; which teaches in general, that all 
 things natural have their correlative fpiritual correfpondents j 
 and in particular, the kind and quality of fuch correfpondents ; 
 confequently, he that is an adept in this fcience, may judge 
 concerning his own flate after death from the knowled":e of his 
 own prevailing love, and the relation it bears to that univerfal 
 love before-mentioned, to which the inferior loves are fubfer- 
 vient and relative in their feveral clafTes : but they that are 
 under bondage to the government of felf-love cannot know it, 
 becaufe they take delight in it, and call their evil good, and the 
 falfe [JalfTi] (*), wherewith they confirm themfclves in their 
 
 (*) It is with reluflance that we find ourfelves obliged, both here and in other 
 parts of this tranflation, to render the words falj'um and falfa literally as fubltan- 
 tives ; but there is no help for it, as our language affords no other word that fo 
 fully exprefTes the oppofite to truth. The word error reaches not the full fcnfe, 
 as iignifying miftakc in judgment, or a deviation from fome particular truth, rather 
 than the contrary principle ; and falfity denotes the negation of truth in this or 
 that inflance, as likcwife falfchood, but not the dirc6f contrary to truth abllraftedly 
 confidcred ; and therefore fome few authors have complied with the neceffity of 
 ufing the words falfe and falfes in the fenfe here given them, though not fo agree- 
 able to cuftom and grammar. 
 
 delufion.
 
 [ 33^ ] 
 
 delufion, they call truth ; and yet, were they but willing to 
 take advice from men wifer than themfelves, they might be fet 
 right in this matter, but fuch willingnefs is wanting in them : 
 fo great is the infatuation of felf-love, as to fliut the ear to the 
 voice of wifdom. On the other hand, they who are influenced 
 by heavenly love are receptive of inftrudtion, and learn to know 
 both their innate evils, and their propenfities to them from 
 thofe truths which make them manifeft ; for by the light of truth 
 fhining from the good principle, we may diicover evil and the 
 falfe belonging to it j but in the darknefs of evil we fee not 
 the good and its truth, nay, all fuch as are blind men that 
 grope at noon-day as in the night ; nay, like owls, chufe the 
 darknefs (267) rather than the light, fee n. 126 to 134. I have 
 been confirmed in this truth by experience communicated from 
 the angels, who immediately deteft every flirring of imper- 
 fedtion (*) in themfelves (as fometimcs happens to them) and 
 likewife all malignity in the unhappy fpirits that are in the 
 intermediate ftate or world of Ipirits, though fuch fpirits fee 
 not their own evils, being fo far gone in depravity, as not to 
 know what is meant by the good of heavenly love, or con- 
 fcience, or dilinterefted juftice, or to be fubjedl to the Lord ; 
 but, on the contrary, deny the reality of thefe things. What 
 has been laid down in this article, is to the end that man may 
 examine himfelf, and from the things he moft delights in come 
 to the knowledge of his predominant love, and thereby be able 
 to form a judgment (according to his Ikill in the dodlrine of 
 correfpondeiices) concerning his future ilate. 
 
 (267) That darknefs in the Word fignifies (by correfpondency) falfes [/al/a'] 
 and thick darknefs or blackncfs, the falles of evil, n. 1839, i860, 7688, 7711. 
 That the light of heaven is darknefs to thofc that are evil, 1861, 6832, 8197. 
 That they who arc in hell are faid to be in darknefs, as being in the falfes of evil, 
 concerning which, fee n. 3340, 441H, 45'?i. That by the blind in Scripture, 
 are fignificd thofe who are in falfes, and rcfufe inftrudtion, n. 2383, 6990. 
 
 (*) It is highly credible, if not abfoliitcly certain, from the diftance betwixt 
 finite and infinite, that even the higheft of created beings have in them fomething 
 of defcft, which may be called relative evil ; and this in order to preferve in them 
 a due fenfe of humility, and of their dependence on their infinitely perfect Creator 
 and Benefadlor ; but in order to this end, they muft be confcious at times, of fuch 
 imperfection, dcfcfl, or evil, and yet in a way confiftcnt with their happincfs and 
 free will. 
 
 488. How
 
 [ 332 ] 
 
 488. How the plcafures of this life in every one are changed 
 after death into their figurative reprefentations, may be learned 
 from the doclrine of corrcfpondences ; but as that fcience as yet 
 remains a fecret, I fhall illuftrate the matter by fome examples. 
 All that are in the principle of evil, and have confirmed them- 
 felves in oppofition to the truths of religion, and more efpecialiy 
 by their diibelief of the Scriptures, all fuch avoid the light of 
 heaven, and hide themfelves in dark caverns and the clefts of 
 rocks, and that becaufe they hated the truth, and loved the 
 falfc, which correfponds to darknefs, as reprefented by fuch 
 hiding places (268), wherein they take pleafure : nor is it other- 
 wife with the infidious and fubtle, who had addidled themfelves 
 to the deceitful works of darknefs in this world, who, in like 
 manner, hide themfelves in caverns and obfcure corners in the 
 other, where they whifper to one another in the dark j for llich 
 fort of concealments correfpond to thofe clandeftine doings in 
 which they had taken pleafure. They who had applied them- 
 felves to the fludy of the fciences merely for the fake of being 
 accounted men of learning, priding themfehes in what they 
 could from their memory relating thereto, whilfl at the fame 
 time they had neglefted to cultivate their minds with knowledge 
 ufeful for life ; fuch take delight in fandy places, which they 
 prefer to the moil pleafant fields and gardens, as the former 
 correfpond to the ufe they had made of fuch lludies. Such as 
 had employed much of their time and pains to acquire a fpe- 
 culative knowledge in tiie docftrines of their own and other 
 churches, without applying fuch knowledge to pradlical ufe, 
 avoid improved and well-cultivated places, and chufe their habi- 
 tations among rocks, and in flony ground. All fuch as had fet 
 up nature in the room of God, and had facrificed to their own 
 prudence, and by various political ftratagems had advanced 
 themfelves to worldly riches and honours, devote themfelves in 
 the other world to the ftudy of the magical arts, the end of 
 which is to profane and confound the divine order in God's 
 works. They who had indulged themfelves in making falfe 
 
 (268) That the hole and cleft of a rock fignifies in Scripture the obfcurity and 
 falfc of faith, n. 10582 ; becaufe rock fignifies faith from the Lord, n. 8581, 10580 ; 
 and fVone the truth of faith, n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8608, 10376. 
 
 applica-
 
 f 33S ] 
 
 ajppliccition? of divine truths to the gratification of their pafiions, 
 take delight in places of an urinous fmell, as fuch correfpond 
 to that kind of profanation. They that were infedled with 
 a fordid avarice have their abode in cells, where they take plea- 
 fure in fuch filth and ftench as come from fwine and corrupted 
 meats. Such as lived in fenfual pleafures, and made their belly 
 their God, become enemies to all cleanlinefs, and find their 
 gratification in ordure, as fpiritual filthinefs anfwers to filthinefs 
 of the flefh. They who had habituated themfelvcs to commit 
 adultery d\<'ell in as nafty brothels, having the ib-ongeft anti- 
 pathy to all purity and chaftc connexions. The cruel and re- 
 vengeful delight in cadaverous fmells, and inhabit hells adapted 
 to their favage difpofitions : and fo with others in like manner, 
 according to their refpedive qualities, 
 
 489. But the delights of life in thofe who lived here in 
 heavenly love are changed into correfpondences of a heavenly 
 nature from the coeleflial fun, in the light of which are formed 
 reprefentations of the divine properties and qualities in the 
 angels of fuch exquifite beauty, as ravifli their minds and fenfes 
 with unfpeakable delight ; whilft the fame light, which illumi- 
 nates their intellediual part with the knowledge of divine truths, 
 images to their external fight the things that correfpond thereto. 
 That the appearances in the heavens are outward vifible figns of 
 things inward in the angels appertaining to their faith and love, 
 and confequently to their underfi;anding and wifdom, has been 
 fhewed before in the chapter Concerning Reprefentatives and Ap- 
 pearances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176 ; and alfo in that which 
 treats Of the Wifdom of the Angels, n. 265 to 275. As I have 
 produced fome examples from experience in confirmation of the 
 matter in hand, and to illufi:rate what had been advanced doc- 
 trinally, fo I proceed to farther infiances in refpeft to thcfe cor- 
 rcfpondent heavenly pleafures which fuccecd to the natural ones 
 in thofe who live here in coele/lial love. They who have loved 
 divine truths and the facred writings with an inward affedlion, 
 or from the affection of truth, \\wc luminous dwellings in the 
 other world upon eminences which have the appearance of 
 mountains, where they continually enjoy the light of heaven ; 
 
 1' P P t"* they
 
 [ 334 ] 
 
 they arc ftrangers to the darknefs of our nights in tliis world, 
 and are bleflcd with a perpetual fpring, whilft delightful fcenes 
 of meadows, corn fields, and vineyards are reprefented to their 
 view J the fplendour, like as of precious ftoncs, beautifies their 
 houfcs, and through windows, as of pure chryftal, they behold 
 ravilhing profpeds ; and whilll thefe external objefts entertain 
 the outward fenfe, fo do they at the fame time convey an inward 
 delight to their minds from the correfpondent relation they bear 
 to the divine truths within them, which they had received from 
 God's word. They who, upon their firfi: receiving the dodlrines 
 of Chriitianitv, applied them to practical ufe, and made them 
 the rule of life, arc in the third or inmoft heaven, and enjoy 
 the delights of wifdom above others : in every objedt they fee 
 fomething divine, and though the objecfts themfelves arc with- 
 out them, yet the divine correfpondence that is in them, does 
 by a fecret influx affecfl their minds, and fill them with blefled 
 fenfitions, (o that from the joy within them all things appear 
 pleafant without them, and, as it were, to live, fmile, and play, 
 of which fee above, n. 270. They who have taken pleafure in 
 fludying the fciences, fo as to render them fubfervient to ufeful 
 intellectual improvements, and to imprefs their minds with a 
 deeper {enfe of divine things, the rational delights of fuch are 
 changed in the other world into fpiritual delights, as fublime 
 attainments and difcoveries in the knowledges of good and 
 truth : luch have their dwellings in beautiful gardens, curioufly 
 adorned and diverfificd with flowers, plants, trees, walks, por- 
 ticos, &CC. The flowers and trees alfo are varied every day, fo 
 affording frefh entertainment to the fenfes, and gratifying both 
 the mind and eye with new fucceflions of delightful fcenes, 
 whilft at the fame time they exhibit inftruiTtive emblems of 
 divine things, from which, by their ikill in the dodlrines of 
 correfpondences, they continually draw frefli fupplies of matter 
 for their fpiritual-intelledual improvement and delight (270). 
 
 They 
 
 (270) That garden, grove, and plantation, fignify intcllci'!lual knowledge, n. 
 100, 108, 3220. That therefore the ancients celebrated their religious worship in 
 groves, n. 2722, 4552. That flowers and flower gardens fignify fcientifical truth?, 
 
 "• 9553-
 
 [ 335 ] 
 
 They who faw God in all things as their creator, upholder, and 
 governor, and confidered nature only as his inflrument in fub- 
 ferviency to ipiritual ufes, and had confirmed themlelves in this 
 belief, thefe are in coeleftial light, which gives tranfparency to 
 every thing they behold, and by different variegations forms 
 therein fuch beautiful reprefentations of divine things, as gives 
 unfpeakable pleafure to their intellectual ught. Their houfes 
 glitter with adamantine fplendour j and I was told that the walls 
 thereof were as chryllal, and of like tranfparency (exhibiting 
 alfo fluent reprefentations of divine things with unceafing va- 
 riety) and that becaufe fuch tranfparency correfponds to a mind 
 in iiluftration from the Lord, and totally freed from all fliadow 
 of doubting, and from every impurity from the love of natural 
 things. Thefe, and innumerable other things, are related by 
 thofe who have been in the [third] heaven -, and moreover, that 
 they have feen and heard there things which none elfe ever faw 
 or heard. Such as had afted with opennefs and fimplicity, and 
 made no fecrets of their thoughts, as far as the relations of civil 
 life allowed of it, llridly adhering to the rules of truth and 
 juffcice from a divine principle, they appear in heaven with lucid 
 faces, reprefenting, as it were, in vifible forms the thoughts 
 and difpofitions of their minds, whilft their fpeech and adlions 
 cxprefs the reality of their affedtions ; and therefore they are 
 beloved above others : whilft they are fpeaking there feems to 
 be, as it were, obfcurity upon their countenances ; but when 
 they have done, what they have delivered appears legibly and 
 in full light fignatured on their faces ; and as the things about 
 them correfpond to thofe within them, fo do they reprefent them 
 in fo ftriking a likenefs, as to make them plainly underftood by 
 others. Such fpirits as had been accuftomed to fubtlcty and 
 clandeftine dealings avoid coming near them, and are feen to 
 creep away like ferpents as foon as they fpy them. Such as held 
 adultery in horror, and lived chaftly in conjugal love, ftand in 
 the heavenly order and form above others, and therefore appear 
 in beauty and the bloom of youth with particular diftincftion j 
 
 n. 9553. That herbs, grafs, and lawns fignify the like kinds of knowledge, n. 
 7571. That trees fignify perceptions and knowledges, n. ic^, 2163, 2682, 2722, 
 2972, 7692. 
 
 the
 
 [ 336 ] I 
 
 the delights appertaining to their love are inexprefTible, and go \\ 
 
 on incrcafing to eternity; for all the joys of heaven communicate 
 by influx with it, as being that love which is derived from the 
 conjunftion of the Lord with heaven, and with his church on 
 earth, and in a general fenfc from the conjuniflion of good and 
 truth, which conftitutes heaven in common, and in every angel 
 in particular, fee above, n. 366 to 386. In a word, the de- 
 lights of thofe here mentioned are not to be defcribcd in words : 
 but what has been faid of the correfponding delights enjoyed in 
 heaven by thofe who have lived here in ca'leftial love, falls very 
 far rtiort of their number. 
 
 490. Thus much may fuffice to Hiew, that the pleafures of 
 every one in this life become changed after death into fuch as 
 correfpond to them in the fpiritual world, the principal love 
 continuing the fame in every one to eternity ; whether, for in- 
 Itance, it be that of conjugal love^ the love of juflice, fincerity, 
 goodnefs, and truth, the love of fcientifick knowledge, the love 
 of intelleftual knowledge and wifdom, and fo on ; and the 
 pleafures which flow from them, as llreams from their fountains, 
 continue with them in like manner, but are augmented in pro- 
 portion to the difli'erence between natural and fpiritual. 
 
 Of Man's Firft State after Death. 
 
 491. There are three ftates which man goes through after 
 death, before he enters into heaven, or hell ; the finl refpefts 
 
 his exterior part ; the fecond his interior ; and the third is his ! 
 
 ftate of final preparation. Thefe ftates man pafles through in 
 the world of fpirits ; however, there are exceptions, as fome 1 
 
 are immediately after death taken up into heaven, or cafl into 
 hell ; of the former clafs are they who are regenerated, and fo 
 prepared for heaven in this world, and that in fo high a degree, 
 as to need only the putting off all tlicir natural impurities with 1 
 
 their bodies ; thcfe are immediately carried by the angels into \ 
 
 heaven, and fome fuch I have feen fo conveyed thither within 
 an hour after their departing this life. On the otlier hand, fuch 
 as have been internally evil under the malic of externally ap- 
 parent 
 
 i
 
 [ 337 ] 
 
 parent goodnefs, and Co have filled up the meafure of their ini- 
 quities by hypocrify and deceit, uling the cloak of goodnefs as 
 a means whereby to deceive others ; thefe are immediately caft 
 into hell ; and this I have feen to be the cafe with fome within 
 an hour after their death, and in particular one fuch, who had 
 been a hypocrite and deceiver above others, caft in thither with 
 his head downward, and his feet upward; and others in a dif- 
 ferent manner. There are alfo fome who are committed to 
 caverns immediately after their deceafe, and fo feparated from 
 others in the world of fpirits, but afterwards releafed, and re- 
 manded thither by turns ; fuch are they who, under civil pre- 
 texts, dealt fraudulently with their neighbours : but the fore- 
 mentioned are very few compared to the many clafles of thofe 
 who are detained in the world of fpirits, in order to their pre- 
 paration for heaven or hell, according to the ellablifhed order of 
 the divine oeconomy. 
 
 492. As to the firft ftate before mentioned, or that which 
 refpei5ts the exterior, this, man enters upon immediately after 
 death. Every one's fpirit has belonging to it properties exterior 
 and interior ; the former are thofe by which he governs and 
 accommodates the corporeal functions in this world, more efpe- 
 cially the face, fpeech, and bodily gelfures, according to his 
 focial connexions ; the latter are proper to his will and free 
 thoughts, which are feldom made manifcft by the face, fpeech, 
 and outward behaviour, man being accuftomed through edu- 
 cation and example to counterfeit friendlhip, fmcerity, and be- 
 nevolence, and to conceal his true thoughts even from his in- 
 fancy. Hence it is, that fo many learn the external pradiice of 
 morality and good manners, however different they may in 
 reality be within, and fo, miftaking cuftom for principle, know 
 not themfelves, nor enter into any examination concerning the 
 matter. 
 
 493. The firft ftate of man after death nearly refcmbles his 
 laft in this life, and he is much the fame in the external ope- 
 rations of his mind ; nay, he ftill retains the like face, fpeech, 
 and inclinations, and alfo the like difpofitions with refpedl to 
 moral and ci\ il life, infomuch that he knows no otiier than that 
 he is ftill an inhabitant of this world, unlefs he feriouily refleds 
 
 Q^q q q o«
 
 [ 338 ] 
 
 on the things that prcfent themfelves to him, and on what was 
 told him by the angels, on his rclufcitation, ol his being a Tpiiit,, 
 n. 450. Thus one life is progreflively continued to another, 
 and death is only the paflage between them. 
 
 494. As fuch is the ftatc of man's fpirit immediately after 
 his departing this life, he is confequently known in the other 
 world by fuch as were his friends and acquaintance in this, not 
 only from his face and fpeech, but alfo from the fphere of his 
 life, and that on the fird approach. When any one there thinks 
 intenfely of another, and is imprefled in his mind and memory 
 with his likenefs, and certain particulars of his life [having at 
 the fimc time a ftrong defire to fee him] the perfon fo thought 
 of becomes immediately prefent to him as if fent to him : and 
 this comes to pafs from the nature of the fpiritual world, where 
 thoughts are mutually communicated at any diftance, and where 
 fpace is very different from what it is here, fee above, n. 191 to 
 1995 by which means fuch as pais from hence thither arc 
 readily known by their friertds, relations, and acquaintance ; 
 and they ccnvcrfe and alTociate together after the manner of 
 their former connexions : I have often heard their mutual con- 
 gratulations on the occafion of thefe meetings. It is common 
 for hulhand and, wife to meet thus, and to abide together for a 
 longer or {horter time, accordingly as they agreed in this world ; 
 but if they had not lived together in conjugal love, which is 
 union of minds from a heavenly principle, after fome fliort 
 ftay they are feparated : but if they had lived in variance and 
 hatred, it is not unufual for them to break out into ftrife and 
 quarreling, even to fighting ; but, neverthelefs, they are not 
 totally feparated before they enter upon their fecond ftate, con- 
 cerning which hereafter. 
 
 495. As the life of men newly become fpirits is fo like to 
 their natural life in this world, and as they are at firfl Grangers 
 to their new ftate, without knowing any thing more of heaven 
 and hell than what they have learned from the letter of Scrip- 
 ture, and their preachers ; therefore after wondering for fome 
 time at their being clothed with a body, and pofleirmg every 
 fenfe as in this world, and alfo at their feeing things under the 
 like appearance as before, they find themfelves urged by a defire 
 
 of
 
 [ 339 ] 
 
 of knowing what and where heaven arid hell are: upon which 
 they are initrufted by their friends in things relating to eteinal 
 life, and are conducted to various places, and different focieties, 
 and fome into cities, gardens, and beautiful plantations, and mere 
 particularly to fee magnificent buildings, as fuch external objefts 
 fuit with the prefent external ftate of their minds. Then they 
 are led to infpe€l thofe interior fentiments and ideas which they 
 had in this life concerning the ftate of fonts after death, and 
 concerning heaven and hell, not without indignation to think 
 of their own pad ignorance, and alfo that of the church in 
 relation to thefe important fubjecfts. Almoft all in the world 
 of fpirits are defirous to know whether they fliall go to heaven 
 or not, and the greater part judge in favour of themfelves as to 
 this particular, efpecially fuch as had lived by the external rules 
 of morality and civil obligation here ; not confidering that both 
 good and bad do the fame to outward appearance, as alfo do 
 many good offices to others, and in like manner go to church, 
 hear fermons, and bear a part in the publick worfhip j not re- 
 fledting that thefe external a6ls, and this outward form of wor- 
 Ihip avail nothing in themfelves, confidered feparately from the 
 difpofition and principle of the worfhipper, and that it is the 
 interior or inner man that ftamps the charafter and value upon 
 the outward work and form ; but fcarcely one in a thoufind 
 knows what is meant by the interior, and even after being 
 taught it, place all in the words and bodily fervice ; and fuch 
 is the greater part of thofe, who at this day pafs from the Chri^ 
 ftian world into the other life. 
 
 496. The new comers are tried as to their qualities by the 
 good fpirits, and that according to various ways ; for in -this 
 their firft ftate the bad fpeak and ad, to appearance, like the 
 good, and that from having kept up an outward moral deport- 
 ment in the world, in conformity to the laws of government 
 and the rules of fociety, to preferve charafter and the praife of 
 men, for the fike of worldly advantage ; but the internally bad 
 fpirits are particularly diftinguiflied from the good by this among 
 other figns, viz. that they eagerly attend to \yhat is faid of 
 things without them, but give little attention to inward and 
 fpiritual truths. They are alfo known from turning themfelves 
 
 frequently
 
 [ 34° ] 
 
 frequently to certain points of the compafs, and from tiking 
 tlie ways that lead thereto when left alone, both of which are 
 marks in the other world of the particular kind of love that 
 influences and direds them. 
 
 497. All fpirits, on their leaving this world, are indeed in 
 fellowfliip with fome particular fociety either in heaven or hell ; 
 but fo only in their inner man or ground, which is not mani- 
 felted to others, whillt they are occupied in the exterior mental 
 faculties and exercifes [fuch as border on the fenfes or outward 
 life] for external things cover and hide what is internal, efpe- 
 cially in thofe who are rooted in evil, but hypocritically good 
 in the outward life ; but afterwards, when they enter upon their 
 fecond llate, the outward is quiefcent, and what was inward is 
 made manifeft. 
 
 49S. This firft ftate of man after death continues to fome 
 for days, to fome for months, and to others for a year, but 
 rarely for longer to any one, though to all differently, according 
 to the agreement or difagreement between their interiour and 
 exteriour; for in the fpiritual world they muft be brought into 
 correfpondence and confent ; as it is not allowed there for any 
 to think and will one way, and to fpeak and aft another, but 
 every one muft be an exprefs image of his thoughts and affec- 
 tions, or to appear outwardly as he is inwardly ; and therefore 
 the external ftate or province of the fpirit muft firft be fo mani- 
 felled and regulated, as to ferve for a correfpondent plane or 
 ground to the internal. 
 
 Of the Second State of Man after Death. 
 
 499. The fecond (late of man after death is called his in- 
 terior ftate, as he then paffes into the more recondite things of 
 his mind, or of his will and thoughts, whilft the more external 
 fundions of it, as exercifed in his firfl: ftate, are then quiefcent 
 or dormant. Whoever carefully attends to the lives, words, 
 and adions of men, may foon find that fevery one has both his 
 exterior and interior thoughts and intentions ; thus for example, 
 the man of civil connexions and manners forms his judgment 
 
 of
 
 [ 34^ ] 
 
 of others by what he knows of them by charadlcr and convert 
 fation ; and though he diould find tliem to be far othcrwife tliaa 
 men of probity and worth, yet he does not fpeak and behave 
 to them according to his real fcntiments of them, but with 
 fomething of feeming refpedt and civility : and this is ftill more 
 ftrongly exemplified in the bel\aviour of perfons addicfled to 
 difiiniulation and flattery, who fpeak and &6t quite contrary to 
 what they think and mean ; and aUb in hypocrites, who cnn 
 talk of God, of heaven, and fpiritual things, and alfo of their 
 country, and neighbour, as if from faith and love, when at the 
 fame time they have neither the one nor the other, and love 
 none but themfelves. This evinces that there are thoughts in 
 the fame mind of two different complexions, the one interior, 
 and the other exterior, and that it is common for men to fpeak 
 from the latter, whiHl their real fentiments in the interior are 
 contrary thereto ; and that thefe two arrangements of thoughts 
 are of diftind: and feparate apartments in the mind, appears 
 from the pains fuch perlbns take to prevent thofe that are int- 
 terior from flowing into the exterior to manifeftation. Now 
 man was fo formed by his original creation, that both the(e 
 were as one by correfpondence and confent, as is the cafe now 
 with the good, who both think and fpeak what is good and 
 true ; whereas in the evil the interior and the exterior are di- 
 vided, for they think evil, and fpeak good, thus inverting the 
 order of things, whilfl the evil is innermoft, and the good 
 outermoft, the former excrcifing rule over the latter, and ufing 
 its fervices for temporal and felfilh ends, fo that the feeming good 
 which they fay and do is corrupted and changed into evil, how- 
 ever the undifcerning may be deceived by its outward appearance. 
 On the other hand, they who are in the good principle ftand 
 in the divine order of God's creation, whilfl the good in their 
 interiour flows into the exteriour of their minds, and thence 
 into their words and aftions. This is the ftate in which man 
 was created, and thus they have communication with heaven, 
 and have the Lord for their leader. Thus much may ferve to 
 fhcw, that man thinks from two diflind grounds, the one called 
 tlie interior, the other the exterior j and when we fpeak here of 
 
 R r r r his
 
 [ 342 ] 
 
 his thinking, we include likewife his faculty of willing, as his 
 thoughts are from his will, neither can they exift feparately. 
 
 500. When willing and thinking are confidered under their 
 particular diflindions, then by the will is alfo to be underftood 
 the afFe(flion or love, with the particular pleafures annexed to 
 it, as thele alfo have relation thereto, as the fubjedt in which 
 they inhere ; for what a man wills, that he loves and takes 
 pleafure in, and fo reciprocally, what he loves and takes pleafure 
 in, that he alfo wills : and by thought is meant that operation 
 of the mind by which a man conlirms and fixes his affe^ftion 
 or love, it being the form of the will made manifeft in the light 
 of the underftanding. This form of the will may be conlidered 
 under various relations to the fpiritual world, and is properly 
 the fpirit of a man. 
 
 501. It mufl: be noted, that man is to be eflimated accord- 
 ing to what he is inwardly, and not according to what he is 
 outwardly only, and that becaufe his interior things appertain 
 to his fpirit, which is the proper life of man, and is that which 
 animates his body ; and therefore accordingly as man is in his 
 interiour, fuch he remains for ever ; whereas exterior things, as 
 appertaining to the body and its fenfcs, are feparated after death, 
 fo much of them only remaining (and that in a quiefcent, dor- 
 mant llate) as may ferve as a plane or ground to his interiors, 
 as was fhewed before in the article treating of the memory 
 retained by man after death. Hence it may appear what pro- 
 perly belongs to man as himfelf, and what not ; thus for ex- 
 ample, the good that bad men fpcak and do from their exterior 
 thought and will, is not their proper own, but only that which 
 proceeds from their inner man, or the ground of the heart. 
 
 502. After that man, now become a fpirit, has gone through 
 his firfl ftate, which is tiiat of his exterior thoughts and will, 
 he pafles into his fecond or interior ftate, and this he enters 
 upon infenfibly, which refembles that of a man in this world, 
 who, finding himfelf at liberty from every rellraint and dilTi- 
 pation, recolledls himfelf, and enters into the moft fecret recelTcs 
 of his foul. Now in this ftate of introverfion, when he thinks 
 freely from his inmoll difpofition and affedions, he is properly 
 himfelf, or in his true life. 
 
 503. When
 
 [ 343 ] 
 
 503. When a fpirlt is in this flate of thinking from his 
 will, confequently from his ruling affe<n:ion or love, thought 
 and will in him appear fo much one and the fame, that he 
 fcems only to be in the exercife of the latter : and the cafe is 
 nearly the fame when he fpeaks, only with this difference, that 
 then he is not without fome little fear of betraying the whole 
 of his afrecftions, and that through a habit contracted in this 
 world from the referves pradlifcd in ordinary converfation. 
 
 504. All without exception enter into this ftate in the other 
 world, as proper to fpirit, for the former is afiumed and prac- 
 tifed in accommodation to fociety and tranfadlions in this world ; 
 and therefore, though it remains with man for fome time after 
 death, yet it is not long continued in, as not being fuitable to 
 the nature of a fpirit, for the following reafons : Firfl:, Becaufb 
 a fpirit thinks and fpeaks from the governing principle of life 
 without difguife, fee article Concerning the Converfation of Angels, 
 n. 234 to 245 ; nay, the fame is the cafe of man in this world, 
 when he enters into his inmoft felf, and takes an intuitive view 
 of his outward man, in which kind of furvey he fees more in 
 a minute than he could utter in an hour. Secondly, Becaufe 
 in his converfation and dealings in this world, he fpeaks and 
 a<5ls under the reftraint of thole rules which fociety has efta- 
 blilhed for the maintenance of civility and decorum. Thirdly, 
 Becaufe man, when he enters into the interior recefles of his 
 fpirit, cxercifes rule over his outward economy, prefcribing 
 laws tlicreto, how to fpeak and aft in order to conciliate the 
 good will and favour of others, and that by a conflrained ex- 
 ternal behaviour. Thefe confiderations may ferve to fliew, that 
 this interior flate of liberty is not only the proper flate of the 
 fpirit of a man after death, but even in this life. 
 
 505. When a fpirit has paffed into his fecond or interior 
 ftate, it then appears outwardly what manner of man he had 
 been in this world, as he now ads from his proper felf j thus 
 if he had been a wife and good man before, he now manifefts 
 llill higher degrees of rationality and wifdom in his words and 
 adlions, as being freed from thofe corporeal and earthly cmbar- 
 rafiinents which had fettered and obfcured the inward opera- 
 tions of his mind, whereas the bad man evidences greater folly 
 
 than
 
 [ 344 ] 
 
 than before, for wliilft in this world he fafliioned his external 
 behaviour by the rules of prudence, in order to fave appearances ; 
 but not being under the like rellraints now, he gives full fcope 
 to his infinity, A bad man, that apes the manners and beha- 
 viour of a good one, is nothing better than a neat veflel well 
 covered, but replete with filthinefs ; and anfwers to that com- 
 parifon of our Lord : ** Like unto a whited fcpulchre, which 
 " indeed appears beautiful outward, but is within full of dead 
 *' mens bones, and of all uncleannefs," Matt, xxiii. 27. 
 
 506. All who in this world lived uprightly, and preferved 
 a good confcience, walking in the fear of God, and in the love 
 of divine truths, applying the fame to praftical ufc, feem to 
 themfelves as men awaked out of fleep, and as having paifed 
 from darkncfs to light, when they firft enter upon tlieir fecond 
 or interior flate ; they think from the light of pure wifdom, 
 and they do all things from the love of goodnefs ; heaven influ- 
 ences their thoughts and affeftions, they are in communication 
 with angels j and they love and worfliip the Lord from the very 
 principle of life : for they have entered into the holy of holies, 
 in which the true worfliip confifts, and is to them and in them 
 a fervice of perfedt freedom, fuch is the ftate of thofe hereafter, 
 whofe life here has been according to the Gofpel of Chrift. 
 But very different is the condition of thofe, whofe lives have 
 been contrary thereto, and therefore have denied the Lord in 
 their works, however they may have confeffed him with their 
 lips ; all fuch, when they enter upon their interior or fecond 
 ftate, and fo are fet free from outward relbaints, appear as in- 
 fatuated and mad in all they fay and do ; for being now under 
 the full uncontrolled dominion of their evil lufts and paffions, 
 they commit all iniquity with grecdincfs, as contempt of others, 
 mockery, hatred, revenge, and blalphemy, and fome of them 
 are crafty and malicious to a degree exceeding belief; in a word, 
 they appear wholly deftitute of rationality, though wife in their 
 own conceits : they are fometimes, during fliorj intervals, re- 
 ftored to their external flate, together with the remembrance of 
 thefe flagrant enorniities ; at which fome of them feem alhamed, 
 and to confefs their madnefs ; but others are void of all fliame. 
 Some of them alfo appear indignant, that they are not fuffered 
 
 to
 
 [ 345 J 
 
 to continue in their former exterior flate ; when it Is told them, 
 that this would prove to their detriment ; for that they would 
 go on to commit the fame things in a clandeftinc manner, would 
 do evil under the appearance of good, and defraud the fimple- 
 hearted by their diliimulation, till by degrees they waxed as 
 wicked openly, as they were inwardly, and fo increafed their 
 condemnation and wretchednefs. 
 
 507. The fpirits of this ftate appear outwardly fuch as they 
 were inwardly whilft in this world, and alfo publickly declare 
 the things they had fpokcn and done here in private, and en- 
 deavour to repeat the fame without regard to decency and cha- 
 radler ; and this is permitted, that they may be known to the 
 angels for what they are. Thus their hidden things are made 
 manifeft, and their fecret things declared openly, according to 
 thofe words of the Lord : *' There is nothing covered, that 
 " (hall not be revealed ; nor hid, that Ihall not be made known. 
 " Therefore, whatfoever ye have fpoken in darknefs, fliall be 
 " heard in the light, and that which ye have fpoken in the ear 
 ** in clofets, fhall be proclaimed upon the houfe-tops," Luke 
 xii. 2, 3. "I fiy unto you. That every idle word that men 
 *' fhall fpeak, they fliall give account thereof in the day of 
 *' judgment," Matt. xii. 36. 
 
 508. The condition of the evil in this ftate rcfpecflively 
 cannot be dcfcribed in a few words, as every one's infatuation 
 there, is according to his particular concupifcence : from the 
 following examples we may form fome judgment of the reft. 
 They who had been abforbed in felf-love, fo as not to attend to 
 the good ufes of their refpcdive ollices and functions, but dif- 
 charged them only with a view to their own eftimation and 
 honour, appear more ftupid than others ; for in proportion to 
 the degree of felf-love in any one is his diftance from heaven, 
 and confcquently from wifdom : but they who to the evil of 
 felf-love had added crafty devices, and by means thereof ad- 
 vanced themfelves to worldly honours, they alfociate themfelvcs 
 to the worft of fpirits, and addirt themfelves to the magical 
 arts, which are profane abufes of the divine order, by means of 
 which they moleft and vex all that pay them not honour ; tlie 
 praftifing of infidious wiles, and to kindle ftrife and hatred yield 
 
 S f f f . them
 
 [ 346 ] 
 
 them the higheft pleafure ; they burn with revenge, and long 
 for nothing more than to tyrannize over all that fubmit not to 
 their will ; and all thele wicked pallions they gratify as far as 
 their evil aflbciates give them afliftance ; nay, fo far does mad- 
 nefs hurry them on, as to make them wifh to fcale heaven, 
 either to fubvcrt the government of the holy kingdom, or to 
 caufe themfclves to be worfhipped for gods therein. Such of 
 this clafs as were of the papal church are more mad than the 
 reft, as vainly thinking that they have power over heaven and 
 hell, and can forgive lins at pleafure : fome of thcfe arrogate to 
 themfelves divine honour, and exalt themfelves into the place 
 of Chrift. Such diabolical perfuafions fpread darknefs and dif- 
 tra^fcion upon their minds ; they are indeed fimilar in both the 
 fore-mentioned ftates, but in the latter of them they totally 
 lofe their reafon. As concerning their madnefs, and their en- 
 fuing lot, fomething fliall be particularly faid in a little piece, 
 intitled. Of the Laft Judgment, and Babylon dejlroyed. As to 
 thofc who in this world afcribed all creation to nature, and fo 
 in effecft denied a God, and confcquently all divine truths, fuch 
 herd together in this ftate, calling every one a god who excelled 
 in fubtlety of reafoning, and giving him divine honour. I have 
 fecn fome fuch in their conventicle woriliipping a magician, 
 holding conferences concerning nature, and behaving more like 
 brute beafts than human creatures, and among them fome who 
 were dignitaries in this world, and had the reputation of being 
 learned and wife, and others of a different charadler. From 
 thus much we may gather what they are, the interiour of whofe 
 minds is fhut againft divine things, as theirs is, who receive no 
 influx from heaven through looking up to God, and a life of 
 faith. Now let every one judge from himfclf, what fort of 
 creature he Ihould be, were he to live without regard to laws 
 both human and divine, and without all external rcftraints 
 arifing from fear in refpedl to li/e, character, honour, advantage, 
 and the plcafures refulting therefrom. However, the madnefs of 
 thofe before mentioned is fo far reftrained by the Lord, as not 
 to break all bounds of ufes, for even a ufe arifes from every one 
 of them, evil as they are ; for in them the good fpirits fee the 
 odioufnefs of evil, and what man is, fcparate from the divine direc- 
 tion
 
 [ 347 ] 
 
 tion and leadings. Another ufe is, that all evil is fo colledled 
 into a vifible body, and that all apparent good and truth, which 
 ferved them only for a cover to their malignity, is taken from 
 them, and they fo left to their own evil, and the falfe ifTuing 
 from their evil, that they may be totally difqualiiied for all 
 fociety with the good, and fitted for their own place : for no 
 one is allotted to his portion in hell before evil and the falfe 
 from evil have taken full pofleflion of him, and that becaufe it 
 is contrary to the laws of the other world to have the mind fo 
 divided, as to think and fpeak one way, and to have the will 
 fet the contrary way ; but every evil fpirit muft think and fpeak 
 there from the falfe of his own evil or proper affetlion, as he 
 did in this world, when under no conftraint or reftraint ; and 
 that becaule the affeilion or love is the fame with the will, and 
 the will is man's proper felf or nature, which is formed accord- 
 ing to his life in this world, and never forfvkes him, as it is not 
 to be reformed by any power of thinking, or knowledge of the 
 truth in the next. 
 
 509. As bad fpirits in this their fecond flate are given to 
 evils of all kinds, fo do they frequently fuffer fevere punifliment. 
 Now punidmients in the world of fpirits are manifold, and they 
 are inflifted on all alike without refpeft of perfons, had he been 
 a king, or the meanefl fervant ; for fin carries its fuffering with 
 it by neceflary conjuncflion, and confequently, he that is in evil 
 is alfo in the pain of evil ; ncverthelefs, no one fuflfers there for 
 the evils he had committed in this world, but for thofe which 
 he is in, loves, or does in the other; for it comes to the f\me, 
 whether we fay, they are puniflied for part: or prefent fins, as 
 every one after death returns to the fi:ate of his own life, and 
 confequently into all the evils belonging to it : for the fpirit of 
 a man is the fame that it was in the body, fee n. 470 to 484. 
 The reafon of infiiding punilliment here, is becaufe the fear of 
 it is the only means of fupprefiing evil in thofe on whom exhor- 
 tation, infiirudlion, confcience, or regard to charadler have no 
 influence, but they adt folcly from the bent of their nature, which 
 can only be awed and reftrained by punilliment. On the other 
 hand, the good fpirits fuffer no punifiiment, and though they 
 had done evils in this world, yet they make no part of them in 
 
 the
 
 [ 348 ] 
 
 the other J and it is alfo given them to know, that the evils 
 which they had done, were of another kind or nature, and not 
 of fet purpofe and determined oppolition to the truth, nor from 
 any other bad difpofition than what was derived to them from 
 their parents, or which they were inftigated to commit by the 
 urgency of fome blind paflion, when they forfook their inward 
 guide. 
 
 510. Every one betakes himfelf to that fociety to which his 
 fpirit belonged in this world, for every man in this life was 
 joined to fome fociety in fpirit, either to an infernal or ca'leflial 
 one, the bad to the former, and the good to the latter, fee n. 
 438 ; and after fome fucceflive experiments with refpcd: to Jther 
 focieties after his departure hence, he is at laft condu<iled to his 
 own, which he joins himfelf to. An evil fpirit, when in his 
 interior ftate, gradually turns towards the particular fociety he 
 belongs to, till at length he fully faces it, and that before his 
 flate of preparation for it is quite finiflied ; and when this is 
 effedled, he cafls himfelf into hell, to join his proper compa- 
 nions : his manner of carting himfelf thither has the appearance 
 of one falling down headlong from a precipice with his feet 
 upwards ; and the reafon of fuch appearance is, becaufe he had 
 inverted the order of things in himfelf, by having loved the 
 infernal, and rejedled the coeleflial. Some evil fpirits in this 
 their fecond flate go in and out of hell by turns, but appear not 
 to be cafl down in the manner juft now mentioned, as when in 
 full preparation for their final abode there : they have alfo fome- 
 times, when in their external iLite, a fight of the fociety they 
 had fellowfhip with in fpirit, when in this world, to give them 
 to underfland, tliat they belonged to the internal kingdom even 
 in this life, though they were not at the fame time in a like 
 condition with thofe that are adlually in hell, but only with 
 thofe that were in the world of fpirits on their way to it ; of 
 whofe condition, in refpedl to the infernal fpirits, fomething 
 fliall be faid hereafter. 
 
 511. The feparation of the evil from the good fpirits takes 
 effecft in this fecond ftate, for they are both together in the 
 former ftate ; for fpirits, vvhilft they are in externals, are in the 
 fame condition of ftate as in this world, the bad with the good, 
 
 and
 
 r 349 1 
 
 and the good with the bad ; but it is otherwife when they arc 
 in their internals, and fo entirely under the dominion of their 
 own nature and will (*). It is an ufual way for them to be led 
 round the other focieties in a wide circle, and to be exhibited 
 to the good fplrits in their proper form and afpc^H, on which 
 the good fpirits all turn their back.^- to them, and the evil fpirits, 
 on their part, do the fame to them, with their faces towards 
 fuch infernal focieties as they refpeftively belong to, and are 
 appointed for; not to mention many other ways by which this 
 fcparation is condu(iled. 
 
 Of the Third State of Man after Death, 
 which is the State of Inftrudlion for thofe 
 that go to Heaven. 
 
 512. The third ftate of man, or of his fpirit, after death, 
 is the flate of inflruiftion, which is appointed for thofe that go 
 to heaven, and become angels ; but not for thofe that go to hell, 
 as fuch are not in a capacity of inftruftion, and therefore their 
 fecond ftate is their laft, and anfwers to the third in others, as it 
 terminates in their total change into that prevailing love which 
 conftitutes their proper principle, and confequently into a con- 
 formity to that infernal fociety with which they have fellow- 
 fliip. When this is accompliflied, their will and thoughts flow 
 fpontaneouOy from their predominant love, which, being in- 
 fernal, they can only chufe the evil and falfe, and rejedl all that 
 apparent good and truth which before they had adopted, folely 
 as means fubf.rvient to the gratification of their ruling palTion. 
 On the other hand, the good fpirits are introduced from tlieir 
 fecond into their third Hate, which is that of preparation for 
 heaven by the means of inftruction ; for none can be qualified 
 
 (*) Some capital error plainly appears to have crept into the text in this place, 
 to the caufing of a maniftlt contradidtion in the fcnfe, and to an important doc- 
 trine of the author, as dilcovered and explained to us in other parts of his wri- 
 tings : it was therefore thought proper to leave thtfc four lines untianflated. 
 
 T t t t for
 
 [ 35° ] 
 
 for heaven, but through the knowledges of fpiritual good and 
 truth, and their oppofites, evil and falfe, which can only come from 
 previous inilrudtion. As to good and truth in a civil and moral 
 fcnfe commonly called juftice and fincerity, thefe may be learned 
 trom the laws of nations, and from converfition in virtuous 
 company j but fpiritual good and truth, as ingrafted principles 
 in the heart, are only received by the teachings of a divine light : 
 for though they are literally fet forth in the Scripture, and the 
 dodtrines of the Chriflian churches founded thereon, yet thev 
 only gain the efficacy of a vital principle from a ca^lertial intiu- 
 ence manifefting itfelf in a confcientious obedience to the divine 
 laws, as promulgated in the written word, and that in refpe<fi: to 
 the divine authority of them, and not from felfilli and worldly 
 motives ; then a man is in the heavenly life, or in heaven, even 
 whilft in this world. But in order to this, he muft firft be 
 taught, that there is a God, a future ftate, a heaven and hell ; 
 and that God is to be loved above all things, and his neighbour 
 as himfelf ; and that the Holy Scriptures are the rule of faith, 
 together with other rudiments of the Chriflian religion, with- 
 out which a man attains not to that fpiritual underftanding and 
 will, which are the proper recipients of the heavenly influx and 
 divine wifdom. Thus the fpirituality of religion is by vital 
 influence from the Lord, which, when received into the heart 
 of man, enters even into all his moral and civil virtues, and 
 fandtifies them alfo, as being done from and to the Lord ; fo 
 that all the common offices of life, proceeding from this divine 
 fource or principle, are fo many effects of the fpiritual life ; and 
 as every effecft partakes of the nature of its efficient caufe, fo it 
 makes one with it. 
 
 513. The angels appointed for infl:rudl:ors are from feveral 
 focieties, but chiefly from fuch as are in the north and the fouth, 
 as their undcrftanding and wifdom more particularly confift in 
 the diftindl knowledges of good and truth. The places let apart 
 for inflirudting are towards the north, and are various, well- 
 ordered, and divided, according to the particular clalfes of the 
 difciples to be inftrucfled in heavenly things, that fo all may 
 have their proper portion according to their particular capacity 
 and genius refpedtively. Thefe places extend f\ir and wide in 
 
 a circular
 
 [ 351 ] 
 
 a circular form, and thither are led by their divine guide, the 
 good fpirits that are to receive their inftrutftion, after having 
 pafied their fecond ftatc in the world of fpirits, but not all of 
 them, as fome of their number received their full inflruiftion 
 in this world, and fo were here prepared for heaven by tlie Lord, 
 and are condufted thither another way ; fome immediately after 
 death, fome after a fhort flay with the good fpirits in the world 
 of fpirits, in order to be defecated and purified from fome im- 
 purities contracted in their thoughts and r.wcdions from the 
 honours and riches of this world ; and fome not till they have 
 undergone vaftation (*), which is performed in fubterraneous 
 places called the lower earth [terra inferior] where fome pafs 
 
 (*) The words vujiatlo and vnjiat't, as here ufed by our author, with refpecSt 
 to good fpirits, and more particularly in his large work, intitlcd Arcjna Ca-le/iiOy 
 are difficult to tranflate by any fingle words in the Englifli language : thole of 
 purgation and purification, or the phyfica! term-:, depuration and defecation, come 
 the ncareft to what he means by vaftat'nn, vi7,. a kind of refining or feparating 
 difcipline, by which a fpirit, whofe radix or principle is good, is cleanfcd from 
 thofe ftains and pollutions, which it had contradled in its paffiige through this 
 naughty world, and as yet hinder its fitnefs for heaven. Some who have a bigoted 
 averi'ion to cv. ry doftrine indifcriminately that is held by the Romifh church, and 
 not adopted by the Proteftants, will doubtlefs be ortended at one fo nearly border- 
 ing upon purgatory as this before us ; but that we cannot help : it is for men of 
 more enlarged minds, to feek out and embrace truth wherever they find it ; nor is 
 a pearl the Icfs valuable, becaufe it has lain among rubbifh. In a word, it is the 
 doclrinc of a Romifh purgatory, as ItufFcd with abfurd figments, and the gainful 
 fiiperftitions introduced into it by the priefts, that is to be repudiated, and not 
 that of a ftate of purification after death, which, as it is confonant both to the 
 goodncfs of God, and to our moil rational id=as of a future happy ilate, fo is it 
 no Itfs comforting to the mind of the ferious Chriftiun : for few, I think, are lb 
 well fatisfied with their condition and flate of acceptance at the time of their de- 
 parture hence, as to think themfdves entirely meet for the kingdom of heaven, fo 
 it cannot fail to minifler great confolation to their fpirit, to believe that the Lord 
 hath appointed a ftate hereafter, wherein every thing that hinders Ihall be removed 
 cut of their way to the heavenly inheiitancc But the word vaftation \yaJ}aUo'\ 
 relates alfo to evil fpirits, and, in fuch application of it, fignifics tlie diverting 
 them of that feeming good which they might derive from mere outward nature or 
 practice, and ufed as a cover to the predominant evil principle within, and there- 
 lore to br done away by this vaftation or ll-paratiiig difcipline, that they may be 
 wholly in their own proper principle, and fo fitted for the kingdom to which they 
 belong. Thus both the good and the evil fpirits become entirely their real felves 
 without any heterogeneous mixtures. N. B. The word \yaJlatio\ will be tranflaied 
 by that of vaftation in the following note, and where elfc it may occur ; but as the 
 participle vnjlati literally tranflated vnjinted would found more harlh to an Englilh 
 car, the word diverted will be ufed in its pLcc. 
 
 through
 
 [ 352 ] 
 
 througli ii very painful dilcipline ; fuch in particular as had 
 confirmed themfelves in grofs errors, whilil at the lame time 
 thcj led good lives : for falfc doiftrines, confirmed by reafonings 
 into a belief of them, flick very clofe to the mind, and mufl 
 firfl: be difcuficd and difcharged from it, before truths can be 
 clearly perceived and gain admillion. But concerning vaftations, 
 and the different ways whereby they are cffe(5led, much has been 
 rehtcd in the Arcana Coklestia, from which fome parti- 
 culars are extra(fted in the note here referred to (271). 
 
 514. All that are in the places fet apart for inftrudion have 
 diftind habitations ; for every one, in refped to his interior ftate, 
 is in communion with that heavenly fociety to which he is to be 
 joined ; and therefore, as the heavenly focietics are all according 
 to a heavenly form and order (fee above, n. 200 to 2 1 2) fo are the 
 places where thefe inftrudions are held ; and therefore, when 
 
 (271) That vaftations are appointed in the other world, or that they who pafs 
 from hence thither are divcftcd of ail that docs not properly belong to them, n. 698, 
 7122, 7474, 9763' That good fpirits arcdivcfted as to falfc;?, and evil fpirits as 
 to truth-, II. 7474, 7541, 7542. That the good fpirits are divefted of the earthly 
 and mundane infedlions vvliich they had contrafted in this life, n. 7186, 9763 ; 
 and liicewife of all evil and falfe adhering to them, that fo they may become re- 
 ceptive of all good influxes from the Lord, n. 7122, 9331. I'hat without fuch 
 a feparation none can be qualified for the kingdom of heaven, n. 6928, 7122, 7136, 
 7541, 7542, 9763. That all arc thus prepared before their exaltation thither, n. 
 4728, 7090. That without fuch prcjjaration, admiffion into heaven would be 
 attended with danger, n. 537, 538. Of the ftate of illuftration, and of the joy 
 of thofe who have p.dled throu^'li their vaftation for heaven, and their reception 
 there, n. 2699, 2701, 2704. That the region appointsd for vaftations is called 
 the lower earth, n. 4728, 7090. That it is fituated dircftly under the feet, and 
 furrounded with infernals ; a defcription of it; n. 494O to 4951, 7090. From 
 experience, n.-bqg. Vaftations of the infernal kinds, what, n. 7317, 7502, 7545. 
 That fuch of the evil fpirits as are employed in the vaftations of the good, do 
 afterwards fear and fliun them, and have an averfion to them, n. 7768. That 
 fuch infeftations and vaftations are diftcrcnt according to the different adherence of 
 evil and falfe, and conliiiue according to their difference in quality and degree, n. 
 1 106 to 1113. That fome are willing to undergo vaftation, n. 1107. That fomc 
 are divefted through kars, n. 4942. Some through infeftations- from the evils they 
 were chargeable with in this world, and through anxiety and remorfe of confcience 
 for the fame, n. iic6. i'ome through fpiritual captivity confifting in ignorance, 
 and a witliholding from t!itm the light of truth joined to a ftrong dcfirc of knov/ing 
 it, n. 1 109, 2694. Some in their ilcep ; and fome in a middle ftate betwixt fiecp- 
 iiig and waking, n. iic8. That they who place merit in works, feem to thcm- 
 felves as hewers of wood, n. 11 10. Others differently, in many various ways, 
 n. 699. 
 
 they 
 
 i
 
 [ 353 ] 
 
 they are fccn from heaven, they appear from thence as a heaven^ 
 of a lefTer form : they extend in length from eafl to weft, and 
 in breadth from fouth to nor<h, but appear of lefs breadth than 
 length. The order of clafies is as follows : foremoft are they 
 who died infants, and were educated to their early part of youth 
 in heaven, and after fuch their firft tuition in infancy, are ap- 
 pointed hither by the Lord for initrutftion in knowledge. Be- 
 hind thefe arc the places for the inftru^flion of thofe v/ho died 
 adults, and who in this world were in the affedlion of truth from 
 the good of life. Next to them are fuch as had profeifed the 
 Mahometan religion, led a moral good life, believed in one God, 
 and acknowledged the Lord for his prophet, who, after death, 
 finding no help to be had from Mahomet, go to the Lord, and 
 worfliip him, and acknowledge his divinity, after which they 
 are inltrufted in the Chriftian religion. Behind thefe more to 
 the north are the places appointed for the inftruftion of the 
 various Gentiles, who had led a good lifr according to the reli- 
 gion they profefTed, and that from a confcience agreeing thereto, 
 and fo pracflifing what is juft and right from an inward law, and 
 not merely in obedience to civil inftitutes. All fuch are foon 
 brought to the knowledge of and belief in the Lord through 
 the means of inftrutflion ; and the more fo, as it is a funda- 
 mental of their creed, that God is vifible in a human form. 
 Thefe are the greater number [of the appointed for heaven] and 
 the beft of them are from Africa. 
 
 515. But all are not inftrudted in the fame manner, nor by 
 angels of the like focieties : fuch as were educated in heaven 
 from tlieir infancy, are inftradted by angels of the two interior 
 heavens, as not having imbibed dangerous errors [Jh//h] from 
 falfe principles of religion [ex falfis 7-digionis\ nor defiled the 
 fpiritual part with the pollutions of worldly honours and riches. 
 They who died in their adult ftate, are, as to the greater part 
 of them, inftrudted by the angels of the loweft or firil heaven, 
 as being of an order better fuited to their capacity than the 
 former, who are of too interior a wifdom for their recipiency in 
 their prefcnt ftate. The Mahometans are inftrudled by angel?, 
 who had been of the fame religion in this world, and afterwards 
 
 U u u u converted
 
 [ 354 ] 
 
 converted to the Chriftian ; and the Heathens in Jike manner by 
 their angels. 
 
 516. All inftrudion there, is by way of doiflrines drawn from 
 the written Word, and not from the Word itfclf fcparately from 
 the doftrinal form. Thus for example : The Chriftians are 
 inllrurted from luch heavenly doctrines as are moft adapted to 
 the internal or fpiritual fenfc of the Word ; others, as the Ma- 
 hometans and Gentiles, from fuch as are moft adequate to their 
 capacity and genius, and may lead them to the fpiritual life by 
 the way of a ChriiVian morality in a fort conformable to the 
 bell: and moft fublime of their own moral precepts. 
 
 517. The way of conveying inftru(ftion in the other world 
 differs from that on earth, inafmuch as truths there are com- 
 mitted, not to the memory, but to the life ; for the memory of 
 fpirits is in their life's principle, and they receive and imbibe 
 only what is conformable thereto, for fpirits are fo many human 
 forms of their own affeftions. As the nature of fpirits is fuch, 
 therefore they are continually infpired with an affeftion for truth 
 for the ufes of life ; for the Lord has fo ordered it, that every 
 one fliould love the ufes that accord with their particular gifts 
 and qualities ; which love is likewife heightened by the hope 
 of their becoming angels ; for in heaven all particular and fin- 
 gular ufes have relation to the general ufe or good of the Lord's 
 kingdom, and may be conlidered as fo many parts of one whole, 
 fo that the truths which they learn are both truths and the ufes 
 of truths conjunftly: thus the angelical fpirits arc prepared for 
 heaven. The affeftion or love of truth lor the purpofes of ufe 
 is infmuated into them many ways not known in this world, 
 more particularly by various reprefentations of ufes under fuch 
 delightful forms as affedl both their minds and fenfcs with un- 
 fpeakable pleafure, fo that when any fpirit is joined to the fociety 
 for which he was prepared, he then enjoys life moft when he 
 ih in the exercife of its proper ufes (272). Hence it may ap- 
 pear, 
 
 (272) That every good receives its joy anJ delight [ftium jucu»dum'\ from and 
 according to ufes, and that their particular qualities are reciprocal, n. 3049, 4984, 
 7038. That the angelical life confifts in the goods [in bonis'] of love and charity, 
 and accordingly in the exercife of ufes, n. 453. That the Lord, and his angels 
 from him, have refped only to the ends or ufes of things in man, n. 1317, 1645, 
 
 5S44.
 
 [ 355 ] 
 
 pear, that not the ideal knowledge of truths, as things without 
 us, but an implantation of them in the affecflions and life for 
 the purpofe of ufes, is that which qualifies for the kingdom of 
 heaven, 
 
 518- There were certain fpirits who had flattered themfelves 
 in this world, not only with the expectation of going to heaven, 
 but alfo of being received there with particular marks of diftinc- 
 tion on account of their learning, and for their great fcientifical 
 knowledge in the Scriptures and the doiflrines of the feveral 
 churches, luppofing this to be wifdom, and that fuch as them- 
 felves were meant by thofe in Dan. xii. 3. " They that be wife 
 " Ihall Ihine as the brightnefs of the firmament." Thefe were 
 configned over for examination, whether their knowledge refided 
 in their memory only, or was carried alfo into pradlical ufe. 
 There were others who pofTcffed a genuine afted:ion for truth, 
 for the fake of fpiritual ufe and improvement, who, after they 
 had pafled through their courfc of inftrudlion, were received 
 into heaven, and given to know the caufe of fplendor there, viz. 
 that it was divine truth (which is the eflence of light in heaven) 
 in ufe, which ufe is the plane or ground that receives the rays 
 of that light, which it converts into various fplendors ; whereas 
 they whole knowledge refided only in their memory for the pur- 
 pofes of reafoning about truths, and oftentimes to confirm their 
 belief in error ; fuch not being in the light of heaven, but felf- 
 exaltcd through their pride of knowledge into a fancied fupe- 
 riority above angels ; thefe, in order to cure them of their vain 
 conceit, were introduced into the firft or loweil heaven, as 
 though to be joined to fome fociety there ^ but upon their firft 
 entrance, the brightnefs of the light flruck them with dimnefs ; 
 their minds were pcrturbated and confufed, and they gafped for 
 breath like dying perlbns ; and upon feeling tlie heat of heaven 
 (which anfwcrs to heavenly love)- they were tormented with 
 inward excruciating pains, and immediately caft down from 
 thence; fo learning by experience, that it is not knowledge, but 
 
 5844. That the kingc'om of the Lord is the kingdom of ufcs, n. 453, 6g6, 1 103, 
 3645, 4054, 7038. ihat the fervicc of the Lord confifts in the exercifc of ufes, 
 n. 7038. That according to ufcs in man, fuch is his quality and dillin(5lion, n. 
 1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6934, 6938, 10284. 
 
 life
 
 [ 356 ] 
 
 life influenced by knowledge that qualifies for the angelical ftate: 
 vvhilrt the former, coniidercd in itfclf alone, is but as a foreign 
 plant ; but the latter as a tree of life in the midil: of paradife. 
 
 519. After that the angels are duly prepared for heaven in 
 the places before defcribed, which comes to pafs in a fliort time, 
 as fpiritnal minds arc of quick coinprehenlion, they are then 
 clothed in angelical garments, which, for the moil part, are 
 white as of fine linen, and condudted to the way which leads up 
 to heaven, and delivered to the guardian angels there ; after 
 w'hich they are received by other angels, and introduced to dif- 
 ferent focieties, where they partake of various delights : after 
 this every one is led by the Lord's guidance to his particular 
 proper fociety, and this by various ways, fometimes diretfl, fome- 
 timcs otherwife, not known to any of the angels, but to the 
 Lord only. Laflly, When they -are come to their own ibciety, 
 their inmofi: thoughts and affedtions [inten'ora illoruitt] open and 
 expand themfelves, which meeting with the like returns of 
 cordial fympathy from their lellovv-angels, they are immediately 
 known and received by them with a joyful welcome. 
 
 520. I am led here to mention a memorable particular con- 
 cerning the ways which lead from the places before mentioned 
 to heaven, through which the novitiate angels pafs thereto : 
 there are eight fuch, two from every place of inftrudlipn, the 
 one of which afcends to the eaft, the other to the welt : they 
 who are .appointed to the Lord's cci^leftial kingdom [the third 
 heaven] take the eaflern way ; but they who are appointed to 
 his fpiritual kingdom [the fecond heaven] take the wcftern way. 
 The four ways which lead to the former kingdom are beautifully 
 planted with olive and other fruit bearing trees of various kinds; 
 the other four leading to his fpiritual kingdom, with vines and 
 laurels ; and this from correfpondency, as vines and laurels cor- 
 refpond to the affecftion of truth and its ufes ; and olives and 
 fruits, to the afFedion of good and its ufes. 
 
 That
 
 [ 357 ] 
 
 That no one is appointed for Heaven by an 
 immediate [arbitrariousj A<9: of Mercy. 
 
 521 . They who are not rightly inllrudled concerning heaven, 
 and the heavenly life in man, are apt to fiippofe, that admiffion 
 into heaven is by a particular grant of favour and mercy in 
 behalf of certain perfons who are in a particular belief, and 
 have the privilege of a peculiar election through our Lord's 
 intercelfion in their behalf; and fome, that all men may be 
 faved hy an arbitrary will, without refpeft to meetnefs or qua- 
 lification, nay, even the very devils : but all fuch are utter 
 Grangers to the nature of man, viz. that he is identically one 
 and the fame with his life's principle, and that this is one and 
 the fome with his predominant love, not only with refpedl to 
 his interior, but alfo to his exterior life, for the latter is only tlic 
 external form, in which his will and intelleft manifefl them- 
 fclves in vifibility and efFedl ; and therefore, that man is wholly 
 according to his love or ruling paHion, fee above, n. 363 : nor 
 do they underltand, that the body lives not from itfelf, but 
 from its fpirit, and that the fpirit of a man is his affedtion ; and 
 that his fpiritual body is no other than his affedion in that 
 liuman form, in which he appears after death, fee above, n. 455 
 to 460, Ignorance, as touching thcle things, leads many to 
 think, that falvation is nothing more than a mere gratuitous Jtft 
 of favour and good pleafure, called mercy, without any refped 
 to means or qudification. 
 
 522. Sometiiiiig (hall here be foid concerning the divine 
 mercy : and this is no other than the divine compalhon tov.ards 
 all m-jn, to the end that they may be faved, abiding with every 
 one, and never departing from him ; and therefore all may be 
 laved, whom it is polhble to fave, but that only in the way of 
 divine means. Thefe are revealed to us in the Scriptures, and 
 are called divine truths, teaching us by what kind of life falva- 
 tion is attainable ; and by thefe truths the Lord, who is loving 
 to every man, dire^^s all in the way to heaven, and imparts to 
 
 X X X X them
 
 [ 358 ] 
 
 them a principle of life, provided they refrain from evil, but 
 otherwife they are not receptive of his gift, for evil hinders. 
 This is that pure mercy of the Lord to every one that walketh 
 not in the ways of evil, and which abides with him trom inflmcy 
 to the end of his days here, and forlakes him not in eternity ; 
 but not fuch an immediate arbitrarious kind of mercy, as fome 
 falfch' fuppofe, by which all may be faved, however unright- 
 eoufly they had lived. 
 
 523. The Lord never does any thing contrary to order, for 
 he is himfelf the fountain of it, and the divine truths pro- 
 ceeding from him are the laws of it, by which he condufts the 
 lalvation of men, and to which an immediate or arbitrary mercy, 
 with means and fitnefs in the fubjedl of it, would be a manifclt 
 contrariety. Divine order is heaven in man, which he had per- 
 verted by difobedience to its laws, or to divine truths ; and 
 therefore muft be reduced by the pure mercy of the Lord by 
 divine truths to the fame order from which he had fallen, and 
 as far as he recovers this ilate, fo much of heaven he receives 
 here, and becomes meet to be a partaker of its joys hereafter ; 
 thus he receives all from mere mercy, but not by an immediate 
 unconditional aft of it (273). 
 
 524. If men might be faved by immediate, arbitrarious 
 mercy, then all would be faved, even the devils, nay, in that 
 
 (273) That divine truth proceeding from the Lord conftiiutcs order, and that 
 divine good is the cflence of it, n. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988. That therefore the 
 Jyord is the fountain of order, n. 1919, 201 1, 5110, 5703, 10336, ic6ig. That 
 divine truths are the laws of oider, n. 2247, 7995. That the univerfal heaven 
 is difpofcd by the Lord according to his divine order, n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338, 
 IOI25, 1015 I, 10157 ; and receives its form from ihencc, n. 404O to 4C43. 'f'hat 
 as far as any one lives according to the divine order, or in good according to 
 divine truths, fo much of heaven he receives into himfelf, n. 4839. That man 
 by creation was a form of the divine order as a recipient of it, n. 4219, 4220, 
 4223 — 10156, 10472. That man by birth inherits not good and truth, but only 
 evil and falfe, and confequently is in contrariety to the divine oider; tfierefore he 
 is born in mere ignorance, and muft be born again, or regenerated by divine truths, 
 that fo he may be reftored to order, n. 1047, 1.307, 2308 — 10286, 10731. That 
 when the Lord regenerates man, he difpofes all things in him according to the 
 form of heaven, n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303. That all evil and falfe is con- 
 trary to order, and that fuch as are therein are governed by the Lord not as regu- 
 lars, but irregulars, n. 4839, 7877, 10778. That it is impoffible for any one 
 that is in the evil principle to be faved by an immediate, inftantaneous adt of mercy, 
 as this would be contrary to the divine order, n. 8700. 
 
 cafe.
 
 [ 359 ] 
 
 cafe, there would be no fuch place as hell ; for feeing that the 
 Lord is all mercy, love, and goodnefs, it would be nothing lefs 
 than denying his nature, to fay, that he could fave all men 
 itnmediately if he would, but is not willing ; whereas it is de- 
 clared in his Word, that the Lord willeth not the death of a 
 finner, but that all (hould be faved. 
 
 525. The greater part of thofe, who pafs into the other 
 world from Chriftendom, retain the belief, that they are to be 
 faved by an immediate acft of mercy, and accordingly they im- 
 plore it ; but upon examination it is found, that they have no 
 other idea of the happinefs of heaven than by admilTion into it 
 as a place of all delights (without conlidering the necellity of 
 preparation and fitnefs for it) thus ihcwing their ignorance as to 
 the nature of heaven and heavenly joys ; upon which it is told 
 them, that tlie Lord denies entrance into heaven to no one, and 
 that if they defire it, they may not only be admitted, but flay 
 there : accordingly fome that were fo defirous were admitted j 
 but no fooner did they enter, and feel the heat of heaven, which 
 is that love in which the angels are ; and were flruck by the 
 influx of the heavenly light, which is divine truth, than they 
 were feized with fuch an heart-felt agony, that inftead of hea- 
 venly joy they were racked with infernal pains, and, as it were, 
 mad through anguifli,. caft thcmfclves down headlong ; thus 
 learning, by dear-bought experience, that the fruition of heaven, 
 though all from pure mercy, yet is not from an immediate adl 
 of mercy feparate from the means of meetnefs, through pre- 
 paration, for the hea\'enly inheritance. 
 
 526. I have fometimes converfed with the angels on this 
 fubjedl, and told them, that the greater part of thofe in this 
 world, who live in fm, in the freedom of converfation con- 
 cerning heaven and eternal life, fpeak of going to heaven, as 
 a mere admiflion into fuch a place .through a mere adl of gra- 
 tuitous favour, and unconditional mercy ; and they in particular 
 who lay down faith as the only means of falvation : for having 
 fixed upon this as the fundamental principle of religion, they 
 pay little regard to life, nor to thofe operations of love vvhich 
 conftitute tlie elfence of life, nor to any other means which the 
 Lord has appointed, whereby to render man a recipient of the 
 
 fpiritual
 
 [ 3^0 ] 
 
 fpiiitual life, and of heavenly joys ; and thus having rejeded 
 the ufe of all preparatory means, they by necellary confequcncc 
 from the principle they have adopted, maintain, that God the 
 Father is prevailed upon, by the interceflion of his Son, to 
 advance fome particular favourites to the kingdom of heaven by 
 fpecial grants of mercy. To which the angels replied, that 
 fuch a belief was a nccefiary confequcncc of the Solitidian doc- 
 trine ; and as this was the foundation of their creed, no wonder 
 that from an error, fo far diilant from all truth, Ihould proceed 
 fuch ignorance among Chriltians concerning the Lord, con- 
 cerning the flate of life after death, and the joys of heaven ; or 
 that they were fo little acquainted with the true nature of love 
 and charity, and the necelhty of good being joined with truth, 
 to conftitute the divine life in man, which coniifled no lets in 
 the will and its operations, thai", in thoughts of the mind ; and 
 confequently not a perfuafion called faith, feparate from love, 
 and the efteds of love. The angels fhew concern for their folly, 
 in fuppofing that true faith can fuhfift in any one fmgly and 
 alone ; as faith feparated trom its origin, which is love, is no 
 other than fcicnce, or a certain kind of perfuafion, which is no 
 better than a counterfeit of faith (fee above, n. 482) and makes 
 no part of the life of man, as not being conjoined with love. 
 Moreover, the angels faid, that all of the Solihdian perfunfion 
 muil: neceflarily believe, that falvation mull be by favour of 
 grant, or from immediate, unconditional mercy (I'eparate from 
 the ufe of means) as they know both from the light of nature, 
 and from experience, that fuch kind of feparate faith makes 
 no effential part of life, and therefore that evil doers may work 
 themfelves into the flime dodrinal perfuafion of their own fal- 
 vation with others : and. hence it is, that the bad are believed 
 by fuch to be equally in a falvable ftate witii the good, provided 
 they have but confidence futhcient to apply the merits and inter- 
 cefiion of Chrift to themfelves in their lafl hours, and to rely 
 on an immediate ad of mercy. The angels declared, that they 
 had never known any one that had palled his life in fin, to be 
 made partaker of heavenly joy, whatever confidence he might 
 have had in this world, under the name of faith, as touching 
 his /alvation ; and being alked as concerning Abraham, Ifaac, 
 
 Jacob, 
 
 t
 
 [ 36i ] 
 
 Jacob, David, and the Apoftles, whether their portion in heaven 
 was not by a fpecial grant of immediate mercy and favour ; 
 they anfwered, that not one of them, but each had his reception 
 and portion according to what his life had been in this world ; 
 that they knew their place and lot, and that they were in the 
 fame degree of eftimation and honour with others of their own 
 clafs ; that the reafon of the honourable mention made of them 
 in the written Word, is becaufe, that in the internal fenfe of it 
 they were fo many typical reprefentatives of the Lord in their 
 feveral charaftcrs and callings; thus he was reprefented by Abra- 
 ham, Ifaac, and Jacob, as to his Divinity and Divine Huma- 
 nity ; by David, as to his Divine Sovereignty ; and by tlic 
 Apoftles, as the fountain of Divine Truths. Moreover they faid, 
 that when the Word was read by any man, they [the angels] 
 received not the ideas of the perlbns reprefenting (for names 
 enter not heaven) but inftead thereof fo much of the Lord as 
 was reprefented by them -, and therefore no mention was made 
 of them in the written Word in heaven (of which fee above, 
 n. 259) as that Word contains only the inward and fpiritual 
 fenfe of that which we have in this world (274). 
 
 527. That it is impoffible for thofe to receive the principle 
 of heavenly life in the other world, who have rejed:ed and lived 
 contrary to it in this, I can witnefs to from abundant experience 
 in many. There were certain fpirits which polIelTed the notion, 
 that they could readily receive divine truths after death, as foon 
 as they Ihould be declared to them by the angels, and that in 
 
 (274) That by Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the inward fenfe of the word, 
 is meant the Lord, in rcfpe£l to his Di\ inity, and Di\inc Humanity, n. 1893, 
 4615, 6098, 61H5, 6276, 6804, 6847. That the name Abraham is not known 
 in hea\cn, n. 1834, 1876, 3229. Tiiat by David is to be underftood the divine 
 fovercignty or royalty, n. 1888, 9954. That the twelve apoftles rcprei'cntcd ail 
 divine truths in the Chriftian church, confcqucntly, all things appertaining to 
 faith and love, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. That Peter reprefented the 
 Lord as to faith ; James, as to charity ; and John, as to the works of charity, n. 
 3750, 10087. That the twelve apoftles, fitting on twelve thrones to judL;.e the 
 twelve tribes of IfracI, fignify that tlie Lt)rd will proceed in judgment accurdin;;; 
 to the truths and gcods of faith and love, n. 2129, 6397. That the names of 
 perfons and places mentioned in the Word have no place in heaven, but are 
 changed into things and ftatts ; and that fuch names cannot be uttered in heaven, 
 n. 1876, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282, 10432. That the angels alfo think ab- 
 ilradtedly from perlbns, n. 8343, 8945, 9007. 
 
 Y y y y confe-
 
 [ 36:t ] 
 
 confequence thereof, they fliould believe, and change their courfe 
 of life, and become qualihed for heaven. An experiment of 
 this kind was made on many who were of the like perfualion, 
 to the end they might be convinced, that there is no repentance 
 after death : fome of thofc on whom tlie trial was made, ap- 
 peared to underftand the truths that were announced to them, 
 and alfo to admit them at firii ; but no fooner did they return 
 to their ruling love or life's principle than they immediately 
 rejedled them, and argued againll them i and others rejedled 
 them as foon as offered, and would hear no more of them. 
 There were fome in particular, who were defirous to be wholly 
 deprived of that governing love, or life's principle [vita dmoris] 
 which they had contracted in this world, and that the angelical 
 life, or life of heaven, might be infufed inltead thereof: their 
 requell was granted ; but no fooner did the change take effei^V, 
 than they lay as dead without any power over themfehcs. From 
 thefe and other means of experience the fingle-hearted, good 
 fpirits were convinced, that every one's flate abideth the fame 
 after death ; and that beyond this period an evil life cannot be 
 changed for a good one, nor that which is infernal, for one that 
 is angelical ; becaufe that every fpirit is in every part throughout 
 the fame with the love that predominates in him, and that a 
 change of it to its contrary would be to deflroy the fpirit. The 
 angels affirm, that a night-owl may fooner be changed into a 
 pigeon, or a buzzard into a bird of paradife, than an infernal 
 fpirit into an angel of heaven. That man continues after death 
 in a Itate conformable to his life in this world, fee above in its 
 proper article, n. 470 to 484. Thus far may fuffice to fhew, 
 that no one is made a partaker of the kingdom of heaven by an 
 aft of immediate, unconditional mercy, or without the means 
 and fitnefs of a qualifying preparation. 
 
 That
 
 [ 3^3 ] 
 
 That it is not fo difficult a Thing to live 
 for Heaven, as fome fuppofe. 
 
 528. Some fuppofe that the fpiritual life, or that which 
 qualifies for heaven, is extremely difficult ; and that becaufe we 
 are told, that we muft renounce the world, and die to the lufls 
 of the flefli, and live to the fpirit ; which they fo conftrue, as 
 if we were to rejecft all worldly things, particularly the riches 
 and honours of this life ; to be conllantly exercifed in pious 
 meditations of God, falvation, and eternal life, and to employ 
 a great part of our time in prayer, and reading the Word, and 
 other pious books. This they call renouncing the world, and 
 to live, not after the flefli, but after the fpirit : but that the 
 truth of the matter is otherwife, I can teftify both from expe- 
 rience, and from converfation with the angels ; nay, that they 
 who fo renounce the world, in order to become fpiritual, are 
 fuch, for the moft part, as contract a melancholy and fourncfs 
 of fpirit, as indifpofes them for the reception of heavenly joys ; 
 whereas in order to qualify and form himfelf for a heavenly 
 life, is to bear his part in the relative duties and offices of this ; 
 and by a life of morality, and a difcliarge of the duties refpedl- 
 ing civil fociety, afcend to the fpiritual life, as preparatory for 
 heaven : for to live an internal life feparatc from the external, 
 is like dwelling in a houfe without a proper foundation, which 
 therefore necellarily finks into the earth, divides, or falls into 
 a ruin. 
 
 529. The life of man, when confidcred in a rational view, 
 . will appear to be threefold; the fpiritual, the moral, and the 
 civil life ; and thefe three are diftincfl ; for fome lead a civil, 
 but not moral and fpiritual life ; fome, both' civil and moral, 
 but not. fpiritual ; and fome, a civil, moral, and fpiritual life 
 alfo ; and the lafl arc they who live a heavenly life, whilll tiie 
 other two live only the life of this world. From this view it 
 may appear, that the fpiritual life, though diflinvfl, is not fejja- 
 rate from the natural, or life of this world, but clofely con- 
 
 ncrtcd
 
 [ 3^4 ] 
 
 neded with it, as the foul with the body, and if feparated from 
 it, would be like the houfe before mentioned ; for the moral 
 and civil life conlHtute tbe activity of the fpiritual life; and as 
 the will to good is the«|>r ocrty of the latter, fo the doing good 
 is the property of the former, and if this were feparated from 
 the other, then tlie fpiritual life would confift only in think- 
 ing and fpeaking, and the will would remain folitary and in- 
 aflive, as having no outward termination to refledl and difplay 
 its operations i and yet it is the very principle of the fpiritual 
 life in man. 
 
 530. That it is not fo difficult a thing to live for heaven, as 
 many think, may appear from the following confiderations. 
 Who can fay, that he has no power to lead a civil and moral 
 life, when every one ^'rom his infancy is educated to it, and may 
 eflablifli his ideas of it from what he fees around him in the 
 world ; nay, even the bad (if not abandoned to profligacy) as 
 well as the good, adl it externally, and to fave appearances with 
 the world, for the fake of interell and charader ? The fpiritual 
 man does but the fame, with this difference, that he has f;iith 
 in God, and does it, not only in obedience to the laws of fociety, 
 and of moral obligation, but in obedience to the authority of 
 the divine laws ; for as he fets God always before him, he has 
 fellowfhip with the angels in heaven, having his inmofl or fpi- 
 ritual man open to fuch communion ; and in this ftate he is an 
 adopted child, under the Lord's leadings, even when he knows 
 it not, difcharges all the duties both of civil and moral obliga- 
 tion from a principle of vital love, and fo ferves the Lord with 
 his whole heart. His juftice and truth, as to external mani- 
 feftation and form, appear indeed like the fame in natural men, 
 even of the moft infernal difpolitions, but inwardly they are 
 totally different ; for the evil fay and do the fame things from 
 felfifli and worldly refpedls only ; but having neither confcience, 
 nor fear of God, were it not for human laws, and the fear of 
 fuffering in charadler, interell, or other ways, they would give 
 full fcope to their wicked wills, to commit all iniquity with 
 greedinefs, as evidently appears in the other world in fuch as are 
 of the like difpofitions ; who, being no longer under fuch out- 
 ward reffraints, manifeft openly the malignity that is within 
 
 them.
 
 [ 3^5 ] 
 
 them, turning into mockery all virtue and godlinefs, and hold- 
 ing on in the fame courfe to eternity, n. 499 ; whilft they who 
 have the divine laws written in their hearts do all things well, 
 and that more abundantly, as their liberty and freedom from 
 rellraints is the greater (*) ; adding to their goodnefs wifdom, 
 which is minillered unto them from the Lord by the angels of 
 wifdom, with whom they are in bleffed fellowfliip. Thus wc 
 fee, that the fpiritual man may aft in all the relations both of 
 moral and civil life as the natural man does, provided that he 
 adheres clofely to that divine principle within, which is to be 
 the regulator of his will and thoughts, fee above, n. 358, 359, 
 
 531. The laws of the fpiritual life, as alfo of the civil and 
 moral life, are laid down in the ten precepts of the decalogue ; 
 in the firft three are the laws of the fpiritual life ; in the four 
 following, the laws of the civil life ; and in the three laft, the 
 laws of the moral life. Now the mere natural man [of decency] 
 pays an external obedience to thefe precepts, as well as the fpi- 
 ritual man : thus he is prefent at the celebration of divine wor- 
 Ihip in the church, hears preachings, and compofes his exteriour 
 to a form of devotion j he refrains from committing murder, 
 adultery, and theft, bears not falfe witnefs, and defrauds not 
 his neighbour of his goods ; but in all thefe things he has 
 regard only to himfelf, and to five appearances with the world, 
 being inwardly the reverfe of what he appears outwardly, as 
 having no fenfe of God in his heart, playing the hypocrite with 
 the form of religion, and fecretly deriding things facred, as 
 only fo many inventions of flats policy to keep the fnnple mul- 
 titude in awe and order ; and therefore fuch a one ftands in no 
 relation to heaven ; and being deftitute of all fpirituality, fo 
 neither can he be faid to polfefs either moral or civil viitue : 
 for though he does not kill, yet he hates and wiflies vengeance 
 on all that oppofe or provoke him, and but for human laws 
 
 (*) The different motives in thefe tyvo forts of perfons for refraining from the 
 Cinic things, are well exprcfied in the following lines : 
 
 " Oderunt peccarie boni x.irtutis aniorc : 
 
 " Tu nihil admittcs in tc forraidinc pcenae." HoR. 
 
 Z Z Z Z would
 
 [ 366 ] 
 
 would execute his wrath upon them, and therefore is in heart 
 no better than a murderer ; nor is it from any better principle 
 that he refrains from adultery, theft, or other crimes and im- 
 moralities prohibited in the decalogue. Such a one is every 
 man that di(believes a God, and has no principle of conlcienet; 
 formed in him by a fenfe of religion : and that this is tlie cafe 
 with all fuch, appears from like fpirits in the other world, who, 
 being left to their freedom, openly declare againll: every thing 
 that is heavenly ; and as they think and aft like devils, fo with 
 them is their everlaiting portion : but they that fear the Lord, 
 and walk in the ways of his commandments with a pure heart, 
 and faith unfeigned, are after death brought into their full in- 
 terior liberty, and into a degree of wifdom that far furpaffes 
 what they pofl'efled before, their forrow is turned into joy, and 
 all being divine within them, makes all things heaven without 
 them. So different are thefe two claffes in the other world, 
 who, to appearance, were fo much alike as to the outward life 
 in this. 
 
 532. It is well known that the thoughts, or intellecft, which 
 is the eye of the mind, receives that diredlion, like the eye of 
 the body, which the intention or will gives it, and alfo takes 
 its delight therein. Thus if the intention be direcfled to heaven, 
 the thoughts become heavenly j if to felf, fenfual ; if to this 
 world, earthly ; and as the ruling love makes one with the 
 intention, fo from the direftion and employment of the thoughts 
 may be known what any one loves mofl, and what the interior 
 ftate of his mind is with refpedl to things above, and things 
 beneath. Such, for example, as love themfelves, and the world 
 above all things, have the inward gate of their minds fo fhut to 
 all heavenly influx and heavenly things, that they fee not the 
 truths of religion at all, or fo very obfcurely, that they either 
 deny, or underftand them not ; the things of fenfe and of this 
 world are all in all with them, and thefe are continually fug- 
 gcfting many grofs, impure, or profane ideas incompatible with 
 heavenly influx, and the due confideration of divine things. It 
 is the intention or will of man, as obferved before, that diredls 
 his thoughts, or internal fight, and if heaven is the objed:, his 
 whole mind is there, from whence he looks down on this 
 
 world.
 
 [ 36? ] 
 
 world, as on things beneath him ; and from the fame elevation 
 fees and judges all that is evil and falfe in his inferior nature j 
 which he who is dcftitute of the fame fpiritual fight cannot 
 difcover, becaufe he is in it, and not above it. Hence we learn 
 from what fources man derives his wifdom, or his -folly, which 
 refpeiftively determines his ftate after death, when he will be 
 left at liberty, not only to will and tliink, but alio to acft and 
 fpeak without difguife, according to the ruling principle within 
 him. Thus much for the diftin(flion between the inward and 
 the outward man. 
 
 533. It is not fo difficult a thing, as many imagine, for a 
 man fo to live, as might qualify him for the heavenly inheri- 
 tance, were he, when tempted to evil, to flop, and refle(fl that 
 he ought not to confent to it, as being forbidden by Gods com- 
 mand ; fome fuch refletftion [like that of Jofeph] often repeated, 
 would beget an habitual fear of offending, by degrees draw the 
 attention to heavenly things, and open the inward gate of the 
 mind to the divine influx, whereby it would obtain a full fight 
 of the deformity of fin. Every one has received power and 
 freedom fo to think and refle(ft, in order to this procefs, till the 
 operations of divine grace fhould overcome all the reludlances of 
 the will, excite an abhorrence to fin in the mind, and fubdue 
 the power of it in the foul, till the man experience the truth 
 of thofe words of our Lord : " My yoke is cafy, and my bur- 
 " den is light," Matt. xi. 30. The difficulty witli regard to 
 ferious confideration and refledtion, in the firft inftance, arifes 
 from a hafty furrendcr of the will to the temptations of evil, 
 till cuftom in finning reconciles to it, and then begets love for 
 it ; and fo the unhappy profxcicnt goes on to excufe, and then 
 to defend it by every kind of fallacious arguments, till at laft 
 he confounds all diftindtion of right and wrong, putting evil 
 for good, and good for evil. Such is the cafe of thofe, who, 
 in the early part of life, rufh into evil courfes, like the horfe 
 into the battle, and fo, lofing all fight of divine truths, become 
 infidels. 
 
 534. I had formerly reprefentcd to me the way which leads 
 to heaven, and alfo the way which leads to hell, in the follow- 
 ing manner. There was firil a broad way bearing to the left or 
 
 north.
 
 [ 368 ] 
 
 north, in which many fpirits appeared as walking; and at a 
 diftance where the broad way terminated was feen a large ftone, 
 from which went two ways, the one to the left, and the other 
 to the riLi;ht ; the former was narrow and (Iraight, leading wefl- 
 i ward to the fouth j the other broad and fpacious, leading ob- 
 liquely downwards towards hell. They all appeared to hold on 
 their way together, as far as to the great llone ; but when they 
 came thither they feparated, the good taking the left-hand narrow 
 road leading to heaven ; but the bad, not feeing the llone,. fell 
 upon it, and received hurt, but recovering thcmfelves went fait 
 on in the broader way to the right, leading to hell. The inter- 
 pretation of it was given to me afterwards as follows, viz. that 
 by the firft broad way, in which both good and bad fpirits went 
 together converling as friends, without any apparent difterence 
 between them, are ligniiied thofe who lived To alike in the way 
 of an external righteoufnefs, as not to be diftinguilhcd. By the 
 corner ftone at the end of the common broad road, on which 
 the bad flumbled, and afterwards took the way leading to hell, 
 was fignified divine truth, denied by thofe that walk therein, 
 and in the highefi; fenfe was fignified by that llone the Divine 
 Humanity of our Lord : but they who acknowledged and be- 
 lieved divine truth, and alfo his Divine Humanity, were con- 
 ducted in the way leading to heaven ; fliewing hereby, that the 
 principle from which men ad", is that which determines the 
 difference of their flates after death ; the thoughts of the mind 
 proceeding from the heart and will, being rcprefcnted in the 
 other life by ivays ; and accordingly in Scripture, the internally 
 righteous are faid to wulk in the ways of the Lord ; and there 
 the quality of fpirits is kno\yn by the ways that they are feen 
 to walk in. What has been faid above may ferve to illullrate 
 thofe words of our Lord : " Enter ye in at the flrait gate ; for 
 " wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to de- 
 " ftrudion, and many there be which go in tliereat ; becaufe 
 " flrait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto 
 " life, and few there be that find it," iVIatt. vii. 13, 14; not 
 implying that the way is ditticult to find, but only that it is 
 fought, and therefore found by few. By the corner ftone before 
 mentioned, i<.tvi where the common broad way terminated, and 
 
 the
 
 [ 369 ] 
 
 the two oppofite Ways took their diredion, is plainly given to 
 underftand the meaning of thole other words of our Lord : 
 '* The ftone which the builders rejected, the fame is become 
 ** the head of the corner : whofoever fliall fall upon that ftone 
 " fliall be broken ; but on whomfoever it fliall fall, it will 
 *' grind him to powder," Luke xx. 17, 18. The flione fignifles 
 divine truth, and the fl:one or rock of Ifrael, the Lord as to his 
 Divine Humanity ; the builders are the rulers in the church ; 
 the head of the corner fignihes where the two ways meet j and 
 to fall upon, and be broken to powder, fignifies a denial of the 
 truth, and defl:ru6lion enfuing thereon. 
 
 535. It has been given me to converfe with fome in the 
 other life, who had fequeilered themfelves from all connexions 
 and commerce with fociety, and others that placed religion in 
 macerations of the body, and fuch like aufl:erities of difcipline, 
 under the notions of renouncing the world, and of attaining to 
 higher degrees of purity in the fpiritual life j but moft of thefe, 
 from having contradled a feverity and fournefs of mind contrary 
 to a life of charity, had rendered themfelves unfit for the fociety 
 of angels, who are pleafant and amiable, and take delight in 
 exercifing oflices of kindnefs and love towards one another. 
 Befides, they who fo devote themfelves to a life of folitude and 
 abftrac^ion from all focial relations, are for the mofl part deeply 
 infedted with conceits of their own fancied merit, whence they 
 are led to look upon heaven as their reward by debt ; fo that 
 when they are permitted to come into the company of angels, 
 and are witnefTes to their joys (which they afcribe folely to the 
 divine goodnefs) and when they behold their innocent liberty, 
 and free communications, and the pleafure they take in their 
 affe(5tionate exchange of good offices, they are offended, as at 
 things contrary to the ftridtnefs of religion ; and being not 
 capable of partaking in their joys and delights, they quit their 
 company to confociatc with thofc that are like-minded with 
 themfelves, and had lived in the fame manner in this world. 
 As to thofe who aftcdlcd a fandtimonious fliew of godlinefs in 
 their outward religious forms and mortifications, to pafs for 
 faints both here and hereafter, thinking highly of themfelves, 
 and defpifing others ; they have no lot with the faints in the 
 
 A a a a a other
 
 [ 37° ] 
 
 other world, as having profaned fiicred things with the impu- 
 rities of felf-love ; nay, fomc of them there become fo infa- 
 tuated and mad with pride, as to fancy themfelves gods, and fo 
 are configned over to inch infernal focieties as refemblc them- 
 felves. Some are full of fiibtlety and deceit, who have alfo 
 their lot among thofe, who, by various crafty devices, had be- 
 witched the vulgar with a belief of their extraordinary fandity. 
 Many of thefe were of the Romifli religion, and appeared in 
 like form and outward demeanour, as when in this world ; I 
 have converfed with fome of them in the other. Hence it may 
 appear, that it is not the folitary life, or life of reclufe piety 
 feparate from charity, but fuch a one as may confift with the 
 relative and focial duties that bell qualifies for the kingdom of 
 heaven, as that wherein truth and jullice, benevolence, and ad:s 
 of charity, in conformity to the divine laws, may have their 
 fcope and exercife. Thefe virtues proceeding from, and fanc- 
 tified by a divine principle within (and not a life of reclufe, 
 religious exercifes, void of charity towards our neighbour) ren- 
 der the way to heaven both ealy and delightful, exalt the foul 
 in all its faculties, and give it a meetnefs for the participation 
 of cceleftial joys (275). 
 
 (275) That a life of piety, feparate from a life of charity, avails nothing; but 
 joined therewith is profitable to all things, n. 8252, 8253. That charity to our 
 neighbour confids in truth, juftice, and integrity in all our dealings and r< lations 
 towards him, n. 8120, 8121, 8122. That charity towards our neighbour extends 
 to every thing that a man thinks, wills, ajid does, n. 8124. That the life of 
 charity is to live according to the divine commands, n. 3249. That to live ac- 
 cording to the divine commands is to love the Lord, n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 
 10578, 10648. That genuine charity is free from all taint of fancied merit, as 
 p»roceeding from interior afFedtion, and taking delight in the exercife of it, n. 2340, 
 2373, 2400, 3887, 6388 to 6393. That man continues after death in the fame 
 ftatc of charity he was in during this life, n. 8256. That cceleflial happinefs is 
 by influx from the Lord into the life of charity, n. 2363. That no one is ad- 
 mitted into heaven merely for thinking, but for alfo willing and doing the fame, 
 n. 2401, 3459. Unlefs the doing good [according to the power] be joined with 
 willing and thinking it, it avails not to the conjundlion of the inner and outward 
 man, nor confequently to falvation, n. 3987. 
 
 CONCERNING
 
 [ 37^ ] 
 
 CONCERNING 
 
 HELL. 
 
 That Hell is under the Lord's Government. 
 
 536. 'T~*'Hroughout the foregoing treatife on heaven it has 
 -■• been Hiewed, that the Lord is the God of heaven 
 (fee in particular, n. 2 to 6.) confequently, that the whole go- 
 vernment of the heavens is in his hands ; and as heaven and hell 
 are to each other as two contraries in mutual oppofition, from 
 the adlion and readtion of which refults that equilibrium by 
 which all things fubfiil j therefore, in order to the prefervation 
 of fuch equilibrium, it necefTarily follows, that he who governs 
 the one muft alfo govern the other ; for unlefs the fame Lord 
 were to reflrain the fury and madnefs of hell, the equilibrium 
 would be loft, and all would be deftroyed. 
 
 537. But to fay fomethi ng firft concerning equilibrium. It 
 is well known, that when two things are fo in mutual oppo- 
 fition, that readion on one fide is equal to adlion on the other, 
 there remains no excefs or fuperiority of power on either fide j 
 fo that through fuch extindlion of power by their equality of 
 oppofition, they become fubjedl to the difpofal and will of any 
 third agent. Such is the equilibrium betwixt hell and heaven, 
 but not as betwixt two bodies of equal powers ; for it is of a 
 fpiritual nature, viz. of falfe againft true, and of evil againft 
 good ; from hell proceeds falfe from the root of evil, and from 
 heaven truth from the root or principle of good ; and froni this 
 equilibrium in fpirituals it is that man's freedom of thinking 
 and willing arifcs ; for whatfoever a man thinks and wills has 
 relation to evil and its falfe, or to good and its true ; therefore 
 
 when 

 
 [ v^ ] 
 
 when the mind Is in this balance, it is at full liberty to admit 
 the former from hell, or the latter from heaven ; and in this 
 equipoife man Hands by appointment of the great Governor 
 ti heaven and hell : but why this is the cafe with him, and 
 that he is not wholly feparatcd from the fphere of evil and falfc, 
 and fixed in that of good and true, iTiall be fpokcn of under its 
 proper article. 
 
 538. It has fometimes been given me to perceive the fphere 
 of falfe from evil iffuing from hell, as a perpetual endeavour or 
 malignant will \conatus\ to deflroy all good and truth, joined to 
 rage and madnefs at not being able to eftetlt it ; but this efflux 
 of malice was principally direfted againfl the Divinity of the 
 Lord, as the fountain of all good and truth : on the other hand 
 was perceived a fphere of truth from good from heaven oppofing 
 and reftraining the fury and madnefs of the former, from 
 whence proceeds an equilibrium. The heavenly fphere was per- 
 ceived to be an emanation from the Lord, though it appeared 
 as proceeding from the angels ; but the latter could not really 
 be the cafe, as every angel knows and acknowledges, that no 
 good and truth originates in them, but all from the Lord. 
 
 5:19. All power in the fpiritual world appertains to truth 
 ilTuing from good, and none to lalfe ifluing from evil, and this, 
 becaufe the Deity, who is the fource of all power, is alfo the 
 fource of all good and truth, which being only in heaven, and 
 their contraries in hell, therefore to the former kingdom belongs 
 all power, and none to the latter : fee in the articles concerning 
 the firft, fecond, and third flate of man, n. 491 to 520: and 
 that all power belongs to truth from good, fee the chap. Con- 
 cerning the Poiuer of the Angels, n. 228 to 233. 
 
 540. Such is the equilibrium betwixt heaven and hell ; and 
 all in the world of fpirits are in this equilibrium, as being be- 
 twixt both ; and hence it is, that all men in this world are in 
 the like equilibrium, as being under the Lord's government 
 through the minillry of the fpirits in the world of fpirits ; of 
 which hereafter. Thus all things are balanced by the wifdom, 
 power, and goodnefs of the Great Sovereign of the univerfe, 
 who keeps hell within its bounds, and preferves the world from 
 
 being
 
 [ 373 ] 
 
 being deftroyed by evil. In this equilibrium ilands the liberty 
 or free will of men. 
 
 541. Hell has its diftindl focieties as well as heaven, and as 
 many in number, every fociety in the one having its oppofite in 
 the other, and that in reference to equilibrium ; and as the 
 focieties in heaven are clafled according to their diflindlions as 
 good and truth, fo are the infernal focieties, according to their 
 diftindtions as to evil and falfe : for eveiy good has its oppofite 
 evil, and every truth its oppofite falfe, there not being any thing 
 without its relation to a contrary, by which it is diftinguifhed 
 both in quality and degree j nay, this gives the difference to all 
 perception and fenfation. And thus the Lord difpofcs and re- 
 gulates the evil in hell into focieties of contradiftindlion and 
 oppofition to the focieties in heaven, for the fake of order and 
 equilibrium. 
 
 542. As there is the fame number of focieties in hell as 
 in heaven, fo there are as many different hells ; for as every 
 fociety in heaven, is heaven in a lelfer form (fee above, n. 51 
 to 58) fo every fociety in hell, is hell in a leffer form; and as 
 in the general divifion there are three heavens, fo alfo three 
 hells, the loweft of which is refpeftively oppofite to the inmofl 
 or third heaven ; the middle hell, to the middle or fecond hea- 
 ven ; and the uppermoft, to the firft or lowefl heaven. 
 
 543. A word here, as to the adminiflration of the Lord's 
 dominion over the hells, which, in general, is ''by a common 
 eftlux of divine good and truth from the heavens, by which the 
 evil efflux from the hells is obftrufted and reflrainedj and alfo 
 by a fpecial cfHux from each of the heavens, and from each 
 fociety therein : and in particular, they are governed by fuch 
 angels as are commilfioned to infped and flill the tumults and 
 madnefs that may arife therein ; and fometimes angels arc i'^nt 
 to the infernal focieties to reduce them to order by their perfonal 
 prefence. 'In general, the infernals are governed by their fears^.. 
 and fome by^thofe of the fame kind which awed them here ; but 
 as thefe for. the mofi: part wear off by degrees, or are infufiicient 
 to influence them, they are chiefly deterred from perpetrating 
 their wickednefs by the dread of fufl^ering for it. Now the 
 punifliments in their ft*te arc multifarious, more gentle, or. 
 
 B b b b b more
 
 [ 374 ] 
 
 more fevere, according to their malef^icftions : for the moft part, 
 they are placed under difcipline to fuch as are more malignant 
 than themfelv.s, who keep them under fubjeiftion by fubtle arts 
 and devices, or by feverity and dread of punifhment, but are 
 not allowed to extend their feverity beyond the bounds ap- 
 pointed. But it mufi: be obferved, that the only means of keep- 
 ing thefe rebellious fpirits in order, is the dread of punifliment. 
 
 544. It has hitherto obtained in the world, as an article of 
 belief, that there is one certain Devil, who rules as a king over 
 hell ; and that he was created an angel of light, but, upon his 
 rebelling againfl the Almighty, was caft down from heaven with 
 his apollate followers : and this belief is grounded on a literal 
 intepretation of thofe palTages of Scripture, where the words 
 Devil, Satan, and Lucifer occur ; whereas by Devil and Satan 
 in thofe places is meant hell ; by the former, that hell which 
 is hindermoft \_quod a tergo] and occupied by the word: of the 
 devils, called evil genii j and by Satan, that hell which is fore- 
 moil, and occupied by fuch as are of leller malignity, and called 
 evil fpirits : and by Lucifer, fuch are meant as are from Babel 
 or Babylon, who are for ufurping a dominion and power even 
 to heaven. That there is no one particular Devil that rules as 
 chief in the hells may be gathered from hence, that all both in 
 the heavens and in the hells are from the human race (fee n. 311 
 to 317) in which are myriads of millions from the creation to 
 this time ; and that every one in the latter, is a Devil of the 
 fame quality, which diftinguiflied his particular enmity againfl 
 all that is divine and good when in this world, fee above,, n. 311, 
 312. 
 
 That the Lord cafts none into Hell, but that 
 the Spirits caft themfelves into it. 
 
 545. It is a prevailing opinion with many, that God turns 
 away his face from man, rejedls and cafts him into hell ; in a 
 word, that he is angry with him for fin, and infliiSts vindidlive 
 punifhment upon him on that account ; and they confirm them- 
 felves
 
 [ 375 1 
 
 felves in this belief from like expreffions in the Scriptures, not 
 confidering, that the fpiritual Icnfe of the word, which is the 
 true interpreter of the letter, is very different. Now the ge- 
 nuine dodrines of the Chriftian church, as founded on the fpi- 
 ritual fenfe of the word, teach us, that God is not inexorable, 
 nor implacable, neither hath any vindid:ive wrath, nor cafts any 
 one into hell : and this all may plainly know, that read the 
 Scriptures with any degree of divine light in their underftand- 
 ings, as He is there reprefented as the fountain of all good, 
 love, and mercy, and confequently, that it is contrary to his 
 nature and elTence to rejedland caf} away any : but contrariwife, 
 that he willeth the good and happinefs of all men, and dealeth 
 with them according to his infinite love and mercy. They that 
 fo read the Word of God will not fail to difcern therein that 
 hidden, fpiritual fenfe which gives light and liie to the letter, 
 which is written in a fenfe accommodated to our natural capa- 
 cities, and firft rudiments of knowledge. 
 
 546. Men of an enlightened underftanding, moreover, fee 
 good and evil in the fame fulnefs of contrariety and oppofition 
 that heaven and hell ftand in to each other, and how all good 
 comes from the former, and all evil from the latter (n. 7 to 12) 
 and confequently, that man is continually drawn to good by the 
 Lord of heaven, as well as to evil by the attracftion of hell ; and 
 that unlefs man flood between thefe two contrary attradlions, he 
 would neither have thought, will, nor liberty, thefe being the 
 effedls of his equilibrium betwixt good and evil ; confequently, 
 were the Lord fo to turn away from man, as to leave him wholly 
 to the power of evil, he would immediately ceafe to be human. 
 This divine influence extends to every man both bad and good, 
 only with this difference, that in refpedt to the former, its ope- 
 ration confifts in withdrawing from evil ; in refpeft to the latter, 
 in attradting to all good j and the caufe of the difference is the 
 quality or will of the recipient. 
 
 547. It has here been fhcwed, that the evil which a man 
 does, is by influx from hell ; and that the good which he does, 
 is by influx from the Lord ; but by believing [and confenting 
 to it as fuch] that the evil which he does, is from himfclf, he 
 makes it his proper own, and therefore is the caufe of his own 
 
 eviL
 
 r 376 ] 
 
 evil. Evil in man [as his choice] is hell within him ; for 
 whether we call it evil or hell, it amounts to the llune. Now 
 as far as man is the caufe of his own evil, fo far he is his own 
 leader to hell ; and fo fiir is the Lord from being chargeable 
 with his dertrudion, that He does all that divine goodnefs can 
 do to deliver him from it, as far as can conlill: with his choice 
 and free will. All that becomes elicntial in a man's will and 
 love remains witli him after death (n. 470 to 484) ; he that 
 wills and loves evil in this world, wills and loves the fame after 
 death, and then it is no longer feparable from him ; and there- 
 fore it is, that he who by choice continues in evil here, binds 
 himfelf to hell, and is adually in it in fpirit, even in this life, 
 and after death delires nothing more than to be where his own 
 beloved evil may be in its proper province and exercife ; con- 
 fequently, fuch a one is cafl into hell by himfelf, and not by 
 the Lord. 
 
 548. How the above is efFedled fliall here be mentioned : 
 When any one firfl: enters the other world, he is received by 
 angels, who do him all kind offices, enter into converfation with 
 him concerning the Lord, heaven, and the angelical life, and 
 inflrud him in various kinds and relations of good and truth ; 
 but if the perfon (now become a fpirit) be one that was ac- 
 quainted with the like things in this world, but in his heart had 
 rejefted and defpifed them ; in this cafe, after fome fhort con- 
 ference with the angels, he defires his difmiffion : upon which 
 they leave him. He then, after fome conferences with others, 
 affociates with fpirits like unto himfelf (fee above, n. 445) which 
 done, he turns away from the Lord, and fets his face towards 
 that particular hell which he had fellowlhip with in this world, 
 and where the infernals are of the lame evil affedions with him- 
 feJf. By this we may learn, that the Lord Itrives with every 
 fpirit to draw him to himfelf by the minillry of angels, and by 
 an influx from heaven j but that fuch as are under the dominion 
 of fin are reludant to all his gracious means for good to them, 
 being drawn away from them as by a rope by their evil propenfi- 
 ties, and fo voluntarily caft themlclves into hell. This will feem 
 incredible to molt in this world, from the general idea conceived 
 of hell J nor do thofe miferable wretches think that they fo 
 
 precipitate
 
 [ 377 ] 
 
 precipitate themfclves, but only that they enter in of their o»wn 
 accord, though I'uch of them as enter their difmal prifons under 
 ardent propenhties to evil, appear to the good fpirits as if they 
 were call; headlong thither ; and from this appearance of preci- 
 pitation comes the notion of the Lord's carting them into hell by 
 his Almighty power; fee more on this fubjedt hereafter, n. 574. 
 Let thus much fuffice to Ihew, that the finner's dell:rud:ion and 
 carting into hell, is not from the Lord, but from himfelf both 
 in this world and the other. 
 
 549. That the Lord, who is the eflential good, love, and 
 mercy, cannot exercife them towards all alike, is becaufe of the 
 hinderances which evil and falfe lay in the way, and fo weaken 
 or repel the divine emanations. Evils and falfes are as fo many 
 black clouds, which, by their interpofition between the fun and 
 the human eye, intercept its lovely light and cheering influences, 
 whilft the fun continues the fame, all glorious, and ftrives to 
 diflipate the obrtruifling medium, nay, tranfmits, though a 
 fainter, light through the intermediate vail. The cafe is rtmilar 
 in the fpiritual world : the Lord and his divine love are there 
 reprefented by the fpiritual fun (n. 116 to 140) and the light 
 thereof is divine truth, n. 126 to 140 ; the black clouds are the 
 faifes from evil ; and the eye fignifies the underrtanding ; and as 
 far as anyone there, is in the falfes of evil \in faljis ex malo\ in 
 the fame degree of darknefs and thicknefs is the cloud that fur- 
 rounds him. This comparifon may reprefent to us how the 
 Lord is prefent to every man, but diftercntly according to his 
 recipiency, 
 
 550. Severe puniHiments are appointed for the evil fpirits in 
 the fpiritual world, to deter them from the commiflion of evil ; 
 and the infliiftion of them appears as if from the Lord ; but in 
 reality it all proceeds from the evil that is in them ; for e\ il and 
 its puniHiment are infeparable companions. Infernal fpirits 
 wilh and delight in nothing more than to do mifchief, and tor- 
 ment others that are not under the divine protedion ; and as all 
 that ortend through malicious wickednefs withdraw thcmfelves 
 from tliat protection, on fuch they rudi and exercife their cruelty. 
 This may be illuftrated from the adminiftrations in this world, 
 where the punifhment alfo follows its evil. Thus human laws 
 
 C c c c c have
 
 [ 378 ] 
 
 have provided a penalty for every crime, and which the delin- 
 quent brings upon himfclf, only witii this difference, that 
 offences may be concealed here, but not in the other life. Thus 
 the Lord can no more be faid to be the author of the finner's 
 mifery, than the king, the judge, or the law to be the caufe of 
 the criminal's punifhment, as having nothing to do with the 
 guilt that entails it upon him. 
 
 All that are in the Hells, are in the very 
 Principle of Evil, and in Oppofition to 
 Truth from the Love of Self, and the 
 Love of the World. 
 
 551. All that are in the hells are in evil and its refpeflive 
 falfes, and none in evil and truth conjuncflively. The greateft 
 part of evil fpirits had been taught the rudiments of religion in 
 this world in their very childhood, and afterwards further in- 
 truded in the knowledge of the truth by their paftors, and in 
 converflition ; nay, fome of them, by hypocritical appearances 
 in their words and adlions, had paffed for fincere Chriftians, 
 whilft at the fame time they had abftained from evil, only 
 through fear of the laws, human refpeds, or other felfifh con- 
 fiderations j but in the other world (where all external motives 
 and reftraints are removed) they fhew outwardly what they are 
 inwardly, and that all their knowledge and pradlice of truth and 
 good were nothing but fpeculation and imitation, without reality 
 and principle. In this their internal ftate they can no longer 
 fpeak the truth, or counterfeit the good ; but the evil that rules 
 within them, and exercifes dominion over them, manifeds itfclf 
 in all their words and adions. Every evil fpirit is brought into 
 this ftate before he is cafl: into hell (fee above, n. 499 to 512) ; 
 and this is called vacation as to good and truth (276), which 
 
 means 
 
 (276) That the evil, before they are caft into hell, are ilivefted of all tliat is 
 good and true, on which they bc^ke theml'clves to hell of their own accord, n. 
 
 6977*
 
 [ 379 J 
 
 means the reducing any one to his proper principle, or con- 
 dition of fpirit, and to the free liberty of adling according 
 thereto ; fee above, n. 425. 
 
 552. In this Hate of man after death, when he is no longer 
 between man and fpirit, as in his firft flate (of which above, 
 n. 491 to 498) but is truly and properly a ipirit, having both 
 face and form correfponding to the inward difpofition of his 
 mind, or, in other words, being an external type of his fpiritual 
 life ; in this their third ftate the fpirits appear to be what they 
 really are at firft fight, and are known, not only by their coun- 
 tenances, and the forms of their fpiritual bodies, but alfo by 
 their fpeech and geftures, for now they are uniformly their pro- 
 per felves ; and as there is a mutual communication of the 
 thoughts and afteftions in the world of fpirits, fo they naturally 
 turn to and confort with fuch as are like themfelves, for with 
 them only they have liberty and true enjoyment. We are to 
 know, that mutual communications in the fpiritual world are 
 according to the converfion of the face, and that they who are 
 in the fame kind of love, conftantly front one another, which 
 way foever they turn their bodies; fee above, n. 151. Hence 
 it is, that all the infernal fpirits have their faces averted from, 
 the Lord towards an oppofite black fpot, that is to them inflead 
 of the fun and moon of this world ; but that all the angels of 
 heaven turn their faces to the Lord, as to the fun and moon of 
 heaven J fee above, n. 123, 143, 144, 151. From what has 
 here been faid it will appear, that all the infernals are in the 
 elements of evil, and ail its derivations of falfe, and that their 
 fole bent and diredlion is towards it. 
 
 553. All fpirits in the hells, when feen in the light of hea- 
 ven, appear in the feveral forms of their particular evils refpec- 
 tively, as fo many types or portraits thereof; for in every one 
 the interiour manifeils itfelf in the exteriour, and exhibits the 
 fignatures of his particular dillindlion, fo as to be vifibly known 
 
 6977, 7039, 7795, B210, 8232, 9330. That it is not the Lord, but they who 
 divert tliemfelves, n. 7642, 7926. That all evil has its refpeftive falfe, and there- 
 fore all who are in evil, arc Jiicewife in falfe, though fome know it not, 11. 7577, 
 E094. That they who are in evil cannot but think falfe from themfelves, n. 7437. 
 That all that arc in hell fpeak only falfe from evil, n. 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 
 7392, 7698. 
 
 to
 
 [ 3So ] 
 
 I 
 
 to^e what he is, by his face, by his fpiritual body, his fpeecli, 
 and his gertures. Thcle forms in general, are fucii as exprefs 
 contempt of others, and threatening of thofe that refufe them 
 homage ; forms of hatred and revenge of various kinds ; forms f 
 
 of rage and cruelty, &c. But when fuch fpirits receive adu- 
 lation, homage, or worHiip from others, their features foften 
 into a rtiew of felf-complacency and fecret fatisfadlion. It is no 
 cafy matter to defcribe thefe forms under their various appear- 
 ances, as no two are exaftly alike ; only it muft be obferved, 
 that among all that are in the fame fpecics of evil in any focieiy, 
 there is one common ground of fimilitude, or, as it may be 
 called, of family likenefs, however it may be diverfihed in the 
 individuals. In general, their faces are hideous and ghaftly, like 
 thofe of carcalTes, fome black, fome refembling firebrands, and 
 fome deformed and ugly with warts, carbuncles, and running 
 fores ; many appear as having no face, but in the room of it 
 fomething of a vifage of hair or bone ; and fome only a kind of 
 fnout with prominent teeth ; their bodies alfo are monftrous ; 
 and their fpeech founds as from anger, hatred, or revenge j for, 
 as every one fpeaks from his own falfe, fo he founds his voice 
 from his own evil ; in a word, they are all fo many images of 
 their particular and proper hell. It has not been given me to 
 fee the form of hell in the whole of it, but only it has been 
 told mc, that as the univerfal heaven refembles in form one 
 man, fo the univerfal hell refembles in form one devil, and may 
 be conceived under that image, fee above, n. 544; but as to 
 the form of particular hells, or infernal focicties, it has often 
 been given me to fee it, for at the apertures or mouths of thofe 
 hells, which are called the gates of hell, there for the moft 
 part appears a monfter, rcprefenting the general form of thofe 
 that are within it : their rage and cruelty likewife are reprelentcd 
 by fuch horrid images, as I am retrained from mentioning. 
 But it is to be remarked, that though the infernal fpirits appear 
 thus like hideous monliers in the light of heaven, yet to one 
 another they appear as men, and that from divine mercy, that 
 they may not be fo abominable to one another, as they arc to 
 the angels. But fuch appearance is all deception, for no fooner 
 does the light of heaven appear, than their human form.s exhibit 
 
 them-
 
 [ 38r ] 
 
 themfelves in their real monflrofity, for in that light every thing 
 appears as it is j for this reafon they fhun the heavenly light as 
 much as poflible, and fcek to appear in their own light, which 
 refenxbles that which comes from fire coals, or burning brim- 
 ftone ; but even this light is turned into mere darknefs by any 
 influx of that from heaven. Hence it is, that darknefs and 
 thick darknefs are predicated of hell, to denote the falfes from 
 evil that are there. 
 
 554. Upon a narrow infpeiflion into thofe monftrous forms 
 of the infernal fpirits, expreiling, as was obferved before, con- 
 tempt of others, and alfo hatred and vindidlive anger towards 
 fuch as did not favour and honour them, it appeared, that they 
 were in general fo many forms of the love of felf and of the 
 world, and that their particular differences were but fo many 
 derivations from thence ; and it was alfo told me by the angels, 
 and alfo confirmed by much experience, that thefe two loves 
 were their ruling pafiions in hell, and were fundamental in the 
 conftitution of it ; and that love to the Lord and our neighbour 
 were the prevailing and conflituent principles of the kingdorii' 
 of heaven ; and that thofe two infernal, and thefe two heavenly 
 loves, were diametrically oppofite. 
 
 ^^^. At firft I was in wonder how it came to pafs, that the 
 love of the world, and the love of felf, fliould be of fo diabo- 
 lical a nature, as to give fuch monftrous forms to fuch as were 
 under the dominion of thefe paffions ; whereas in this world 
 we are not apt to pafs condemnation on the love of felf further 
 than it manifefts itfelf in that elation of mind with refpedl to' 
 external things, which we call pride; and that fliort of this, 
 the love of man's felf is a becoming vivacity of fpirit, inciting 
 to a laudable ambition in queft of honourable employments and 
 offices of publick ufefulnefs ; and that without fenfe of honour, 
 and love for dilHndion and glory, the mind of man would be 
 torpid and inacflive. Thus the men of this world reafon, little 
 confidering that the love of felf, confidered in its own nature, 
 is of infernal extradlion, and that which is the beginning of 
 hell in man j which leads to the faying fomcthing concerning 
 this love, and to Ihew how all evils and their refpedlive falfes 
 [omnia 7)iala et ifide faljii] originate in it. 
 
 D d d d d 556. Self-
 
 ■ [ 38o ] 
 
 to be what he is, by his face, by his fpiritual body, his fpeech, 
 and his geftures. Thele forms in general, are fuch as exprefs 
 contempt of others, and threatening of thofe that refufe them 
 homage ; forms of hatred and revenge of various kinds j forms 
 of rage and cruelty, &:c. But when fuch fpirits receive adu- 
 lation, homage, or worfliip from others, their features foften 
 into a fliew of felf-complacency and fecret fatisfacftion. It is no 
 eafy matter to defcribe thefe forms under their various appear- 
 ances, as no two are exa«5tly alike ; only it mull be obferved, 
 that among all that are in the fame fpecies of evil in any focieiy, 
 there is one common ground of fimilitude, or, as it may be 
 called, of family likenefs, however it may be diverfihed in the 
 individuals. In general, their faces are hideous and ghaAly, like 
 thofe of carcaffes, fome black, fom.e refembling firebrands, and 
 fome deformed and ugly with warts, carbuncles, and running 
 fores J many appear as having no face, but in the room of it 
 fomething of a vifage of hair or bone j and fome only a kind of 
 fnout with prominent teeth ; their bodies alfo are monftrous ; 
 and their fpeech founds as from anger, hatred, or revenge j for, 
 as every one fpeaks from his own falfe, fo he founds his voice 
 from his own evil ; in a word, they are all fo many images of 
 their particular and proper hell. It has not been given me to 
 fee the form of hell in the whole of it, but only it has been 
 told me, that as the univerlal heaven refembles in form one 
 man, fo the univerfal hell refembles in form one devil, and may 
 be conceived under that image, fee above, n. 544 ; but as to 
 the form of particular hells, or infernal focicties, it has often 
 been given me to fee it, for at the apertures or mouths of thofe 
 hells, which are called the gates of hell, there for the moft: 
 part appears a monfter, reprefenting the general form of thofe 
 that 'are within it : their rage and cruelty likewife are reprefentcd 
 by fuch horrid images, as I am retrained from mentioning. 
 But it is to be remarked, that though the infernal fpirits appear 
 thus like hideous monfters in the light of heaven, yet to one 
 anotlier they appear as men, and that from divine mercy, that 
 they may not be fo abominable to one another, as they arc to 
 the angels. But fuch appearance is all deception, for no fooner 
 does the light of heaven appear, than their human forms exhibit 
 
 them-
 
 [ 38i J 
 
 themfclves in their real monftrofity, for in that light every thing 
 appears as it is j for this reafoii they fliun the heavenly light as 
 much as poffible, and fcek to appear in their own light, which 
 refemhles that which comes from fire coals, or burning brim- 
 ftone ; but even this light is turned into mere darknefs by any 
 influx of that from heaven. Hence it is, that darknefs and 
 thick darknefs are predicated of hell, to denote the falfes from 
 evil that are there. 
 
 554. Upon a narrow infpeiflion into thofe monftrous forms 
 of the infernal fpirits, expreliing, as was obferved before, con- 
 tempt of others, and alfo hatred and vindidive anger towards 
 fuch as did not favour and honour them, it appeared, that they 
 were in general fo many forms of the love of felf and of the 
 world, and that their particular differences were but fo many 
 derivations from thence ; and it was alfo told me by the angels, 
 and alfo confirmed by much experience, that thefe two loves 
 were their ruling paflions in hell, and were fundamental in the 
 conftitution of it ; and that love to the Lord and our neighbour 
 were the prevailing and conflituent principles of the kingdom 
 of heaven ; and that thofe two infernal, and thefe two heavenly 
 loves, were diametrically oppofite. 
 
 555. At firft I was in wonder how it came to pafs, that the 
 love of the world, and the love of felf, fliould be of fo diabo- 
 lical a nature, as to give fuch monftrous forms to fuch as were 
 under the dominion of thefe pafTions ; whereas in this world 
 we are not apt to pafs condemnation on the love of felf further 
 than it manifefls itfelf in that elation of mind with refpedl to' 
 external things, which we call pride; and that fliort of this^ 
 the love of man's felf is a becoming vivacity of fpirit, inciting 
 to a laudable ambition in queft of honourable employments and 
 offices of publick ulcfulnels ; and that without fenfe of honour, 
 and love for diifindion and glory, the mind of man would be 
 torpid and inadive. Thus the men of this world reafon, little 
 confidering that the love of felf, confidered in its own nature, 
 is of infernal extraftion, and that which is the beginning of 
 hell in man ; which leads to the flying fomcthing concerning 
 this love, and to fliew how all evils and their refpedtive filfcs 
 [omfji'a mala et hide falfa\ originate in it. 
 
 D d d d d 556. Self-
 
 [ 2^^ ]' 
 
 556. Self-love is that principle in any one that leads him to 
 feck his own good only, and that of others no further than it 
 may be fubfervient thereto ; nay, fuch a one is a mercenary in 
 the whole of his zeal and regards for his religion, his country,, 
 or any human focicty, and all his wifhes and endeavours for 
 their refpedive interefts center in views to his own private ad- 
 vantage, honour, or welfare, and therefore he cannot fo pro- 
 perly be faid to love them, as himfelf in them, for felf is the 
 root of his love ; and as the root is evil, fo is the fruit alfo. 
 Such a one may indeed love his children and defcendants, and 
 thofe who are nearly conncdled with him by the ties of confan- 
 guinity or intereft, and fuch he calls his own, but flill the 
 matter reverts to the fame, for he loves them only as fo many 
 parts of his own dear felf; and the fame holds good in regard to 
 the affedlion he bears to thofe who fhew him refpcdl and honour. 
 
 557. The odioufnefs of felf-love will manifeftly appear by 
 comparifon with its oppofitc, or that love which is coeleftial, 
 confiding in the love of ufes for the fake of ufefulncfs, and the 
 love of good for the fake of goodnefs, whether a man exercife him- 
 felf therein in behalf of religion, his country, or fellow-citizens,, 
 fludying and labouring to promote their intereft and welfare with 
 all the fmcerity of a cordial affedlion, and takes pleafure in the 
 work, without any view to confequences refpeding felf. Thi& 
 is to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as our- 
 felves ; and as wc do this from the love which is from God, fo 
 in doing it we glorify him, who is the giver of every good and 
 perfed gift. But how different is the man of felf, who, being 
 the idol of his own vanity, confiders others as his flaves, and 
 only eftimates them by the fervice and worfhip they pay him ; 
 little knowing, that fo far as he departs from the difinterefted. 
 principle of cosleilial love, fo far is he diftant from the kingdom 
 of heaven. 
 
 558. As far as any one is aduated by this divine principle 
 of heavenly love in the confcientious and affectionate difcharge 
 of all the relative duties of religion and morality, fo far he is; 
 under the divine guidance and fafeguard, whilft the man of felf- 
 love takes the government out of the Lord's hands into his own, 
 and becomes a flave to the hereditary corruptions of his nature ; 
 
 and
 
 [ 383 1 
 
 and- as In man, through his original depravity, dwelleth no good 
 thing, fo in his unconverted ftate evil appears to him as good, 
 and good as evil, " becaufe of the blindnefs of his heart," 
 loving himfelf more than God, and earth above heaven (277), 
 nay, corrupting the very good that he does, by placing felf in 
 the center of it, as the objeft of his affedlions. There are cer- 
 tain evil fpirits that dwell in thofe regions under the heavens 
 that lie between the north and the weft, which with great fub- 
 tlety know how to pradlife on the minds of virtuous fpirits, fo 
 as to give them a turn to the felfifh and other bad properties of 
 nature, and this either by means of open flattery, or by artful 
 infinuations into their affedtions ; and fo far as they fucceed in 
 their wicked devices, they draw, for the time, the minds and 
 thoughts of fuch virtuous fpirits from heavenly things, darken 
 their underftanding, and call forth and ftir up the corrupt pro- 
 perties of their nature. 
 
 558. That the love of felf is oppofite to the love of our 
 neighbour will appear from the origin and eflence of both : they 
 who are led by the former principle go by this maxim, that 
 charity begins at home, and as every one is his own neareft, fo 
 he fhould be his own deareft neighbour. Thus his love to 
 others originates in felf, and ifluing thence, as from its center, 
 leflens as it proceeds, according to the diminution of his in- 
 terefting connexions, making no account of the wifdom or 
 probity of others, but only of their fubferviency to his own 
 private ends, and holding all for his enemies that crofs them. 
 Such is the corrupt tree of felf-love, and fuch the corrupt fruit 
 that it brings forth ; whereas true and genuine love to our- 
 
 (277) That aJl that conftitutes man's ftlf, as derivative' from his parents, is' 
 entirely evil, n. 210, 215, 731, 876 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That it is the 
 original fin of man's nature to love himfelf more than God, and this world more 
 than heaven, and his neighbour only for his own fake, and confequently, that he 
 may be called a compound love of f.lf and of the world, n. 694, 731, 43I7». 
 5660. That from the predominant loves of felf and of the world proceeds evil 
 of every kind, n. 1307, 1308, 1321 — 9348, 10038, 10742; fuch as contempt of 
 others, enmity, hatred, revenge, deceit, cruelty, n. 6667, 7372, 7374, 9348, 
 10038, 10742 : and that from thefe evils come falfes of every kind, n. 1047,, 
 XO283, 10284, 10286. 
 
 nei 
 
 gh.
 
 [ 3^^ ] 
 
 neighbour (278) Is of heavenly extradlion, a ftrcani from the 
 fountain of all pcrfedlion, the gift of the Lord, communicating 
 itfelf, like its Divine Autlior, to all that are receptive of it : 
 " It fuffcreth long, and is kind ; it feeketh not its own things; 
 " it beareth all things, bclievcth all things, hopeth all things, 
 " endureth all things, and never faileth ; and it comprchendeth 
 " all the properties of that wifdom which is from above, being 
 •' pure, peaceable, gentle, e.ify to be entreated, full of mercy 
 " and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrify." 
 
 559. So unbounded is the ambition, fo infatiable the thirft 
 of rule in felf-love, that were it free from all reftraints, and 
 had power equal to its will, it would aim at the fovereignty, not 
 only of the whole earth, but of heaven alfo. What examples 
 have we of this unlimited ambition in thofe greedy conquerors, 
 who, not fatisfied with kingdoms and empires, have afpired 
 after univerfal dominions ; and alfo in Ecclefiaftical Babylon the 
 Great, by her arrogant, ufurping claims to divine authority and 
 power. All of this character after death are on the fide of hell 
 againft the Lord and his kingdom : fee a little piece. Concerning 
 the Laft "Judgment, and the DcJlriiSlion of Babylon. 
 
 560. If we figure to our minds a fociety of fuch as love 
 themfelves only, and others but for their own lakes, fuch a love 
 mull appear to us no other than that of a company of robbers, 
 
 (278) They who have not a right underftanding concerning the duty of love to 
 our neighbour, are apt to fuppofe, that every man falls under this dcnominat-ion, 
 and that therefore we mult be bcmficcnt to all indifcriminately, n. 6704 : and 
 fome, that every man is nearelt nciglibour to hiiiifclf, and therefore that charity is 
 founded in felf, n. 6933. That they who are und' r the dominion of fclf-love go 
 by that maxim, n. 8120. How every one is neighbour to himfclf explained, n. 
 6933 to 6938. That the ChriRian, who loves God above all things, loves his 
 neighbour from a divine principle, n. 6706, 671 1, 6819, 6824. That the dif- 
 ferences, as to our neighbour, are as many as the dift'erences of good in him ; and 
 that to regulate and proportion our beneficence towards him is the office of Chriftian 
 prudence, n. 6707, 6710, 6818. That thcfe dift'erences are innumerable, and 
 therefore the ancients, who undcrftood thtir., reduced the exercifes of charity into 
 clafTcs, and diftinguiih.d them by their proper names, by which their feveral fpe- 
 cifick differences were noted, and rules of religious prudence laid down for the 
 direction of their charity, n. 2417, 6629, 67C5, 7259 to 7262. That the prin- 
 cipal doftrine in the ancient church was tlie doctrine of charity towards our neigh- 
 bour, and that therein conlilted their chief wifdom, n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 
 4844, 6628. 
 
 who
 
 f 3^5 ] 
 
 who continue in all good agreement and friendlinefs whilfl they 
 are confederates in their iniquity, but are no fooner feparated 
 than they arc ready to exercile the fame villany on one another, 
 SIS on ftrangers. Self-love, where intereil is concerned, is the 
 fame principle in others, however covered with the vail of an 
 external decorum, as being equally void of juiHce, confcience, 
 and religion. This will appear (till more evidently from the 
 infernal focieties of this character mentioned hereafter. 
 
 561. The inmoft thoughts and affedlions of thofe above- 
 mentioned being thus turned wholly to felf and the world, and 
 fo from tiie Lord and the things of his kingdom, they fall under 
 the power of infeftion from their other natural corruptions, and 
 this, becaufe they fo render themfelves unreceptive of the divine 
 influence, which can alone fubdue their evil, and renovate their 
 nature ; fo impoflible it is for thofe to be helped, who turn their 
 backs upon the Lord, and wilfully oppofe the corruptions of 
 their nature to the influences of his grace. Hence it is, that in 
 the other world all fuch turn their faces from the Lord towards 
 a certain dark orb, which is to them a fubftitute for the fun of 
 this world, and diametrically oppofite to the fun of heaven, 
 the reprefentative of the Lord; lee above, n. 123. Darknefs 
 alfo fignifies evil, and the fun of this world emblematically 
 fignifies the love of felf (279). 
 
 562. Such as are abforbed in the love of felf are addidted to 
 the following evils in general, contempt of others, envy, enmity 
 towards thofe that fide not with them, and hatred, if againft 
 them, revenge, craft, deceit, uncharitablenefs and cruelty ; and 
 with refpedl to fpirituals, an averfion to divine things and reli- 
 gious worfhip, which in the other lite becomes chan2;L'd into 
 hatred towards them, and thofe that are addid:ed to them. I 
 once converfed with a certain fpirit that had been in great power 
 in this world, and in the fuperlative love of felf, who was pof- 
 feflcd with fuch an abominable hatred to all that was divine, 
 that he could not bear to hear the name of God mentioned, 
 
 (279) That the fun of this world is an emblem of the love of felf, n. 2441. 
 In what fcnfc to worfliip the fun, is to worfhip thofe things that arc contrary to 
 ilivinc love, and to the Lord, n. 2441, 10584. That an ardent fun emblema- 
 tically fignifies evil concupifccncc, n. 8487. 
 
 E e e e e more
 
 [ 388 ] 
 
 565. As to the love of the world ; though it be highly dan- 
 gerous and pernicious to the foul of man, yet it has not alto- 
 gether the fame degree of malignity with the forementioned 
 love, as not ftanding in the fame diredl oppofition to all love 
 of heavenly things. It fliall fuffice here to obferve, that it con- 
 lifts in the general, in an eager delire after the riches of this 
 world, and to acquire them by any means, however indiredt ; 
 and alfo in fuch a paffionate fondnels for them, as alienates the 
 afFe(ftions from all love of fpiritual things, and from true love 
 towards our neighbour, which is of fpiritual extradlion. This 
 love of the world is multifarious in kind ; thus it is the love of 
 riches, as thefe may be the means to worldly honour and emi- 
 nence of ftation ; or it is the love of dignity and eminence, as 
 thefe may be the means fubfervient to the acquifition of riches ; 
 it is the love of riches, in order to a fuller gratification of the 
 fenl'es, for oftentation, and the pride of life ; or it is the love 
 of riches for their own fike, and fo the fame with avarice. 
 Thefe, with many others, are the fnarcs and hinderances that 
 the love of the world lays in our way to heaven : to guard us 
 againft the dangers and delulions of which is that important 
 caution given ; " Love not the world, neither the things that 
 " are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of 
 *' the Father is not in him," i John ii. 15. 
 
 What is meant by Hell Fire, and Gnaftiing 
 
 of Teeth. 
 
 566. Hitherto very few have rightly underftood what is 
 meant in Scripture by hell fire, and the gnafliing of teeth, as 
 fpoken of thofe that are in hell, and that becaufe they have 
 taken thefe expreflions, not in their fpiritual, but literal fenfe 
 only ; and accordingly fome have thereby underftood material 
 fire, fome torment in general, fome remorfe of confcicnce, and 
 others that it was only made ufe of to deter men from fin by the 
 confideration of its penal confequence ; whilll by gnaftiing of 
 teeth, they have underftood as meant fuch an aftual found, or 
 
 a horror
 
 [ 389 ] 
 
 a horror like that occafioned by it ; but thefe words, like the 
 reft of the Scriptures, have a more inward fignification j for 
 though the fpiritual things contained therein muft be exprefled 
 by fuch as are natural, in accommodation to the natural under- 
 ftanding of man, yet to the mind that is capable of receiving 
 it, they are to be interpreted according to their recondite and 
 fpiritual fenfe j it fliall therefore here be explained what is meant 
 by fire and gnafliing of teeth, as applied to the fufFerings of 
 evil fpirits in the other world. 
 
 567. There is a twofold origin of heat, the one from the 
 fun of heaven, which is the Lord, and the other from the fun 
 of this world ; the heat from the former is fpiritual, and in its 
 eflence is love (fee above, n. 126 to 140); the heat from the 
 latter is natural, and has not love for its eflence, but fcrves as 
 a receptacle to fpiritual heat or love. That love in its eflence 
 is heat or fire, is indicated by the fervor it communicates, firft 
 to the mind, and then to the body of man, according to its 
 degree and quality, in winter as well as fummer ; and alfo from 
 the increafing heat of the blood from its influence. That na- 
 tural heat ferves as a receptacle of the fpiritual heat, or love, 
 appears from the defire in all animals towards the other fex in 
 the fpring and fummer feafons ; not that this orgafm proceeds 
 from natural heat, any farther than as this difpofes their bodies 
 to receive the fpiritual heat (the cfl"ence of which is love) from 
 the fpiritual world j for the fpiritual world operates by influx 
 on the natural, as caufe on effedl, but not fo the natural on the 
 fpiritual ; and therefore it is a great error to think that animal 
 love is caufed by the natural heat, for love is a property of life, 
 and all life is fpiritual ; nay, the whole natural world exifls and 
 fubfifts by influx from the fpiritual world. To this all the fub- 
 jedls of the vegetable kingdom owe their vegetation, virtues, and 
 increafe, whilfl the natural heat only does the oflice of opening 
 and expanding their feeds and vefl'els, and of difpofing them for 
 the reception of the genial and frudtifying influences of the 
 fpiritual world ; thus joining in concurrent evidence to this 
 truth, that there are two kinds of heat, the one fpiritual, and 
 the other natural, the former of which is from the fun of hea- 
 ven, and the l;ittcr from the fun of this world ; and that by 
 
 F f f f f influx
 
 [ 390 ] 
 
 influx from the firft, and the co-operation of both, are pro- 
 duced thofe vilible effedls which prefent themfelves to us in this 
 natural world (280). 
 
 568. The fpiritual heat in man is his vital heat ; for, as 
 was faid before, its eflencc is love. This is the heat which is 
 fignified by fire in the Word ; love to the Lord and our neigh- 
 bour by the heavenly fire ; and the love of felf and the world by 
 the fire of hell. 
 
 569. Both infernal and coeleftial love originate from the 
 fame divine principle, but the former becomes infernal only 
 from the will and difpofition of the recipient ; for all influx 
 from the fpiritual world is according to the condition or ftate of 
 the fubjedl receiving it, in like manner with the heat and light 
 from the fun of this world, which, operating in odoriferous 
 plants and flowers, produces the moll grateful and delicious 
 fcents ; whilfl the fame falling upon putrid carcafes, and fcetid 
 bodies, gives them to exhale the mufl: offenfive ftinks. Thus 
 likewife the fame light from the fame fun which ftrikes the eye 
 with pleafing and refrefhing colours from fome obje<5ls, caufes 
 others to reflecSt a fad and mournful hue. The cafe is the fame 
 with refpedt to the heat and light proceeding from the heavenly 
 fun } for when thefe enter by influx into good fubjedls, as good 
 fpirits, good men, or angels, they advance their good properties 
 to higher degrees of perfedlion, by augmenting the vigour and 
 luftre of them. On the other hand, when they fall upon the 
 ungodly, they produce the contrary efl^cft, for the evils within 
 them reverberate, fuffocate, or pervert the good influx, and fo 
 turn it to their own greater detriment. Thus the light of hea- 
 ven, incident on the truths of good, increafes underllanding and 
 wifdom ; but the fame, when incident on the falfes of evil, is 
 tranfmuted by the recipients into the moll extravagant phan- 
 tafies and madnefs. Thus all things become in quality accord- 
 ing to that of the receiver. 
 
 (280) That the fpiritual world ails by influx on the natural world, n. 6053 to 
 6058, 6189 — 6598 to 6626. That this holds true with regard to the life of 
 animals, n. 5850 ; as alfo with regard to the fubjeds of the vegetable kingdom, 
 n. 3648. That this influx is a continual tendency of things fubfervicnt to the 
 wonderful fyftem of divine order in the world, n. 621 1. 
 
 570. As
 
 [ 39' T 
 
 ^o. As the infernal fire confills in the love of lelt" and tiie 
 love of the world, fo likewifc in all the inordinate paffions and 
 evil concupifcences which fpring from thofe loves, and confe- 
 quently in the gratification of them ; for what a man loves he 
 paflionately defires, and what he defires he takes delight in. 
 Now thefe are all the evils before mentioned, viz. contempt of 
 others, enmity to thofe that are not on his fide, envy, hatred, 
 and revenge, and in confequence thereof, unmercifulnefs and 
 cruelty ; and with regard to things divine and facred, unbelief, 
 contempt, derifion, and blafphemy, which after death become 
 changed into indignation and hatred againll: them ; fee above,, 
 n. 562. And as thefc infernal pafiions naturally aim at the ruin 
 and deftrucftion of thofe who are the objeifls of them, fo where 
 fuch evil-minded perfons have it not in their power to efFedt 
 this, they however give the fulleft fcope they can to their dia- 
 bolical malevolence and hatred. Thefe are the things meant 
 by fire in the Scriptures, as applied to evil men and evil fpirits, 
 as will appear from the following quotations : " Every one is 
 ** an hypocrite, and an evil-doer, and every mouth fpeaketh 
 " folly J for w'ckednefs burneth as the fire : it fhall devour the 
 " briars and thorns, and it fhall kindle in the thickets of the 
 •* forefl, and they fhall mount up like the lifting up of fmoke : 
 *' and the people fliall be as the fuel of fire," Ifa. ix. 17, 18, 
 *' 19. The land fliall become burning pitch; it fhall not be 
 " quenched night nor day ; the fmoke thereof fhall go up for 
 *' ever," Ifa. xxxiv. 9, 10. " Behold, the day cometh that 
 *' fliall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, and all that do: 
 •' wickedly, fhall be as -ftubble, and the day that cometh fhall 
 *' burn them up," Mai. iv. i. " Babylon is fallen, and is 
 *' become the habitation of devils : and they cried when they 
 " faw the fmoke of her burning : and her fmoke afcended up 
 " for ever and ever," Apoc. xviii. 2, 18. xix. 3. " And he 
 *' opened the bottomlefs pit, and there arofe a fmoke out of 
 ** the pit, as the fmoke of a great furnace ; and the fun and 
 *' the air were darkened by realbn of the fmoke of the pit," 
 •' Apoc. ix. 2. And out of their mouths iffued fire and fmoke, { 
 
 " and brimflone : by thefe three was the third part of men 
 " killed," Apoc. ix. ij, i8. " If any man worfliip the beafl 
 
 " and.
 
 [ 392 ] 
 
 " and his image, the fame fliall drink of the wine of the wrath 
 " of God, and be tormented with lire and brimiloiie," Apoc. 
 xiv. 9, 10. " And the fourtli angel poured out his vial upon 
 " the fun, and power was given unto him to fcorch men with 
 *' fire ; and men were fcorched with great heat, and blafphemed 
 *' the name of God," Apoc. xvi. 8, 9. " Every tree that 
 " bringeth not forth good fruit, (hall be hewn down and caft 
 " into the fire," Matt, iii. 10. ** Where their worm dieth not, 
 ** and the fire is not quenched," Mark ix. 44. In thefe and 
 many other places, bv fire, is meant the inordinate and evil 
 affeftions proceeding from the love of ftlf and of the world ; 
 and by fmoke we are to underftand the falfe proceeding from 
 evil. 
 
 571. It has been Ihewed in the foregoing article, that by 
 the fire of hell is meant all thofe evil affections and propenfities 
 which proceed from the love of felf and of the world, and with 
 which all the inhabitants of the infernal regions are infedled, 
 fo that when the gates of the hells are fet open, there appears 
 a column of fire mixed with fmoke afcending from the pit, as 
 from a houfe on fire, more thick and dark from the hell where 
 felf-love is predominant, and of a flame colour from that where 
 the love of the world prevails ; but when the hells are Hiut, no 
 fuch pha;nomenon of fire is fecn, but in the room of it a denfe 
 exhalation as of fmoke, which affecfts the fenfes as from a heat 
 within, in fome places refembling that of a flove, in others the 
 vapour of a hot bath ; when this heat extends its influence to 
 a man on earth, it excites in him inordinate appetites and de- 
 fires ; it inlligates the wicked to hatred and revenge, and fome- 
 times caufes infanity in fick perfons ; and this heat or fire is the 
 prevailing element in fuch as are under the dominion of the 
 above mentioned loves, as having communication in fpirit with 
 thofe hells whiHt here in the body. It mull be obferved in this 
 place, that they who are adtually in hell, have no fcnfation of 
 fire or burning, as is commonly imagined, but only experience 
 fuch a kind of heat or fire as inflamed their irafcible and other 
 evil paflions in this world : that all about them appears in the 
 form of fire, is from corrcfpondency, and that becaufe every 
 love, according to its kind, correfponds to fire, and in the fpi- 
 
 ritual
 
 f 393 ] 
 
 ritual world all things have their reprefentations and vifible 
 forms according to the laws of correfpondency. 
 
 572. It is to be noted here, that this infernal heat or fire is 
 changed into intenfe cold on any influx of heat from heaven, 
 and at fuch times the infernals are feized with a convulfive 
 fhivering and rigour like perfons in an ague fit, and that becaufe 
 of the contrariety between the elements of heaven and hell, 
 infomuch that the heat of the former, which is divine love, 
 cxtinguifiies the heat of the latter, which is the love of felf, 
 thefe being oppofite to each other. The dufky light that is 
 from the fire of hell is likewife at fuch times turned into dark- 
 nefs, and the infernal fpirits are fo overcome by the divine 
 influx, as to fall into allonifhmcnt and extreme infatuation : 
 but fuch a vifitation feldom happens, except when the tumult 
 and uproar in hell requires fuch a difcipline to reduce them to 
 order and fubjecftion. 
 
 573. As this fire of hell fignifies every propenfity to evil 
 flowing from the love of felf, fo likewife it fignifies its punirti- 
 ment in thofe felf-tormenting pafllons of hatred, revenge, and 
 cruelty towards thofe who are the objedls of them ; for this 
 kind of love is the root of all tyranny and arbitrary power, and 
 the enemy of God and man ; it quits not the foul even in death, 
 but follows it to hell, and there becomes its confirmed infernal 
 paffion, for ever excluding divine light and love, and binding 
 itfelf in chains of darknefs, and the penal fire of its own evil. 
 
 574. It was faid before, that the evil fpirits cafl themfelves 
 into hell of their own accord ; now how it comes to pafs that 
 they fhould voluntarily commit themfelves to a place of fuch 
 miferies muft be explained. P'rom every particular hell exhales 
 a fphere of effluvia from the paflions and qualities of tiie inha- 
 bitants therein, which ft:riking the fenfes of thofe who are of 
 fimilar afi^ed:ions, it excites in them the mofl: grateful percep- 
 tions, as every one's pleafure is according to the kind of his 
 love. The fpirit that is thus agreeably aftefted, prefently turns 
 himfclf to the quarter from whence the fphere arofe, and wiflics 
 to be there, for as yet he is unacquainted with the miferies it is 
 replete with, nay, otherwife he would wi/h the lame : for in 
 the fpiritual world no one can refifl: the propenfities of his ruling 
 
 G g g g g pallion
 
 [ 394 ] 
 
 pafllon or love, for therein is his will, and thefe conftitute his 
 nature, and there every one goes by the bent of his nature. 
 On the fpirit's firft arrival in hell, he is received with a fliew 
 of kindnefs, infomuch that he now thinks that he is with his 
 friends ; but this lafts only a few hours ; for after fifting into 
 his genius and particular turn of mind, they begin to moled 
 and vex him different ways, and fo go on to greater provoca- 
 tions, till they lead him to a deeper hell j for the more interior 
 and deep the hell, the more malignant the fpirits that dwell 
 there ; and here, after other exercifes of difcipline, they tor- 
 ment him, till they have entirely brought him under fubjedtion 
 to their will. But as there arife continual tumults and infur- 
 red:ions where all hate one another, and every one ftrives to be 
 the greateft ; fo they who were lately fubdued to the will of 
 others, become in turn confederates with fome more potent 
 infernal, to flrengthen his fadtion, and fupport his pretenfions 
 to fuperiority. Thus the fcene of diforder and confufion con- 
 tinually varies, whilll all according to their power evilly intreat 
 and tyrannize over others. Such are the miferies and fuffcrings 
 which go by the name of hell fire. 
 
 575. By gnafliing of teeth is fignified the difcordance and 
 contradidlion betwixt falfe and falfe [pugna falfonirn] and the 
 various difputes and wranglings of fuch as are in error from the 
 ground of falfe (*) joined with contempt of others, enmity, 
 mockery, railings, and bitter drife, whilft every one fights for 
 falfity [pro Jiiofalfo'] and calls it truth. Thefe wrathful con- 
 tentions, as heard by thofe that are not within thofe hells, found 
 like the gnafliings of teeth, and are changed into fuch when 
 truths from heaven are manifefted there. In thefe hells are all 
 
 (*) Error is to be diftinguifhcd from falfey where it proceeds from miftakc, 
 defeiSt of underftanding, influence of education, or deference to the judgment of 
 thofe whom we deem to be wifer than ourfelves. In thefe and fuch like cafes it is 
 innocent error, or matter of infirmity, and demands all candid allowances, as fuch 
 perfons, through fimplicity, finccrity, and an earned defire of finding the truth, 
 may be in the principle, though without the knowledge of it : but it is far other- 
 wife where error in the judgment proceeds from evil in the will, as from attach- 
 ment to vice, any falfe intereft, or the love of felf, &c. Here the judgment is 
 infecSled and determined by the will, and makes part of it, and fuch error has in 
 it the nature oi falfe ^ and is properly what our author calls fatfum ex malo. Tr. 
 
 thofe
 
 f 395 ] 
 
 thofe who fet up nature for God ; and In ftill deeper hells fuch 
 as had confirmed themfelves by ftudied arguments in this athe- 
 iftical perfuafion. All of this clafs, as being unreceptive of 
 light from heaven, and confequently having no perception of 
 truth w^ithin them, are merely fenfual and corporeal, believing 
 nothing but what they can fee with their eyes, or touch with 
 their hands ; whence it is, that all the fallacies of the fenfes 
 pafs with them for real truths, and all that is fpiritual for fal- 
 lacy ; which is the caufe of all their difputes and vain janglings 
 having a refemblance to the gnalhings of teeth in the fpiritual 
 world, where all falfes have that found. Now teeth correfpond 
 to the extremities in nature, and to the lowefl things in man, 
 fuch as thofe which are fenfual and corporeal. As to gnafliing 
 of teeth in hell, fee Matt. viii. 12. xiii. 42, 5©. xxii. 13. xxiv. 
 51. XXV. 30. Luke xiii. 28. 
 
 Of the Malignity and wicked Devices of 
 the infernal Spirits. 
 
 576. Every one that is given to introverfion, when he refle(fls 
 upon the operations of his own mind, may form an idea of the 
 fuperiority of fpirits over man as to the intellcdlual powers, as 
 knowing, that he himfelf can conceive, reafon upon, and form 
 a judgment of more things in a minute, than he can exprefs or 
 commit to writing in half an hour ; learning hereby, how far 
 a man under the exercife of his intelleiflual or fpiritual faculties 
 excels himfelf at another time, and confequently how much 
 more he fhall excel when he comes to be a pure fpirit diverted 
 of his earthly body; for it is the fpirit alone that thinks in him, 
 whilll: the body is no more than the inftrument whereby he 
 exprefics his thoughts : and hence it is, that the angels polTefs 
 unfpeakably greater underflanding and wifdom than when they 
 were joined to this material world by their corporeal vehicles, 
 in connexion with which the mind is for the mofl part fuf- 
 ceptible only of general and obfcure notices of things, and 
 unable to difcern innumerable others pertaining to Ipiritual 
 
 know-
 
 [ 396 ] 
 
 knowledge ; not to mention the many hinderances in the way to 
 it from worldly cares and connexions : but when man is freed 
 from thefe defeds and impediments by a tranflation to the an- 
 gelical ftate (for every angel once lived here as man, and in the 
 fame low degrees of knowledge) he no longer fees as through 
 a glafs darkly, but a new intelledtual world opens to his view, 
 and he has clear perceptions of things unconceivable by the 
 mind of the natural man. 
 
 ^jj. In the lame degree that the angels excel in underfland- 
 ing and wifdom, the infernal fpirits increafe in ferpentine craft 
 and deceit j for after this life every fpirit enters into the whole 
 of its good or evil, and thinks, wills, and adls therefrom with- 
 out difguife ; whereas in this life the evil of a man's fpirit was 
 curbed by legal reftraints, regards to character, intereft, and 
 other human conliderations, nay, fometimes fo artfully con- 
 cealed utider an outfide fliew of jufHce, fmcerity, and the form 
 of godlinefs, that he did not know himfelf, nor difcover the 
 latent evils in his heart and nature, which manifeft themfelves 
 to his allionifhment when he arrives in the world of fpirits. 
 The number and different kinds of evil that there appear in 
 their feveral hideous forms, are not to be defcribed in any 
 human language, and this I can teitify, as having been witnefs 
 thereto feveral times ; for the Lord has granted me the privilege 
 to be in [as one of] the fpiritual world as to my fpirit, whiift 
 in this natural world as to my body : and this I can affirm, that 
 fo great i^ the malice of evil fpirits againft man, that except the 
 Lord did take him under his protedion by the miniflry of angels 
 (for botli attend him here, fee n. 292, 293), it would be im- 
 poflible for him to deliver himfelf from the power of hell. But 
 man withdraws himfelf from this proteiftion by denying his 
 divinity, and renouncing a life of faith and charity, for fo he 
 turns away from the Lord to the evil fpirits, and enters into 
 fellowrtiip with the powers of darknefs ; yet even fo (when loft 
 to all fenfe of confcience) the Lord makes ufe of external re- 
 flraints and fears, in order to deter him from the commifllon 
 of outward evils ; but then thefe means are unavailable to in- 
 troduce him into the fpiritual life, feeing this can only be 
 effcfted by a real convcrfion of his mind, will, and affedions. 
 
 578. The
 
 [ 397 ] 
 
 ^yS. The worfl of fpirits are thofe, who in this life were 
 immerfed in the principle of felf-love, and at the fame time 
 adiuated by a ferpentine fubtlety ; for all deceit and craft enter 
 deep into the thoughts and intentions, and fo poifon the very 
 root of life in man, as to deflroy every feed of fpiritiial good 
 therein. Moll of thefe are in the hells behind, and are called 
 genii ; their pleafure is to make themfelves inconfpicuous, flut- 
 tering about like bats by night, that they may do their works 
 of darknefs in fecret : thefe fuffer more than any other of the 
 evil fpirits. Such as were in the lij<e principle of felf-love, but 
 not aiftuated by the like fubtlety and deceit, are alfo in the hells 
 behind, but not of like depth. And as to thofe who were pof- 
 feflcd by the evils proceeding from the love of the world, but 
 not fo deep in the love of felf, nor alike addidled to hatred and 
 revenge, deceit and fubtlety, they are called evil fpirits, and 
 their hells are milder, as they fuffer Icfs from their lelTer degrees 
 of malignity. 
 
 579. It has been given me to know experimentally the par- 
 ticular kind of malicious wickednefs in thofe fpirits which are 
 called genii. Now thefe do not pracflife their diabolical fubtlety 
 on the thoughts, but on the afteftions, which they fcent by a 
 peculiar fagacity, like as dogs do their game ; and when thev 
 have made the difcovery, they make it their bufinefs to turn and 
 wind the good affedlions of any one, all they can, to their con- 
 traries, and this by drawing them off to other objefts by allure- 
 ments fuited to their particular inclinations and complexions ; 
 and this they manage with fuch art and cunning, that the party 
 is not aware of the deceit, as they hinder him by various crafty 
 devices from attending to and making reflexions upon the n>atter. 
 Their fituation, when with man, is under the occiput, or hin- 
 der part of the head. Thefe, when living in this world, were 
 fuch as cunningly applied to the ruling paliions of men, and by 
 artfully infinuating themfelves into their affedlions captivated 
 their minds, in order to lead them more cafily into the traps 
 and fnares they laid for them : but all, of whofe reformation 
 and regeneration there are the kail ho])es, are carefully prefcrvcd 
 by the goodnefs of the Lord from thefe infidious fpirits, whofe 
 power and fubtlety are otherwife fufficient to remove the barriers 
 
 H h h h h of
 
 [ 398 ] 
 
 of confcience, and to awaken and put in motion all the here- 
 ditary evils in man's nature ; and therefore they are not per- 
 mitted to infeil fuch perfons. Such are the companions, and 
 fuch the manlions to which all crafty and malicious deceivers 
 are configned after death : when viewed in the other world in 
 their proper form and charader, they appear in the fhape of 
 vipers. 
 
 580. The malignity of the infernal fpirits manifefls itfelf 
 in fo many wicked arts and devices (unknown in this world) 
 that to enumerate them would fill a volume, and to defcribe 
 them many volumes. One kind of them rcfpedls the abufe and 
 perverting of correfpondences : another, in dill:urbing the divine 
 order in its loweft clafTes : a third, is by the influxive commu- 
 nication of evil thoughts and affedlions, and this by falfe con- 
 verfions, infpeftions, and emilTary fpirits : a fourth, by opera- 
 tions on the mind by phantafies : a fifth, by falfe appearances 
 of thcmfelves, where in reality they are not : and fixthly, by 
 counterfeiting other chara<5lers, by evil perfuafions and lies. By 
 thefe and various other deceitful arts they vex and torment one 
 another in their miferable focieties : but as all thefe wicked arts, 
 except the laft mentioned, are unknown in our world, I forbear 
 to defcribe them, not only becaufe they would not be under- 
 ftood, but alfo becaufe they are not fit to be mentioned. 
 
 581. This feverity of fufferings and tormenting difcipline 
 is permitted by the Lord, to keep within certain bounds the 
 flagrant evils of the infernal fpirits, by their mutual oppofition,. 
 as they are fubjedl to no other reftraint than the fear of fufix;ring 
 for them, without which, hell would be tenfold itfelf in uproar, 
 rage, and madnefs ; a pidlure of which we may form to our- 
 felves by the idea of an earthly kingdom without coercive laws 
 with penal fandions {*)^ 
 
 Of 
 
 (*) This obfcrvation of our author may fuggcft to us a good additional argu- 
 ment in vindication of the Divine Providence in permitting the calamities of 
 tumults, infurrections, and wars, in the prcfent degenerate ftate of mankind ; for 
 though thefe are confefledly great evils, yet they ferve as means preventive of 
 greater, by operating on the fears and pafTions of men various ways : thus, by 
 rellraining the oppreflions, tyranny, and cruelty of wicked rulers on the one hand, 
 and by experience of the evils and mifcrics thereof curbing the licentioufnefs of 
 
 ihc
 
 [ 399 ] 
 
 Of the Appearance, Situation, and Plurality 
 
 of the Hells. 
 
 582. In the fpiritual world, where fpirits and angels have 
 their abodes, there are the fame appearances of things as in 
 this our natural world, as of plains, mountains, hills, rocks, 
 vallies, waters, &c. but all from a fpiritual origin, and there- 
 fore only vifible to thofe fpiritual beings, and not to man whilft 
 in this natural Itate, unlefs it be given him to be converfant in 
 the fpiritual world as a fpirit : nor can an angel or fpirit behold 
 the material things of this world, except he be joined to man 
 in like manner ; for as the fight of the former is adapted only 
 to natural light, fj is the fight of the latter to fpiritual light, 
 though the eyes of both are to appearance the very fame. This 
 will hardly be received by the natural man, much lefs by the 
 fenfualift, who, being governed in all things by his bodily fenfes, 
 can form no conception of reality and fubflance, as pertaining 
 to any thing beyond material nature ; but notwithftanding this, 
 the refemblance between the fpiritual and natural world is fuch, 
 that man for fome time after his departure hence, knows not 
 but that he is llill in the latter, infomuch that his death may 
 very properly be termed a tranflation from one world to another 
 like it ; and that there is fuch fimilitude betwixt them has been 
 fliewed before in the chapter Coficerning Reprefe?itatives and Ap- 
 peai-ances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176. 
 
 583. The heavens there appear above; the world of fpirits 
 beneath ; and the hells are under both. The heavens are not 
 feen by the fpirits that are in the world of fpirits, except when 
 their interior fight is opened ; at otlier times they appear only 
 as through a mift, or as light clouds, and that becaufc the angels 
 of heaven are in a more interior fiate of underfianding and wif- 
 dom, and accordingly above the fight of thofe that are in the 
 
 the multitude on the other, which is only awed by fear of fufFerings from venting 
 their malignity every man on his neighbour, and from turning all things into 
 chaos and confufion. Tr. 
 
 world
 
 [ 4='o ] 
 
 world of fpirits : but the fpirits, who are in the plains and 
 valleys, fee each other, except when they are internally fepa- 
 rated by intromiiTion into their interior ftates ; for at fuch times 
 the evil fpirits do not fee the good, but the good fpirits fee the 
 evil ones, but turn away their faces from them, and fo become 
 invifiblc to the others. As to the hells, they are not £ecn in 
 this world, as being fliut, but only the entrances into them, 
 called their gates, when they arc opened for the admilTion of 
 thofe that are configned to them. Thefe gates are vifible in the 
 world of fpirits, but not in heaven. 
 
 584. There are hells every where under the mountains, hills 
 and rocks ; and the holes or gates leading into them, appear 
 as fo many clefts or filfures in rocks, fome of larger, and fome 
 of narrower extent, and they all appear dark and difmal, though 
 the fpirits within have a kind of light like that from burning 
 coals, to which their fight is accommodated •. and that becaufe 
 in this world, being in darknefs as to divine truths through 
 unbelief, they had no other light than what proceeded from 
 vain reafonings and error, and therefore they can fee nothing in 
 the light of heaven, when they quit their gloomy manfions ; 
 fuch oppofites are the light of faith, and the darknefs of un- 
 belief. 
 
 585. The openings or gates leading to the hells, which are 
 underneath the plains and valleys, have different afpefts ; fome 
 refemble thofe which are underneath the mountains, hills and 
 rocks ; fome of them look like dens and caves ; fome like wide 
 mouths and gulfs, and others like lakes and pools of water. 
 They are only open when evil fpirits come thither from the 
 world of fpirits, to be palfed into their refpeftive hells, at 
 which times are feen to ilfue from them fire, and flame with 
 or without fmoke, as alfo thick clouds of fuliginous vapour ; 
 though it is faid, that they do not appear as fuch to the infernal 
 fpirits, as being then in their own proper atmofphere, and the 
 elements that are congruous to tlieir nature; for they correfpond 
 to the evils and falfes thereof : for example, fuch fire to hatred 
 and revenge ; fmoke and foot to the falfes belonging thereto j 
 flame to the evils of felf-love ; and black clouds and vapour to 
 tlie falfes thereof. 
 
 586. I was
 
 [ 401 ] 
 
 586. I was allowed to look into the hells, and take a view 
 of their infide ; for the power of fuch infpedlion is, by divine 
 permiffion, granted at times to the angels and fpirits abov': 
 them, even when they are not open : fuch an infide view of 
 them I had. Some of the hells appeared like caverns in rocks, 
 firll proceeding far horizontally, and then defcending either 
 perpendicularly, or by windings, to a great depth. Some re- 
 iembled the dens of wild beafts in the woods ; others the fub- 
 terraneous works in mines, with different chambers and defcents 
 to Hill lower floors. Moft of them are of three degrees of de- 
 fcent, the uppermoft dark, as correfponding to the falfes of 
 evil ; the lowefl of a fiery appearance, as correfponding to the 
 evils themfelves. In the lowefl hells are thofe who acfted im- 
 mediately from the root or principle of evil ; but in fuch as 
 are lefs deep, thofe who afted from evil errors, or the falfes of 
 evil. In fome hells appear, as it were, ruins of houfes and 
 towns after fome dreadful conflagration, in which the infernal 
 fpirits Ikulk j and in the milder hells are feen a kind of rude 
 cottages, and in fome places contiguous in the form of a city 
 or large town, with ftreets and lanes, inhabited by infernal 
 fpirits that live together in fl;rife, hatred, quarrellings, and 
 fightings even to blood, whilfl in the fl:reets and publick ways 
 are committed thefts and robberies ; and in fome of the hells arc 
 places like publick fliews fliocking to behold, as full of un- 
 cleannefs and filth of all kinds. There are alfo gloomy woods, 
 in which the infernal fpirits wander about like wild hearts, and 
 alfo fubterraneous caves, into which fuch as are purlued by 
 others fly for refuge. Moreover, there are barren and fandy 
 defarts, ragged rocks with caverns, and fcattered cottages ; and 
 to thefe defert places arc configned fuch in particular as had 
 pafTed through fevere fufferings in the other hells, and had been 
 foremoft among thofe who deceive others by crafty devices and 
 wicked fl:ratagems, This is the laft ilate of their appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 587. The exaft particular fituation of the hells is not known 
 even to the angels, but to the Lord only, though tlieir general 
 difliinftions are known from the quarters refpectively where 
 they lie ; thefe diftindtions being the fame as in the heavens, 
 
 I i i i i where
 
 [ 402 ] 
 
 where they are regulated according to the kinds and degrees of 
 heavenly love, beginning with the Lord as the fun of heaven, 
 which is called the eaft j and as the hells are in all things op- 
 pofite to the heavens, fo the principal or regulating quarter 
 there is tiie wert (lee the chapter Concerning the Four garters 
 of Heaven, n. 141 to 153). Hence it is, that the weftern hells 
 are the worft: and moil: horrible of all, and that in proportion 
 to their greater degrees of diftance from the eaft. To thefe are 
 appointed fuch as in this world were fo fwallowed up in the 
 love of felf, as to hold in contempt and bitter hatred all that 
 were not of their party and in their intereft, or refufed to ho- 
 nour them : and in the remoteft of thofe regions are thofe in 
 particular of the Romilh religion, who had arrogated to them- 
 felves divine worfhip, burning with rage and revenge againft all 
 that denied their power and heavenly jurifdiftion over the fouls 
 of men ; and as they ftill retain the fame proud vindi^ftive fpirit, 
 fo to fhew tlieir rage and cruelty is their greateft pleafure j but 
 this turns to their greater mifery in the other world, for all of 
 their clafs being actuated by the fame infernal paffion of domi- 
 neering, they exercife their fury and malice upon one another : 
 but more of this in a fmall work Concernifig the Lajl yiidgment, 
 and the DeftruBion of Babylon. As to the particular circum- 
 ilances relative to the hells, it can only be laid, that the worft 
 of them are to the northward ; that they abate in degree of 
 malignity towards the fouth, and ftill more towards the caft. 
 Towards the laft alfo are many who were high-minded and 
 atheiftical, but not of like favage cruelty and infernal fubtlety 
 as thofe nearer to the weft. At this time there are no infernal 
 focieties in full eaft, they having been tranOatcd nearer to the 
 vveftern regions ; but the hells in the north and fouth are very 
 many, and inhabited by fuch as were immcrfed in the love oif 
 the world, and the various evils derived from that fource, as 
 enmity, hollilities, extortion, wrong and robbery, artifice, ava- 
 rice and uncharitablenefs, increafintr or decreafine in decrees of 
 malignity, as was faid before, according to theii greater or lelTer 
 degrees of diftance from the eaft. Behind the hells in the 
 weftern and northern divifions are the gloomy woods and deferts 
 
 before
 
 [ 403 ] 
 
 before mentioned. Thus much concerning the fituation of the 
 hells. 
 
 588. With regard to plurality of hells, it is here to be 
 noted, that they equal in number the angelical focieties in the 
 heavens ; for there is a fociety of infernals anfwering to every 
 fociety of angels, according to the nature of oppofites. That 
 the heavenly focieties are innumerable, and all diftindt, accord- 
 ing to the different kinds and degrees of their goods of divine 
 love, charity and faith, fee under the article, Concerm'ng the 
 Societies of which the Heavens confijl, n. 41 to 50 : as alfo in that. 
 Concerning the hnmenfity of Heaven, n. 415 to 420. In like 
 manner the infernal focieties are diftindi, according to their 
 refpedlive evils oppolite to the goods before mentioned. Every 
 evil, as vv^ell as every good, is a genus or general, which con- 
 tains in it innumerable fpecies or particulars ; however, this 
 may not appear to thofe who form to themfelves only one fimple 
 idea of every evil ; as for example, of contempt, hatred, enmity, 
 revenge, deceit, and the like ; whereas every one of thefe con- 
 tains fo many fpecifick differences, and under them as many 
 particular fubdivifions as would more than fill a volume to enu- 
 merate them all. According to thefe manifold diflindlions in 
 evil, and their nearer or more remote diftances from one ano- 
 ther, are the feveral hells divided and regulated with the utmoft 
 exadtnefs and congruity. There are alfo hells under hells, com- 
 municating with one another, fome by pafTagcs, and fome by 
 exhalations, according to the agreement or affinity betwixt evil 
 and evil. That the hells are fo many and various appears from 
 its being given me to know, that under every mountain, hill, 
 rock, plain and valley, there were particular hells of different 
 extent in length, breadth, and depth. In a word, both heaven 
 and the world of fpirits may be confidered as convexities, under 
 which are arrangements of thofe infernal manfions. So much 
 concerning the plurality of hells. 
 
 Of
 
 [ 4^4 ] 
 
 Of the Equilibrium betwixt Heaven and 
 
 Hell. 
 
 5S9. An equilibrium is neceffhry to the exiftence and fub- 
 liftence of all things, and confifts in the equality of adlion and 
 reaction between two oppofitc powers, producing reft or equi- 
 librium ; and this according to an eil:abliflicd law throughout 
 the natural world, obferved in the very atmofpheres, in which 
 the lower and denfer air reafts on the fuperincumbent columns ; 
 nay, even betwixt heat and cold, light and darknefs, dry and 
 moift J and the middle point is the temperature or equilibrium. 
 The fame law obtains throughout the three great kingdoms of 
 this world, the mineral, vegetable, and animal ; wherein all 
 things proceed and are regulated according to adlion and re- 
 adlion, or adlivcs and palfives, producing or reftoring an equili- 
 brium in nature. In the phyfical world, the agent and reagent 
 are called Power and Conatus ; and in the fpiritual world, life 
 and will, as being living power and conatus ; and here the 
 equilibrium is called liberty. Thus there exifts a fpiritual equi- 
 librium or liberty betwixt good and evil, by the adiion of one, 
 and the reaftion of the other ; for example, in good men this 
 equilibrium is effedled by the acftion of the good principle, and 
 the readion of the evil principle ; but in bad men, evil is the 
 agent, and good is but the reagent. That there is a fpiritual 
 equilibrium betwixt good and evil, is becaufe every thing ap.- 
 pertaining to the vital principle in man has relation to good or 
 evil, and the will is the receptacle of both. There is likewife 
 an equilibrium betwixt true and falfe ; but this depends on the 
 equilibrium betwixt good and evil, according to their kinds 
 refpedively. The equilibrium betwixt truth and falfe, is fimi- 
 lar to that which is betwixt light and darknefs [umSraffi] which 
 operate, according to the heat and cold therein, on the fubjeds 
 of the vegetable kingdom ; for that light and darknefs have no 
 fuch operation in theml'elves alone, but only through the heat 
 in them, may appear from the fimilarity that is betwixt the 
 
 light
 
 [ 405 ] 
 
 light and darknefs in winter and in fpring. The comparifon of 
 truth and falfs with light and darknefs is from correfpondency, 
 for truth correfponds to light, and falfe to darknefs, and heat 
 to the good of love. Spiritual light alfo is the fame with truth, 
 and fpiritual darknefs is the fame with falfe, concerning which, 
 fee the chapter. On the Light and Heat i7i Heaven, n. 126 to 
 140. 
 
 590. There is a perpetual equilibrium betwixt heaven and 
 hell; from the latter continually exhales and afcends a conatus 
 of doing evil ; and from the former continually emanes and 
 defccnds a conatus [tendency to or will] (*) of doing good, la 
 this equilibrium is the world of fpirits, which is fituated in the 
 midft betwixt heaven and hell (fee above, n. 421 to 431) ; and 
 this may appear from hence, that every man immediately after 
 death enters into the world of fpirits, and there continues in 
 the fame ftate in which he died ; is examined and proved thereby, 
 as a touchftone of his principles j and remains under the fame 
 free will, which all indicate an equilibrium ; for fuch a fpiritual 
 equilibrium there is in every man and fpirit, as obferved before. 
 The particular kind and tendency of this liberty or free will, is 
 well known by the angels in heaven by the communication of 
 thoughts and aiFedions j and it appears vifibly to the angelical 
 , fpirits (*), by the paths and ways which they chufe to walk in, 
 lis the good fpirits take thofe which lead to heaven, and the 
 evil fpirits thofe which lead to hell ; for fuch ways and walks 
 have actually a vifible appearance in that world j and this is the 
 reafon, that the word loay or ways in Scripture fignifies thofe 
 truths which lead to good, and in an oppofite fenfe, thofe falfes 
 which lead to evil ; and hence alfo it is, that to go, walk, or 
 journey, fignify the progreffions of life in the fame Sacred Wri- 
 tings (2S1). It has oftentimes been given me to fee fuch ways 
 
 or 
 
 {*) It will not appear ftrnngc, that in the fiiiritual worlds the fpiritual mental 
 power,'!, Inch as willing, (.itfiriiig, &:c. fliould have their extrinfick operations and 
 cffci^ls at great diitunces, when we reflect on the like diftant opcratioiis and efl'edls 
 of bodies upon one another in this matcri.al world, in their different properties 
 of attraiftion, repulfion, gravitation, &c. Tr. 
 
 (*) By angelical fpirits is here meant fuch fpirits as are yet in the intermediate 
 world of ipirits, in their (late of final preparation for heaven. Tr. 
 
 (281) That to journey, inScripturc ligiiifies progrcfs in life, as docs likewifc to 
 
 K k k k k go.
 
 [ 4o6 ] 
 
 or roads, and tlie Ipirits walking and palTing therein, as they 
 were led to chufe one or the other by the particular bent of their 
 minds and affecflions. 
 
 591. That evil continually exhales and afcends from hell, 
 and that good continually tiows and delcends from heaven, is 
 becaufe every one is furrounded by a fpiritual fphere flowing or 
 tranfpiring from his vital affecftions and thoughts (282), and 
 confequently the fame from every fociety coelelHal or infernal, 
 and coUedively from the whole heaven and the whole hell. 
 This univerfal efflux of good from . heaven originates in the 
 Lord, and pafles through the angels without any mixture of 
 their propriety [proprium] or felf-hood ; for this is fupprcfTcd 
 in them by the Lord, who grants them to live in his own divine 
 property ; whereas the infernal fpirits are in their own property 
 of felfiilh nature, or what only belongs to themfelves [proprww] 
 which, as unbleffed with divine communications from the fole 
 fountain of all good, is only evil in everyone continually (283). 
 This may fuffice to fhew, that the equilibrium both of the 
 angels and devils differs from that in the middle world of fpirits ; 
 the equilibrium of the former being according to their free will 
 in the principle of good from a life and love of good, and hatred 
 to evil in this world -, but the equilibrium of the latter, accord- 
 ing to their free will in evil from a life and love of evil, and 
 a hatred to good in this world. 
 
 go, n. 3335, 4375, 4554 — 8417, 8420, 8557. That to walk with the Lord 
 fignifies to lead a fpiritual life, or to live to him, n. 10567. That to walk figni- 
 fies to live, n. 519, 179+, 8417, 8420. 
 
 (282) That a fpiritual fphere, which is the fphere of life, proceeds from every 
 man, fpirit, and angel, and forms a kind of atmofphere around them, n. 4464, 
 5179, 7454, 8630. That this flows from their inmoft aiFcdions and thoughts, 
 n. 2489, 4464, 6206. That the quality of fpirits is known at a diftance by their 
 fpheres, n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504. That the fpheres of evil fpirits are oppo- 
 fite to thofe from good fpirits, n. 1695, 10187, 10312. That thcfe fpheres extend 
 f-r to the heavenly focieties, according to their quality and degree of good, n. 6598 
 to 6613, 8063, 8794, 8797. And likewife to the infernal focieties, according to 
 their quality and degree of evil, n. 8794, 8797. 
 
 (283) That the property or nature of man is altogether evil, n. 210, 215, 731, 
 874 — 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731. That the felfiih property in man is hell 
 within him, n. 694, 8480. 
 
 592. Except
 
 [ ^^7 1 
 
 592. Except the Lord kept the government of the heavens 
 and hells in his own hands, there would be an end of equili- 
 brium, and confequently both of heaven and hell ; for all 
 things in the natural and fpiritual worlds fubfift thereby, and 
 the balance once deftroyed, all things would iicceffarily run into 
 diforder and confufion. Such would be the cafe in the fpiritual 
 world, unlels the power of evil were reftrained by the rcacftion 
 of the good principle, and fo hindered from acquiring the fupe- 
 riority. Unlefs this were effefted by the fole government of 
 the Lord, there would be an end of heaven and hell, and of 
 the whole human race : the words, fole government of the Lordt 
 muft here be repeated, as He alone is fufficient for this work ; 
 for every thing belonging to the creature as his proper own or 
 felf, whether it be angel, Ipirit, or man, is nothing but evil, 
 and therefore abfolutely incapable of making any refinance to 
 the efliux and powers of hell, as being more on their fide j fo 
 that the whole of falvation in every creature is folely owing to 
 the government and grace of the Lord : nor can it be fuppofed, 
 that lefs than his omnipotent arm can be fufficient to keep 
 within bounds the hoftile fury and malice of all the hells, which 
 join in one common confederacy againll heaven, and all that 
 are therein. 
 
 593. The equilibrium between the heavens and the hells is 
 determined by the number of thofe that enter therein, which 
 amounts to feveral thoufands every day ; and to adjufl a matter 
 of fuch univerfal importance can only belong to that omnipre- 
 fent Lord, who weighs all things in the balance of infinite wif- 
 dom ; for wife as the angels are, they fee comparatively but a 
 little way, nor know all things that pafs within the circle of 
 their own focieties. 
 
 504. Something has been offered before on the government 
 of the Jieavens and the hells with relation to the fubferviency 
 of all therein to the prefervation of equilibrium ; as that all the 
 focieties in both are difpofed and regulated according to their 
 general and fpecifick diftindtions in good and evil ; and that 
 under every cceleftial there is an infernal fociety anfwering 
 thereto as its oppofite, from which oppofite correfpondence re- 
 fults the equilibrium, whereby the evil is reftrained from over- 
 powering
 
 [ 4oS ] 
 
 powering the good, and a provifion made by the divine wifdom 
 to check every tendency to fuperiority in the former over the 
 latter : and this is eJicdted by various means ; as by a ftronger 
 operation of the divine prcknce ; or by a flriitter confederacy in 
 good among particuhir angelical focieties. There are alfo other 
 means made ufe of, in order to this end, by various regulations 
 as to the hells -, thus, by dividing particular focieties therein, 
 and by ejecting a certain number into the delerts before men- 
 tioned ; by the tranllation of Ibme infernals from one hcli to 
 another, and divers other adminilTirations of government both 
 in the heavens above, and in the hells beneath. By fo many 
 ways does the Lord provide for the prcfcrvation of that equili- 
 brium between good and evil, on which the falvation and hap- 
 pinefs of men and angels fo much depend. 
 
 595. The hells are continually plotting againft heaven, and 
 exerting their holtile malice fur its deftruCtion ; though impo- 
 tent and vain are all their endeavours againfl thofe v/ho are under 
 the defence of the Lord omnipotent. I have often feen their 
 enmity and hatred to all things divine and facred reprefentcd 
 by the form of a fphere afcending from the infernal regions, as 
 if to infult and alfault heaven 3 whereas the heavens, on the 
 contrary, make no affault on the hells, the divine fphere pro- 
 ceeding from the Lord being an efflux of love for the filvation 
 of all ; but as thofe miferable fpirits, through the evil they are 
 in and chufe, render themfelves incapable ot fuch falvation, 
 therefore this emanation of the divine goodnefs can etfedl nothing 
 more in their behalf, than to reflrain, as far as poffible, their 
 vindi(ftive malice from wreaking itfelf with unbridled fury and 
 madnefs on one another ; and to this end He is gracioufly pleafed 
 to employ various means j fo merciful is the Lord even towards 
 the impenitent and incorrigible. 
 
 596. The heavens, in the general, are diflinguiflied into 
 two kingdoms ; the one of which i.s called the cceleflial, the 
 other the fpiritual kingdom; of which fee above, n. 20 to 28. 
 The hells likewife are diftinguifhed into two kingdoms ; the 
 one of which is oppofite to the coeleifial, the other to the fpi- 
 ritual. That which is oppofite to the coeleftial is in the weft, 
 and they who belong to it are called genii ; and that which is 
 
 oppofite 
 
 ■* 
 
 I
 
 [ 409 ] 
 
 bppofite to the fplrltual kingdom is in the north and fouth, and 
 they who belong to it are called evil Ipirits. All in the coe- 
 leftial kingdom excel in love to the Lord, and all that are in 
 the hells oppolite to that kingdom, are under the prevailing 
 power of felt-love ; all that belong to the fpiritual kingdom are 
 dillinguifhed in excellence by love to their neighbour, and all 
 that are in the hells oppofite to thjs kingdom are Haves to the 
 love of the world ; fo that love to the Lord and the love of felf 
 are in the fame diiunetrical oppolition to each other, as the love 
 of our neighbour and the love of the world. Eifettual provifion 
 is made by the Lord, that no power of evil from the hells, that 
 are in oppoiition to the coeieilial kingdom, may reach the fub- 
 jedts of the fpiritual kingdom, as the confequence in" that cafe 
 would be the fubverfion of the latter, for the reafon given in 
 n. 578, 579. Thus does the Lord keep the balance betwixt 
 good and evil in his own hand for the prefervation of his king- 
 doms. 
 
 That the Liberty or Free Will of Man, is 
 from the Equilibrium that fubfifts between 
 Heaven and Hell. 
 
 597. In the foregoing chapter we have treated of that equi- 
 librium which fubfifts betwixt heaven and hell, and /hewed, 
 that it is no other than an equilibrium betwixt the good that 
 proceeds from the former, and the evil that proceeds from the 
 latter, and fo conftltuting the cft'ence of human liberty : and as 
 good and evil, truth and Falfe, are of a fpiritual nature, fo alfo 
 is that equilibrium in which confifls the power of thinking and 
 willing the one or the other, and the liberty of chuling or rc- 
 fuling accordingly. This liberty or freedom of the will origi- 
 nates in the divine nature, but is given to every man by the 
 Lord for a property of his life, nor does He ever take it back 
 again. This good gift to man is to the end that he may he 
 regenerated and fived, for without free will there is no falvation 
 for him ; but that he adlually poflefi'es it, he may know from 
 the operations of his own mind, and what pafles inwardly in 
 
 L 1 1 1 1 his
 
 [ 4IO ] 
 
 his fplrit, he being able to think and chufc either good or evil, 
 whatever reftraints he may be under from uttering- or adting the 
 latter in refpeift to laws divine or human. Now this inward 
 experience evinces beyond a thoufand arguments, that liberty 
 belongs to man, as his fpirit is his proper lelf, and it is that 
 which freely thinks, wills, and chufes j confcquently, liberty 
 is to be eftimated according to the inner man, and not from 
 what he may be outwardly through fear, human refpefts, or 
 other external reftraints. 
 
 598. That man would not be capable of being reformed or 
 regenerated without free will, is becaufe he is by the original 
 conftitution of his nature born to evils of every kind, which 
 muft be removed in order to his falvation ; and that can only be 
 by his knowing, owning, renouncing, and abhorring them. To 
 this end, he mufl be inltrudled in the nature of good ; for it is 
 by good only that he can fee the evil, but by evil he cannot fee 
 the good : accordingly, he muft be early educated in the know- 
 ledge of fpiritual truths by teaching, by reading the Scriptures, 
 and by the preaching of the Word, that fo he may attain to a 
 right underftanding of what is good ; as he is likewifc to cul- 
 tivate his mind with the knowledge of moral and civil ti-uths 
 from his intcrcourfe with fociety in the different relations of 
 life J all which imply the ufe and exercife of freedom. Another 
 thing to be confidered is, that nothing becomes appropriated to- 
 man, or can be called his own, that is not received into the 
 affedlionate part ; other things he may apprehend or form an 
 ideal knowledge of, but what enters not his will or love, which 
 is the fame thing (for what a man wills lie loves) that makes 
 no part of him, nor abides with him. Now man being natu- 
 rally prone to evil, he could not receive its contrary, the good, 
 into his will or love, fo as to become appropriated to liim, unlefs 
 he were endowed with liberty or freedom of will, feeing that 
 the good is oppofite to the evil of his nature. 
 
 599. That man may be poffcfled of liberty or free will, in^ 
 order to be capable of regeneration, therefore he can have com- 
 munication in fpirit with heaven, or with hell ; for evil fpirits 
 from the one, and angels from the other, are prefent \\ith him ; 
 by the former he polfefles his own evil ; by the latter he is ia 
 the principle of good froni the Lord i and herein iVands his 
 
 equili-
 
 [ 4" ] 
 
 equilibrium or liberty. That every man has both angels and 
 evil fpirits attending him in this world, fee the chapter Con-- 
 cerning the Conjun£lion of Heaven with the Human Race, n. 291 
 to 302. 
 
 600. Not that this conjundlion of man with heaven or hell 
 i5 an immediate conjundion, but mediate only, and that through 
 the fpirits that belong to the world of fpirits ; for thefe are the 
 fpirits that attend on man, and not any immediately from heaven 
 or hell (*). By the evil fpirits belonging to the world of fpirits 
 man joins himfelf to hell ; and by the good fpirits of the fame 
 world he has communication with heaven ; for the world of 
 fpirits is intermediate between heaven and hell, and conftitutes^ 
 the true equilibrium ; for thefe two particulars, fee above, n. 
 421 to 431, and n. 589 to 596. Thus much for the origin of 
 human liberty. 
 
 601. Let it be obferved, as touching thofe fpirits that are 
 appointed to be man's aiTociates here, that a whole fociety may 
 hold communication with another fociety, and alfo with any 
 ijidividual wherefoever, by means of an emifTary fpirit, which 
 fpirit is called. The Subjeii of many \Subje£lum phiriutn]. The 
 caufe is fimilar with refpedt to man's communication [cofi/un^io] 
 with the focieties in heaven and in hell by the intervention of 
 his affociate fpirits from the world of fpirits. 
 
 602. As to that common imprefiion of belief concerning 
 a future life on the human mind, which fome call innate, or 
 natural, though in reality it be from coeleftial influx, the fol- 
 lowing memorable particular fliall here be related. Certain 
 fpirits, which in their life-time here had been of that fimple 
 plebeian clafs which live in all good faith, were reinllated in 
 the fame low degree of underllanding and thinking that they 
 
 ^•) This is entirely confiflent with what was affirmed by the author in the fore* 
 going number, as the good fpiiits bclougiiig to the world of fpirits, being in their 
 linal preparation for the angelical ftate, are called angelical fpirits ; and .is they 
 have immediate communication with the heavenly angek, fo has man, through 
 thtm, a mediate communication with the fame. On the other hand, the bad 
 (^irits belonging to the world of fpirits, being in their final preparation for hell, 
 are called infernal fpirits, and have immediate communication with devils ; and 
 wicked men, through them, a mediate communication with the lame. Thus all 
 communications between man, nncl the hi ;hc(t and lowelt in iK-avin and hell, arc 
 conduced through mediums adapted to liis nature and ftatcs refpcclively. Tr. 
 
 poflefTed
 
 [ 412 ] 
 
 poffefied in this world (as may be the cafe of every one, by the 
 divine permiiiion, to anfwer certain ends). On this change 
 they difcovered what ideas they had here concerning the ftate 
 of n-".an after death, and related as follows ; viz. that they were 
 aiked on a time by fome learned men when in this world, what 
 they thought of their fouls after death ? To which they anfwered, 
 that they did not know what the foul was. They then alked 
 them, what their belief was concerning their ftate after death ? 
 To which they replied, that they believed they (hould be living 
 fpirits. They afked them, what their faith was, as to fpirits ?- 
 They faid, that a fpirit was a man. They afked them, how 
 they knew that .'' They anfwered, after their fimplicity, that 
 they knew it, becaufe it was fo. On which thefe learned quc- 
 riits ftood aftonifhed, to find fuch fimple illiterate people pof- 
 fened of a ftronger faith than what they had themfelves ; 
 manifefting hereby, that in all who are in communion with 
 heaven' there is a principle of faith, as touching the immortality 
 of the foul by a divine influx from the Lord, through the 
 medium of thofe fpirits which belong to the world of fpirits, 
 but not received by fuch as, through a vain philofophy and 
 fcience falfely fo called, poifon their minds with corrupt doc- 
 trines concerning the foul, as that it is nothing elfe than mere 
 thought, or a certain animated fomething proceeding from 
 matter ; and th^n go to find out the particular place of its 
 refidence in the body ; whereas the immortal fpirit is the man 
 himfelf that animates his body, and ufes it only as its inftru- 
 ment or fervant to perform the funcftions of life in this natural 
 world, according to his dift^ercnt ftates and relations therein, 
 on, his pilgrimage to and preparation for a better country, even 
 a heavenly one. 
 
 603. What has been delivered in this work concerning 
 heaven, the world of fpirits, and hell, will appear obfcurc to 
 thofe who have no relifh for fpiritual truths, but clear to fuch 
 as take delight therein, more efpecially to all who are in the 
 love of Truth for its own fiike. What we love, we readily 
 receive and underftand ; and where Truth is the objedl of our 
 a^edlions, it recommends itfelf to the mind by the evidence it 
 brings with it ; for Truth is Light. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
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