Conjugial Love, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1768] at sacred-texts.com

Conjugial Love

V. CONSENT IS TO BE SECURED AND ESTABLISHED BY SOLEMN BETROTHING. The reasons for betrothings are these: 1. That after betrothing the souls of the two parties may mutually incline towards each other. 2. That the universal love for the sex may be determined to one of the sex. 3. That the interior affections may be mutually known, and by applications in the internal cheerfulness of love, may be conjoined. 4. That the spirits of both parties may enter into marriage, and be more and more consociated. 5. That thereby conjugial love may advance regularly from its first warmth even to the nuptial flame. Consequently: 6. That conjugial love may advance and grow up in just order from its spiritual origin. The state of betrothing may be compared to the state of spring before summer; and the internal pleasantness of that state to the flowering of trees before fructification. As the beginning and progressions of conjugial love proceed in order for the sake of their influx into the effective love, which commences at the nuptials, therefore, there are also betrothings in the heavens.

VI. BY BETROTHING EACH PARTY IS PREPARED FOR CONJUGIAL LOVE. That the mind or spirit of one of the parties is by betrothing prepared for union with the mind or spirit of the other, or what is the same, that the love of the one is prepared for union with the love of the other, appears from the arguments just adduced. Besides which it is to be noted, that on love truly conjugial is inscribed this order, that it ascends and descends; it ascends from its first heat progressively upwards towards the souls of the parties, with an endeavour to effect their conjunction, and this by continual interior openings of their minds; and there is no love which strives more intensely to effect such openings, or which is more powerful and expert in opening the interiors of minds, than conjugial love; for the soul of each of the parties intends this: but at the same moments in which that love ascends towards the soul, it descends also towards the body, and thereby clothes itself. It is however to be observed, that conjugial love is such in its descent as it is in the height to which it ascends: if it ascends high, it descends chaste; but if not, it descends unchaste: the reason of this is, because the lower principles of the mind are unchaste, but its higher are chaste; for the lower principles of the mind adhere to the body, but the higher separate themselves from them: but on this subject see further particulars below, n. 305. From these few considerations it may appear, that, by betrothing, the mind of each of the parties is prepared for conjugial love, although in a different manner according to the affections.

VII. BY BETROTHING THE MIND OF ONE IS UNITED TO THE MIND OF THE OTHER, SO AS TO EFFECT A MARRIAGE OF THE SPIRIT, PREVIOUS TO A MARRIAGE OF THE BODY. As this follows of consequence from what was said above, n. 301, 302, we shall pass it by, without adducing any further confirmations from reason.

VIII. THIS IS THE CASE WITH THOSE WHO THINK CHASTELY OF MARRIAGES; BUT IT IS OTHERWISE WITH THOSE WHO THINK UNCHASTELY OF THEM. With the chaste, that is, with those who think religiously of marriages, the marriage of the spirit precedes, and that of the body is subsequent; and these are those with whom love ascends towards the soul, and from its height thence descends; concerning whom see above, n. 302. The souls of such separate themselves from the unlimited love for the sex, and devote themselves to one, with whom they look for an everlasting and eternal union and its increasing blessednesses, as the cherishers of the hope which continually recreates their mind; but it is quite otherwise with the unchaste, that is, with those who do not think religiously of marriages and their holiness. With these there is a marriage of the body, but not of the spirit: if, during the state of betrothment, there be any appearance of a marriage of the spirit, still, if it ascends by an elevation of the thoughts concerning it, it nevertheless falls back again to the concupiscences which arise from the flesh in the will; and thus from the unchaste principles therein it precipitates itself into the body, and defiles the ultimates of its love with an alluring ardor; and as, in consequence of this ardor, it was in the beginning all on fire, so its fire suddenly goes out, and passes off into the cold of winter; whence the failing (of power) is accelerated. The state of betrothing with such scarcely answers any other purpose, than that they may fill their concupiscences with lasciviousness, and thereby contaminate the conjugial principle of love.

IX. WITHIN THE TIME OF BETROTHING IT IS NOT ALLOWABLE TO BE CONNECTED CORPOREALLY. For thus the order which is inscribed on conjugial love, perishes. For in human minds there are three regions, of which the highest is called the celestial, the middle the spiritual, and the lowest the natural. In this lowest man is born; but he ascends into the next above it, the spiritual, by a life according to the truths of religion, and into the highest by the marriage of love and wisdom. In the lowest or natural region, reside all the concupiscences of evil and lasciviousness; but in the superior or spiritual region, there are no concupiscences of evil and lasciviousness; for man is introduced into this region by the Lord, when he is re-born; but in the supreme or celestial region, there is conjugial chastity in its love: into this region a man is elevated by the love of uses; and as the most excellent uses are from marriages, he is elevated into it by love truly conjugial. From these few considerations, it may be seen that conjugial love, from the first beginnings of its warmth, is to be elevated out of the lowest region into a superior region, that it may become chaste, and that thereby from a chaste principle it may be let down through the middle and lowest regions into the body; and when this is the case, this lowest region is purified from all that is unchaste by this descending chaste principle: hence the ultimate of that love becomes also chaste. Now if the successive order of this love is precipitated by connections of the body before their time, it follows, that the man acts from the lowest region, which is by birth unchaste; and it is well known, that hence commences and arises cold in regard to marriage, and disdainful neglect in regard to a married partner. Nevertheless events of various kinds take place in consequence of hasty connections; also in consequence of too long a delay, and too quick a hastening, of the time of betrothing; but these, from their number and variety, can hardly be adduced.

X. WHEN THE TIME OF BETROTHING IS COMPLETED, THE NUPTIALS OUGHT TO TAKE PLACE. There are some customary rites which are merely formal, and others which at the same time are also essential: among the latter are nuptials; and that they are to be reckoned among essentials, which are to be manifested in the customary way, and to be formally celebrated, is confirmed by the following reasons: 1. That nuptials constitute the end of the foregoing state, into which the parties were introduced by betrothing, which principally was a state of the spirit, and the beginning of the following state, into which they are to be introduced by marriage, which is a state of the spirit and body together; for the spirit then enters into the body, and there becomes active: wherefore on that day the parties put off the state and also the name of bridegroom and bride, and put on the state and name of married partners and consorts. 2. That nuptials are an introduction and entrance into a new state, which is that a maiden becomes a wife, and a young man a husband, and both one flesh; and this is effected while love by ultimates unites them. That marriage actually changes a maiden into a wife, and a young man into a husband, was proved in the former part of this work; also that marriage unites two into one human form, so that they are no longer two but one flesh. 3. That nuptials are the commencement of an entire separation of the love of the sex from conjugial love, which is effected while, by a full liberty of connection, the knot is tied by which the love of the one is devoted to the love of the other. 4. It appears as if nuptials were merely an interval between those two states, and thus that they are mere formalities which may be omitted: but still there is also in them this essential, that the new state above-mentioned is then to be entered upon from covenant, and that the consent of the parties is to be declared in the presence of witnesses, and also to be consecrated by a priest; besides other particulars which establish it. As nuptials contain in them essentials, and as marriage is not legitimate till after their celebration, therefore also nuptials are celebrated in the heavens; see above, n. 21, and also, n. 27-41.

XI. PREVIOUS TO THE CELEBRATION OF THE NUPTIALS, THE CONJUGIAL COVENANT IS TO BE RATIFIED IN THE PRESENCE OF WITNESSES. It is expedient that the conjugial covenant be ratified before the nuptials are celebrated, in order that the statutes and laws of love truly conjugial may be known, and that they may be remembered after the nuptials; also that the minds of the parties may be bound to just marriage: for after some introductory circumstances of marriage, the state which preceded betrothing returns at times, in which state remembrance fails and forgetfulness of the ratified covenant ensues; yea, it may be altogether effaced by the allurements of the unchaste to criminality; and if it is then recalled into the memory, it is reviled: but to prevent these transgressions, society has taken upon itself the protection of that covenant, and has denounced penalties on the breakers of it. In a word, the ante-nuptial covenant manifests and establishes the sacred decrees of love truly conjugial, and binds libertines to the observance of them. Moreover, by this covenant, the right of propagating children, and also the right of the children to inherit the goods of their parents, become legitimate.

XII. MARRIAGE IS TO BE CONSECRATED BY A PRIEST. The reason of this is, because marriages, considered in themselves, are spiritual, and thence holy; for they descend from the heavenly marriage of good and truth, and things conjugial correspond to the divine marriage of the Lord and the church; and hence they are from the Lord himself, and according to the state of the church with the contracting parties. Now, as the ecclesiastical order on the earth administer the things which relate to the Lord's priestly character, that is, to his love, and thus also those which relate to blessing, it is expedient that marriages be consecrated by his ministers; and as they are then the chief witnesses, it is expedient that the consent of the parties to the covenant be also heard, accepted, confirmed, and thereby established by them.

XIII. THE NUPTIALS ARE TO BE CELBRATED WITH FESTIVITY. The reasons are, because ante-nuptial love, which was that of the bridegroom and the bride, on this occasion descends into their hearts, and spreading itself thence in every direction into all parts of the body, the delights of marriage are made sensible, whereby the minds of the parties are led to festive thoughts and also let loose to festivities so far as is allowable and becoming; to favor which, it is expedient that the festivities of their minds be indulged in company, and they themselves be thereby introduced into the joys of conjugial love.

XIV. AFTER THE NUPTIALS, THE MARRIAGE OF THE SPIRIT IS MADE ALSO THE MARRIAGE OF THE BODY, AND THEREBY A FULL MARRIAGE. All things which a man does in the body, flow in from his spirit; for it is well known that the mouth does not speak of itself, but that it is the thinking principle of the mind which speaks by it; also that the hands do not act and the feet walk of themselves, but that it is the will of the mind which performs those operations by them; consequently, that the mind speaks and acts by its organs in the body: hence it is evident, that such as the mind is, such are the speech of the mouth and the actions of the body. From these premises it follows as a conclusion that the mind, by a continual influx, arranges the body so that it may act similarly and simultaneously with itself; wherefore the bodies of men viewed interiorly are merely forms of their minds exteriorly organized to effect the purposes of the soul. These things are premised, in order that it may be perceived why the minds or spirits are first to be united as by marriage, before they are also further united in the body; namely, that while the marriages become of the body, they may also be marriages of the spirit; consequently, that married partners may mutually love each other from the spirit, and thence from the body. From this ground let us now take a view of marriage. When conjugial love unites the minds of two persons, and forms them into a marriage, in such case it also unites and forms their bodies into a marriage; for, as we have said, the form of the mind is also interiorly the form of the body; only with this difference, that the latter form is outwardly organized to effect that to which the interior form of the body is determined by the mind. But the mind formed from conjugial love is not only interiorly in the whole body, round about in every part, but moreover is interiorly in the organs appropriated to generation, which in their region are situated beneath the other regions of the body, and in which are terminated the forms of the mind with those who are united in conjugial love: consequently the affections and thoughts of their minds are determined thither; and the activities of such minds differ in this respect from the activities of minds arising from other loves, that the latter loves do not reach thither. The conclusion resulting from these considerations is, that such as conjugial love is in the minds or spirits of two persons, such is it interiorly in those its organs. But it is self-evident that a marriage of the spirit after the nuptials becomes also a marriage of the body, thus a full marriage, consequently, if a marriage in the spirit is chaste, and partakes of the sanctity of marriage, it is chaste also, and partakes of its sanctity, when it is in its fulness in the body; and the case is reversed if a marriage in the spirit is unchaste.

XV. SUCH IS THE ORDER OF CONJUGIAL LOVE WITH ITS MODES FROM ITS FIRST HEAT TO ITS FIRST TORCH. It is said from its first heat to its first torch, because vital heat is love, and conjugial heat or love successively increases, and at length as it were into a flame or torch. We have said "to its first torch," because we mean the first state after the nuptials, when that love burns; but what its quality becomes after this torch, in the marriage itself, has been described in the preceding chapters; but in this part we are explaining its order from the beginning of its career to this its first goal. That all order proceeds from first principles to last, and that the last become the first of some following order, also that all things of the middle order are the last of a prior and the first of a following order, and that thus ends proceed continually through causes into effects, may be sufficiently confirmed and illustrated to the eye of reason from what is known and visible in the world; but as at present we are treating only of the order in which love proceeds from its first starting-place to its goal, we shall pass by such confirmation and illustration, and only observe on this subject, that such as the order of this love is from its first heat to its first torch, such it is in general, and such is its influence in its progression afterwards; for in this progression it unfolds itself, according to the quality of its first heat: if this heat was chaste, its chasteness is strengthened as it proceeds; but if it was unchaste, its unchasteness increases as it advances, until it is deprived of all that chasteness which, from the time of betrothing, belonged to it from without, but not from within.

XVI. CONJUGIAL LOVE PRECIPITATED WITHOUT ORDER AND THE MODES THEREOF, BURNS UP THE MARROWS AND IS CONSUMED. So it is said by some in the heavens; and by the marrows they mean the interiors of the mind and body. The reason why these are burnt up, that is, consumed, by precipitated conjugial love is, because that love in such case begins from a flame which eats up and corrupts those interiors, in which as in its principles conjugial love should reside, and from which it should commence. This comes to pass if the man and woman without regard to order precipitate marriage, and do not look to the Lord, and consult their reason, but reject betrothing and comply merely with the flesh: from the ardor of which, if that love commences, it becomes external and not internal, thus not conjugial; and such love may be said to partake of the shell, not of the kernel; or may be called fleshly, lean, and dry, because emptied of its genuine essence. See more on this subject above n. 305.

XVII. THE STATES OF THE MINDS OF EACH OF THE PARTIES PROCEEDING IN SUCCESSIVE ORDER, FLOW INTO THE STATE OF MARRIAGE; NEVERTHELESS IN ONE MANNER WITH THE SPIRITUAL AND IN ANOTHER WITH THE NATURAL. That the last state is such as that of the successive order from which it is formed and exists, is a rule, which from its truth must be acknowledged by the learned; for thereby we discover what influx is, and what it effects. By influx we mean all that which precedes, and constitutes what follows, and by things following in order constitutes what is last; as all that which precedes with a man, and constitutes his wisdom; or all that which precedes with a statesman, and constitutes his political skill; or all that which precedes with a theologian, and constitutes his erudition; in like manner all that which proceeds from infancy, and constitutes a man; also what proceeds in order from a seed and a twig, and makes a tree, and afterwards what proceeds from a blossom, and makes its fruit; in like manner all that which precedes and proceeds with a bridegroom and bride, and constitutes their marriage: this is the meaning of influx. That all those things which precede in minds form series, which collect together, one next to another, and one after another, and that these together compose a last or ultimate, is as yet unknown in the world; but as it is a truth from heaven, it is here adduced for it explains what influx effects, and what is the quality of the last or ultimate, in which the above-mentioned series successively formed co-exist. From these considerations it may be seen that the states of the minds of each of the parties proceeding in successive order flow into the state of marriage. But married partners after marriage are altogether ignorant of the successive things which are insinuated into, and exist in their minds (_animis_) from things antecedent; nevertheless it is those things which give form to conjugial love, and constitute the state of their minds; from which state they act the one with the other. The reason why one state is formed from one order with such as are spiritual, and from another with such as are natural, is, because the spiritual proceed in a just order, and the natural in an unjust order; for the spiritual look to the Lord, and the Lord provides and leads the order; whereas the natural look to themselves, and thence proceed in an inverted order; wherefore with the latter the state of marriage is inwardly full of unchasteness; and as that unchasteness abounds, so does cold; and as cold abounds so do the obstructions of the inmost life, whereby its vein is closed and its fountain dried.

XVIII. THERE ARE SUCCESSIVE AND SIMULTANEOUS ORDER, AND THE LATTER IS FROM THE FORMER AND ACCORDING TO IT. This is adduced as a reason tending to confirm what goes before. It is well known that there exist what is successive and what is simultaneous; but it is unknown that simultaneous order is grounded in successive, and is according to it; yet how things successive enter into things simultaneous, and what order they form therein, it is very difficult to present to the perception, since the learned are not in possession of any ideas that can elucidate the subject; and as the first idea respecting this arcanum cannot be suggested in few words, and to treat this subject at large would withdraw the mind from a more comprehensive view of the subject of conjugial love, it may suffice for illustration to quote what we have adduced in a compendium respecting those two orders, the successive and the simultaneous, and respecting the influx of the former into the latter, in THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM RESPECTING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, where are these words: "There are in heaven and in the world successive order and simultaneous order. In successive order one thing follows after another from the highest to the lowest; but in simultaneous order one thing is next to another from the inmost to the outermost. Successive order is like a column with steps from the highest to the lowest; but simultaneous order is like a work cohering from the centre to the surface. Successive order becomes in the ultimate simultaneous in this manner; the highest things of successive order become the inmost of simultaneous, and the lowest things of successive order become the outermost of simultaneous; comparatively as when a column of steps subsides, it becomes a body cohering in a plane. Thus what is simultaneous is formed from what is successive; and this in all things both of the spiritual and of the natural world." See n. 38, 65, of that work; and several further observations on this subject in the ANGELIC WISDOM RESPECTING THE DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM, n. 205-229. The case is similar with successive order leading to marriage, and with simultaneous order in marriage; namely, that the latter is from the former, and according to it. He that is acquainted with the influx of successive order into simultaneous, may comprehend the reason why the angels can see in a man's hand all the thoughts and intentions of his mind, and also why wives, from their husbands' hands on their bosoms, are made sensible of their affections; which circumstance has been occasionally mentioned in the MEMORABLE RELATIONS. The reason of this is, because the hands are the ultimates of man, wherein the deliberations and conclusions of his mind terminate, and there constitute what is simultaneous: therefore also in the Word, mention is made of a thing's being inscribed on the hands.

To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. On a certain time I saw not far from me a meteor--a cloud divided into smaller clouds, some of which were of an azure color, some opaque, and as it were in collision together. They were streaked with translucent irradiations of light, which at one time appeared sharp like the points of swords, at another, blunt like broken swords. The streaks sometimes darted out forwards, at others they drew themselves in again, exactly like combatants; thus those different colored lesser clouds appeared to be at war together; but it was only their manner of sporting with each other. And as this meteor appeared at no great distance from me, I raised my eyes, and looking attentively, I saw boys, youths, and old men, entering a house which was built of marble, on a foundation of porphyry; and it was over this house that the phenomenon appeared. Then addressing myself to one that was entering, I asked, "What house is this?" He answered, "It is a gymnasium, where young persons are initiated into various things relating to wisdom." On hearing this, I went in with them, being then in the spirit, that is, in a similar state with men of the spiritual world, who are called spirits and angels; and lo! in the gymnasium there were in front a desk, in the middle, benches, at the sides round about, chairs, and over the entrance, an orchestra. The desk was for the young men that were to give answers to the problem at that time to be proposed, the benches were for the audience, the chairs at the sides were for those who on former occasions had given wise answers, and the orchestra was for the seniors, who were arbitrators and judges: in the middle of the orchestra was a pulpit, where there sat a wise man, whom they called the head master, who proposed the problems to which the young men gave their answers from the desk. When all were assembled, this man arose from the pulpit and said, "Give an answer now to this problem, and solve it if you can, WHAT IS THE SOUL, AND WHAT IS ITS QUALITY?" On hearing this problem all were amazed, and made a muttering noise; and some of the company on the benches exclaimed, "What mortal man, from the age of Saturn to the present time, has been able by any rational thought to see and ascertain what the soul is, still less what is its quality? Is not this subject above the sphere of all human understanding?" But it was replied from the orchestra, "It is not above the understanding, but within it and in its view; only let the problem be answered." Then the young men, who were chosen on that day to ascend the desk, and give an answer to the problem, arose. They were five in number, who had been examined by the seniors, and found to excel in sagacity, and were then sitting on couches at the sides of the desk. They afterwards ascended in the order in which they were seated; and every one, when he ascended, put on a silken tunic of an opaline color, and over it a robe of soft wool interwoven with flowers, and on his head a cap, on the crown of which was a bunch of roses encircled with small sapphires. The first youth thus clad ascended the desk, and thus began: "What the soul is, and what is its quality, has never been revealed to any one since the day of creation, being an arcanum in the treasuries of God alone; but this has been discovered, that the soul resides in a man as a queen; yet where her palace is, has been a matter of conjecture among the learned. Some have supposed it to be in a small tubercle between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, which is called the pineal gland: in this they have fixed the soul's habitation, because the whole man is ruled from those two brains, and they are regulated by that tubercle; therefore whatever regulates the brains, regulates also the whole man from the head to the heel." He also added, "Hence this conjecture appeared as true or probable to many in the world; but in the succeeding age it was rejected as groundless." When he had thus spoken, he put off the robe, the tunic, and the cap, which the second of the selected speakers put on, and ascended the desk. His sentiments concerning the soul are as follows: "In the whole heaven and the whole world it is unknown what the soul is, and what is its quality; it is however known that there is a soul, and that it is in man; but in what part of him is a matter of conjecture. This is certain, that it is in the head, since the head is the seat where the understanding thinks, and the will intends; and in front in the face of the head are man's five sensories, receiving life from the soul alone which resides in the head; but in what particular part of the head the soul has its more immediate residence, I dare not take upon me to say; yet I agree with those who fix its abode in the three ventricles of the brain, sometimes inclining to the opinion of those who fix it in the _corpora striata_ therein, sometimes to theirs who fix it in the medullary substance of each brain, sometimes to theirs who fix it in the cortical substance, and sometimes to theirs who fix it in the _dura mater_; for arguments, and those too of weight, have not been wanting in the support of each of these opinions. The arguments in favor of the three ventricles of the brain have been, that those ventricles are the recipients of the animal spirits and of all the lymphs of the brain: the arguments in favor of the _corpora striata_ have been, that these bodies constitute the marrow, through which the nerves are emitted, and by which each brain is continued into the spine; and from the spine and the marrow there is an emanation of fibres serving for the contexture of the whole body: the arguments in favor of the medullary substance of each brain have been, that this substance is a collection and congeries of all the fibres, which are the rudiments or beginnings of the whole man: the arguments in favor of the cortical substance have been, that in that substance are contained the prime and ultimate ends, and consequently the principles of all the fibres, and thereby of all the senses and motions: the arguments in favor of the _dura mater_ have been, that it is the common covering of each brain, and hence by some kind of continuous principle extends itself over the heart and the viscera of the body. As to myself, I am undetermined which of these opinions is the most probable, and therefore I leave the matter to your determination and decision." Having thus concluded he descended from the desk, and delivered the tunic, the robe, and the cap, to the third, who mounting into the desk began as follows: "How little qualified is a youth like myself for the investigation of so sublime a theorem! I appeal to the learned who are here seated at the sides of the gymnasium; I appeal to you wise ones in the orchestra; yea, I appeal to the angels of the highest heaven, whether any person, from his own rational light, is able to form any idea concerning the soul; nevertheless I, like others, can guess about the place of its abode in man; and my conjecture is, that it is in the heart and thence in the blood; and I ground my conjecture on this circumstance, that the heart by its blood rules both the body and the head; for it sends forth a large vessel called the _aorta_ into the whole body, and vessels called the carotids into the whole head; hence it is universally agreed, that the soul from the heart by means of the blood supports, nourishes, and vivifies the universal organical system both of the body and the head. As a further proof of this position it may be urged, that in the Sacred Scripture frequent mention is made of the soul and the heart; as where it is said, Thou shalt love God from the whole soul and the whole heart; and that God creates in man a new soul and a new heart, Deut. vi. 5; chap. x. 12; chap. xi. 13; chap. xxvi. 16; Jerem. xxxii. 41; Matt, xxii. 37; Mark xii. 30, 33; Luke x. 27; and in other places: it is also expressly said, that the blood is the soul of the flesh, Levit. xvii. 11, 14." At these words, the cry of "Learned! learned!" was heard in the assembly, and was found to proceed from some of the canons. After this a fourth, clad in the garments of the former speaker, ascended the desk, and thus began: "I also am inclined to suspect that not a single person can be found of so subtle and refined a genius as to be able to discover what the soul is, and what is its quality; therefore I am of opinion, that in attempting to make the discovery, subtlety will be spent in fruitless labor; nevertheless from my childhood I have continued firm in the opinion of the ancients, that the soul of man is in the whole of him, and in every part of the whole, and thus that it is in the head and in all its parts, as well as in the body and in all its parts; and that it is an idle conceit of the moderns to fix its habitation in any particular part, and not in the body throughout; besides, the soul is a spiritual substance, of which there cannot be predicated either extension or place, but habitation and impletion; moreover, when mention is made of the soul, who does not conceive life to be meant? and is not life in the whole and in every part?" These sentiments were favorably received by a great part of the audience. After him the fifth rose, and, being adorned with the same insignia, thus delivered himself from the desk: "I will not waste your time and my own in determining the place of the soul's residence, whether it be in some particular part of the body, or in the whole; but from my mind's storehouse I will communicate to you my sentiments on the subject, What is the soul, and what is its quality? No one conceives of the soul but as of a pure somewhat, which may be likened to ether, or air, or wind, containing a vital principle, from the rationality which man enjoys above the beasts. This opinion I conceive to be founded on the circumstance, that when a man expires, he is said to breathe forth or emit his soul or spirit; hence also the soul which lives after death is believed to be such a breath or vapor animated by some principle of thinking life, which is called the soul; and what else can the soul be? But as I heard it declared from the orchestra, that this problem concerning the soul, its nature and quality, is not above the understanding, but is within it and in its view, I intreat and beseech you, who have made this declaration, to unfold this eternal arcanum yourselves." Then the elders in the orchestra turned their eyes towards the head master, who had proposed the problem, and who understood by their signs that they wished him to descend and teach the audience: so he instantly quitted the pulpit, passed through the auditory, and entered the desk, and there, stretching out his hand, he thus began: "Let me bespeak your attention: who does not believe the soul to be the inmost and most subtle essence of man? and what is an essence without a form, but an imaginary entity? wherefore the soul is a form, and a form whose qualities and properties I will now describe. It is a form of all things relating to love, and of all things relating to wisdom. All things relating to love are called affections, and those relating to wisdom are called perceptions. The latter derived from the former and thereby united with them constitute one form, in which are contained innumerable things in such an order, series, and coherence, that they may be called a one; and they may be called a one also for this reason, because nothing can be taken away from it, or added to it, but the quality of the form is changed. What is the human soul but such a form? are not all things relating to love and all things relating to wisdom essentials of that form? and are not these things appertaining to a man in his soul, and by derivation from the soul in his head and body? You are called spirits and angels; and in the world you believed that spirits and angels are like mere wind or ether, and thus mere mind and animation; and now you see clearly that you are truly, really, and actually men, who, during your abode in the world, lived and thought in a material body, and knew that a material body does not live and think, but a spiritual substance in that body; and this substance you called the soul, whose form you then were ignorant of, but now have seen and continue to see. You all are souls, of whose immortality you have heard, thought, said, and written so much; and because you are forms of love and wisdom from God, you can never die. The soul therefore is a human form, from which the smallest thing cannot be taken away, and to which the smallest thing cannot be added; and it is the inmost of all the forms of the whole body: and since the forms which are without receive from the inmost both essence and form, therefore you are souls, as you appear to yourselves and to us: in a word, the soul is the very man himself, because it is the inmost man; therefore its form is fully and perfectly the human form: nevertheless it is not life, but the proximate receptacle of life from God, and thereby the habitation of God." When he had thus spoken, many expressed their approbation; but some said, "We will weigh the matter." I immediately went home, and lo! over the gymnasium, instead of the foregoing meteor, there appeared a bright cloud, without streaks or rays that seemed to combat with each other, and which, penetrating through the roof, entered, and illuminated the walls; and I was informed, that they saw some pieces of writing, and among others this, "_Jehovah God breathed into the man's nostrils the SOUL OF LIVES, and the man became a LIVING SOUL_," Gen. ii. 7.

THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. Some time ago, as I was walking with my mind (_animus_) at rest, and in a state of delightful mental peace, I saw at a distance a grove, in the midst of which was an avenue leading to a small palace, into which maidens and youths, husbands and wives were entering. I also went thither in spirit, and asked the keeper who was standing at the entrance, whether I also might enter? He looked at me; upon which I said, "Why do you look at me?" He replied, "I look at you that I may see whether the delight of peace, which appears in your face, partakes at all of the delight of conjugial love. Beyond this avenue there is a little garden, and in the midst of it a house, where there are two novitiate conjugial partners, who to-day are visited by their friends of both sexes, coming to pay their congratulations. I do not know those whom I admit; but I was told that I should know them by their faces: those in whom I saw the delights of conjugial love, I was to admit, and none else." All the angels can see from the faces of others the delights of their hearts; and he saw the delight of that love in my face, because I was then meditating on conjugial love. This meditation beamed forth from my eyes, and thence entered into the interiors of my face: he therefore told me that I might enter. The avenue through which I entered was formed of fruit trees connected together by their branches, which made on each side a continued espalier. Through the avenue I entered the little garden, which breathed a pleasant fragrance from its shrubs and flowers. The shrubs and flowers were in pairs; and I was informed that such little gardens appear about the houses where there are and have been nuptials, and hence they are called nuptial gardens. I afterwards entered the house, where I saw the two conjugial partners holding each other by the hands, and conversing together from love truly conjugial; and as I looked, it was given me to see from their faces the image of conjugial love, and from their conversation the vital principle thereof. After I, with the rest of the company, had paid them my respects, and wished them all happiness, I went into the nuptial garden, and saw on the right side of it a company of youths, to whom all who came out of the house resorted. The reason of their resorting to them was, because they were conversing respecting conjugial love, and conversation on this subject attracts to it the minds (_animos_) of all by a certain occult power. I then listened to a wise one who was speaking on the subject; and the sum of what I heard is as follows: That the divine providence of the Lord is most particular and thence most universal in respect to marriages in the heavens: because all the felicities of heaven issue from the delights of conjugial love, like sweet waters from the sweet source of a fountain; and that on this account it is provided by the Lord that conjugial pairs be born, and that these pairs be continually educated for marriage, neither the maiden nor the youth knowing anything of the matter; and after a stated time, when they both become marriageable, they meet as by chance, and see each other; and that in this case they instantly know, as by a kind of instinct, that they are pairs, and by a kind of inward dictate think within themselves, the youth, that she is mine, and the maiden, that he is mine; and when this thought has existed for some time in the mind of each, they deliberately accost each other, and betroth themselves. It is said, "as by chance," and "as by instinct," and the meaning is, by the divine providence; since, while the divine providence is unknown, it has such an appearance. That conjugial pairs are born and educated to marriage, while each party is ignorant of it, he proved by the conjugial likeness visible in the faces of each; also by the intimate and eternal union of minds (_animorum_) and minds (_mentium_), which could not possibly exist, as it does in heaven, without being foreseen and provided by the Lord. When the wise one had proceeded thus far with his discourse, and had received the applauses of the company, he further added, that in the minutest things with man, both male and female, there is a conjugial principle; but still the conjugial principle with the male is different from what it is with the female; also that in the male conjugial principle there is what is conjunctive with the female conjugial principle, and _vice versa_, even in the minutest things. This he confirmed by the marriage of the will and the understanding in every individual, which two principles act together upon the minutest things of the mind and of the body; from which considerations it may be seen, that in every substance, even the smallest, there is a conjugial principle; and that this is evident from the compound substances which are made up of simple substances; as that there are two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two cheeks, two lips, two arms with hands, two loins, two feet, and within in man two hemispheres of the brain, two ventricles of the heart, two lobes of the lungs, two kidneys, two testicles; and where there are not two, still they are divided into two. The reason why there are two is, because the one is of the will and the other of the understanding, which act wonderfully in each other to present a one; wherefore the two eyes make one sight, the two ears one hearing, the two nostrils one smell, the two lips one speech, the two hands one labor, the two feet one pace, the two hemispheres of the brain one habitation of the mind, the two chambers of the heart one life of the body by the blood, the two lobes of the lungs one respiration, and so forth; but the male and female principles, united by love truly conjugial, constitute one life fully human. While he was saying these things, there appeared red lightning on the right, and white lightning on the left; each was mild, and they entered through the eyes into the mind, and also enlightened it. After the lightning it also thundered; which was a gentle murmur from the angelic heaven flowing down and increasing. On hearing and seeing these things, the wise one said, "These are to remind me to add the following observations: that of the above pairs, the right one signifies their good, and the left their truth; and that this is from the marriage of good and truth, which is inscribed on man in general and in every one of his principles; and good has reference to the will, and truth to the understanding, and both together to a one. Hence, in heaven the right eye is the good of vision, and the left the truth thereof; also the right ear is the good of hearing, and the left the truth thereof; and likewise the right hand is the good of a man's ability, and the left the truth thereof; and in like manner in the rest of the above pairs; and since the right and left have such significations, therefore the Lord said, 'If thy right eye scandalize thee, pluck it out; and if thy right hand scandalize thee, cut it off;' whereby he meant, if good becomes evil, the evil must be cast out. This is the reason also why he said to his disciples that they should cast the net on the right side of the ship; and that when they did so, they took a great multitude of fishes; whereby he meant that they should teach the good of charity, and that thus they would collect men." When he had said these things, the two lightnings again appeared, but milder than before; and then it was seen, that the lightning on the left derived its whiteness from the red-shining fire of the lightning on the right; on seeing which he said, "This is a sign from heaven tending to confirm what I have said; because what is firy in heaven is good, and what is white in heaven is truth; and its being seen that the lightning on the left derived its whiteness from the red-shining fire of the lightning on the right, is a demonstrative sign that the whiteness of light, or light, is merely the splendor of fire." On hearing this all went home, inflamed with the good and truth of gladness, in consequence of the above lightnings, and of the conversation respecting them.

ON REPEATED MARRIAGES.

It may come to be a matter of question, whether conjugial love, which is that of one man with one wife, after the death of one of the parties, can be separated, or transferred, or superinduced; also whether repeated marriages have any thing in common with polygamy, and thereby whether they may be called successive polygamies; with several other inquiries which often add scruples to scruples with men of a reasoning spirit. In order therefore that those who are curious in such researches, and who only grope in the shade respecting these marriages, may see some light, I have conceived it would be worth while to present for their consideration the following articles on the subject: I. _After the death of a married partner, again to contract wedlock, depends on the preceding conjugial love._ II. _It depends also on the state of marriage, in which the parties had lived._ III. _With those who have not been in love truly conjugial there is no obstacle or hindrance to their again contracting wedlock._ IV. _Those who had lived together in love truly conjugial are unwilling to marry again, except for reasons separate from conjugial love._ V. _The state of the marriage of a youth with a maiden differs from that of a youth with a widow._ VI. _The state of the marriage of a widower with a maiden differs also from that of a widower with a widow._ VII. _The varieties and diversities of these marriages as to love and its attributes are innumerable._ VIII. _The state of a widow is more grievous than that of a widower._ We proceed to the explanation of each article.

I. AFTER THE DEATH OF A MARRIED PARTNER, AGAIN TO CONTRACT WEDLOCK, DEPENDS ON THE PRECEDING CONJUGIAL LOVE. Love truly conjugial is like a balance, in which the inclinations for repeated marriages are weighed: so far as the preceding conjugial love had been genuine, so far the inclination for another marriage is weak; but so far as the preceding love had not been genuine, so far the inclination to another marriage is usually strong. The reason of this is obvious; because conjugial love is in a similar degree a conjunction of minds, which remains in the life of the body of the one party after the decease of the other; and this holds the inclination as a scale in a balance, and causes a preponderance according to the appropriation of true love. But since the approach to this love is seldom made at this day except for a few paces, therefore the scale of the preponderance of the inclination generally rises to a state of equilibrium, and from thence inclines and tends to the other side, that is, to marriage. The contrary is the case with those, whose preceding-love in the former marriage has not been truly conjugial, because in proportion as that love is not genuine, there is in a like degree a disjunction of minds, which also remains in the life of the body of the one party after the decease of the other; and this enters the will disjoined from that of the other, and causes an inclination for a new connection; in favor of which the thought arising from the inclination of the will induces the hope of a more united, and thereby a more delightful connection. That inclinations to repeated marriages arise from the state of the preceding love, is well known, and is also obvious to reason: for love truly conjugial is influenced by a fear of loss, and loss is followed by grief; and this grief and fear reside in the very inmost principles of the mind. Hence, so far as that love prevails, so far the soul inclines both in will and in thought, that is, in intention, to be in the subject with and in which it was: from these considerations it follows, that the mind is kept balancing towards another marriage according to the degree of love in which it was in the former marriage. Hence it is that after death the same parties are re-united, and mutually love each other as they did in the world: but as we said above, such love at this day is rare, and there are few who make the slightest approach to it; and those who do not approach it, and still more those who keep at a distance from it, as they were desirous of separation in the matrimonial life heretofore passed, so after death they are desirous of being united to another. But respecting both these sorts of persons more will be said in what follows.

II. AFTER THE DEATH OF A MARRIED PARTNER, AGAIN TO CONTRACT WEDLOOK, DEPENDS ALSO ON THE STATE OF MARRIAGE IN WHICH THE PARTIES HAD LIVED. By the State of marriage here we do not mean the state of love treated of in the foregoing article, because the latter causes an internal inclination to marriage or from it; but we mean the state of marriage which causes an external inclination to it or from it; and this state with its inclinations is manifold: as, 1. If there are children in the house, and a new mother is to be provided for them. 2. If there is a wish for a further increase of children. 3. If the house is large and full of servants of both sexes. 4. If the calls of business abroad divert the mind from domestic concerns, and without a new mistress there is reason to fear misery and misfortune. 5. If mutual aids and offices require that married partners be engaged in various occupations and employments. 6. Moreover it depends on the temper and disposition of the separated partner, whether after the first marriage the other partner can or cannot live alone, or without a consort. 7. The preceding marriage also disposes the mind either to be afraid of married life, or in favor of it. 8. I have been informed that polygamical love and the love of the sex, also the lust of deflowering and the lust of variety, have induced the minds (_animos_) of some to desire repeated marriages; and that the minds of some have also been induced thereto by a fear of the law and of the loss of reputation, in case they commit whoredom: besides several other circumstances which promote external inclinations to matrimony.

III. WITH THOSE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, THERE IS NO OBSTACLE OR HINDRANCE TO THEIR AGAIN CONTRACTING WEDLOCK. With those who have not been principled in conjugial love, there is no spiritual or internal, but only a natural or external bond; and if an internal bond does not keep the external in its order and tenor, the latter is but like a bundle when the bandage is removed, which flows every way according as it is tossed or driven by the wind. The reason of this is, because what is natural derives its origin from what is spiritual, and in its existence is merely a mass collected from spiritual principles; wherefore if the natural be separated from the spiritual, which produced and as it were begot it, it is no longer kept together interiorly, but only exteriorly by the spiritual, which encompasses and binds it in general, and does not tie it and keep it tied together in particular. Hence it is, that the natural principle separated from the spiritual, in the case of two married partners, does not cause any conjunction of minds, and consequently of wills, but only a conjunction of some external affections, which are connected with the bodily senses. The reason why nothing opposes and hinders such persons from again contracting wedlock, is, because they have not been the essentials of marriage; and hence those essentials do not at all influence them after separation by death: therefore they are then absolutely at their own disposal, whether they be widowers or widows, to bind their sensual affections with whomsoever they please, provided there be no legal impediment. Neither do they themselves think of marriages in any other than a natural view, and from a regard to convenience in supplying various necessities and external advantages, which after the death of one of the parties may again be supplied by another; and possibly, if their interior thoughts were viewed, as in the spiritual world, there would not be found in them any distinction between conjugial unions and extra-conjugial connections. The reason why it is allowable for these to contract repeated marriages, is, as above-mentioned, because merely natural connections are after death of themselves dissolved and fall asunder; for by death the external affections follow the body, and are entombed with it; those only remaining which are connected with internal principles. But it is to be observed, that marriages interiorly conjunctive can scarcely be entered into in the world, because elections of internal likenesses cannot there be provided by the Lord as in the heavens; for they are limited in many ways, as to equals in rank and condition, within the country, city, and village where they live; and in the world for the most part married partners are held together merely by externals, and thus not by internals, which internals do not shew themselves till some time after marriage, and are only known when they influence the externals.

IV. THOSE WHO HAD LIVED TOGETHER IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL ARE UNWILLING TO MARRY AGAIN, EXCEPT FOR REASONS SEPARATE FROM CONJUGIAL LOVE. The reasons why those who had lived in love truly conjugial, after the death of their married partners are unwilling to marry again, are as follow. 1. Because they were united as to their souls, and thence as to their minds; and this union, being spiritual, is an actual junction of the soul and mind of one of the parties to those of the other, which cannot possibly be dissolved; that such is the nature of spiritual conjunction, has been constantly shewn above. 2. Because they were also united as to their bodies by the receptions of the propagation of the soul of the husband by the wife, and thus by the insertion of his life into hers, whereby a maiden becomes a wife; and on the other hand by the reception of the conjugial love of the wife by the husband, which disposes the interiors of his mind, and at the same time the interiors and exteriors of his body, into a state receptible of love and perceptible of wisdom, which makes him from a youth become a husband; see above, n. 198. 3. Because a sphere of love from the wife, and a sphere of understanding from the man, is continually flowing forth, and because it perfects conjunctions, and encompasses them with its pleasant influence, and unites them; see also above, n. 223. 4. Because married partners thus united think of, and desire what is eternal, and because on this idea their eternal happiness is founded; see n. 216. 5. From these several considerations it is, that they are no longer two, but one man, that is, one flesh. 6. That such a union cannot be destroyed by the death of one of the parties, is manifest to the sight of a spirit. 7. To the above considerations shall be added this new information, that two such conjugial partners, after the death of one, are still not separated; since the spirit of the deceased dwells continually with that of the survivor, and this even to the death of the latter, when they again meet and are reunited, and love each other more tenderly than before, because they are then in the spiritual world. Hence flows this undeniable consequence, that those who had lived in love truly conjugial, are unwilling to marry again. But if they afterwards contract something like marriage, it is for reasons separate from conjugial love, which are all external; as in case there are young children in the house, and the care of them requires attention; if the house is large and full of servants of both sexes; if the calls of business abroad divert the mind from domestic concerns; if mutual aids and offices are necessary; with other cases of a like nature.

V. THE STATE OF THE MARRIAGE OF A YOUTH WITH A MAIDEN DIFFERS FROM THAT OF A YOUTH WITH A WIDOW. By states of marriage we mean the states of the life of each party, the husband and the wife, after the nuptials, thus in the marriage, as to the quality of the intercourse at that time, whether it be internal, that is of souls and minds, which is intercourse in the principle idea, or whether it be only external, that is of minds (_animorum_), of the senses, and of the body. The state of marriage of a youth with a maiden is essentially itself initiatory to genuine marriage; for between these conjugial love can proceed in its just order, which is from its first heat to its first torch, and afterwards from its first seed with the youth-husband, and from its first flower with the maiden-wife, and thus generate, grow, and fructify, and introduce itself into those successive states with both parties mutually; but if otherwise, the youth or the maiden was not really such, but only in external form. But between a youth and a widow there is not such an initiation to marriage from first principles, nor a like progression in marriage, since a widow is more at her own disposal, and under her own jurisdiction, than a maiden; wherefore a youth addresses himself differently to his wife if she were a widow, from what he does if she were a maiden. But herein there is much variety and diversity; therefore the subject is here mentioned only in a general way.

VI. THE STATE OF THE MARRIAGE OF A WIDOWER WITH A MAIDEN DIFFERS ALSO FROM THAT OF A WIDOWER WITH A WIDOW. For a widower has already been initiated into married life which a maiden has to be; and yet conjugial love perceives and is sensible of its pleasantness and delight in mutual initiation; a youth-husband and a maiden-wife perceive and are sensible of things ever new in whatever occurs, whereby they are in a kind of continual initiation and consequent amiable progression. The case is otherwise in the state of the marriage of a widower with a maiden: the maiden-wife has an internal inclination, whereas with the man that inclination has passed away; but herein there is much variety and diversity: the case is similar in a marriage between a widower and a widow; however, except this general notion, it is not allowable to add anything specifically.

VII. THE VARIETIES AND DIVERSITIES OF THESE MARRIAGES AS TO LOVE AND ITS ATTRIBUTES ARE INNUMERABLE. There is an infinite variety of all things, and also an infinite diversity. By varieties we here mean the varieties between those things which are of one genus or species, also between the genera and species; but by diversities we here mean the diversities between those things which are opposite. Our idea of the distinction of varieties and diversities may be illustrated as follows: The angelic heaven, which is connected as a one, in an infinite variety, no one there being absolutely like another, either as to souls and minds, or as to affections, perceptions, and consequent thoughts, or as to inclinations and consequent intentions, or as to tone of voice, face, body, gesture, and gait, and several other particulars, and yet, notwithstanding there are myriads of myriads, they have been and are arranged by the Lord into one form, in which there is full unanimity and concord; and this could not possibly be, unless they were all, with their innumerable varieties, universally and individually under the guidance of one: these are what we here mean by varieties. But by diversities we mean the opposites of those varieties, which exist in hell; for the inhabitants there are diametrically opposite to those in heaven; and hell, which consists of such, is kept together as a one by varieties in themselves altogether contrary to the varieties in heaven, thus by perpetual diversities. From these considerations it is evident what is perceived by infinite variety and infinite diversity. The case is the same in marriages, namely, that there are infinite varieties with those who are in conjugial love, and infinite varieties with those who are in adulterous love; and hence, that there are infinite diversities between the latter and the former. From these premises it follows, that the varieties and diversities in marriages of every genus and species, whether of a youth with a maiden, or of a youth with a widow, or of a widower with a maiden, or of a widower with a widow exceed all number: who can divide infinity into numbers?

VIII. THE STATE OF A WIDOW IS MORE GRIEVOUS THAN THAT OF A WIDOWER. The reasons for this are both external and internal; the external are such as all can comprehend; as: 1. That a widow cannot provide for herself and her family the necessaries of life, nor dispose of them when acquired, as a man can and as she previously did by and with her husband. 2. That neither can she defend herself and her family as is expedient; for, while she was a wife, her husband was her defence, and as it were her arm; and while she herself was her own (defence and arm), she still trusted to her husband. 3. That of herself she is deficient of counsel in such things as relate to interior wisdom and the prudence thence derived. 4. That a widow is without the reception of love, in which as a woman she is principled; thus she is in a state contrary to that which was innate and induced by marriage. These external reasons, which are natural, have their origin from internal reasons also, which are spiritual, like all other things in the world and in the body; respecting which see above, n. 220. Those external natural reasons are perceived from the internal spiritual reasons which proceed from the marriage of good and truth, and principally from the following: that good cannot provide or arrange anything but by truth; that neither can good defend itself but by truth; consequently that truth is the defence and as it were the arm of good; that good without truth is deficient of counsel, because it has counsel, wisdom, and prudence by means of truth. Now since by creation the husband is truth, and the wife the good thereof; or, what is the same thing, since by creation the husband is understanding, and the wife the love thereof, it is evident that the external or natural reasons, which aggravate the widowhood of a woman, have their origin from internal or spiritual reasons. These spiritual reasons, together with natural, are meant by what is said of widows in several passages in the Word; as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 764.

To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. After the problem concerning the soul had been discussed and solved in the gymnasium, I saw them coming out in order: first came the chief teacher, then the elders, in the midst of whom were the five youths who had given the answers, and after these the rest. When they were come out they went apart to the environs of the house, where there were piazzas surrounded by shrubs; and being assembled, they divided themselves into small companies, which were so many groups of youths conversing together on subjects of wisdom, in each of which was one of the wise persons from the orchestra. As I saw these from my apartment, I became in the spirit, and in that state I went out to them, and approached the chief teacher, who had lately proposed the problem concerning the soul. On seeing me, he said. "Who are you? I was surprised as I saw you approaching in the way, that at one instant you came into my sight, and the next instant went out of it; or that at one time I saw you, and suddenly I did not see you: assuredly you are not in the same state of life that we are." To this I replied, smiling, "I am neither a player nor a _vertumnus_; but I am alternate, at one time in your light, and at another in your shade; thus both a foreigner and a native." Hereupon the chief teacher looked at me, and said, "You speak things strange and wonderful: tell me who you are." I said, "I am in the world in which you have been, and from which you have departed, and which is called the natural world; and I am also in the world into which you have come, and in which you are, which is called the spiritual world. Hence I am in a natural state, and at the same time in a spiritual state; in a natural state with men of the earth and in a spiritual state with you; and when I am in the natural state, you do not see me, but when I am in the spiritual state, you do; that such should be my condition, has been granted me by the Lord. It is known to you, illustrious sir, that a man of the natural world does not see a man of the spiritual world, nor _vice versa_; therefore when I let my spirit into the body, you did not see me; but when I let it out of the body, you did see me. You have been teaching in the gymnasium, that you are souls, and that souls see souls, because they are human forms; and you know, that when you were in the natural world, you did not see yourself or your souls in your bodies; and this is a consequence of the difference between what is spiritual and what is natural." When he heard of the difference between what is spiritual and what is natural, he said, "What do you mean by that difference? is it not like the difference between what is more or less pure? for what is spiritual but that which is natural in a higher state of purity?" I replied, "The difference is of another kind; it is like that between prior and posterior, which bear no determinate proportion to each other: for the prior is in the posterior as the cause is in the effect; and the posterior is derived from the prior as the effect from its cause: hence, the one does not appear to the other." To this the chief teacher replied, "I have meditated and ruminated upon this difference, but heretofore in vain; I wish I could perceive it." I said, "You shall not only perceive the difference between what is spiritual and what is natural, but shall also see it." I then proceeded as follows: "You yourself are in a spiritual state with your associate spirits, but in a natural state with me; for you converse with your associates in the spiritual language, which is common to every spirit and angel, but with me in my mother tongue; for every spirit and angel, when conversing with a man, speaks his peculiar language; thus French with a Frenchman, English with an Englishman, Greek with a Greek, Arabic with an Arabian, and so forth. That you may know therefore the difference between what is spiritual and what is natural in respect to languages, make this experiment; withdraw to your associates, and say something there: then retain the expressions, and return with them in your memory, and utter them before me." He did so, and returned to me with those expressions in his mouth, and uttered them; and they were altogether strange and foreign, such as do not occur in any language of the natural world. By this experiment several times repeated, it was made very evident that all the spiritual world have the spiritual language, which has in it nothing that is common to any natural language, and that every man comes of himself into the use of that language after his decease. At the same time also he experienced, that the sound of the spiritual language differs so far from the sound of natural language, that a spiritual sound, though loud, could not at all be heard by a natural man, nor a natural sound by a spirit. Afterwards I requested the chief teacher and the bystanders to withdraw to their associates, and write some sentence or other on a piece of paper, and then return with it to me, and read it. They did so, and returned with the paper in their hand; but when they read it, they could not understand any part of it, as the writing consisted only of some letters of the alphabet, with turns over them, each of which was significative of some particular sense and meaning: because each letter of the alphabet is thus significative, it is evident why the Lord is called Alpha and Omega. On their repeatedly withdrawing, and writing in the same manner, and returning to me, they found that their writing involved and comprehended innumerable things which no natural writing could possibly express; and they were given to understand, that this was in consequence of the spiritual man's thoughts being incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man, and such as cannot flow and be brought into any other writing or language. Then as some present were unwilling to comprehend that spiritual thought so far exceeds natural thought, as to be respectively ineffable, I said to them, "Make the experiment; withdraw into your spiritual society, and think on some subject, and retain your thoughts, and return, and express them before me." They did so; but when they wanted to express the subject thought of, they were unable; for they did not find any idea of natural thought adequate to any idea of spiritual thought, consequently no words expressive of it; for ideas of thought are constituent of the words of language. This experiment they repeated again and again; whereby they were convinced that spiritual ideas are supernatural, inexpressible, ineffable, and incomprehensible to the natural man; and on account of this their super-eminence, they said, that spiritual ideas, or thoughts, as compared with natural, were ideas of ideas, and thoughts of thoughts; and that therefore they were expressive of qualities of qualities, and affections of affections; consequently that spiritual thoughts were the beginnings and origins of natural thoughts: hence also it was made evident that spiritual wisdom was the wisdom of wisdom, consequently that it was imperceptible to any wise man in the natural world. It was then told them from the third heaven, that there is a wisdom still interior and superior, which is called celestial, bearing a proportion to spiritual wisdom like that which spiritual wisdom bears to natural, and that these descend by an orderly influx according to the heavens from the divine wisdom of the Lord, which is infinite.

After this I said to the by-standers, "You have seen from these three experimental proofs what is the difference between spiritual and natural, and also the reason why the natural man does not appear to the spiritual, nor the spiritual to the natural, although they are consociated as to affections and thoughts, and thence as to presence. Hence it is that, as I approached, at one time you, Sir, (addressing the chief teacher), saw me, and at another you did not." After this, a voice was heard from the superior heaven to the chief teacher, saying, "Come up hither;" and he went up: and on his return, he said, that the angels, as well as himself, did not before know the differences between spiritual and natural, because there had never before been an opportunity of comparing them together, by any person's existing at the same time in both worlds; and without such comparison and reference those differences were not ascertainable.

After this we retired, and conversing again on this subject, I said, "Those differences originate solely in this circumstance of your existence in the spiritual world, that you are in substantials and not in materials: and substantials are the beginning of materials. You are in principles and thereby in singulars; but we are in principiates and composites; you are in particulars, but we are in generals; and as generals cannot enter into particulars, so neither can natural things, which are material, enter into spiritual things which are substantial, any more than a ship's cable can enter into, or be drawn though, the eye of a fine needle; or than a nerve can enter or be let into one of the fibres of which it is composed, or a fibre into one of the fibrils of which it is composed: this also is known in the world: therefore herein the learned are agreed, that there is no such thing as an influx of what is natural into what is spiritual, but of what is spiritual into what is natural. This now is the reason why the natural man cannot conceive that which the spiritual man conceives, nor consequently express such conceptions; wherefore Paul calls what he heard from the third heaven ineffable. Moreover, to think spiritually is to think abstractedly from space and time, and to think naturally is to think in conjunction with space and time; for in every idea of natural thought there is something derived from space and time, which is not the case with any spiritual idea; because the spiritual world is not in space and time, like the natural world, but in the appearances of space and time. In this respect also spiritual thoughts and perceptions differ from natural; therefore you can think of the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is, of God before the creation of the world, since you think of the essence of God from eternity abstracted from time, and of his omnipresence abstracted from space, and thus comprehend such things as transcend the ideas of the natural man." I then related to them, how I once thought of the essence and omnipresence of God from eternity, that is of God before the creation of the world; and that because I could not yet remove spaces and times from the ideas of my thought, I was brought into anxiety; for the idea of nature entered instead of God: but it was said to me, "Remove the ideas of space and time, and you will see." I did so and then I saw; and from that time I was enabled to think of God from eternity, and not of nature from eternity; because God is in all time without time, and in all space without space, whereas nature in all time is in time, and in all space in space; and nature with her time and space, must of necessity have a beginning and a birth, but not God who is without time, and space; therefore nature is from God, not from eternity, but in time, that is, together with her time and space.

After the chief teacher and the rest of the assembly had left me, some boys who were also engaged in the gymnasian exercise, followed me home, and stood near me for a little while as I was writing: and lo! at that instant they saw a moth running upon my paper, and asked in surprise what was the name of that nimble little creature? I said, "It is called a moth; and I will tell you some wonderful things respecting it. This little animal contains in itself as many members and viscera as there are in a camel, such as brains, hearts, pulmonary pipes, organs of sense, motion, and generation, a stomach, intestines, and several others; and each of these organs consists of fibres, nerves, blood-vessels, muscles, tendons, membranes; and each of these of still purer parts, which escape the observation of the keenest eye." They then said that this little animal appeared to them just like a simple substance; upon which I said, "There are nevertheless innumerable things within it. I mention these things that you may know, that the case is similar in regard to every object which appears before you as one, simple and least, as well in your actions as in your affections and thoughts. I can assure you that every grain of thought, that every drop of your affection, is divisible _ad infinitum_: and that in proportion as your ideas are divisible, so you are wise. Know then, that every thing divided is more and more multiple, and not more and more simple; because what is continually divided approaches nearer and nearer to the infinite, in which all things are infinitely. What I am now observing to you is new and heretofore unheard of." When I concluded, the boys took their leave of me, and went to the chief teacher, and intreated him to take an opportunity to propose in the gymnasium somewhat new and unheard of as a problem. He inquired, "What?" they said, "That every thing divided is more and more multiple, and not more and more simple; because it approaches nearer and nearer to the infinite, in which all things are infinitely:" and he pledged himself to propose it, and said, "I see this, because I have perceived that one natural idea contains innumerable spiritual ideas; yea, that one spiritual idea contains innumerable celestial ideas. Herein is grounded the difference between the celestial wisdom of the angels of the third heaven, and the spiritual wisdom of the angels of the second heaven, and also the natural wisdom of the angels of the last heaven and likewise of men."

THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. I once heard a pleasant discussion between some men respecting the female sex, whether it be possible for a woman to love her husband, who constantly loves her own beauty, that is, who loves herself from her form. They agreed among themselves first, that women have two-fold beauty; one natural, which is that of the face and body, and the other spiritual which is that of the love and manners; they agreed also, that these two kinds of beauty are often divided in the natural world, and are always united in the spiritual world; for in the latter world beauty is the form of the love and manners; therefore after death it frequently happens that deformed women become beauties, and beautiful women become deformities. While the men were discussing this point, there came some wives, and said, "Admit of our presence; because what you are discussing, you have learned by science, but we are taught it by experience; and you likewise know so little of the love of wives, that it scarcely amounts to any knowledge. Do you know that the prudence of the wives' wisdom consists in hiding their love from their husbands in the inmost recess of their bosoms, or in the midst of their hearts?" The discussion then proceeded; and the FIRST CONCLUSION made by the men was, That every woman is willing to appear beautiful as to face and manners, because she is born an affection of love, and the form of this affection is beauty; therefore a woman that is not desirous to be beautiful, is not desirous to love and to be loved, and consequently is not truly a woman. Hereupon the wives observed, "The beauty of a woman resides in soft tenderness, and consequently in exquisite sensibility; hence comes the woman's love for the man, and the man's for the woman. This possibly you do not understand." The SECOND CONCLUSION of the men was, That a woman before marriage is desirous to be beautiful for the men, but after marriage, if she be chaste, for one man only, and not for the men. Hereupon the wives observed. "When the husband has sipped the natural beauty of the wife, he sees it no longer, but sees her spiritual beauty; and from this he re-loves, and recalls the natural beauty, but under another aspect." The THIRD CONCLUSION of their discussion was, That if a woman after marriage is desirous to appear beautiful in like manner as before marriage, she loves the men, and not a man: because a woman loving herself from her beauty is continually desirous that her beauty should be sipped; and as this no longer appears to her husband, as you observed, she is desirous that it may be sipped by the men to whom it appears. It is evident that such a one has a love of the sex, and not a love of one of the sex. Hereupon the wives were silent; yet they murmured, "What woman is so void of vanity, as not to desire to seem beautiful to the men also, at the same time that she seems beautiful to one man only?" These things were heard by some wives from heaven, who were beautiful, because they were heavenly affections. They confirmed the conclusions of the men; but they added, "Let them only love their beauty and its ornaments for the sake of their husbands, and from them."

Those three wives being indignant that the three conclusions of the men were confirmed by the wives from heaven, said to the men, "You have inquired whether a woman that loves herself from her beauty, loves her husband; we in our turn will therefore inquire whether a man who loves himself from his intelligence, can love his wife. Be present and hear." This was their FIRST CONCLUSION; No wife loves her husband on account of his face, but on account of his intelligence in his business and manners: know therefore, that a wife unites herself with a man's intelligence and thereby with the man: therefore if a man loves himself on account of his intelligence, he withdraws it from the wife into himself, whence comes disunion and not union: moreover to love his own intelligence is to be wise from himself, and this is to be insane; therefore it is to love his own insanity. Hereupon the men observed, "Possibly the wife unites herself with the man's strength or ability." At this the wives smiled, saying, "There is no deficiency of ability while the man loves the wife from intelligence; but there is if he loves her from insanity. Intelligence consists in loving the wife only: and in this love there is no deficiency of ability; but insanity consists in not loving the wife but the sex, and in this love there is a deficiency of ability. You comprehend this." The SECOND CONCLUSION was; We women are born into the love of the men's intelligence; therefore if the men love their own intelligence, it cannot be united with its genuine love, which belongs to the wife; and if the man's intelligence is not united with its genuine love, which belongs to the wife, it becomes insanity grounded in haughtiness, and conjugial love becomes cold. What woman in such case can unite her love to what is cold; and what man can unite the insanity of his haughtiness to the love of intelligence? But the men said, "Whence has a man honor from his wife but by her magnifying his intelligence?" The wives replied, "From love, because love honors; and honor cannot be separated from love, but love maybe from honor." Afterwards they came to this THIRD CONCLUSION; You seemed as if you loved your wives; and you do not see that you are loved by them, and thus that you re-love; and that your intelligence is a receptacle: if therefore you love your intelligence in yourselves, it becomes the receptacle of your love; and the love of _proprium_ (or self-hood), since it cannot endure an equal, never becomes conjugial love; but so long as it prevails, so long it remains adulterous. Hereupon the men were silent; nevertheless they murmured, "What is conjugial love?" Some husbands in heaven heard what passed, and confirmed thence the three conclusions of the wives.

ON POLYGAMY.

The reason why polygamical marriages are absolutely condemned by the Christian world cannot be clearly seen by any one, whatever powers of acute and ingenious investigation he may possess, unless he be previously instructed, THAT THERE EXISTS A LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL; THAT THIS LOVE CAN ONLY EXIST BETWEEN TWO; NOR BETWEEN TWO, EXCEPT FROM THE LORD ALONE; AND THAT INTO THIS LOVE IS INSERTED HEAVEN WITH ALL ITS FELICITIES. Unless these knowledges precede, and as it were lay the first stone, it is in vain for the mind to desire to draw from the understanding any reasons for the condemnation of polygamy by the Christian world, which should be satisfactory, and on which it may firmly stand, as a house upon its stone or foundation. It is well known, that the institution of monogamical marriage is founded on the Word of the Lord, "_That whosoever putteth away his wife, except on account of whoredom, and marrieth another, committeth adultery; and that from the beginning, or from the first establishment of marriages, it was (ordained), that two should become one flesh; and that man should not separate what God hath joined together_," Matt. xix. 3-12. But although the Lord spake these words from the divine law inscribed on marriages, still if the understanding cannot support that law by some reason of its own, it may so warp it by the turnings and windings to which it is accustomed, and by sinister interpretations, as to render its principle obscure and ambiguous, and at length affirmative negative;--affirmative, because it is also grounded in the civil law; and negative, because it is not grounded in a rational view of those words. Into this principle the human mind will fall, unless it be previously instructed respecting the above-mentioned knowledges, which may be serviceable to the understanding as introductory to its reasons: these knowledges are, that there exists a love truly conjugial; that this love can only possibly exist between two; nor between two, except from the Lord alone; and that into this love is inserted heaven with all its felicities. But these, and several other particulars respecting the condemnation of polygamy by the Christian world, we will demonstrate in the following order: I. _Love truly conjugial can only exist with one wife, consequently neither can friendship, confidence, ability truly conjugial, and such conjunction of minds that two may be one flesh._ II. _Thus celestial blessednesses, spiritual satisfactions, and natural delights, which from the beginning were provided for those who are in love truly conjugial, can only exist with one wife._ III. _All those things can only exist from the Lord alone; and they do not exist with any but those who come to him alone, and at the same time live according to his commandments._ IV. _Consequently, love truly conjugial, with its felicities, can only exist with those who are of the Christian church._ V. _Therefore a Christian is not allowed to marry more than one wife._ VI. _If a Christian marries several wives, he commits not only natural but also spiritual adultery._ VII. _The Israelitish nation was permitted to marry several wives, because they had not the Christian church, and consequently love truly conjugial could not exist with them._ VIII. _At this day the Mahometans are permitted to marry several wives, because they do not acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be one with Jehovah the Father, and thereby to be the God of heaven and earth; and hence they cannot receive love truly conjugial._ IX. _The Mahometan heaven is out of the Christian heaven and is divided into two heavens, the inferior and the superior; and only those are elevated into their superior heaven who renounce concubines and live with one wife, and acknowledge our Lord as equal to God the Father, to whom is given dominion over heaven and earth._ X. _Polygamy is lasciviousness._ XI. _Conjugial chastity, purity, and sanctity, cannot exist with polygamists._ XII. _Polygamists, so long as they remain such, cannot become spiritual._ XIII. _Polygamy is not sin with those who live in it from a religious notion._ XIV. _That polygamy is not sin with those who are in ignorance respecting the Lord._ XV. _That of these, although polygamists, such are saved as acknowledge God, and from a religious notion live according to the civil laws of justice._ XVI. _But none either of the latter or of the former can be associated with the angels in the Christian heavens._ We proceed to an explanation of each article.

I. LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL CAN ONLY EXIST WITH ONE WIFE, CONSISTENTLY NEITHER CAN FRIENDSHIP, CONFIDENCE, ABILITY TRULY CONJUGIAL, AND SUCH A CONJUNCTION OF MINDS THAT TWO MAY BE ONE FLESH. That love truly conjugial is at this day so rare as to be generally unknown, is a subject which has been occasionally inquired into above; that nevertheless such love actually exists, was demonstrated in its proper chapter, and occasionally in following chapters. But apart from such demonstration, who does not know that there is such a love, which, for excellency and satisfaction, is paramount to all other loves, so that all other loves in respect to it are of little account? That it exceeds self-love, the love of the world, and even the love of life, experience testifies in a variety of cases. Have there not been, and are there not still, instances of men, who for a woman, the dear and desired object of their wishes, prostrate themselves on their knees, adore her as a goddess, and submit themselves as the vilest slaves to her will and pleasure? a plain proof that this love exceeds the love of self. Have there not been, and are there not still instances of men, who for such a woman, make light of wealth, yea of treasures presented in prospect, and are also prodigal of those which they possess? a plain proof that this love exceeds the love of the world. Have there not been, and are there not still, instances of men who for such a woman, account life itself as worthless, and desire to die rather than be disappointed in their wishes, as is evidenced by the many fatal combats between rival lovers on such occasions? a plain proof that this love exceeds the love of life. Lastly, have there not been, and are there not still, instances of men, who for such a woman, have gone raving mad in consequence of being denied a place in her favor? From such a commencement of this love in several cases, who cannot rationally conclude, that, from its essence, it holds supreme dominion over every other love; and that the man's soul in such case is in it, and promises itself eternal blessedness with the dear and desired object of its wishes? And who can discover, let him make what inquiry he pleases, any other cause of this than that he has devoted his soul and heart to one woman? for if the lover, while he is in that state, had the offer made him of choosing out of the whole sex the worthiest, the richest, and the most beautiful, would he not despise the offer, and adhere to her whom he had already chosen, his heart being riveted to her alone? These observations are made in order that you may acknowledge, that conjugial love of such super-eminence exists, while one of the sex alone is loved. What understanding which with quick discernment attends to a chain of connected reasonings, cannot hence conclude, that if a lover from his inmost soul constantly persisted in love to that one, he would attain those eternal blessednesses which he promised himself before consent, and promises in consent? That he also does attain them if he comes to the Lord, and from him lives a life of true religion, was shewn above. Who but the Lord enters the life of man from a superior principle, and implants therein internal celestial joys, and transfers them to the derivative principles which follow in order; and the more so, while at the same time he also bestows an enduring strength or ability? It is no proof that such love does not exist, or cannot exist, to urge that it is not experienced in one's self, and in this or that person.

Since love truly conjugial unites the souls and hearts of two persons, therefore also it is united with friendship, and by friendship with confidence, and makes each conjugial, and so exalts them above other friendships and confidences, that as that love is the chief love, so also that friendship and that confidence are the chief: that this is the case also with ability, is plain from several reasons, some of which are discovered in the SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION that follows this chapter; and from this ability follows the endurance of that love. That by love truly conjugial two consorts become one flesh, was shewn in a separate chapter, from n. 156-183.

II. THUS CELESTIAL BLESSEDNESS, SPIRITUAL SATISFACTIONS, AND NATURAL DELIGHTS, WHICH FROM THE BEGINNING WERE PROVIDED FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, CAN ONLY EXIST WITH ONE WIFE. They are called celestial blessednesses, spiritual satisfactions, and natural delights, because the human mind is distinguished into three regions, of which the highest is called celestial, the second spiritual, and the third natural; and those three regions, with such as are principled in love truly conjugial, are open, and influx follows in order according to the openings. And as the pleasantnesses of that love are most eminent in the highest regions, they are perceived as blessednesses, and as in the middle region they are less eminent, they are perceived as satisfactions, and lastly, in the lowest region, as delights: that there are such blessednesses, satisfactions, and delights, and that they are perceived and felt, appears from the MEMORABLE RELATIONS in which they are described. The reason why all those happinesses were from the beginning provided for those who are principled in love truly conjugial, is, because there is an infinity of all blessednesses in the Lord, and he is divine love; and it is the essence of love to desire to communicate all its goods to another whom it loves; therefore together with man he created that love, and inserted in it the faculty of receiving and perceiving those blessednesses. Who is of so dull and doting an apprehension as not to be able to see, that there is some particular love into which the Lord has collected all possible blessings, satisfactions, and delights?

III. ALL THOSE THINGS CAN ONLY EXIST FROM THE LORD ALONE; AND THEY DO NOT EXIST WITH ANY BUT THOSE WHO COME TO HIM ALONE, AND LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS COMMANDMENTS. This has been proved above in many places; to which proofs it may be expedient to add, that all those blessings, satisfactions, and delights can only be given by the Lord, and therefore no other is to be approached. What other can be approached, when by him all things were made which are made, John i. 3; when he is the God of heaven and earth, Matt, xxviii. 18: when no appearance of God the father was ever seen, or his voice heard, except through him, John i. 18; chap. v. 37; chap. xiv. 6-11? From these and very many other passages in the Word, it is evident that the marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth, from which alone all marriages derive their origin, proceeds from him alone. Hence it follows, that the above love with its felicities exists with none but those who come to him; and the reason why it exists with those who live according to his commandments, is, because he is conjoined with them by love, John xiv. 21-24.

IV. CONSEQUENTLY, LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL WITH ITS FELICITIES CAN ONLY EXIST WITH THOSE WHO ARE OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. The reason why conjugial love, such as was described in its proper chapter, n. 57-73, and in the following chapters, thus such as it is in its essence, exists only with those who are of the Christian church, is, because that love is from the Lord alone, and the Lord is not so known elsewhere as that he can be approached as God; also because that love is according to the state of the church with every one, n. 130, and the genuine state of the church is from no other source than from the Lord, and thus is with none but those who receive it from him. That these two principles are the beginnings, introductions, and establishments of that love, has been already confirmed by such abundance of evident and conclusive reasons, that it is altogether needless to say any thing more on the subject. The reason why conjugial love is nevertheless rare in the Christian world, n. 58-59, is, because few in that world approach the Lord, and among those there are some who indeed believe the church, but do not live accordingly; besides other circumstances which are unfolded in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, where the present state of the Christian church is fully described. But nevertheless it is an established truth, that love truly conjugial can only exist with those who are of the Christian church; therefore also from this ground polygamy is in that church altogether rejected and condemned: that this also is of the divine providence of the Lord, appears very manifest to those who think justly concerning providence.

V. THEREFORE A CHRISTIAN IS NOT ALLOWED TO MARRY MORE THAN ONE WIFE. This follows as a conclusion from the confirmation of the preceding articles; to which this is to be added, that the genuine conjugial principle is more deeply inserted into the minds of Christians, than of the Gentiles who have embraced polygamy; and that hence the minds of Christians are more susceptible of that love than the minds of polygamists; for that conjugial principle is inserted in the interiors of the minds of Christians, because they acknowledge the Lord and his divine principle, and in the exteriors of their minds by civil laws.

VI. IF A CHRISTIAN MARRIES SEVERAL WIVES, HE COMMITS NOT ONLY NATURAL BUT ALSO SPIRITUAL ADULTERY. That a Christian who marries several wives, commits natural adultery, is agreeable to the Lord's words, "_That it is not lawful to put away a wife, because from the beginning they were created to be one flesh; and that he who putteth away a wife without just cause, and marrieth another, committeth adultery_." Matt. xix. 3-12; thus still more does he commit adultery who does not put away his wife, but, while retaining her, connects himself with another. This law enacted by the Lord respecting marriages, has its internal ground in spiritual marriage; for whatever the Lord spoke was in itself spiritual; which is meant by this declaration, "_The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life_," John vi. 63. The spiritual (sense) contained therein is this, that by polygamical marriage in the Christian world, the marriage of the Lord and the Church is profaned; in like manner the marriage of good and truth; and still more the Word, and with the Word the church; and the profanation of those things is spiritual adultery. That the profanation of the good and truth of the church derived from the Word corresponds to adultery, and hence is spiritual adultery; and that the falsification of good and truth has alike correspondence, but in a less degree, may be seen confirmed in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 134. The reason why by polygamical marriages among Christians the marriage of the Lord and the church is profaned, is, because there is a correspondence between that divine marriage and the marriages of Christians; concerning which, see above, n. 83-102; which correspondence entirely perishes, if one wife is joined to another; and when it perishes, the married man is no longer a Christian. The reason why by polygamical marriages among Christians the marriage of good and truth is profaned, is because from this spiritual marriage are derived marriages in the world; and the marriages of Christians differ from those of other nations in this respect, that as good loves truth, and truth good, and are a one, so it is with a wife and a husband; therefore if a Christian should join one wife to another, he would rend asunder in himself that spiritual marriage; consequently he would profane the origin of his marriage, and would thereby commit spiritual adultery. That marriages in the world are derived from the marriage of good and truth, may be seen above, n. 116-131. The reason why a Christian by polygamical marriage would profane the Word and the church, is, because the Word considered in itself is the marriage of good and truth, and the church in like manner, so far as this is derived from the Word; see above, n. 128-131. Now since a Christian is acquainted with the Lord, possesses the Word, and has also the church from the Lord by the Word, it is evident that he, much more than one who is not a Christian, has the faculty of being capable of being regenerated, and thereby of becoming spiritual, and also of attaining to love truly conjugial; for these things are connected together. Since those Christians who marry several wives, commit not only natural but also at the same time spiritual adultery, it follows that the condemnation of Christian polygamists after death is more grievous than that of those who commit only natural adultery. Upon inquiring into their state after death, I received for answer, that heaven is altogether closed in respect to them; that they appear in hell as lying in warm water in the recess of a bath, and that they thus appear at a distance, although they are standing on their feet, and walking, which is in consequence of their intestine frenzy; and that some of them are thrown into whirlpools in the borders of the worlds.

VII. THE ISRAELITISH NATION WAS PERMITTED TO MARRY SEVERAL WIVES, BECAUSE THEY HAD NOT THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, AND CONSEQUENTLY LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL COULD NOT EXIST WITH THEM. There are some at this day who are in doubt respecting the institution relative to monogamical marriages, or those of one man with one wife, and who are distracted by opposite reasonings on the subject; being led to suppose that because polygamical marriages were openly permitted in the case of the Israelitish nation and its kings, and in the case of David and Solomon, they are also in themselves permissible to Christians; but such persons have no distinct knowledge respecting the Israelitish nation and the Christian, or respecting the externals and internals of the church, or respecting the change of the church from external to internal by the Lord; consequently they know nothing from interior judgment respecting marriages. In general it is to be observed, that a man is born natural in order that he may be made spiritual; and that so long as he remains natural, he is in the night, and as it were asleep as to spiritual things; and that in this case he does not even know the difference between the external natural man and the internal spiritual. That the Christian church was not with the Israelitish nation, is known from the Word; for they expected the Messiah, as they still expect him, who was to exalt them above all other nations and people in the world: if therefore they had been told, and were still to be told, that the Messiah's kingdom is over the heavens, and thence over all nations, they would have accounted it an idle tale; hence they not only did not acknowledge Christ or the Messiah, our Lord, when he came into the world, but also barbarously took him away out of the world. From these considerations it is evident, that the Christian church was not, with that nation, as neither is it at this day; and those with whom the Christian church is not, are natural men both externally and internally: to such persons polygamy is not hurtful, since it is inherent in the natural man; for, in regard to love in marriages, the natural man perceives nothing but what has relation to lust. This is meant by these words of the Lord, "_That Moses, because of the HARDNESS OF THEIR HEARTS, suffered them to put away their wives: but that from the beginning it was not so_," Matt. xix. 8. He says that Moses permitted it, in order that it may be known that it was not the Lord (who permitted it). But that the Lord taught the internal spiritual man, is known from his precepts, and from the abrogation of the rituals which served only for the use of the natural man; from his precepts respecting washing, as denoting the purification of the internal man, Matt. xv. 1, 17-20; chap. xxiii. 25, 26; Mark vii. 14-23; respecting adultery, as denoting cupidity of the will, Matt. v. 28; respecting the putting away of wives, as being unlawful, and respecting polygamy, as not being agreeable to the divine law, Matt. xix. 3-9. These and several other things relating to the internal principle and the spiritual man, the Lord taught, because he alone opens the internals of human minds, and makes them spiritual, and implants these spiritual principles in the natural, that these also may partake of a spiritual essence: and this effect takes place if he is approached, and the life is formed according to his command merits, which in a summary are, to believe on him, and to shun evils because they are of and from the devil; also to do good works, because they are of the Lord and from the Lord; and in each case for the man to act as from himself, and at the same time to believe that all is done by the Lord through him. The essential reason why the Lord opens the internal spiritual man, and implants this in the external natural man, is, because every man thinks and acts naturally, and therefore could not perceive any thing spiritual, and receives it in his natural principle, unless the Lord had assumed the human natural, and had made this also divine. From these considerations now it appears a truth that the Israelitish nation was permitted to marry several wives, because the Christian church was not with them.

VIII. AT THIS DAY THE MAHOMETANS ARE PERMITTED TO MARRY SEVERAL WIVES, BECAUSE THEY DO NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THE LORD JESUS CHRIST TO BE ONE WITH JEHOVAH THE FATHER, AND THEREBY TO BE THE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, AND HENCE CANNOT RECEIVE LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL. The Mahometans, in conformity to the religion which Mahomet gave them, acknowledge Jesus Christ to be the Son of God and a grand prophet, and that he was sent into the world by God the Father to teach mankind; but not that God the Father and he are one, and that his divine and human (principle) are one person, united as soul and body, agreeably to the faith of all Christians as grounded in the Athanasian Creed; therefore the followers of Mahomet could not acknowledge our Lord to be any God from eternity, but only to be a perfect natural man; and this being the opinion entertained by Mahomet, and thence by his disciples, and they knowing that God is one, and that that God is he who created the universe, therefore they could do no other than pass by our Lord in their worship; and the more so, because they declare Mahomet also to be a grand prophet; neither do they know what the Lord taught. It is owing to this cause, that the interiors of their minds, which in themselves are spiritual, could not be opened: that the interiors of the mind are opened by the Lord alone, may be seen just above, n. 340. The genuine cause why they are opened by the Lord, when he is acknowledged to be the God of heaven and earth, and is approached, and with those who live according to his commandments, is, because otherwise there is no conjunction, and without conjunction there is no reception. Man is receptible of the Lord's presence and of conjunction with him. To come to him causes presence, and to live according to his commandments causes conjunction; his presence alone is without reception, but presence and conjunction together are with reception. On this subject I will impart the following new information from the spiritual world. Every one in that world, when he is thought of, is brought into view as present; but no one is conjoined to another except from the affection of love; and this is insinuated by doing what he requires, and what is pleasing to him. This circumstance, which is common in the spiritual world, derives its origin from the Lord, who, in this same manner, is present and is conjoined. The above observations are made in order to shew, that the Mahometans are permitted to marry several wives, because love truly conjugial, which subsists only between one man and one wife, was not communicable to them; since from their religious tenets they did not acknowledge the Lord to be equal to God the Father, and so to be the God of heaven and earth. That conjugial love with every one is according to the state of the church, may be seen above, at n. 130, and in several other places.

IX. THE MAHOMETAN HEAVEN IS OUT OF THE CHRISTIAN HEAVEN AND IS DIVIDED INTO TWO HEAVENS, THE INFERIOR AND THE SUPERIOR; AND ONLY THOSE ARE ELEVATED INTO THEIR SUPERIOR HEAVEN WHO RENOUNCE CONCUBINES AND LIVE WITH ONE WIFE, AND ACKNOWLEDGE OUR LORD AS EQUAL TO GOD THE FATHER, TO WHOM IS GIVEN DOMINION OVER HEAVEN AND EARTH. Before we speak particularly to each of these points, it may be expedient to premise somewhat concerning the divine providence of the Lord in regard to the rise of Mahometanism. That this religion is received by more kingdoms than the Christian religion, may possibly be a stumbling-block to those who, while thinking of the divine providence, at the same time believe that no one can be saved that is not born a Christian; whereas the Mahometan religion is no stumbling-block to those who believe that all things are of the divine providence. These inquire in what respect the divine providence is manifested in the Mahometan religion; and they so discover in it this, that the Mahometan religion acknowledges our Lord to be the Son of God, the wisest of men, and a grand prophet, who came into the world to instruct mankind; but since the Mahometans have made the Koran the book of their religion, and consequently think much of Mahomet who wrote it, and pay him a degree of worship, therefore they think little respecting our Lord. In order to shew more fully that the Mahometan religion was raised up by the Lord's divine providence to destroy the idolatries of several nations, we will give a detail of the subject, beginning with the origin of idolatries. Previous to the Mahometan religion idolatrous worship prevailed throughout the whole world; because the churches before the Lord's coming were all representative; such also was the Israelitish church, in which the tabernacle, the garments of Aaron, the sacrifices, all things belonging to the temple at Jerusalem, and also the statutes, were representative. The ancients likewise had the science of correspondences, which is also the science of representations, the very essential science of the wise, which was principally cultivated by the Egyptians, whence their hieroglyphics were derived. From that science they knew what was signified by animals and trees of every kind, likewise by mountains, hills, rivers, fountains, and also by the sun, the moon, and the stars: by means of this science also they had a knowledge of spiritual things; since things represented, which were such as relate to the spiritual wisdom of the angels, were the origins (of those which represent). Now since all their worship was representative, consisting of mere correspondences, therefore they celebrated it on mountains and hills, and also in groves and gardens; and on this account they sanctified fountains, and in their adorations turned their faces to the rising sun: moreover they made graven horses, oxen, calves, and lambs; yea, birds, fishes, and serpents; and these they set in their houses and other places, in order, according to the spiritual things of the church to which they corresponded, or which they represented. They also set similar images in their temples, as a means of recalling to their remembrance the holy things of worship which they signified. In process of time, when the science of correspondences was forgotten, their posterity began to worship the very graven images as holy in themselves, not knowing that the ancients, their fathers, did not see anything holy in them, but only that according to correspondences they represented and thence signified holy things. Hence arose the idolatries which overspread the whole globe, as well Asia with its islands, as Africa and Europe. To the intent that all those idolatries might be eradicated, it came to pass of the Lord's divine providence, that a new religion, accommodated to the genius of the orientals, took its rise; in which something from each testament of the Word was retained, and which taught that the Lord had come into the world, and that he was a grand prophet, the wisest of all, and the Son of God. This was effected by means of Mahomet, from whom that religion took its name. From these considerations it is manifest, that this religion was raised up of the Lord's divine providence, and accommodated, as we have observed, to the genius of the orientals, to the end that it might destroy the idolatries of so many nations, and might give its professors some knowledge of the Lord, before they came into the spiritual world, as is the case with every one after death. This religion would not have been received by so many nations, neither could it have eradicated their idolatries, unless it had been made agreeable to their ideas; especially unless polygamy had been permitted; since without such permission, the orientals would have burned with the fire of filthy adultery more than the Europeans, and would have perished.

The Mahometans also have their heaven; for all in the universe, who acknowledge a God, and from a religious notion shuns evils as sins against him, are saved. That the Mahometan heaven is distinguished into two, the inferior and the superior, I have heard from themselves: and that in the inferior heaven they live with several wives and concubines as in the world; but that those who renounce concubines and live with one wife, are elevated into the superior heaven. I have heard also that it is impossible for them to think of our Lord as one with the Father; but that it is possible for them to think of him as his equal, and that he has dominion over heaven and earth, because he is his Son; therefore such of them as are elevated by the Lord into their superior heaven, hold this belief.

On a certain time I was led to perceive the quality of the heat of conjugial love with polygamists. I was conversing with one who personated Mahomet. Mahomet himself is never present, but some one is substituted in his place, to the end that those who are lately deceased may as it were see him. This substitute, after I had been talking with him at a distance, sent me an ebony spoon and other things, which were proofs that they came from him; at the same time a communication was opened for the heat of their conjugial love in that place, which seemed to me like the warm stench of a bath; whereupon I turned myself away, and the communication was closed.

X. POLYGAMY IS LASCIVIOUSNESS. The reason of this is, because its love is divided among several, and is the love of the sex, and the love of the external or natural man, and thus is not conjugial love, which alone is chaste. It is well known that polygamical love is divided among several, and divided love is not conjugial love, which cannot be divided from one of the sex; hence the former love is lascivious, and polygamy is lasciviousness. Polygamical love is the love of the sex, differing from it only in this respect, that it is limited to a number, which the polygamist may determine, and that it is bound to the observance of certain laws enacted for the public good; also that it is allowed to take concubines at the same time as wives; and thus, as it is the love of the sex, it is the love of lasciviousness. The reason why polygamical love is the love of the external or natural man is, because it is inherent in that man; and whatever the natural man does from himself is evil, from which he cannot be released except by elevation into the internal spiritual man, which is effected solely by the Lord; and evil respecting the sex, by which the natural man is influenced, is whoredom; but since whoredom is destructive of society, instead thereof was induced its likeness, which is called polygamy. Every evil into which a man is born from his parents, is implanted in his natural man, but not any in his spiritual man; because into this he is born from the Lord. From what has now been adduced, and also from several other reasons, it may evidently be seen, that polygamy is lasciviousness.

XI. CONJUGIAL CHASTITY, PURITY, AND SANCTITY CANNOT EXIST WITH POLYGAMISTS. This follows from what has been just now proved, and evidently from what was demonstrated in the chapter ON THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE; especially from these articles of that chapter, namely, that a chaste, pure, and holy principle is predicated only of monogamical marriages, or of the marriage of one man with one wife, n. 141; also, that love truly conjugial is essential chastity, and that hence all the delights of that love, even the ultimate, are chaste, n. 143, 144; and moreover from what was adduced in the chapter ON LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, namely, that love truly conjugial, which is that of one man with one wife, from its origin and correspondence, is celestial, spiritual, holy, and clean above every other love, n. 64. Now since chastity, purity, and sanctity exist only in love truly conjugial, it follows, that it neither does nor can exist in polygamical love.

XII. A POLYGAMIST, SO LONG AS HE REMAINS SUCH, CANNOT BECOME SPIRITUAL. To become spiritual is to be elevated out of the natural, that is, out of the light and heat of the world, into the light and heat of heaven. Respecting this elevation no one knows anything but he that is elevated; nevertheless the natural man, although not elevated, perceives no other than that he is; because he can elevate his understanding into the light of heaven, and think and talk spiritually, like the spiritual man; but if the will does not at the same time follow the understanding to its altitude, he is still not elevated; for he does not remain in that elevation, but in a short time lets himself down to his will, and there fixes his station. It is said the will, but it is the love that is meant at the same time; because the will is the receptacle of the love; for what a man loves, that he wills. From these few considerations it may appear, that a polygamist, so long as he remains such, or what is the same, a natural man, so long as he remains such, cannot be made spiritual.

XIII. POLYGAMY IS NOT SIN WITH THOSE WHO LIVE IN IT FROM A RELIGIOUS NOTION. All that which is contrary to religion is believed to be sin, because it is contrary to God; and on the other hand, all that which agrees with religion, is believed not to be sin, because it agrees with God; and as polygamy existed with the sons of Israel from a principle of religion, and exists at this day with the Mahometans, it could not, and cannot, be imputed to them as sin. Moreover, to prevent its being sin to them, they remain natural, and do not become spiritual; and the natural man cannot see that there is any sin in such things as belong to the received religion: this is seen only by the spiritual man. It is on this account, that although the Mahometans are taught by the Koran to acknowledge our Lord as the Son of God, still they do not come to him, but to Mahomet; and so long they remain natural, and consequently do not know that there is in polygamy any evil, or indeed any lasciviousness. The Lord also saith, "_If ye were blind ye would not have sin; but now ye say, We see, therefore your sin remaineth_," John ix. 41. Since polygamy cannot convict them of sin, therefore after death they have their heavens, n. 342, 343; and their joys there according to life.

XIV. POLYGAMY IS NOT SIN WITH THOSE WHO ARE IN IGNORANCE RESPECTING THE LORD. This is, because love truly conjugial is from the Lord alone, and cannot be imparted by the Lord to any but those who know him, acknowledge him, believe on him, and live the life which is from him; and those to whom that love cannot be imparted know no other than that the love of the sex and conjugial love are the same thing; consequently also polygamy. Moreover, polygamists, who know nothing of the Lord, remain natural: for a man (_homo_) is made spiritual only from the Lord; and that is not imputed to the natural man as sin, which is according to the laws of religion and at the same time of society: he also acts according to his reason; and the reason of the natural man is in mere darkness respecting love truly conjugial; and this love in excellence is spiritual. Nevertheless the reason of polygamists is taught from experience, that both public and private peace require that promiscuous lust in general should be restrained, and be left to every one within his own house: hence comes polygamy.

It is well known, that a man (_homo_) by birth is viler than the beasts. All the beasts are born into the knowledges corresponding to the love of their life; for as soon as they are born, or are hatched from the egg, they see, hear, walk, know their food, their dam, their friends and foes; and soon after this they show attention to the sex, and to the affairs of love, and also to the rearing of their offspring. Man alone, at his birth, knows nothing of this sort; for no knowledge is connate to him; he has only the faculty and inclination of receiving those things which relate to knowledge and love; and if he does not receive these from others, he remains viler than a beast. That man is born in this condition, to the end that he may attribute nothing to himself, but to others, and at length every thing of wisdom and of the love thereof to God alone, and may hence become an image of God, see the MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 132-136. From these considerations it follows, that a man who does not learn from others that the Lord has come into the world, and that he is God, and has only acquired some knowledge respecting religion and the laws of his country, is not in fault if he thinks no more of conjugial love than of the love of the sex, and if he believes polygamical love to be the only conjugial love. The Lord leads such persons in their ignorance; and by his divine auspices providently withdraws from the imputation of guilt those who, from a religious notion, shun evils as sins, to the end that they may be saved; for every man is born for heaven, and no one for hell; and every one comes into heaven (by influence) from the Lord, and into hell (by influence) from himself.