79. THE FIFTH MEMORABLE RELATION, The angel that had been my guide and

companion to the ancients who had lived in the four ages, the golden,

the silver, the copper, and the iron, again presented himself to me, and

said, "Are you desirous of seeing the age which succeeded those ancient

ones, and to know what its quality formerly was, and still is? Follow

me, and you shall see. They are those concerning whom Daniel thus

prophesied: '_A kingdom shall arise after those four in which iron shall

be mixed with miry clay: they shall mingle themselves together by the

seed of man: but they shall not cohere one with the other, as iron is

not mixed with clay_, Dan. ii. 41-43:'" and he said, "By the seed of

man, whereby iron shall be mixed with clay, and still they shall not

cohere, is meant the truth of the Word falsified." After he had said

this, I followed him, and in the way, he related to me these

particulars. "They dwell in the borders between the south and the west,

but at a great distance beyond those who lived in the four former ages,

and also at a greater depth." We then proceeded through the south to the

region bordering on the west, and passed though a formidable forest; for

in it there were lakes, out of which crocodiles raised their heads, and

opened at us their wide jaws beset with teeth; and between the lakes

were terrible dogs, some of which were three-headed like Cerberus, some

two-headed, all looking at us as we passed with a horrible hungry snarl

and fierce eyes. We entered the western tract of this region, and saw

dragons and leopards, such as are described in the Revelation, chap.

xii. 3; chap. xiii. 2. Then the angel said to me, "All these wild beasts

which you have seen, are not wild beasts but correspondences, and

thereby representative forms of the lusts of the inhabitants whom we

shall visit. The lusts themselves are represented by those horrible

dogs; their deceit and cunning by crocodiles; their falsities and

depraved inclinations to the things which relate to worship, by dragons

and leopards: nevertheless the inhabitants represented do not live close

behind the forest, but behind a great wilderness which lies

intermediate, that they may be fully withheld and separated from the

inhabitants of the foregoing ages, being of an entirely different genius

and quality from them: they have indeed heads above their breasts, and

breasts above their loins, and loins above their feet, like the primeval

men; but in their heads there is not any thing of gold, nor in their

breasts any thing of silver, nor in their loins any thing of brass, no,

nor in their feet any thing of pure iron; but in their heads is iron

mixed with clay, in their breasts is each mixed with brass, in their

loins is also each mixed with silver, and in their feet is each mixed

with gold: by this inversion they are changed from men (_homines_) into

graven images of men, in which inwardly nothing coheres; for what was

highest, is made lowest, thus what was the head is become the heel, and

_vice versa_. They appear to us from heaven like stage-players, who lie

upon their elbows with the body inverted, and put themselves in a

walking motion; or like beasts, which lie on their backs, and lift the

feet upwards, and from the head, which they plunge in the earth, look

towards heaven." We passed through the forest, and entered the

wilderness, which was not less terrible: it consisted of heaps of

stones, and ditches between them, out of which crept hydras and vipers,

and there flew forth venomous flying serpents. This whole wilderness was

on a continual declivity: we descended by a long steep descent, and at

length came into the valley inhabited by the people of that region and

age. There were here and there cottages, which appeared at length to

meet, and to be joined together in the form of a city: this we entered,

and lo! the houses were built of the scorched branches of trees,

cemented together with mud and covered with black slates. The streets

were irregular; all of them at the entrance narrow, but wider as they

extended, and at the end spacious, where there were places of public

resort: here there were as many places of public resort as there were

streets. As we entered the city, it became dark, because the sky did not

appear; we therefore looked up and light was given us, and we saw: and

then I asked those we met, "Are you able to see because the sky does not

appear above you?" They replied "What a question is this! we see

clearly; we walk in full light." On hearing this, the angel said to me,

"Darkness to them is light, and light darkness, as is the case with

birds of night; as they look downwards and not upwards." We entered into

some of the cottages, and saw in each a man with his woman, and we asked

them, "Do all live here in their respective houses with one wife only?"

And they replied with a hissing, "What do you mean by one wife only? Why

do not you ask, whether we live with one harlot? What is a wife but a

harlot? By our laws it is not allowable to commit fornication with more

than one woman; but still we do not hold it dishonorable or unbecoming

to do so with more; yet out of our own houses we glory in the one among

another: thus we rejoice in the license we take, and the pleasure

attending it, more than polygamists. Why is a plurality of wives denied

us, when yet it has been granted, and at this day is granted in the

whole world about us? What is life with one woman only, but captivity

and imprisonment? We however in this place have broken the bolt of this

prison, and have rescued ourselves from slavery, and made ourselves

free, and who is angry with a prisoner for asserting his freedom when it

is in his power?" to this we replied, "You speak, friend, as if without

any sense of religion. What rational person does not know that

adulteries are profane and infernal, and that marriages are holy and

heavenly. Do not adulteries take place with devils in hell, and

marriages with angels in heaven? Did you never read the sixth

commandment [Footnote: According to the division of the commandments

adopted by the Church of England, it is the _seventh_ that is here

referred to.] of the decalogue? and in Paul, that adulterers can by no

means enter heaven?" Hereupon our host laughed heartily, and regarded me

as a simpleton, and almost as out of my senses. But just then there came

running a messenger from the chief of the city, and said, "Bring the two

strangers into the town-hall; and if they refuse to come, drag them

there: we have seen them in a shade of light; they have entered

privately; they are spies." Hereupon the angel said to me, "The reason

why we were seen in a shade, is, because the light of heaven in which we

have been, is to them a shade, and the shade of hell is to them light;

and this is because they regard nothing as sin, not even adultery: hence

they see what is false altogether as what is true; and what is false is

lucid in hell before satans, and what is true darkens their eyes like

the shade of night." We said to the messenger, "We will not be pressed,

still less will we be dragged into the town-hall; but we will go with

you of our own accord." So we went: and lo! there was a great crowd

assembled, out of which came some lawyers, and whispered to us, saying,

"Take heed to yourselves how you speak any thing against religion, the

form of our government, and good manners:" and we replied, "We will not

speak against them, but for them and from them." Then we asked, "What

are your religious notions respecting marriages?" At this the crowd

murmured, and said, "What have you to do here with marriages? Marriages

are marriages." Again we asked, "What are your religious notions

respecting whoredoms?" At this also they murmured, saying, "What have

you to do here with whoredoms? Whoredoms are whoredoms: let him that is

guiltless cast the first stone." And we asked thirdly, "Does your

religion teach that marriages are holy and heavenly, and that adulteries

are profane and infernal?" Hereupon several in the crowd laughed aloud,

jested, and bantered, saying, "Inquire of our priests, and not of us, as

to what concerns religion. We acquiesce entirely in what they declare;

because no point of religion is an object of decision in the

understanding. Have you never heard that the understanding is without

any sense or discernment in mysteries, which constitute the whole of

religion? And what have actions to do with religion? Is not the soul

made blessed by the muttering of words from a devout heart concerning

expiation, satisfaction, and imputation, and not by works?" But at this

instant there came some of the wise ones of the city, so called, and

said, "Retire hence; the crowd grows angry; a storm is gathering: let us

talk in private on this subject; there is a retired walk behind the

town-hall; come with us there." We followed them; and they asked us

whence we came, and what was our business there? And we said, "to be

instructed concerning marriages, whether they are holy with you, as they

were with the ancients who lived in the golden, silver, and copper ages;

or whether they are not holy." And they replied, "What do you mean by

holiness? Are not marriages works of the flesh and of the night?" And we

answered, "Are they not also works of the spirit? and what the flesh

does from the spirit, is not that spiritual? and all that the spirit

does, it does from the marriage of good and truth. Is not this marriage

spiritual, which enters the natural marriage of husband and wife?" To

this the wise ones, so called, made answer, "There is too much subtlety

and sublimity in what you say on this subject; you ascend far above

rational principles to spiritual: and who, beginning at such an

elevation, can descend thence, and thus form any decision?" To this they

added with a smile of ridicule, "Perhaps you have the wings of an eagle,

and can fly in the highest region of heaven, and make these discoveries:

this we cannot do." We then asked them to tell us, from the altitude or

region in which the winged ideas of their minds fly, whether they knew,

or were able to know, that the love of one man with one wife is

conjugial love, into which are collected all the beatitudes,

satisfactions, delights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures of heaven; and

that this love is from the Lord according to the reception of good and

truth from him; thus according to the state of the church? On hearing

this, they turned away, and said, "These men are out of their senses;

they enter the ether with their judgement, and scatter about vain

conjectures like nuts and almonds." After this they turned to us,

saying, "We will give a direct answer to your windy conjectures and

dreams;" and they said, "What has conjugial love in common with religion

and inspiration from God? Is not this love with every one according to

the state of his potency? Is it not the same with those who are out of

the church as with those who are in it, with Gentiles as with

Christians, yea, with the impious as with the pious? Has not every one

the strength of this love either hereditarily, or from bodily health, or

from temperance of life, or from warmth of climate? By medicines also it

may be strengthened and stimulated. Is not the case similar with the

brute creation, especially with birds which unite in pairs? Moreover, is

not this love carnal? and what has a carnal principle in common with the

spiritual state of the church? Does this love, as to its ultimate effect

with a wife, differ at all from love as to its effect with a harlot? Is

not the lust similar, and the delight similar? Wherefore it is injurious

to deduce the origin of conjugial love from the holy things of the

church." On hearing this, we said to them, "You reason from the stimulus

of lasciviousness, and not from conjugial love; you are altogether

ignorant what conjugial love is, because it is cold with you; from what

you have said we are convinced that you are of the age which has its

name from and consists of iron and clay, which do not cohere, according

to the prophecy in Daniel, chap. ii. 43; for you make conjugial love and

adulterous love the same thing; and do these two cohere any more than

iron and clay? You are believed and called wise, and yet you have not

the smallest pretensions to that character." On hearing this, they were

inflamed with rage and made a loud cry, and called the crowd together to

cast us out; but at that instant, by virtue of power given us by the

Lord, we stretched out our hands, and lo! the flying serpents, vipers,

and hydras, and also the dragons from the wilderness, presented

themselves, and entered and filled the city; at which the inhabitants

being terrified fled away. The angel then said to me, "Into this region

new comers from the earth daily enter, and the former inhabitants are by

turns separated and cast down into the gulphs of the west, which appear

at a distance like lakes of fire and brimstone. All in those gulphs are

spiritual and natural adulterers."

80. THE SIXTH MEMORABLE RELATION. As the angel said this, I looked to

the western boundary, and lo! there appeared as it were lakes of fire

and brimstone; and I asked him, why the hells in that quarter had such

an appearance? He replied, "They appear as lakes in consequence of the

falsifications of truth; because water in the spiritual sense signifies

truth; and there is an appearance as it were of fire round about them,

and in them, in consequence of the love of evil, and as it were of

brimstone in consequence of the love of what is false. Those three

things, the lake, the fire, and the brimstone, are appearances, because

they are correspondences of the evil loves of the inhabitants. All in

that quarter are shut up in eternal work-houses, where they labor for

food, for clothing, and for a bed to lie on; and when they do evil, they

are grievously and miserably punished." I further asked the angel, why

he said that in that quarter are spiritual and natural adulterers, and

why he had not rather said, that they were evil doers and impious? He

replied, "Because all those who make light of adulteries, that is, who

commit them from a confirmed persuasion that they are not sins, and thus

are in the purpose of committing them from a belief of their being

harmless, are in their hearts evil doers and impious; for the conjugial

human principle ever goes hand in hand with religion; and every step and

movement made under the influence of religion, and leading to it, is

also a step and movement made under the influence of the conjugial

principle, and leading to it, which is peculiar and proper to the

Christian." On asking what that conjugial principle was, he said, "It is

the desire of living with one wife; and every Christian has this desire

according to his religion." I was afterwards grieved in spirit to think

that marriages, which in the most ancient times had been most holy, were

so wretchedly changed into adulteries. The angel said, "The case is the

same at this day with religion; for the Lord says '_In the consummation

of the age there will be the abomination of desolation foretold by

Daniel. And there will be great affliction, such as there has not been

from the beginning of the world_,' Matt. xxiv. 15, 21. The abomination

of desolation signifies the falsification and deprivation of all truth;

affliction signifies the state of the church infested by evils and

falses; and the consummation of the age, concerning which those things

are spoken, signifies the last time or end of the church. The end is

now, because there does not remain a truth which is not falsified; and

the falsification of truth is spiritual whoredom, which acts in unity

with natural whoredom, because they cohere."

81. As we were conversing and lamenting together on this occasion, there

suddenly appeared a beam of light, which, darting powerfully upon my

eyes, caused me to look up: and lo! the whole heaven above us appeared

luminous; and from the east to the west in an extended series we heard a

GLORIFICATION: and the angel said to me, "That is a glorification of the

Lord on account of his coming, and is made by the angels of the eastern

and western heavens." From the northern and southern heavens nothing was

heard but a soft and pleasing murmur. As the angel understood

everything, he told me first, that glorifications and celebrations of

the Lord are made from the Word, because then they are made from the

Lord; for the Lord is the Word, that is, the essential divine truth

therein; and he said, "Now in particular they glorify and celebrate the

Lord by these words, which were spoken by Daniel the prophet, '_Thou

sawest iron mixed with miry clay; they shall mingle themselves together

by the seed of man; but they shall not cohere. Nevertheless in those

days the God of the heavens shall cause a kingdom to arise, which shall

not perish for ages. It shall bruise and consume those kingdoms; but

itself shall stand for ages_.' Dan. ii. 43, 44." After this, I heard as

it were the voice of singing, and further in the east I saw a glittering

of light more resplendent than the former; and I asked the angel what

was the subject of their glorification? He said, "These words in Daniel;

'_I saw in the visions of the night, and lo! with the clouds of heaven

there came as it were the SON OF MAN: and to him was given dominion and

a kingdom; and all people and nations shall worship him. His dominion is

the dominion of an age, which shall not pass away; and his kingdom that

which shall not perish_,' Dan. vii. 13, 14. They are further celebrating

the Lord from these words in the Revelation: '_To JESUS CHRIST be glory

and strength: behold he cometh with clouds. He is alpha and omega, the

beginning and the end, the first and the last; who is, who was, and who

is to come, the almighty. I, John, heard this from the SON OF MAN, out

of the midst of the seven candlesticks_,' Rev. i. 5-7, 10-13; chap.

xxii. 13; Matt. xxiv. 30, 31." I looked again into the eastern heaven:

it was enlightened on the right side, and the light entered the southern

expanse. I heard a sweet sound; and I asked the angel, what was the

subject of their glorification in that quarter respecting the Lord? He

said, "These words in the Revelation: '_I saw a new heaven and a new

earth; and I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out

of heaven, prepared as a BRIDE for her HUSBAND: and the angel spake with

me, and said, Come, I will shew thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE: and he

carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed

me the holy city, Jerusalem_,' Rev. xxi. 1, 2, 9, 10: also these words,

'I JESUS _am the bright and morning star; and the spirit and the bride

say, COME; AND HE SAID, EVEN I COME QUICKLY; Amen: even COME, LORD

JESUS_,' Rev. xxii. 16, 17, 20." After these and several other subjects

of glorification, there was heard a common glorification from the east

to the west of heaven, and also from the south to the north; and I asked

the angel, "What now is the subject?" He said, "These words from the

prophets; '_Let all flesh know that I, JEHOVAH, AM THY SAVIOUR AND THY

REDEEMER_,' Isaiah xlix. 26. '_Thus saith JEHOVAH, the King of Israel,

and HIS REDEEMER, JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH, I am the first and the last, and

BESIDE ME THERE IS NO GOD_,' Isaiah xliv. 6. '_It shall be said in that

day, LO! THIS IS OUR GOD, whom we have expected to deliver us; THIS is

JEHOVAH WHOM WE HAVE EXPECTED_.' Isaiah xxv. 9. '_The voice of him that

crieth in the wilderness, Prepare a way for JEHOVAH. Behold the LORD

JEHOVAH cometh in strength. He shall feed his flock like a SHEPHERD_,'

Isaiah xl. 3, 10, 11. '_Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given;

whose name is Wonderful Counsellor, GOD, Hero, FATHER OF ETERNITY,

Prince of Peace_,' Isaiah ix. 6. '_Behold the days will come, and I will

raise up to David a righteous branch, who shall reign a King: and this

is his name, JEHOVAH OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS_,' Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6; chap,

xxxiii. 15, 16. '_JEHOVAH ZEBAOTH is his name, and THY REDEEMER the holy

one of Israel: THE GOD OF THE WHOLE EARTH SHALL HE BE CALLED_,' Isaiah

liv. 5. 'IN THAT DAY THERE SHALL BE ONE JEHOVAH, AND HIS NAME ONE,'

Zech. xiv. 9." On hearing and understanding these words, my heart

exulted, and I went home with joy; and there I returned out of a state

of the spirit into a state of the body; in which latter state I

committed to writing what I had seen and heard: to which I now add the

following particular. That conjugial love, such as it was with the

ancients, will be revived again by the Lord after his coming; because

this love is from the Lord alone, and is the portion of those who from

him, by means of the Word, are made spiritual.

82. After this, a man from the northern quarter came running in great

haste, and looked at me with a threatening countenance, and addressing

me in a passionate tone of voice, said, "Are you the man that wishes to

seduce the world, under the notion of re-establishing a new church,

which you understand by the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from

God; and teaching, that the Lord will endow with love truly conjugial

those who embrace the doctrines of that church; the delights and

felicity of which love you exalt to the very heaven? Is not this a mere

fiction? and do you not hold it forth as a bait and enticement to accede

to your new opinions? But tell me briefly, what are the doctrinals of

the New Church, and I will see whether they agree or disagree." I

replied, "The doctrines of the church, which is meant by the New

Jerusalem, are as follow: I. That there is one God, in whom there is a

divine trinity; and that he is the LORD JESUS CHRIST. II. That a saving

faith is to believe on him. III. That evils are to be shunned, because

they are of the devil and from the devil. IV. That goods are to be done,

because they are of God and from God. V. That these are to be done by a

man as from himself; but that it ought to be believed, that they are

done from the Lord with him and by him." On hearing these doctrines, his

fury for some moments abated; but after some deliberation he again

looked at me sternly, and said, "Are these five precepts the doctrines

of faith and charity of the New Church?" I replied, "They are." He then

asked sharply, "How can you demonstrate the FIRST, 'that there is one

God in whom there is a divine trinity; and that he is the Lord Jesus

Christ?" I said, "I demonstrate it thus: Is not God one and individual?

Is not there a trinity? If God be one and individual, is not he one

person? If he be one person, is not the trinity in that person? That

this God is the LORD JESUS CHRIST, is evident from these considerations,

that he was conceived from God the Father, Luke i. 34, 35; and thus that

as to his soul he is God; and hence, as he himself saith, that the

Father and himself are one, John x. 30; that he is in the Father, and

the Father in him, John xix. 10, 11; that he that seeth him and knoweth

him, seeth and knoweth the Father, John xiv. 7, 9; that no one seeth and

knoweth the Father, except he that is in the bosom of the Father, John

i. 18; that all things of the Father are his, John iii. 35; chap. xvi.

15; that he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and that no one cometh

to the Father but by him, John xiv. 6; thus of or from him, because the

Father is in him; and, according to Paul, that all the fulness of the

Godhead dwelleth bodily in him, Coloss. ii. 9; and moreover, that he

hath power over all flesh, John xvii. 2; and that he hath all power in

heaven and in earth, Matt, xxviii. 18: from which declarations it

follows, that he is God of heaven and earth." He afterwards asked how I

proved the SECOND, "that a saving faith is to believe on him?" I said,

"By these words of the Lord, 'This is the will of the Father, that every

one that BELIEVETH ON THE SON should have eternal life, John vi. 40.'

'God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that every

one that BELIEVETH ON HIM should not perish, but should have eternal

life,' John iii. 15, 16. 'HE THAT BELIEVETH ON THE SON, hath eternal

life; but he that believeth not the Son will not see life; but the wrath

of God abideth on him,' John iii. 36." He afterwards said, "Demonstrate

also the THIRD, and the next two doctrines:" I replied, "What need is

there to demonstrate 'that evils ought to be shunned, because they are

of the devil and from the devil; and that goods ought to be done,

because they are of God and from God;' also 'that the latter are to be

done by a man as from himself; but that he ought to believe that they

are from the Lord with him and by him?' That these three doctrines are

true, is confirmed by the whole Sacred Scripture from beginning to end;

for what else is therein principally insisted on, but to shun evils and

do goods, and believe on the Lord God? Moreover, without these three

doctrines there can be no religion: for does not religion relate to

life? and what is life but to shun evils and do goods? and how can a man

do the latter and shun the former but as from himself? Therefore if you

remove these doctrines from the church, you remove from it the Sacred

Scripture, and also religion; and these being removed, the church is no

longer a church." The man on hearing this retired, and mused on what he

had heard; but still he departed in indignation.

* * * * *

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

TRUTH.

83. There are both internal and external origins of conjugial love, and

several of each; nevertheless there is but one inmost or universal

origin of all. That this origin is the marriage of good and truth, shall

be demonstrated in what now follows. The reason why no one heretofore

has deduced the origin of that love from this ground, is, because it has

never yet been discovered that there is any union between good and

truth; and the reason why this discovery has not been made, is, because

good does not appear in the light of the understanding, as truth does,

and hence the knowledge of it conceals itself and evades every inquiry:

and as from this circumstance good is as it were unknown, it was

impossible for any one to conjecture that any marriage subsisted between

it and truth: yea, before the rational natural sight, good appears so

different from truth, that no conjunction between them can be supposed.

That this is the case, may be seen from common discourse whenever they

are mentioned; as when it is said, "This is good," truth is not at all

thought of; and when it is said, "This is true," neither is good at all

thought of; therefore at this day it is believed by many, that truth is

one thing and good another; and by many also, that a man is intelligent

and wise, and thereby a man (_homo_), according to the truths which he

thinks, speaks, writes, and believes, and not at the same time according

to goods. That nevertheless there is no good without truth, nor any

truth without good, consequently that there is an eternal marriage

between them; also that this marriage is the origin of conjugial love,

shall now be shewn and explained in the following order: I. _Good and

truth are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created

things; but they are in created subjects according to the form of each._

II. _There is neither solitary good nor solitary truth, but in all cases

they are conjoined._ III. _There is the truth of good, and from this the

good of truth; or truth grounded in good, and good grounded in that

truth: and in those two principles is implanted from creation an

inclination to join themselves together into a one._ IV. _In the

subjects of the animal kingdom, the truth of good, or truth grounded in

good, is male (or masculine); and the good of that truth, or good

grounded in that truth, is female (or feminine)._ V. _From the influx of

the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, the love of the sex and

conjugial love are derived._ VI. _The love of the sex belongs to the

external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal._ VII.

_But conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man; and hence

this love is peculiar to man._ VIII. _With man conjugial love is in the

love of the sex as a gem in its matrix._ IX. _The love of the sex with

man is not the origin of conjugial love, but its first rudiment; thus it

is like an external natural principle, in which an internal spiritual

principle is implanted._ X. _During the implantation of conjugial love,

the love of the sex inverts itself and becomes the chaste love of the

sex._ XI. _The male and the female were created to be the essential form

of the marriage of good and truth._ XII. _They are that form in their

inmost principles, and thence in what is derived from those principles,

in proportion as the interiors of their minds are opened._ We will now

proceed to the explanation.

84. I. GOOD AND TRUTH ARE THE UNIVERSALS OF CREATION, AND THENCE ARE IN

ALL CREATED THINGS; BUT THEY ARE IN CREATED SUBJECTS ACCORDING TO THE

FORM OF EACH. The reason why good and truth are the universals of

creation, is, because these two are in the Lord God the Creator; yea,

they are himself; for he is essential divine good and essential divine

truth. But this enters more clearly into the perception of the

understanding, and thereby into the ideas of thought, if instead of good

we say love, and instead of truth we say wisdom: consequently that in

the Lord God the Creator there are divine love and divine wisdom, and

that they are himself; that is, that he is essential love and essential

wisdom; for those two are the same as good and truth. The reason of this

is, because good has relation to love, and truth to wisdom; for love

consists of goods, and wisdom truths. As the two latter and the two

former are one and the same, in the following pages we shall sometimes

speak of the latter and sometimes of the former, while by both the same

is understood. This preliminary observation is here made, lest different

meanings should be attached to the expressions when they occur in the

following pages.

85. Since therefore the Lord God the Creator is essential love and

essential wisdom, and from him was created the universe, which thence is

as a work proceeding from him, it must needs be, that in all created

things there is somewhat of good and of truth from him; for whatever is

done and proceeds from any one, derives from him a certain similarity to

him. That this is the case, reason also may see from the order in which

all things in the universe were created; which order is, that one exists

for the sake of another, and that thence one depends upon another, like

the links of a chain: for all things are for the sake of the human race,

that from it the angelic heaven may exist, through which creation

returns to the Creator himself, in whom it originated: hence there is a

conjunction of the created universe with its Creator, and by conjunction

everlasting conservation. Hence it is that good and truth are called the

universals of creation. That this is the case, is manifested to every

one who takes a rational view of the subject: he sees in every created

thing something which relates to good, and something which relates to

truth.

86. The reason why good and truth in created subjects are according to

the form of each, is, because every subject receives influx according to

its form. The conservation of the whole consists in the perpetual influx

of divine good and divine truth into forms created from those

principles; for thereby subsistence or conservation is perpetual

existence or creation. That every subject receives influx according to

its form, may be illustrated variously; as by the influx of heat and

light from the sun into vegetables of every kind; each of which receives

influx according to its form; thus every tree and shrub according to its

form, every herb and every blade of grass according to its form: the

influx is alike into all; but the reception, which is according to the

form, causes every species to continue a peculiar species. The same

thing may also be illustrated by the influx into animals of every kind

according to the form of each. That the influx is according to the form

of every particular thing, may also be seen by the most unlettered

person, if he attends to the various instruments of sound, as pipes,

flutes, trumpets, horns, and organs which give forth a sound from being

blown alike, or from a like influx of air, according to their respective

forms.

87. II. THERE IS NEITHER SOLITARY GOOD NOR SOLITARY TRUTH. BUT IN ALL

CASES THEY ARE CONJOINED. Whoever is desirous from any of the senses to

acquire an idea respecting good, cannot possibly find it without the

addition of something which exhibits and manifests it: good without this

is a nameless entity; and this something, by which it is exhibited and

manifested, has relation to truth. Pronounce the term _good_ only, and

say nothing at the same time of this or that thing with which it is

conjoined; or define it abstractedly, or without the addition of

anything connected with it; and you will see that it is a mere nothing,

and that it becomes something with its addition; and if you examine the

subject with discernment, you will perceive that good, without some

addition, is a term of no predication, and thence of no relation, of no

affection, and of no state; in a word, of no quality. The case is

similar in regard to truth, if it be pronounced and heard without what

it is joined with: that what it is joined with relates to good, may be

seen by refined reason. But since goods are innumerable, and each

ascends to its greatest, and descends to its least, as by the steps of a

ladder, and also, according to its progression and quality, varies its

name, it is difficult for any but the wise to see the relation of good

and truth to their objects, and their conjunction in them. That

nevertheless there is not any good without truth, nor any truth without

good, is manifest from common perception, provided it be first

acknowledged that every thing in the universe has relation to good and

truth; as was shewn in the foregoing article, n. 84, 85. That there is

neither solitary good nor solitary truth, may be illustrated and at the

same time confirmed by various considerations; as by the following: that

there is no essence without a form, nor any form without an essence; for

good is an essence or _esse_; and truth is that by which the essence is

formed and the _esse_ exists. Again in a man (_homo_) there are the will

and the understanding. Good is of the will, and truth is of the

understanding; and the will alone does nothing but by the understanding;

nor does the understanding alone do anything but from the will. Again,

in a man there are two fountains of bodily life, the heart and the

lungs. The heart cannot produce any sensitive and moving life without

the respiring lungs; neither can the lungs without the heart. The heart

has relation to good, and the respiration of the lungs to truth: there

is also a correspondence between them. The case is similar in all the

things of the mind and of the body belonging to him; but we have not

leisure to produce further confirmations in this place; therefore the

reader is referred to the ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE

PROVIDENCE, n. 3-16, where this subject is more fully confirmed and

explained in the following order: I. That the universe with all its

created subjects, is from the divine love by the divine wisdom; or, what

is the same thing, from the divine good by the divine truth. II. That

the divine good and the divine truth proceed as a one from the Lord.

III. That this one, in a certain image, is in every created thing. V.

That good is not good, only so far as it is united with truth; and that

truth is not truth, only so far as it is united with good. VII. That the

Lord doesn't suffer that any thing should be divided; wherefore a man

must either be in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at

the same time in falsehood: not to mention several other considerations.

88. III. THERE IS THE TRUTH OF GOOD, AND FROM THIS THE GOOD OF TRUTH; OR

TRUTH GROUNDED IN GOOD, AND GOOD GROUNDED IN THAT TRUTH; AND IN THOSE

TWO PRINCIPLES IS IMPLANTED FROM CREATION AN INCLINATION TO JOIN

THEMSELVES TOGETHER INTO A ONE. It is necessary that some distinct idea

be acquired concerning these principles; because on such idea depends

all knowledge respecting the essential origin of conjugial love: for, as

will be seen presently, the truth of good, or truth grounded on good, is

male (or masculine), and the good of truth, or good grounded in that

truth, is female (or feminine): but this may be comprehended more

distinctly, if instead of good we speak of love, and instead of truth we

speak of wisdom; which are one and the same, as may be seen above, n.

84. Wisdom cannot exist with a man but by means of the love of growing

wise; if this love be taken away, it is altogether impossible for him to

become wise. Wisdom derived from this love is meant by the truth of

good, or by truth grounded in good: but when a man has procured to

himself wisdom from that love, and loves it in himself, or himself for

its sake, he then forms a love which is the love of wisdom, and is meant

by the good of truth, or by good grounded in that truth. There are

therefore two loves belonging to a man, whereof one, which is prior, is

the love of growing wise; and the other, which is posterior, is the love

of wisdom: but this latter love if it remains with man, is an evil love,

and is called self-conceit, or the love of his own intelligence. That it

was provided from creation, that this love should be taken out of the

man, lest it should destroy him, and should be transferred to the woman,

for the effecting of conjugial love, which restores man to integrity,

will be confirmed in the following pages. Something respecting those two

loves, and the transfer of the latter to the woman, may be seen above,

n. 32, 33, and in the preliminary MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 20. If

therefore instead of love is understood good, and instead of wisdom

truth, it is evident, from what has been already said, that there exists

the truth of good, or truth grounded in good, and from this the good of

truth, or good grounded in that truth.

89. The reason why in these two principles there is implanted from

creation an inclination to join themselves together into a one, is

because the one was formed from the other; wisdom being formed from the

love of growing wise, or truth being formed from good; and the love of

wisdom being formed from that wisdom, or the good of truth from that

truth; from which formation it may be seen, that there is a mutual

inclination to re-unite themselves, and to join themselves together into

a one. This effect takes place with men who are in genuine wisdom, and

with women who are in the love of that wisdom in the husband; thus with

those who are in love truly conjugial. But concerning the wisdom which

ought to exist with the man, and which should be loved by the wife, more

will be said in what follows.

90. IV. IN THE SUBJECT OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM THE TRUTH OF GOOD, OR TRUTH

GROUNDED IN GOOD, IS MALE (OR MASCULINE); AND THE GOOD OF THAT TRUTH, OR

GOOD GROUNDED IN THAT TRUTH, IS FEMALE (OR FEMININE). That from the

Lord, the Creator and Supporter of the universe, there flows a perpetual

union of love and wisdom, or a marriage of good and truth, and that

created subjects receive the influx, each according to its form, was

shewn above, n. 84-86: but that the male from this marriage, or from

that union, receives the truth of wisdom, and that the good of love from

the Lord is conjoined thereto according to reception, and that this

reception takes place in the intellect, and that hence the male is born

to become intellectual, reason, by its own light, may discover from

various particulars respecting him, especially from his affection,

application, manners, and form. It is discoverable from his AFFECTION,

which is the affection of knowing, of understanding, and of growing

wise; the affection of knowing takes place in childhood, the affection

of understanding in youth and in the entrance upon manhood, and the

affection of growing wise takes place from the entrance upon manhood

even to old age; from which it is evident, that his nature or peculiar

temper is inclinable to form the intellect; consequently that he is born

to become intellectual: but as this cannot be effected except by means

of love, therefore the Lord adjoins love to him according to his

reception; that is, according to his intention in desiring to grow wise.

The same is discoverable from his APPLICATION, which is to such things

as respect the intellect, or in which the intellect is predominant;

several of which relate to public offices and regard the public good.

The same is discoverable too from his MANNERS, which are all grounded in

the intellect as a ruling principle; in consequence whereof the actions

of his life, which are meant by manners, are rational; and if not, still

he is desirous they should appear so; masculine rationality is also

discernible in every one of his virtues. Lastly, the same is

discoverable from his FORM, which is different and totally distinct from

the female form; on which subject see also what was said above, n. 33.

Add to this, that the principle of prolification is in him, which is

derived from the intellect alone; for it is from truth grounded in good

in the intellect: that the principle of prolification is from this

source may be seen in the following pages.

91. But that the female is born to be a subject of the will (_ut sit

voluntaria_), yet a subject of the will as grounded in the intellectual

principle of the man, or what is the same, to be the love of the man's

wisdom, because she was formed through his wisdom, (on which subject see

above, n. 88, 89,) may also appear from the female's affection,

application, manners, and form. From her AFFECTION, which is the

affection of loving knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom; nevertheless

not in herself but in the man; and thus of loving the man: for the man

(_vir_) cannot be loved merely on account of his form, in that he

appears as a man (_homo_), but on account of the talent with which he is

gifted, which causes him to be a man. From her APPLICATION; in that it

is to such manual works as knitting, needlework, and the like, serving

for ornament, both to decorate herself and to exalt her beauty: and

moreover from her application to various domestic duties, which connect

themselves with the duties of men, which, as was said, relate to public

offices. They are led to these duties from an inclination to marriage,

that they may become wives, and thereby one with their husbands. That

the same is also discoverable from their MANNERS and FORM, needs no

explanation.

92. V. FROM THE INFLUX OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH FROM THE LORD,

THE LOVE OF THE SEX AND CONJUGIAL LOVE ARE DERIVED. That good and truth

are the universals of creation, and thence are in all created subjects;

and that they are in created subjects according to the form of each; and

that good and truth proceed from the Lord not as two but as one, was

shewn above, n. 84-87: from these considerations it follows, that the

UNIVERSAL CONJUGIAL SPHERE proceeds from the Lord, and pervades the

universe from its primaries to its ultimates; thus from angels even to

worms. The reason why such a sphere of the marriage of good and truth

proceeds from the Lord, is, because it is also the sphere of

propagation, that is, of prolification and fructification; and this

sphere is the same with the divine providence relating to the

preservation of the universe by successive generations. Now since this

universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, flows

into its subjects according to the form of each, see n. 86, it follows

that the male receives it according to his form, thus in the intellect,

because he is in an intellectual form; and that the female receives it

according to her form, thus in the will, because she is a form of the

will grounded in the intellect of the man; and since that sphere is also

the sphere of prolification, it follows that hence is the love of the

sex.

93. The reason why conjugial love also is from this same source, is,

because that sphere flows into the form of wisdom with men, and also

with angels; for a man may increase in wisdom to the end of his life in

the world, and afterwards to eternity in heaven; and in proportion as he

increases in wisdom, his form is perfected; and this form receives not

the love of the sex, but the love of one of the sex; for with one of the

sex it may be united to the inmost principles in which heaven with its

felicities consists, and this union is conjugial love.

94. VI. THE LOVE OF THE SEX BELONGS TO THE EXTERNAL OR NATURAL MAN, AND

HENCE IT IS COMMON TO EVERY ANIMAL. Every man is born corporeal, and

becomes more and more interiorly natural, and in proportion as he loves

intelligence he becomes rational, and afterwards, if he loves wisdom, he

becomes spiritual. What the wisdom is by which a man becomes spiritual,

will be shewn in the following pages, n. 130. Now as a man advances from

knowledge into intelligence, and from intelligence into wisdom, so also

his mind changes its form; for it is opened more and more, and conjoins

itself more nearly with heaven, and by heaven with the Lord; hence it

becomes more enamored of truth, and more desirous of the good of life.

If therefore he halts at the threshold in the progression to wisdom, the

form of his natural mind remains; and this receives the influx of the

universal sphere, which is that of the marriage of good and truth, in

the same manner as it is received by the inferior subjects of the animal

kingdom--beasts and birds; and as these are merely natural, the man in

such case becomes like them, and thereby loves the sex just as they do.

This is what is meant by the assertion,--the love of the sex belongs to

the external or natural man, and hence it is common to every animal.

95. VII. BUT CONJUGIAL LOVE BELONGS TO THE INTERNAL OR SPIRITUAL MAN;

AND HENCE THIS LOVE IS PECULIAR TO MAN. The reason why conjugial love

belongs to the internal or spiritual man is, because in proportion as a

man becomes more intelligent and wise, in the same proportion he becomes

more internal and spiritual, and in the same proportion the form of his

mind is more perfected; and this form receives conjugial love: for

therein it perceives and is sensible of a spiritual delight, which is

inwardly blessed, and a natural delight thence arising, which derives

its soul, life, and essence from the spiritual delight.

96. The reason why conjugial love is peculiar to man, is because he only

can become spiritual, he being capable of elevating his intellect above

his natural loves, and from that state of elevation of seeing them

beneath him, and of judging of their quality, and also of amending,

correcting, and removing them. No other animal can do this; for the

loves of other animals are altogether united with their inborn

knowledge; on which account this knowledge cannot be elevated into

intelligence, and still less into wisdom; in consequence of which every

other animal is led by the love implanted in his knowledge, as a blind

person is led through the streets by a dog. This is the reason which

conjugial love is peculiar to man; it may also be called native and near

akin to him; because man has the faculty of growing wise, with which

faculty this love is united.

97. VIII. WITH MAN CONJUGIAL LOVE IS IN THE LOVE OF THE SEX AS A GEM IN

ITS MATRIX. As this however is merely a comparison, we will explain it

in the article which immediately follows: this comparison also

illustrates what was shown just above, n. 94, 95,--that the love of the

sex belongs to the external or natural man, and conjugial love to the

internal or spiritual man.

98. IX. THE LOVE OF THE SEX WITH MAN IS NOT THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL

LOVE, BUT ITS FIRST RUDIMENT; THUS IT IS LIKE AN EXTERNAL NATURAL

PRINCIPLE, IN WHICH AN INTERNAL SPIRITUAL PRINCIPLE IS IMPLANTED. The

subject here treated of is love truly conjugial, and not ordinary love,

which also is called conjugial, and which with some is merely the

limited love of the sex. Love truly conjugial exists only with those who

desire wisdom, and who consequently advance more and more into wisdom.

These the Lord foresees, and provides for them conjugial love; which

love indeed commences with them from the love of the sex, or rather by

it; but still it does not originate in it; for it originates in

proportion to the advancement in wisdom and the dawning of the light

thereof in man; for wisdom and that love are inseparable companions. The

reason why conjugial love commences by the love of the sex is, because

before a suitable consort is found, the sex in general is loved and

regarded with a fond eye, and is treated with civility from a moral

ground: for a young man has to make his choice; and while this is

determining, from an innate inclination to marriage with one, which lies

concealed in the interiors of his mind, his external receives a gentle

warmth. A further reason is, because determinations to marriage are

delayed from various causes even to riper years, and in the mean time

the beginning of that love is as lust; which with some actually goes

astray into the love of the sex; yet with them it is indulged no further

than may be conducive to health. This, however, is to be understood as

spoken of the male sex, because it has enticements which actually

inflame it; but not of the female sex. From these considerations it is

evident that the love of the sex is not the origin of love truly

conjugial; but that it is its first rudiment in respect to time, yet not

in respect to end; for what is first in respect to end, is first in the

mind and its intention, because it is regarded as primary; but to this

first there is no approaching unless successively through mediums, and

these are not first in themselves, but only conducive to what is first

in itself.

99. X. DURING THE IMPLANTATION OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, THE LOVE OF THE SEX

INVERTS ITSELF AND BECOMES THE CHASTE LOVE OF THE SEX. It is said that

in this case the love of the sex inverts itself; because while conjugial

love is coming to its origin, which is in the interiors of the mind, it

sees the love of the sex not before itself but behind, or not above

itself but beneath, and thus as somewhat which it passes by and leaves.

The case herein is similar to that of a person climbing from one office

to another through a great variety, till he reaches one which exceeds

the rest in dignity; when he looks back upon the offices through which

he had passed, as behind or beneath him; or as when a person intends a

journey to the palace of some king, after his arrival at his journey's

end, he inverts his view in regard to the objects which he had seen in

the way. That in this case the love of the sex remains and becomes

chaste, and yet, to those who are principled in love truly conjugial, is

sweeter than it was before, may be seen from the description given of it

by those in the spiritual world, in the two MEMORABLE RELATIONS, n. 44,

and 55.

100. XI. THE MALE AND THE FEMALE WERE CREATED TO BE THE ESSENTIAL FORM

OF THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason for this is, because the

male was created to be the understanding of truth, thus truth in form;

and the female was created to be the will of good, thus good in form;

and there is implanted in each, from their inmost principles, an

inclination to conjunction into a one, as may be seen above, n. 88; thus

the two make one form, which emulates the conjugial form of good and

truth. It is said to emulate it, because it is not the same, but is like

it; for the good which joins itself with the truth belonging to the man,

is from the Lord immediately; whereas the good of the wife, which joins

itself with the truth belonging to the man, is from the Lord mediately

through the wife; therefore there are two goods, the one internal, the

other external, which join themselves with the truth belonging to the

husband, and cause him to be constantly in the understanding of truth,

and thence in wisdom, by love truly conjugial: but on this subject more

will be said in the following pages.

101. XII. MARRIED PARTNERS ARE THAT FORM IN THEIR INMOST PRINCIPLES, AND

THENCE IN WHAT IS DERIVED FROM THOSE PRINCIPLES, IN PROPORTION AS THE

INTERIORS OF THEIR MINDS ARE OPENED. There are three things of which

every man consists, and which follow in an orderly connection,--the

soul, the mind, and the body: his inmost is the soul, his middle is the

mind, and his ultimate is the body. Every thing which flows from the

Lord into a man, flows into his inmost principle, which is the soul, and

descends thence into his middle principle, which is the mind, and

through this into his ultimate principle, which is the body. Such is the

nature of the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord

with man: it flows immediately into his soul, and thence proceeds to the

principles next succeeding, and through these to the extreme or

outermost: and thus conjointly all the principles constitute conjugial

love. From an idea of this influx it is manifest, that two married

partners are the form of conjugial love in their inmost principles, and

thence in those derived from the inmost.

102. But the reason why married partners become that form in proportion

as the interiors of their minds are opened, is, because the mind is

successively opened from infancy even to extreme old age: for a man is

born corporeal: and in proportion as the mind is opened proximately

above the body, he becomes rational; and in proportion as his rational

principle is purified, and as it were drained of the fallacies which

flow in from the bodily senses, and of the concupiscences which flow in

from the allurements of the flesh, in the same proportion it is opened;

and this is affected solely by wisdom: and when the interiors of the

rational mind are open, the man becomes a form of wisdom; and this form

is the receptacle of love truly conjugial. "The wisdom which constitutes

this form, and receives this love, is rational, and at the same time

moral, wisdom: rational wisdom regards the truths and goods which appear

inwardly in man, not as its own, but as flowing in from the Lord; and

moral wisdom shuns evils and falses as leprosies, especially the evils

of lasciviousness, which contaminate its conjugial love."

* * * * *

103. To the above I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS: the FIRST is

this. One morning before sun-rise I was looking towards the east in the

spiritual world, and I saw four horsemen as it were issuing from a cloud

refulgent with the flame of the dawning day. On their heads they had

crested helmets, on their arms as it were wings, and around their bodies

light orange-colored tunics; thus clad as for expedition, they rose in

their seats, and gave their horses the reins, which thus ran as if they

had had wings to their feet. I kept my eye fixed on their course or

flight, desiring to know where they were going; and lo! three of the

horsemen took their direction towards three different quarters, the

south, the west, and the north; and the fourth in a short space of time

halted in the east. Wondering at all this, I looked up into heaven, and

inquired where those horsemen were going? I received for answer, "To the

wise men in the kingdoms of Europe, who with clear reasoning and acute

discernment discuss the subjects of their investigation, and are

distinguished above the rest for their genius, that they may assemble

together and explain the secret RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE,

AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY."

It was then said from heaven, "Wait awhile, and you will see

twenty-seven chariots; three, in which are Spaniards; three, in which

are Frenchmen; three, in which are Italians; three, in which are

Germans; three, in which are Dutchmen or Hollanders; three, in which are

Englishmen; three, in which are Swedes; three, in which are Danes; and

three, in which are Poles." In about two hours I saw the chariots, drawn

by horses of a pale-red color, with remarkable trappings: they passed

rapidly along towards a spacious house in the confines of the east and

south, around which all alighted from their several chariots, and

entered in with much confidence. Then it was said to me, "Go, and do you

also enter, and you will hear." I went and entered: and on examining the

house within, I saw that it was square, the sides looking to the four

quarters: in each side there were three high windows of crystalline

glass, the frames of which were of olive-wood; on each side of the

frames were projections from the walls, like chambers vaulted above, in

which there were tables. The walls of these chambers were of cedar, the

roof of the noble almug wood, and the floor of poplar boards. Near the

eastern wall, where no windows were seen, there was set a table overlaid

with gold, on which was placed a TURBAN set with precious stones, which

was to be given as a prize or reward to him who should by investigation

discover the secret about to be proposed. While my attention was

directed to the chamber projections like closets near the windows, I saw

five men in each from every kingdom of Europe, who were prepared and

waiting to know the object for the exercise of their judgements. An

angel then presented himself in the middle of the palace, and said, "The

object for the exercise of your judgements shall be RESPECTING THE

ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY.

Investigate this and decide upon it; and write your decision on a piece

of paper, and put it into the silver urn which you see placed near the

golden table, and subscribe the initial letter of the kingdom from which

you come; as F for French, B for Batavians or Hollanders, I for

Italians, E for English, P for Poles, G for German, H for Spaniards

(_Hispani_), D for Danes, S for Swedes." As he said this, the angel

departed, saying, "I will return." Then the five men, natives of the

same country, in each closet near the windows, took into consideration

the proposed subject, examined it attentively, and came to a decision

according to their respective talents and powers of judgement, which

they wrote on a piece of paper, and placed it in the silver urn, having

first subscribed the initial letter of their kingdom. This business

being accomplished in about three hours, the angel returned and drew the

papers in order from the urn, and read them before the assembly.

104. From the FIRST PAPER which he happened to lay hold of, he read as

follows; "We five, natives of the same country, in one closet have

decreed that the origin of conjugial love is from the most ancient

people in the golden age, and that it was derived to them from the

creation of Adam and his wife; hence is the origin of marriages, and

with marriages the origin of conjugial love. The virtue or potency of

conjugial love we derive from no other source than climate or situation

in regard to the sun, and the consequent heat of the country; and we are

confirmed in this sentiment, not by vain conjectures of reason, but by

evident proofs of experience, as by the case of the people who live

under the line, or the equinoctial, where the heat of the day is

intense, and by the case of those who live nearer to the line, or more

distant from it; and also from the co-operation of the sun's heat with

the vital heat in the living creatures of the earth and the fowls of

heaven, in the time of spring during prolification. Moreover, what is

conjugial love but heat, which becomes virtue or potency, if the heat

supplied from the sun be added to it?" To this decision was subscribed

the letter H, the initial of the kingdom from which they were.

105. After this he put his hand into the urn a SECOND TIME, and took out

a paper from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country,

in our lodge have agreed that the origin of conjugial love is the same

with the origin of marriages, which were sanctioned by laws in order to

restrain man's innate concupiscences prompting him to adultery, which

ruins the soul, defiles the reason, pollutes the morals, and infects the

body with disease: for adultery is not human but bestial, not rational

but brutish, and thus not in any respect Christian but barbarous: with a

view to the condemnation of such adultery, marriages originated, and at

the same time conjugial love. The case is the same with the virtue or

potency of this love; for it depends on chastity, which consists in

abstaining from the rovings of whoredom: the reason is, because virtue

or potency, with him who loves his married partner alone, is confined to

one, and is thus collected and as it were concentrated; and then it

becomes refined like a quintessence from which all defilement is

separated, which would otherwise be dispersed and cast away in every

direction. One of us five, who is a priest, has also added

predestination as a cause of that virtue or potency, saying, 'Are not

marriages predestinated? and this being the case, are not the progeny

thence issuing and the means conducive thereto, predestinated also?' He

insisted on adding this cause because he had sworn to it." To this

decision was subscribed the letter B. On hearing it, a certain spirit

observed with a smile, "How fair an apology is predestination for

weakness or impotence!"

106. Presently he drew from the urn a THIRD PAPER, from which he read as

follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our department have

deliberated concerning the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and

have seen this to be the principal, that it is the same with the origin

of marriage, because conjugial love had no existence before marriage;

and the ground of its existence is, that when any one is desperately in

love with a virgin, he desires in heart and soul to possess her as being

lovely above all things; and as soon as she betroths herself to him he

regards her as another self. That this is the origin of conjugial love,

is clearly manifest from the fury of every man against his rivals, and

from the jealousy which takes place in case of violation. We afterwards

considered the origin of the virtue or potency of this love; and the

sentiments of three prevailed against the other two, viz., that virtue

or potency with a married partner arises from some degree of

licentiousness with the sex. They affirmed that they knew from

experience that the potency of the love of the sex is greater than the

potency of conjugial love." To this decision was subscribed the letter

I. On hearing it, there was a cry from the table, "Remove this paper and

take another out of the urn."

107. And instantly he drew out a FOURTH, from which he read as follows:

"We, natives of the same country, under our window have come to this

conclusion, that the origin of conjugial love and of the love of the sex

is the same, the former being derived from the latter; only that the

love of the sex is unlimited, indeterminate, loose, promiscuous, and

roving; whereas conjugial love is limited, determinate, fixed, regular,

and constant; and that this love therefore has been sanctioned and

established by the prudence of human wisdom as necessary to the

existence of every empire, kingdom, commonwealth, and even society; for

without it men would wander like droves of cattle in fields and forests,

with harlots and ravished females, and would fly from one habitation to

another to avoid the bloody murders, violations, and depredations,

whereby the whole human race would be in danger of being extirpated.

This is our opinion concerning the origin of conjugial love. But the

virtue or potency of conjugial love we deduce from an uninterrupted

state of bodily health continuing from infancy to old age; for the man

who always retains a sound constitution and enjoys a continual freedom

from sickness, feels his vigor unabated, while his fibres, nerves,

muscles, and sinews, are neither torpid, relaxed, nor feeble, but retain

the full strength of their powers: farewell." To this decision was

subscribed the letter E.

108. FIFTHLY, he drew a paper out of the urn, from which he read as

follows: "We, natives of the same country, at our table, from the

rationality of our minds, have examined into the origin of conjugial

love and of its virtue or potency; and from all the considerations which

have presented themselves, we have seen and concluded upon no other

origin of conjugial love than this: that every man, from incentives and

consequent incitements which are concealed in the interiors of his mind

and body, after indulging in various desires of his eyes, at length

fixes his mind and inclination on one of the female sex, until his

passion is determined entirely to her: from this moment his warmth is

enkindled more and more, until at length it becomes a flame; in this

state the inordinate love of the sex is banished, and conjugial love

takes its place. A youthful bridegroom under the influence of this

flame, knows no other than that the virtue or potency of this love will

never cease; for he wants experience and therefore knowledge respecting

a state of the failure of his powers, and of the coldness of love which

then succeeds to delights: conjugial love therefore has its origin in

this first ardor before the nuptial ceremony, and from the same source

it derives its virtue or potency; but this virtue or potency changes its

aspect after the nuptial ceremony, and decreases and increases; yet

still it continues with regular changes, or with decrease and increase,

even to old age, by means of prudent moderation, and by restraining the

libidinous desires which burst forth from the lurking places of the mind

not yet thoroughly purified: for libidinous desire precedes wisdom. This

is our judgement concerning the origin and continuance of conjugial

virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter P.

109. SIXTHLY, he drew out a paper, from which he read as follows: "We,

natives of the same country, from the fellowship subsisting among us,

have attentively considered the causes of the origin of conjugial love,

and have agreed in assigning two; one of which is the right education of

children, and the other the distinct possession of inheritances. We have

assigned these two, because they aim at and regard the same end, which

is the public good: and this end is obtained, because infants conceived

and born from conjugial love become proper and true children; and these

in consequence of the natural love of the parents, exalted by the

consideration of their offspring being legitimate, are educated to be

heirs of all their parents' possessions both spiritual and natural. That

the public good is founded on a right education of children and on a

distinct possession of inheritances, is obvious to reason. Of the love

of the sex and conjugial love, the latter appears as if it were one with

the former, but it is distinctly different; neither is the one love near

to the other, but within it; and what is within is more excellent than

what is without: and we have seen that conjugial love from creation is

within, and lies hid in the love of the sex, just as an almond does in

its shell; therefore when conjugial love comes out of its shell, which

is the love of the sex, it glitters before the angels like a gem, a

beryl, and astroites. The reason of this is, because on conjugial love

is inscribed the safety of the whole human race, which we conceive to be

understood by the public good. This is our judgement respecting the

origin of this love. With respect to the origin of its virtue or

potency, from a consideration of its causes, we have concluded it to be

the development and separation of conjugial love from the love of the

sex, which is effected by wisdom on the man's part, and by the love of

the man's wisdom on the part of the wife: for the love of the sex is

common to man and beast; whereas conjugial love is peculiar to men:

therefore so far as conjugial love is developed and separated from the

love of the sex, so far a man is a man and not a beast; and a man

acquires virtue or potency from his love, as a beast does from his." To

this decision was subscribed the letter G.

110. SEVENTHLY, he drew out a paper from which he read as follows: "We,

natives of the same country, in the chamber under the light of our

window, have found our thoughts and thence our judgements exhilarated by

meditating on conjugial love; for who is not exhilarated by this love,

which, while it prevails in the mind, prevails also through the whole

body? We judge of the origin of this love from its delights; for who in

any case knows or has known the trace of any love except from its

delight and pleasurableness? The delights of conjugial love in their

origins are felt as beatitudes, satisfactions, and happinesses, in their

derivations as pleasantnesses and pleasures, and in their ultimates as

superlative delights. The love of the sex therefore originates when the

interiors of the mind, and thence the interiors of the body, are opened

for the influx of those delights; but conjugial love originated at the

time when, from entering into marriage engagements, the primitive sphere

of that love ideally promoted those delights. The virtue or potency of

this love arises from its passing, with its inmost principles, from the

mind into the body; for the mind, by derivation from the head, is in the

body, while it feels and acts, especially when it is delighted from this

love: hence we judge of the degrees of its potency and the regularity of

its alterations. Moreover we also deduce the virtue of potency from the

stock whence a man is descended: if this be noble on the father's side,

it becomes also by transmission noble with his offspring. That such

nobility is generated, inherited and descends by transmission, is

agreeable to the dictates of reason supported by experience." To this

decision was subscribed the letter F.

111. From the paper which came forth the EIGHTH in order, he read as

follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our place of assembly have

not discovered the real origin of conjugial love, because it lies deeply

concealed in the sacred repositories of the mind. The most consummate

vision cannot, by any intellectual effort, reach that love in its

origin. We have made many conjectures; but after the vain exertion of

subtle inquiry, we have been in doubt whether our conjectures might not

be called rather trifling than judicious; therefore whoever is desirous

to extract the origin of that love from the sacred repositories of his

mind, and to exhibit it clearly before his eyes, let him go to

_Delphos_. We have contemplated that love beneath its origin, and have

seen that in the mind it is spiritual, and as a fountain from which a

sweet stream flows, whence it descends into the breast, where it becomes

delightful, and is called bosom love, which in itself is full of

friendship and confidence, from a full inclination to reciprocality; and

that when it has passed the breast, it becomes genial love. These and

similar considerations, which a young man revolves in his mind while he

is determining his choice to one of the sex, kindle in his heart the

fire of conjugial love; which fire, as it is the primitive of that love

is its origin. In respect to the origin of its virtue or potency, we

acknowledge no other than that love itself, they being inseparable

companions, yet still they are such that sometimes the one precedes and

sometimes the other. When the love precedes and the virtue or potency

follows it, each is noble because in this case potency is the virtue of

conjugial love; but if the potency precedes and the love follows, each

is then ignoble; because in this case the love is subordinate to carnal

potency; we therefore judge of the quality of each from the order in

which the love descends or ascends, and thus proceeds from its origin to

its proposed end." To this decision was subscribed the letter D.

112. Lastly, or NINTHLY, he took up a paper, from which he read as

follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our council-chamber have

exercised our judgement on the two points proposed, viz., the origin of

conjugial love, and the origin of its virtue or potency. In the

subtleties of inquiry respecting the origin of conjugial love, in order

to avoid obscurity in our reasonings, we have distinguished between the

love of the sex as being spiritual, natural, and carnal; and by the

spiritual love of the sex we have understood love truly conjugial,

because this is spiritual; and by the natural love of the sex we have

understood polygamical love, because this is natural; and by the merely

carnal love of the sex we have understood adulterous love because this

is merely carnal. In exercising our judgements to examine into love

truly conjugial, we have clearly seen that this love exists only between

one male and one female, and that from creation it is celestial and

inmost, the soul and father of all good loves, being inspired into the

first parents, and capable of being inspired into Christians; it is also

of such a conjunctive nature that by it two minds may become one mind,

and two men (_homines_) as it were one man (_homo_); which is meant by

becoming one flesh. That this love was inspired at creation, is plain

from these words in the book of creation, '_And a man shall leave father

and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh_,'

Gen. ii. 24. That it can be inspired into Christians, is evident from

these words, '_Jesus said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from

the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall

a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they

two shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no longer two but one

flesh_,' Matt. xix. 4-6. So far in regard to the origin of conjugial

love: but as to the origin of the virtue or potency of love truly

conjugial, we conceive it to proceed from a similitude of minds and

unanimity; for when two minds are conjugially united, their thoughts

spiritually kiss each other, and these inspire into the body their

virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter S.

113. There were standing behind an oblong stage in the palace, erected

before the doors, some strangers from Africa, who cried out to the

natives of Europe, "Permit one of us to deliver his sentiments

respecting the origin of conjugial love, and respecting its virtue or

potency." And immediately all the tables gave signs of assent with their

hands. Then one of them entered and stood at the table on which the

turban was placed, and said, "You Christians deduce the origin of

conjugial love from love itself; but we Africans deduce it from the God

of heaven and earth. Is not conjugial love a chaste, pure, and holy

love? Are not the angels of heaven principled therein? Is not the whole

human race, and thence the whole angelic heaven, the seed of that love?

And can such super-eminent principle derive its existence from any other

source than from God himself, the Creator and Preserver of the universe?

You Christians deduce conjugial virtue or potency from various causes

rational and natural; but we Africans deduce it from the state of man's

conjunction with the God of the universe. This state we call a state of

religion; but you call it a state of the church: for when the love is

derived from that state, and is fixed and permanent, it must needs

produce its own virtue, which resembles it, and thus also is fixed and

permanent. Love truly conjugial is known only to those few who live near

to God; consequently the potency of that love is known to none else.

This potency is described by the angels in the heavens as the delight of

a perpetual spring."

114. As he said these word, the whole assembly arose, and lo! behind the

golden table on which lay the turban, there appeared a window that had

not before been seen; and through it was heard a voice, saying, "THE

AFRICAN IS TO HAVE THE TURBAN." The angel then gave it into his hand,

but did not place it upon his head; and he went home with it. The

inhabitants of the kingdoms of Europe then left the assembly and entered

their chariots, in which they returned to their respective societies.

115. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. Awaking from sleep at midnight, I

saw at some elevation towards the east an angel holding in his right

hand a paper, which appeared extremely bright, being illuminated by the

light flowing from the sun. In the middle of the paper there was written

in golden letters, THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. From the writing

there darted forth a splendor which formed a wide circle about the

paper. This circle or encompassing splendor appeared like the early dawn

in spring. After this I saw the angel descending with the paper in his

hand; and as he descended the paper became less and less lucid, and the

writing, which was THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, changed from a golden

into a silver color, afterwards into a copper color, next into an iron

color, and at length into the color of iron and copper rust: finally, I

saw the angel enter an obscure mist, and through the mist descend upon

the ground; and here I did not see the paper, although he still held it

in his hand. This happened in the world of spirits, in which all men

first assemble after their decease. The angel then said to me, "Ask

those who come hither whether they see me, or anything in my hand."

There came a great number; one company from the east, another from the

south, another from the west, and another from the north; and I asked

those who came from the east and from the south, who in the world had

applied themselves to literary pursuits, "Do you see any one here with

me, and anything in his hand?" They all said, "No." I then put the same

question to those who came from the west and from the north, who in the

world had believed in the words of the learned; and these gave the same

answer: nevertheless the last of them, who in the world had been

principled in simple faith grounded in charity, or in some degree of

truth grounded in good, when the rest were gone away, said, that they

saw a man with a paper, the man in a graceful dress, and the paper with

letters written upon it: and when they applied their eyes nearer to it,

they said that they could read these words, _The marriage of good and

truth_; and they addressed the angel, intreating him to explain to them

the meaning of the writing. He said, "All things in the whole heaven and

in the whole world, are a marriage of good and truth; for all things

whatever, both those which live and communicate life and those which do

not live and do not communicate life, were created from and into the

marriage of good and truth. There does not exist anything which was

created into truth alone, or any thing which was created into good

alone: solitary good or solitary truth is not any thing; but by marriage

they exist and become something which derives its nature and quality

from that of the marriage. In the Lord the Creator are divine good and

divine truth in their very substance: the _esse_ of his substance is

divine good, and its _existere_ is divine truth: in him also they are in

their very essential union; for in him they infinitely make a one: and

since these two in the Creator himself are a one, therefore also they

are a one in all things created from him; hereby also the Creator is

conjoined in an eternal covenant as of marriage with all things created

from himself." The angel further said, that the Sacred Scripture, which

proceeded immediately from the Lord, is in general and in particular a

marriage of good and truth; and since the church, which is formed by the

truth of doctrine, and religion, which is formed by the good of life

agreeable to the truth of doctrine, are with Christians derived solely

from the Sacred Scripture, therefore it may manifestly appear, that the

church in general and in particular is a marriage of good and truth;

(that this is the case, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 373,

483.) What has just been said concerning the marriage of good and truth,

is applicable also to the MARRIAGE OF CHARITY AND FAITH; for good

relates to charity, and truth to faith. Some of the spirits

above-mentioned who did not see the angel and the writing, being still

near, and hearing these things, said in an under tone, "_Yes, we also

comprehend what has been spoken_;" but the angel then said to them,

"Turn aside a little from me and speak in like manner." They turned

aside, and then said aloud, "_It is not so_." After this the angel spoke

concerning the MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH with married pairs, saying,

that if their minds were in that marriage, the husband being truth, and

the wife the good thereof, they would both be in the delights of the

blessedness and innocence, and thence in the happiness which the angels

of heaven enjoy; and in this state the prolific principle of the husband

would be in a continual spring, and thereby in the endeavour and vigor

of propagating its truth, and the wife would be in a continual reception

thereof from a principle of love. The wisdom which husbands derive from

the Lord, is sensible of no greater delight than to propagate its

truths; and the love of wisdom which wives have from the Lord is

sensible of no higher gratification than to receive those truths as it

were in the womb, and thus to conceive them, to carry them in the womb,

and to bring them forth. Spiritual prolifications with the angels of

heaven are of this sort; and if you are disposed to believe it, natural

prolifications are also from the same origin. The angel, after a

salutation of peace, raised himself from the ground, and passing through

the mist ascended into heaven; and then the paper shone as before

according to the degrees of ascent; and behold! the circle, which before

appeared as the dawn of day, descended and dispelled the mist which

caused darkness on the ground, and a bright sunshine succeeded.