ON THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE.

138. As we are yet only at the entrance of our subject respecting

conjugial love specifically considered, and as conjugial love cannot be

known specifically, except in a very indistinct and obscure manner,

unless its opposite, which is the unchaste principle, also in some

measure appear; and as this unchaste principle appears in some measure,

or in a shade, when the chaste principle is described together with the

non-chaste, non-chastity being only a removal of what is unchaste from

what is chaste; therefore we will now proceed to treat of the chaste

principle and the non-chaste. But the unchaste principle, which is

altogether opposite to the chaste, is treated of in the latter part of

this work, entitled ADULTEROUS LOVE AND ITS SINFUL PLEASURES, where it

is fully described with all its varieties. But what the unchaste

principle is, and what the non-chaste, and with what persons each of

them prevails, shall be illustrated in the following order: I. _The

chaste principle and the non-chaste are predicated only of marriages and

of such things as relate to marriages._ II. _The chaste principle is

predicated only of monogamical marriages, or of the marriage of one man

with one wife._ III. _The Christian conjugial principle alone is

chaste._ IV. _Love truly conjugial is essential chastity._ V. _All the

delights of love truly conjugial, even the ultimate, are chaste._ VI.

_With those who are made spiritual by the Lord, conjugial love is more

and more purified and rendered chaste._ VII. _The chastity of marriage

exists by a total renunciation of whoredoms from a principle of

religion._ VIII. _Chastity cannot he predicated of infants, or of boys

and girls, or of young men and virgins before they feel in themselves

the love of the sex._ IX. _Chastity cannot be predicated of eunuchs so

born, or of eunuchs so made._ X. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those

who do not believe adulteries to be evils in regard to religion; and

still less of those who do not believe them to be hurtful to society._

XI. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who abstain from adulteries

only for various external reasons._ XII. _Chastity cannot be predicated

of those who believe marriages to be unchaste._ XIII. _Chastity cannot

be predicated of those who have renounced marriage by vows of perpetual

celibacy, unless there be and remain in them the love of a life truly

conjugial._ XIV. _A state of marriage is to be preferred to a state of

celibacy._ We will now proceed to an explanation of each article.

139. I. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE ARE PREDICATED ONLY OF

MARRIAGES AND OF SUCH THINGS AS RELATE TO MARRIAGES. The reason of this

is, because, as will be shewn presently, love truly conjugial is

essential chastity; and the love opposite to it, which is called

adulterous, is essential unchastity; so far therefore as any one is

purified from the latter love, so far he is chaste; for so far the

opposite, which is destructive of chastity, is taken away; whence it is

evident that the purity of conjugial love is what is called chastity.

Nevertheless there is a conjugial love which is not chaste, and yet it

is not unchastity; as is the case with married partners, who, for

various external reasons, abstain from the effects of lasciviousness so

as not to think about them; howbeit, if that love is not purified in

their spirits, it is still not chaste; its form is chaste, but it has

not in it a chaste essence.

140. The reason why the chaste principle and the non-chaste are

predicated of such things as relate to marriages, is, because the

conjugial principle is inscribed on both sexes from inmost principles to

ultimates; and a man's quality as to his thoughts and affections, and

consequently as to his bodily actions and behaviour, is according

thereto. That this is the case, appears more evidently from such as are

unchaste. The unchaste principle abiding in their minds is heard from

the tone of their voice in conversation, and from their applying

whatever is said, even though it be chaste, to wanton and loose ends;

(the tone of the voice in conversation is grounded in the

will-affection, and the conversation itself is grounded in the thought

of the understanding;) which is a proof that the will and the

understanding, with everything belonging to them, consequently the whole

mind, and thence everything belonging to the body, from inmost

principles to ultimates, abound with what is unchaste. I have been

informed by the angels, that, with the greatest hypocrites, the unchaste

principle is perceivable from hearing their conversation, however

chastely they may talk, and also is made sensible from the sphere that

issues from them; which is a further proof that unchastity resides in

the inmost principles of their minds, and thence in the inmost

principles of their bodies, and that the latter principles are

exteriorly covered like a shell painted with figures of various colors.

That a sphere of lasciviousness issues forth from the unchaste, is

manifest from the statutes prescribed to the sons of Israel, ordaining

that everything should be unclean that was touched even by the hand of

those who were defiled by such unchaste persons. From these

considerations it may be concluded that the case is similar in regard to

the chaste, viz., that with them everything is chaste from inmost

principles to ultimates, and that this is an effect of the chastity of

conjugial love. Hence it is, that in the world it is said, "To the pure

all things are pure, and to the defiled all things are defiled."

141. II. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE IS PREDICATED ONLY OF MONOGAMICAL

MARRIAGES, OR OF THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WIFE. The reason of

this is, because with them conjugial love does not reside in the natural

man, but enters into the spiritual man, and successively opens to itself

a way to the essential spiritual marriage, or the marriage of good and

truth, which is its origin, and conjoins itself therewith; for that love

enters according to the increase of wisdom, which is according to the

implantation of the church from the Lord, as has been abundantly shewn

above. This cannot be effected with polygamists; for they divide

conjugial love; and this love when divided, is not unlike the love of

the sex, which in itself is natural; but on this subject something

worthy of attention may be seen in the section on POLYGAMY.

142. III. THE CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL PRINCIPLE ALONE IS CHASTE. This is,

because love truly conjugial keeps pace with the state of the church in

man (_homo_), and because the state of the church is from the Lord, as

has been shewn in the foregoing section, n. 130, 131, and elsewhere;

also because the church in its genuine truths is in the Word, and the

Lord is there present in those truths. From these considerations it

follows, that the chaste conjugial principle exists nowhere but in the

Christian world, and still that there is a possibility of its existing

elsewhere. By the Christian conjugial principle we mean the marriage of

one man with one wife. That this conjugial principle is capable of being

ingrafted into Christians, and of being transplanted hereditarily into

the offspring from parents who are principled in love truly conjugial,

and that hence both the faculty and the inclination to grow wise in the

things of the church and of heaven may become connate, will be seen in

its proper place. Christians, if they marry more wives than one, commit

not only natural but also spiritual adultery: this will be shewn in the

section on POLYGAMY.

143. IV. LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL IS ESSENTIAL CHASTITY. The reasons for

this are, 1. Because it is from the Lord, and corresponds to the

marriage of the Lord and the church. 2. Because it descends from the

marriage of good and truth. 3. Because it is spiritual, in proportion as

the church exists with man (_homo_). 4. Because it is the foundation and

head of all celestial and spiritual loves. 5. Because it is the orderly

seminary of the human race, and thereby of the angelic heaven. 6.

Because on this account it also exists with the angels of heaven, and

gives birth with them to spiritual offspring, which are love and wisdom.

7. And because its uses are thus more excellent than the other uses of

creation. From these considerations it follows, that love truly

conjugial, viewed from its origin and in its essence, is pure and holy,

so that it may be called purity and holiness, consequently essential

chastity: but that nevertheless it is not altogether pure, either with

men or angels, may be seen below in article VI, n. 146.

144. V. ALL THE DELIGHTS OF LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, EVEN THE ULTIMATE, ARE

CHASTE. This follows from what has been above explained, that love truly

conjugial is essential chastity, and from the considerations that

delights constitute its life. That the delights of this love ascend and

enter heaven, and in the way pass through the delights of the heavenly

loves, in which the angels of heaven are principled; also, that they

conjoin themselves with the delights of the conjugial love of the

angels, has been mentioned above. Moreover, I have heard it declared by

the angels, that they perceive those delights with themselves to be

exalted and filled, while they ascend from chaste marriages on the

earths: and when some by-standers, who were unchaste, inquired

concerning the ultimate delights whether they were chaste, they assented

and said, "How should it be otherwise? Are not these the delights of

true conjugial love in their fulness?" The origin, nature, and quality

of the delights of this love, may be seen above, n. 69: and also in the

MEMORABLE RELATIONS, especially those which follow.

145. VI. WITH THOSE WHO ARE MADE SPIRITUAL BY THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE

IS MORE AND MORE PURIFIED AND RENDERED CHASTE. The reasons for this are,

1. Because the first love, by which is meant the love previous to the

nuptials and immediately after them, partakes somewhat of the love of

the sex, and thus of the ardor belonging to the body not as yet

moderated by the love of the spirit. 2. Because a man (_homo_) from

natural is successively made spiritual; for he becomes spiritual in

proportion as his rational principle, which is the medium between heaven

and the world, begins to drive a soul from influx out of heaven, which

is the case so far as it is affected and delighted with wisdom;

concerning which wisdom see above, n. 130; and in proportion as this is

effected, in the same proportion his mind is elevated into a superior

_aura_, which is the continent of celestial light and heat, or, what is

the same, of the wisdom and love in which the angels are principled; for

heavenly light acts in unity with wisdom, and heavenly heat with love;

and in proportion as wisdom and the love thereof increase, with married

pairs, in the same proportion conjugial love is purified with them; and

as this is effected successively, it follows that conjugial love is

rendered more and more chaste. This spiritual purification may be

compared with the purification of natural spirits, which is effected by

the chemists, and is called defecation, rectification, castigation,

acution, decantation, and sublimation; and wisdom purified may be

compared with alcohol, which is a highly rectified spirit. 3. Now as

spiritual wisdom in itself is of such a nature that it becomes more and

more warmed with the love of growing wise, and by virtue of this love

increases to eternity; and as this is effected in proportion as it is

perfected by a kind of defecation, castigation, rectification, acution,

decantation, and sublimation, and this by elevating and abstracting the

intellect from the fallacies of the senses, and the will from the

allurements of the body; it is evident that conjugial love, whose parent

is wisdom, is in like manner rendered successively more and more pure,

and thereby chaste. That the first state of love between married

partners is a state of heat not yet tempered by light; but that it is

successively tempered in proportion as the husband is perfected in

wisdom, and the wife loves it in her husband, may be seen in the

MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 137.

146. It is however to be observed, that there is no conjugial love

altogether chaste or pure either with men (_homines_) or with angels;

there is still somewhat not chaste or not pure which adjoins or subjoins

itself thereto; but this has a different origin from that which gives

birth to what is unchaste: for with the angels the chaste principle is

above and the non-chaste beneath, and there is as it were a door with a

hinge interposed by the Lord, which is opened by determination, and is

carefully prevented from standing open, lest the one principle should

pass into the other, and they should mix together: for the natural

principle of man from his birth is defiled and fraught with evils;

whereas his spiritual principle is not so, because its birth is from the

Lord, for it is regeneration; and regeneration is a successive

separation from the evils to which a man is naturally inclined. That no

love with either men or angels is altogether pure, or can be pure; but

that the end, purpose, or intention of the will, is principally regarded

by the Lord: and that therefore so far as a man is principled in a good

end, purpose, or intention, and perseveres therein, so far he is

initiated into purity, and so far he advances and approaches towards

purity, may be seen above, n. 71.

147. VII. THE CHASTITY OF MARRIAGE EXISTS BY A TOTAL RENUNCIATION OF

WHOREDOMS FROM A PRINCIPLE OF RELIGION. The reason of this is, because

chastity is the removal of unchastity; it being a universal law, that so

far as any one removes evil, so far a capacity is given for good to

succeed in its place; and further, so far as evil is hated, so far good

is loved; and also _vice versa_; consequently, so far as whoredom is

renounced, so far the chastity of marriage enters. That conjugial love

is purified and rectified according to the renunciation of whoredoms,

every one sees from common perception as soon as it is mentioned and

heard; thus before confirmation; but as all have not common perception,

it is of importance that the subject should also be illustrated in the

way of proof by such considerations as may tend to confirm it. These

considerations are, that conjugial love grows cold as soon as it is

divided, and this coldness causes it to perish; for the heat of unchaste

love extinguishes it, as two opposite heats cannot exist together, but

one must needs reject the other and deprive it of its potency. Whenever

therefore the heat of conjugial love begins to acquire a pleasant

warmth, and from a sensation of its delights to bud and flourish, like

an orchard and garden in spring; the latter from the vernal temperament

of light and heat from the sun of the natural world, but the former from

the vernal temperament of light and heat from the sun of the spiritual

world.

148. There is implanted in every man (_homo_) from creation, and

consequently from his birth, an internal and an external conjugial

principle; the internal is spiritual, and the external natural: a man

comes first into the latter, and as he becomes spiritual, he comes into

the former. If therefore he remains in the external or natural conjugial

principle, the internal or spiritual conjugial principle is veiled or

covered, until he knows nothing respecting it; yea, until he calls it an

ideal shadow without a substance: but if a man becomes spiritual, he

then begins to know something respecting it, and afterwards to perceive

something of its quality, and successively to be made sensible of its

pleasantness, agreeableness, and delights; and in proportion as this is

the case, the veil or covering between the external and internal, spoken

of above, begins to be attenuated, and afterwards as it were to melt,

and lastly to be dissolved and dissipated. When this effect takes place,

the external conjugial principle remains indeed; but it is continually

purged and purified from its dregs by the internal; and this, until the

external becomes as it were the face of the internal, and derives its

delight from the blessedness which is in the internal, and at the same

time its life, and the delights of its potency. Such is the renunciation

of whoredoms, by which the chastity of marriage exists. It may be

imagined, that the external conjugial principle, which remains after the

internal has separated itself from it, or it from itself, resembles the

external principle not separated: but I have heard from the angels that

they are altogether unlike; for that the external principle in

conjunction with the internal, which they called the external of the

internal, was void of all lasciviousness, because the internal cannot be

lascivious, but only be delighted chastely; and that it imparts the same

disposition to its external, wherein it is made sensible of its own

delights: the case is altogether otherwise with the external separated

from the internal; this they said, was lascivious in the whole and in

every part. They compared the external conjugial principle derived from

the internal to excellent fruit, whose pleasant taste and flavor

insinuate themselves into its outward rind, and form this into

correspondence with themselves; they compared it also to a granary,

whose store is never diminished, but is continually recruited according

to its consumption; whereas they compared the external principle,

separate from the internal, to wheat in a winnowing machine, when it is

put in motion about its axis; in which case the chaff only remains,

which is dispersed by the wind; so it is with the conjugial principle,

unless the adulterous principle be renounced.

149. The reason why the chastity of marriage does not exist by the

renunciation of whoredoms, unless it be made from a principle of

religion, is, because a man (_homo_) without religion is not spiritual,

but remains natural; and if the natural man renounces whoredoms, still

his spirit does not renounce them; and thus, although it seems to

himself that he is chaste by such renunciation, yet nevertheless

unchastity lies inwardly concealed like corrupt matter in a wound only

outwardly healed. That conjugial love is according to the state of the

church with man, may be seen above n. 130. More on this subject may be

seen in the exposition of article XI.

150. VIII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF INFANTS, OR OF BOYS AND

GIRLS, OR OF YOUNG MEN AND VIRGINS BEFORE THEY FEEL IN THEMSELVES THE

LOVE OF THE SEX. This is because the chaste principle and the unchaste

are predicated only of marriages, and of such things as relate to

marriages, as may be seen above, n. 139; and of those who know nothing

of the things relating to marriage, chastity is not predicable; for it

is as it were nothing relating to them; and nothing cannot be an object

either of affection or thought: but after this nothing there arises

something, when the first motion towards marriage is felt, which is the

love of the sex. That virgins and young men, before they feel in

themselves the love of the sex, are commonly called chaste, is owing to

ignorance of what chastity is.

151. XI. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF EUNUCHS SO BORN, OR OF EUNUCHS

SO MADE. Eunuchs so born are those more especially with whom the

ultimate of love is wanting from birth: and as in such case the first

and middle principles are without a foundation on which to stand, they

have therefore no existence; and if they exist, the persons in whom they

exist have no concern to distinguish between the chaste principle and

the unchaste, each being indifferent to them; but of these persons there

are several distinctions. The case is nearly the same with eunuchs so

made as with some eunuchs so born; but eunuchs so made, as they are both

men and women, cannot possibly regard conjugial love any otherwise than

as a phantasy, and the delights thereof as idle stories. If they have

any inclination, it is rendered mute, which is neither chaste nor

unchaste: and what is neither chaste nor unchaste, derives no quality

from either the one or the other.

152. X. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO DO NOT BELIEVE

ADULTERIES TO BE EVILS IN REGARD TO RELIGION; AND STILL LESS OF THOSE

WHO DO NOT BELIEVE THEM TO BE HURTFUL TO SOCIETY. The reason why

chastity cannot be predicated of such is, because they neither know what

chastity is nor even that it exists; for chastity relates to marriage,

as was shewn in the first article of this section. Those who do not

believe adulteries be evil in regard to religion, regard even marriages

as unchaste; whereas religion with married pairs constitutes their

chastity; thus such persons have nothing chaste in them, and therefore

it is in vain to talk to them of chastity; these are confirmed

adulterers: but those who do not believe adulteries to be hurtful to

society, know still less than the others, either what chastity is or

even that it exists; for they are adulterers from a determined purpose:

if they say that marriages are less unchaste than adulteries, they say

so merely with the mouth, but not with the heart, because marriages with

them are cold, and those who speak from such cold concerning chaste

heat, cannot have an idea of chaste heat in regard to conjugial love.

The nature and quality of such persons, and of the ideas of their

thought, and hence of the interior principles of their conversation,

will be seen in the second part of this work,--ADULTEROUS LOVE AND ITS

SINFUL PLEASURES.

153. XI. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO ABSTAIN FROM

ADULTERIES ONLY FOR VARIOUS EXTERNAL REASONS. Many believe that the mere

abstaining from adulteries in the body is chastity; yet this is not

chastity, unless at the same time there is an abstaining in spirit. The

spirit of man (_homo_), by which is here meant his mind as to affections

and thoughts, constitutes the chaste principle and the unchaste, for

hence it flows into the body, the body being in all cases such as the

mind or spirit is. Hence it follows, that those who abstain from

adulteries in the body, without being influenced from the spirit are not

chaste; neither are those chaste who abstain from them in spirit as

influenced from the body. There are many assignable causes which make a

man desist from adulteries in the body, and also in the spirit as

influenced from the body; but still, he that does not desist from them

in the body as influenced from the spirit, is unchaste; for the Lord

says, "_That whosoever looketh upon another's woman, so as to lust after

her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart_," Matt. v.

28. It is impossible to enumerate all the causes of abstinence from

adulteries in the body only, they being various according to states of

marriage, and also according to states of the body; for there are some

persons who abstain from them from fear of the civil law and its

penalties; some from fear of the loss of reputation and thereby of

honor; some from fear of diseases which may be thereby contracted; some

from fear of domestic quarrels on the part of the wife, whereby the

quiet of their lives may be disturbed; some from fear of revenge on the

part of the husband or relations; some from fear of chastisement from

the servants of the family; some also abstain from motives of poverty,

avarice, or imbecility, arising either from disease, from abuse, from

age, or from impotence. Of these there are some also, who, because they

cannot or dare not commit adultery in the body, condemn adulteries in

the spirit; and thus they speak morally against adulteries, and in favor

of marriages; but such person, unless in spirit they call adulteries

accursed, and this from a religious principle in the spirit, are still

adulterers; for although they do not commit them in the body, yet they

do in the spirit; wherefore after death, when they become spirits, they

speak openly in favor of them. From these considerations it is manifest,

that even a wicked person may shun adulteries as hurtful; but that none

but a Christian can shun them as sins. Hence then the truth of the

proposition is evident, that chastity cannot be predicated of those who

abstain from adulteries merely for various external reasons.

154. XII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO BELIEVE MARRIAGES

TO BE UNCHASTE. These, like the persons spoken of just above, n. 152, do

not know either what chastity is, or even that it exists; and in this

respect they are like those who make chastity to consist merely in

celibacy, of whom we shall speak presently.

155. XIII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF THOSE WHO HAVE RENOUNCED

MARRIAGE BY VOWS OF PERPETUAL CELIBACY, UNLESS THERE BE AND REMAIN IN

THEM THE LOVE OF A LIFE TRULY CONJUGIAL. The reason why chastity cannot

be predicated of these, is, because after a vow of perpetual celibacy,

conjugial love is renounced; and yet it is of this love alone that

chastity can be predicated: nevertheless there still remains an

inclination to the sex implanted from creation, and consequently innate

by birth; and when this inclination is restrained and subdued, it must

needs pass away into heat, and in some cases into a violent burning,

which, in rising from the body into the spirit, infests it, and with

some persons defiles it; and there may be instances where the spirit

thus defiled may defile also the principles of religion, casting them

down from their internal abode, where they are in holiness, into things

external, where they become mere matters of talk and gesture; therefore

it was provided by the Lord, that celibacy should have place only with

those who are in external worship, as is the case with all who do not

address themselves to the Lord, or read the Word. With such, eternal

life is not so much endangered by vows of celibacy attended with

engagements to chastity, as it is with those who are principled in

internal worship: moreover, in many instances that state of life is not

entered upon from any freedom of the will, many being engaged therein

before they attain to freedom grounded in reason, and some in

consequence of alluring worldly motives. Of those who adopt that state

with a view to have their minds disengaged from the world, that they may

be more at leisure to apply themselves to divine things, those only are

chaste with whom the love of a life truly conjugial either preceded that

state or followed it, and with whom it remains; for the love of a life

truly conjugial is that alone of which chastity is predicated. Wherefore

also, after death, all who have lived in monasteries are at length freed

from their vows and set at liberty, that, according to the interior vows

and desires of their love, they may be led to choose a life either

conjugial or extra-conjugial: if in such case they enter into conjugial

life, those who have loved also the spiritual things of divine worship

are given in marriage in heaven; but those who enter into

extra-conjugial life are sent to their like, who dwell on the confines

of heaven. I have inquired of the angels, whether those who have devoted

themselves to works of piety, and given themselves up entirely to divine

worship, and who thus have withdrawn themselves from the snares of the

world and the concupiscences of the flesh, and with this view have vowed

perpetual virginity, are received into heaven, and there admitted among

the blessed to enjoy an especial portion of happiness according to their

faith. To this the angels replied, that such are indeed received into

heaven; but when they are made sensible of the sphere of conjugial love

there, they become sad and fretful, and then, some of their own accord,

some by asking leave, and some from being commanded, depart and are

dismissed, and when they are out of that heaven, a way is opened for

them to their consociates, who had been in a similar state of life in

the world; and then from being fretful they become cheerful, and rejoice

together.

156. XIV. A STATE OF MARRIAGE IS TO BE PREFERRED TO A STATE OF CELIBACY.

This is evident from what has been said above respecting marriage and

celibacy. A state of marriage is to be preferred because it is a state

ordained from creation; because it originates in the marriage of good

and truth; because it corresponds with the marriage of the Lord and the

church; because the church and conjugial love are constant companions;

because its use is more excellent than all the other uses of the things

of creation, for thence according to order is derived the increase of

the human race, and also of the angelic heaven, which is formed from the

human race: moreover, marriage constitutes the completeness of a man

(_homo_); for by it he becomes a complete man, as will be shewn in the

following chapter. All these things are wanting in celibacy. But if the

proposition be taken for granted, that a state of celibacy is preferable

to a state of marriage, and if this proposition be left to the mind's

examination, to be assented to and established by confirming proofs,

then the conclusion must be, that marriages are not holy, neither can

they be chaste; yea, that chastity in the female sex belongs only to

those, who abstain from marriage and vow perpetual virginity: and

moreover, that those who have vowed perpetual celibacy are understood by

the eunuchs _who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's

sake_, Matt. xix. 12; not to mention other conclusions of a like nature;

which, being grounded in a proposition that is not true, are also not

true. The eunuchs who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of

heaven's sake, are spiritual eunuchs, who are such as in marriages

abstain from the evils of whoredoms: that Italian eunuchs are not meant,

is evident.

* * * * *

[Transcriber's Note: The out-of-order section numbers which follow are

in the original text, as are the asterisks which do not seem to indicate

footnotes.]

151.* To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. As I was

going home from the school of wisdom (concerning which, see above, n.

132), I saw in the way an angel dressed in blue. He joined me and walked

by my side, and said, "I see that you are come from the school of

wisdom, and are made glad by what you heard there; and as I perceive

that you are not a full inhabitant of this world, because you are at the

same time in the natural world, and therefore know nothing of our

Olympic gymnasia, where the ancient _sophi_ meet together, and by the

information they collect from every new comer, learn what changes and

successions wisdom has undergone and is still undergoing in your world;

if you are willing I will conduct you to the place where several of

those ancient _sophi_ and their sons, that is, their disciples, dwell."

So he led me to the confines between the north and east; and while I was

looking that way from a rising ground, lo! I saw a city, and on one side

of it two small hills; that which was nearer to the city being lower

than the other. "That city," said he, "is called Athens, the lower hill

Parnassus, and the higher Helicon. They are so called, because in the

city and around it dwell the wise men who formerly lived in Greece, as

Pythagoras, Socrates, Aristippus, Xenophon, with their disciples and

scholars." On my asking him concerning Plato and Aristotle, he said,

"They and their followers dwell in another region, because they taught

principles of rationality which relate to the understanding; whereas the

former taught morality which relates to the life." He further informed

me, that it was customary at times to depute from the city of Athens

some of the students to learn from the literati of the Christians, what

sentiments they entertain at this day respecting God, the creation of

the universe, the immortality of the soul, the relative state of men and

beasts, and other subjects of interior wisdom: and he added, that a

herald had that day announced an assembly, which was a token that the

emissaries had met with some strangers newly arrived from the earth, who

had communicated some curious information. We then saw several persons

going from the city and its suburbs, some having their heads decked with

wreaths of laurel, some holding palms in their hands, some with books

under their arms, and some with pens under the hair of the left temple.

We mixed with the company, and ascended the hill with them; and lo! on

the top was an octagonal palace, which they called the Palladium, into

which we entered; within there were eight hexangular recesses, in each

of which was a book-case and a table: at these recesses were seated the

laureled _sophi_, and in the Palladium itself there were seats cut out

of the rock, on which the rest were seated. A door on the left was then

opened, through which the two strangers newly arrived from the earth

were introduced; and after the compliments of salutation were paid, one

of the laureled _sophi_ asked them, "WHAT NEWS FROM THE EARTH?" They

replied, "This is news, that in forests there have been found men like

beasts, or beasts like men: from their face and body they were known to

have been born men, and to have been lost or left in the forests when

they were two or three years old; they were not able to give utterance

to any thought, nor could they learn to articulate the voice into any

distinct expression; neither did they know the food suitable for them as

the beasts do, but put greedily into their mouths whatever they found in

the forest, whether it was clean or unclean; besides many other

particulars of a like nature: from which some of the learned among us

have formed several conjectures and conclusions concerning the relative

state of men and beasts." On hearing this account, some of the ancient

_sophi_ asked, "What were the conjectures and conclusions formed from

the circumstances you have related?" The two strangers replied, "There

were several: but they may all be comprised under the following: 1. That

a man by nature, and also by birth, is more stupid and consequently

viler than any beast; and that he remains so, unless he is instructed.

2. That he is capable of being instructed, because he has learnt to

frame articulate sounds, and thence to speak, and thereby has begun to

express his thoughts, and this successively more and more perfectly

until he has been able to express the laws of civil society; several of

which are nevertheless impressed on beasts from their birth. 3. That

beasts have rationality like men. 4. Therefore, that if beasts could

speak, they would reason on any subject as acutely as men; a proof of

which is, that they think from reason and prudence just as men do. 5.

That the understanding is only a modification of light from the sun; the

heat co-operating by means of ether, so that it is only an activity of

interior nature; and that this activity may be so exalted as to appear

like wisdom. 6. That therefore it is ridiculous to believe that a man

lives after death any more than a beast; unless perchance, for some days

after his decease, in consequence of an exhalation of the life of the

body, he may appear as a mist under the form of a spectre, before he is

dissipated into nature; just as a shrub raised up from its ashes,

appears in the likeness of its own form. 7. Consequently that religion,

which teaches a life after death, is a mere device, in order to keep the

simple inwardly in bonds by its laws, as they are kept outwardly in

bonds by the laws of the state." To this they added, that "people of

mere ingenuity reason in this manner, but not so the intelligent:" and

they were asked, "How do the intelligent reason?" They said they had not

been informed; but they supposed that they must reason differently.

152.* On hearing this relation, all those who were sitting at the tables

exclaimed, "Alas! what times are come on the earth! What changes has

wisdom undergone? How is she transformed into a false and infatuated

ingenuity! The sun is set, and in his station beneath the earth is in

direct opposition to his meridian altitude. From the case here adduced

respecting such as have been left and found in forests, who cannot see

that an uninstructed man is such as here represented? For is not the

nature of his life determined by the nature of the instruction he

receives? Is he not born in a state of greater ignorance than the

beasts? Must he not learn to walk and to speak? Supposing he never

learnt to walk, would he ever stand upright? And if he never learnt to

speak, would he ever be able to express his thoughts? Is not every man

such as instruction makes him,--insane from false principles, or wise

from truths? and is not he that is insane from false principles,

entirely possessed with an imagination that he is wiser than he that is

wise from truths? Are there not instances of men who are so wild and

foolish, that they are no more like men than those who have been found

in forests? Is not this the case with such as have been deprived of

memory? From all these considerations we conclude, that a man without

instruction is neither a man nor a beast; but that he is a form, which

is capable of receiving in itself that which constitutes a man; and thus

that he is not born a man, but that he is made a man; and that a man is

born such a form as to be an organ receptive of life from God, to the

end that he may be a subject into which God may introduce all good, and,

by union with himself, may make him eternally blessed. We have perceived

from your conversation, that wisdom at this day is so far extinguished

or infatuated, that nothing at all is known concerning the relative

state of the life of men and of beasts; and hence it is that the state

of the life of man after death is not known: but those who are capable

of knowing this, and yet are not willing, and in consequence deny it, as

many Christians do, may fitly be compared to such as are found in

forests: not that they are rendered so stupid from a want of

instruction, but that they have rendered themselves so by the fallacies

of the senses, which are the darkness of truths."

153.* At that instant a certain person standing in the middle of the

Palladium, and holding in his hand a palm, said, "Explain, I pray, this

arcanum, How a man, created a form of God, could be changed into a form

of the devil. I know that the angels of heaven are forms of God and that

the angels of hell are forms of the devil, and that the two forms are

opposite to each other, the latter being insanities, the former wisdoms.

Tell me, therefore, how a man, created a form of God, could pass from

day into such night, as to be capable of denying God and life eternal."

To this the several teachers replied in order; first the Pythagoreans,

next the Socratics, and afterwards the rest: but among them there was a

certain Platonist, who spoke last; and his opinion prevailed, which was

to this effect; That the men of the saturnine or golden age knew and

acknowledged that they were forms receptive of life from God; and that

on this account wisdom was inscribed on their souls and hearts, and

hence they saw truth from the light of truth, and by truths perceived

good from the delight of the love thereof: but as mankind in the

following ages receded from the acknowledgement that all the truth of

wisdom and the consequent good of love belonging to them, continually

flowed in from God, they ceased to be habitations of God; and then also

discourse with God, and consociation with angels ceased: for the

interiors of their minds were bent from their direction, which had been

elevated upwards to God from God, into a direction more and more

oblique, outwardly into the world, and thereby to God from God through

the world, and at length inverted into an opposite direction, which is

downwards to self; and as God cannot be looked at by a man interiorly

inverted, and thereby averted, men separated themselves from God, and

were made forms of hell or devils. From these considerations it follows,

that in the first ages they acknowledged in heart and soul, that all the

good of love and the consequent true wisdom, were derived to them from

God, and also that they were God's in them: and thus that they were mere

recipients of life from God, and hence were called images of God, sons

of God, and born of God: but that in succeeding ages they did not

acknowledge this in heart and soul, but by a certain persuasive faith,

next by an historical faith, and lastly only with the mouth; and this

last kind of acknowledgement is no acknowledgement at all; yea, it is in

fact a denial at heart. From these considerations it may be seen what is

the quality of the wisdom which prevails at this day on the earth among

Christians, while they do not know the distinction between a man and a

beast, notwithstanding their being in possession of a written

revelation, whereby they may be inspired by God: and hence many believe,

that in case a man lives after death, a beast must live also; or because

a beast is not to live after death, neither will a man. Is not our

spiritual light, which enlightens the sight of the mind, become thick

darkness with them? and is not their natural light, which only

enlightens the bodily sight, become brightness to them?

154.* After this they all turned towards the two strangers, and thanked

them for their visit, and for the relation they had given, and entreated

them to go and communicate to their brethren what they had heard. The

strangers replied that they would endeavor to confirm their brethren in

this truth, that so far as they ascribe all the good of charity and the

truth of faith to the Lord, and not to themselves, so far they are men,

and so far they become angels of heaven.

155.* THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. One morning I was awoke by some

delightful singing which I heard at a height above me, and in

consequence, during the first watch, which is internal, pacific, and

sweet, more than the succeeding part of the day, I was in a capacity of

being kept for some time in the spirit as it were out of the body, and

of attending carefully to the affection which was sung. The singing of

heaven is an affection of the mind, sent forth through the mouth as a

tune: for the tone of the voice in speaking, separate from the discourse

of the speaking, and grounded in the affection of love, is what gives

life to the speech. In that state I perceived that it was the affection

of the delights of conjugial love, which was made musical by wives in

heaven: that this was the case, I observed from the sound of the song,

in which those delights were varied in a wonderful manner. After this I

arose, and looked into the spiritual world; and lo! in the east, beneath

the sun, there appeared as it were a GOLDEN SHOWER. It was the morning

dew descending in great abundance, which, catching the sun's rays,

exhibited to my eyes the appearance of a golden shower. In consequence

of this I became fully awake, and went forth in the spirit, and asked an

angel who then happened to meet me, whether he saw a golden shower

descending from the sun? He replied, that he saw one whenever he was

meditating on conjugial love; and at the same time turning his eyes

towards the sun, he added, "That shower falls over a hall, in which are

three husbands with their wives, who dwell in the midst of an eastern

paradise. Such a shower is seen falling from the sun over that hall,

because with those husbands and wives there resides wisdom respecting

conjugial love and its delights; with the husbands respecting conjugial

love, and with the wives respecting its delights. But I perceive that

you are engaged in meditating on the delights of conjugial love: I will

therefore conduct you there, and introduce you to them." He led me

through paradisiacal scenery to houses built of olive wood, having two

cedar columns before the gate, and introduced me to the husbands, and

asked their permission for me to converse with them in the presence of

the wives. They consented, and called their wives. These looked into my

eyes most shrewdly; upon which I asked them, "Why do you do so?" They

said, "We can thereby discover exquisitely what is your inclination and

consequent affection, and your thought grounded in affection, respecting

the love of the sex; and we see that you are meditating intensely, but

still chastely, concerning it." And they added, "What do you wish us to

tell you on the subject?" I replied, "Tell me, I pray, something

respecting the delights of conjugial love." The husbands assented,

saying, "If you are so disposed, give them some information in regard to

those delights: their ears are chaste." They asked me, "Who taught you

to question us respecting the delights of that love? Why did you not

question our husbands?" I replied, "This angel, who accompanies me,

informed me, that wives are the recipients and sensories of those

delights, because they are born loves; and all delights are of love." To

this they replied with a smile, "Be prudent, and declare nothing of this

sort except ambiguously; because it is a wisdom deeply seated in the

hearts of our sex, and is not discovered to any husband, unless he be

principled in love truly conjugial. There are several reasons for this,

which we keep entirely to ourselves." Then the husbands said, "Our wives

know all the states of our minds, none of which are hid from them: they

see, perceive, and are sensible of whatever proceeds from our will. We,

on the other hand, know nothing of what passes with our wives. This

faculty is given to wives, because they are most tender loves, and as it

were burning zeals for the preservation of friendship and conjugial

confidence, and thereby of all the happiness of life, which they

carefully attend to, both in regard to their husbands and themselves, by

virtue of a wisdom implanted in their love, which is so full of

prudence, that they are unwilling to say, and consequently cannot say,

that they love, but that they are loved." I asked the wives, "Why are

you unwilling, and consequently cannot say so?" They replied, "If the

least hint of the kind were to escape from the mouth of a wife, the

husband would be seized with coolness, which would entirely separate him

from all communication with his wife, so that he could not even bear to

look upon her; but this is the case only with those husbands who do not

hold marriages to be holy, and therefore do not love their wives from

spiritual love: it is otherwise with those who do. In the minds of the

latter this love is spiritual, and by derivation thence in the body is

natural. We in this hall are principled in the latter love by derivation

from the former; therefore we trust our husbands with our secrets

respecting our delights of conjugial love." Then I courteously asked

them to disclose to me some of those secrets: they then looked towards a

window on the southern quarter, and lo! there appeared a white dove,

whose wings shone as if they were of silver, and its head was crested

with a crown as of gold: it stood upon a bough, from which there went

forth an olive; and while it was in the attempt to spread out its wings,

the wives said, "We will communicate something: the appearing of that

dove is a token that we may. Every man (_vir_)" they continued, "has

five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch; but we have

likewise a sixth, which is the sense of all the delights of the

conjugial love of the husband; and this sense we have in the palms of

our hands, while we touch the breasts, arms, hands, or cheeks, of our

husbands, especially their breasts; and also while we are touched by

them. All the gladness and pleasantness of the thoughts of their minds

(_mentium_), all the joys and delights of their minds (_animarum_) and

all the festive and cheerful principles of their bosoms, pass from them

to us, and become perceptible, sensible, and tangible: we discern them

as exquisitely and distinctly as the ear does the tune of a song, and

the tongue the taste of dainties; in a word, the spiritual delights of

our husbands put on with us a kind of natural embodiment; therefore they

call us the sensory organs of chaste conjugial love, and thence its

delights. But this sixth sense of ours exists, subsists, persists, and

is exalted in the degree in which our husbands love us from wisdom and

judgement, and in which we in our turn love them from the same

principles in them. This sense in our sex is called in the heavens the

sport of wisdom with its love, and of love with its wisdom." From this

information I became desirous of asking further questions concerning the

variety of their delights. They said, "It is infinite; but we are

unwilling and therefore unable to say more; for the dove at our window,

with the olive branch under his feet, is flown away." I waited for its

return, but in vain. In the meantime I asked the husbands, "Have you a

like sense of conjugial love?" They replied, "We have a like sense in

general, but not in particular. We enjoy a general blessedness, delight,

and pleasantness, arising from the particulars of our wives; and this

general principle, which we derive from them, is serenely peaceful." As

they said this, lo! through the window there appeared a swan standing on

a branch of a fig-tree, which spread out his wings and flew away. On

seeing this, the husbands said, "This is a sign for us to be silent

respecting conjugial love: come again some other time, and perhaps you

may hear more." They then withdrew, and we took our leave.

* * * * *

ON THE CONJUNCTION OF SOULS AND MINDS BY MARRIAGE, WHICH IS MEANT BY THE

LORD'S WORDS,--THEY ARE NO LONGER TWO, BUT ONE FLESH.

156.* That at creation there was implanted in the man and the woman an

inclination and also a faculty of conjunction as into a one, and that

this inclination and this faculty are still in man and woman, is evident

from the book of creation, and at the same time from the Lord's words.

In the book of creation, called GENESIS, it is written, "_Jehovah God

builded the rib, which he had taken from the man, into a woman, and

brought her to the man. And the man said, This now is bone of my bones,

and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called Woman, because she was taken

out of man; for this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother,

and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh_," chap. ii.

22-24. The Lord also says in Matthew, "_Have ye not read, that he that

made them from the beginning, made them a male and a female, and said,

For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to

his wife; and they TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH? WHEREFORE THEY ARE NO

LONGER TWO, BUT ONE FLESH_," chap. xix. 4-6. From this it is evident,

that the woman was created out of the man (_vir_), and that each has an

inclination and faculty to reunite themselves into a one. That such

reunion means into one man (_homo_), is also evident from the book of

creation, where both together are called man (_homo_); for it is

written, "_In the day that God created man (homo), he created them a

male and a female, and called their name Man (homo)_," chap. v. 2. It is

there written, he called their name Adam; but Adam and man are one

expression in the Hebrew tongue: moreover, both together are called man

in the same book, chap. i. 27; chap. iii. 22-24. One flesh also

signifies one man; as is evident from the passages in the Word where

mention is made of all flesh, which signifies every man, as Gen. chap.

vi. 12, 13, 17, 19; Isaiah xl. 5, 6; chap. xlix. 26; chap. lxvi. 16, 23,

24; Jer. xxv. 31; chap, xxxii. 27; chap. xlv. 5; Ezek. xx. 48; chap.

xxi. 4, 5; and other passages. But what is meant by the man's rib, which

was builded into a woman; what by the flesh, which was closed up in the

place thereof, and thus what by bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;

and what by a father and a mother, whom a man (_vir_) shall leave after

marriage; and what by cleaving to a wife, has been shewn in the ARCANA

COELESTIA; in which work the two books, Genesis and Exodus, are

explained as to the spiritual sense. It is there proved that a rib does

not mean a rib,--nor flesh, flesh,--nor a bone, a bone,--nor cleaving

to, cleaving to; but that they signify spiritual things, which

correspond thereto, and consequently are signified thereby. That

spiritual things are understood, which from two make one man (_homo_),

is evident from this consideration, that conjugial love conjoins them,

and this love is spiritual. That the love of the man's wisdom is

transferred into the wife, has been occasionally observed above, and

will be more fully proved in the following sections: at this time it is

not allowable to digress from the subject proposed, which is concerning

the conjunction of two married partners into one flesh by a union of

souls and minds. This union we will elucidate by treating of it in the

following order. I. _From creation there is implanted in each sex a

faculty and inclination, whereby they are able and willing to be

conjoined together as it were into a one._ II. _Conjugial love conjoins

two souls, and thence two minds into a one._ III. _The will of the wife

conjoins itself with the understanding of the man, and thence the

understanding of the man conjoins itself with the will of the wife._ IV.

_The inclination to unite the man to herself is constant and perpetual

with the wife; but is inconstant and alternate with the man._ V.

_Conjunction is inspired into the man from the wife according to her

love, and is received by the man according to his wisdom._ VI. _This

conjunction is effected successively from the first days of marriage;

and with those who are principled in love truly conjugial, is effected

more and more thoroughly to eternity._ VII. _The conjunction of the wife

with the rational wisdom of the husband is effected from within, but

with this moral wisdom from without._ VIII. _For the sake of this

conjunction as an end, the wife has a perception of the affections of

the husband, and also the utmost prudence in moderating them._ IX.

_Wives conceal this perception with themselves, and hide it from their

husbands, for reasons of necessity, in order that conjugial love,

friendship, and confidence, and thereby the blessedness of dwelling

together, and the happiness of life may he secured._ X. _This perception

is the wisdom of the wife, and is not communicable to the man; neither

is the rational wisdom of the man communicable to the wife._ XI. _The

wife, from a principle of love, is continually thinking about the man's

inclination to her, with the purpose of joining him to herself: it is

otherwise with the man._ XII. _The wife conjoins herself to the man, by

applications to the desires of his will._ XIII. _The wife is conjoined

to her husband by the sphere of her life flowing from the love of him._

XIV. _The wife is conjoined to the husband by the appropriation of the

powers of his virtue; which however is effected according to their

mutual spiritual love._ XV. _Thus the wife receives in herself the image

of her husband, and thence perceives, sees, and is sensible of, his

affections._ XVI. _There are duties proper to the husband, and others

proper to the wife; and the wife cannot enter into the duties proper to

the husband, nor the husband into the duties proper to the wife, so as

to perform them aright._ XVII. _These duties, also, according to mutual

aid, conjoin the two into a one, and at the same time constitute one

house._ XVIII. _Married partners, according to these conjunctions,

become one man (homo) more and more._ XIX. _Those who are principled in

love truly conjugial, are sensible of their being a united man, and as

it were one flesh._ XX. _Love truly conjugial, considered in itself, is

a union of souls, a conjunction of minds, and an endeavor towards

conjunction in the bosoms and thence in the body._ XXI. _The states of

this love are innocence, peace, tranquillity, inmost friendship, full

confidence, and a mutual desire of mind and heart to do very good to

each other; and the states derived from these are blessedness,

satisfaction, delight, and pleasure; and from the eternal enjoyment of

these is derived heavenly felicity._ XXII. _These things can only exist

in the marriage of one man with one wife._ We proceed now to the

explanation of these articles.

157. I. FROM CREATION THERE IS IMPLANTED IN EACH SEX A FACULTY AND

INCLINATION, WHEREBY THEY ARE ABLE AND WILLING TO BE JOINED TOGETHER, AS

IT WERE INTO A ONE. That the woman was taken out of the man, was shewn

just above from the book of creation; hence it follows, that there is in

each sex a faculty and inclination to join themselves together into a

one; for that which is taken out of anything, derives and retains its

constituent principle, from the principle proper to the thing whence it

was taken; and as this derived principle is of a similar nature with

that from which it was derived, it seeks after a reunion; and when it is

reunited, it is as in itself when it is in that from whence it came, and

_vice versa_. That there is a faculty of conjunction of the one sex with

the other, or that they are capable of being united, is universally

allowed; and also that there is an inclination to join themselves the

one with the other; for experience supplies sufficient confirmation in

both cases.

158. II. CONJUGIAL LOVE CONJOINS TWO SOULS, AND THENCE TWO MINDS, INTO A

ONE. Every man consists of a soul, a mind, and a body. The soul is his

inmost, the mind his middle, and the body his ultimate constituent. As

the soul is a man's inmost principle, it is, from its origin, celestial;

as the mind is his middle principle, it is, from its origin, spiritual;

and as the body is his ultimate principle, it is, from its origin,

natural. Those things, which, from their origin, are celestial and

spiritual, are not in space, but in the appearance of space. This also

is well known in the word; therefore it is said, that neither extension

nor place can be predicated of spiritual things. Since therefore spaces

are appearances, distances also and presences are appearances. That the

appearances of distances and presences in the spiritual world are

according to proximities, relationships, and affinities of love, has

been frequently pointed out and confirmed in small treatises respecting

that world. These observations are made, in order that it may be known

that the souls and minds of men are not in space like their bodies;

because the former, as was said above, from their origin, are celestial

and spiritual; and as they are not in space, they may be joined together

as into a one, although their bodies at the same time are not so joined.

This is the case especially with married partners, who love each other

intimately: but as the woman is from the man, and this conjunction is a

species of reunion, it may be seen from reason, that it is not a

conjunction into a one, but an adjunction, close and near according to

the love, and approaching to contact with those who are principled in

love truly conjugial. This adjunction may be called spiritual dwelling

together; which takes place with married partners who love each other

tenderly, however distant their bodies may be from each other. Many

experimental proofs exist, even in the natural world, in confirmation of

these observations. Hence it is evident, that conjugial love conjoins

two souls and minds into a one.

159. III. THE WILL OF THE WIFE CONJOINS ITSELF WITH THE UNDERSTANDING OF

THE MAN, AND THENCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE MAN WITH THE WILL OF THE

WIFE. The reason of this is, because the male is born to become

understanding, and the female to become will, loving the understanding

of the male; from which consideration it follows, that conjugial

conjunction is that of the will of the wife with the understanding of

the man, and the reciprocal conjunction of the understanding of the man

with the will of the wife. Every one sees that the conjunction of the

understanding and the will is of the most intimate kind; and that it is

such, that the one faculty can enter into the other, and be delighted

from and in the conjunction.

160. IV. THE INCLINATION TO UNITE THE MAN TO HERSELF IS CONSTANT AND

PERPETUAL WITH THE WIFE, BUT INCONSTANT AND ALTERNATE WITH THE MAN. The

reason of this is, because love cannot do otherwise than love and unite

itself, in order that it may be loved in return, this being its very

essence and life; and women are born loves; whereas men, with whom they

unite themselves in order that they may be loved in return, are

receptions. Moreover love is continually efficient; being like heat,

flame, and fire, which perish if their efficiency is checked. Hence the

inclination to unite the man to herself is constant and perpetual with

the wife: but a similar inclination does not operate with the man

towards the wife, because the man is not love, but only a recipient of

love; and as a state of reception is absent or present according to

intruding cares, and to the varying presence or absence of heat in the

mind, as derived from various causes, and also according to the increase

and decrease of the bodily powers, which do not return regularly and at

stated periods, it follows, that the inclination to conjunction is

inconstant and alternate with men.

161. V. CONJUNCTION IS INSPIRED INTO THE MAN FROM THE WIFE ACCORDING TO

HER LOVE, AND IS RECEIVED BY THE MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WISDOM. That love

and consequent conjunction is inspired into the man by the wife, is at

this day concealed from the men; yea, it is universally denied by them;

because wives insinuate that the men alone love, and that they

themselves receive; or that the men are loves, and themselves

obediences: they rejoice also in heart when the men believe it to be so.

There are several reasons why they endeavour to persuade the men of

this, which are all grounded in their prudence and circumspection;

respecting which, something shall be said in a future part of this work,

particularly in the chapter ON THE CAUSES OF COLDNESS, SEPARATIONS, AND

DIVORCES BETWEEN MARRIED PARTNERS. The reason why men receive from their

wives the inspiration or insinuation of love, is, because nothing of

conjugial love, or even of the love of the sex, is with the men, but

only with wives and females. That this is the case, has been clearly

shewn me in the spiritual world. I was once engaged in conversation

there on this subject; and the men, in consequence of a persuasion

infused from their wives, insisted that they loved and not the wives;

but that the wives received love from them. In order to settle the

dispute respecting this arcanum, all the females, married and unmarried,

were withdrawn from the men, and at the same time the sphere of the love

of the sex was removed with them. On the removal of this sphere, the men

were reduced to a very unusual state, such as they had never before

perceived, at which they greatly complained. Then, while they were in

this state, the females were brought to them, and the wives to the

husbands; and both the wives and the other females addressed them in the

tenderest and most engaging manner; but they were cold to their

tenderness, and turned away, and said one to another, "What is all this?

what is a female?" And when some of the women said that they were their

wives, they replied, "What is a wife? we do not know you." But when the

wives began to be grieved at this absolutely cold indifference of the

men, and some of them to shed tears, the sphere of the love of the

female sex, and the conjugial sphere, which had for a time been

withdrawn from the men, was restored; and then the men instantly

returned into their former state, the lovers of marriage into their

state, and the lovers of the sex into theirs. Thus the men were

convinced, that nothing of conjugial love, or even of the love of the

sex, resides with them, but only with the wives and females.

Nevertheless, the wives afterwards from their prudence induced the men

to believe, that love resides with the men, and that some small spark of

it may pass from them into the wives. This experimental evidence is here

adduced, in order that it may be known, that wives are loves and men

recipients. That men are recipients according to their wisdom,

especially according to this wisdom grounded in religion, that the wife

only is to be loved, is evident from this consideration, that so long as

the wife only is loved, the love is concentrated; and because it is also

ennobled, it remains in its strength, and is fixed and permanent; and

that in any other case it would be as when wheat from the granary is

cast to the dogs, whereby there is scarcity at home.

162. VI. THIS CONJUNCTION IS EFFECTED SUCCESSIVELY FROM THE FIRST DAYS

OF MARRIAGE; AND WITH THOSE WHO ARE PRINCIPLED IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL,

IT IS EFFECTED MORE AND MORE THOROUGHLY TO ETERNITY. The first heat of

marriage does not conjoin; for it partakes of the love of the sex, which

is the love of the body and thence of the spirit; and what is in the

spirit, as derived from the body, does not long continue; but the love

which is in the body, and is derived from the spirit, does continue. The

love of the spirit, and of the body from the spirit, is insinuated into

the souls and minds of married partners, together with friendship and

confidence. When these two (friendship and confidence) conjoin

themselves with the first love of marriage, there is effected conjugial

love, which opens the bosoms, and inspires the sweets of that love; and

this more and more thoroughly, in proportion as those two principles

adjoin themselves to the primitive love, and that love enters into them,

and _vice versa_.

163. VII. THE CONJUNCTION OF THE WIFE WITH THE RATIONAL WISDOM OF THE

HUSBAND IS EFFECTED FROM WITHIN, BUT WITH HIS MORAL WISDOM FROM WITHOUT.

That wisdom with men is two-fold, rational and moral, and that their

rational wisdom is of the understanding alone, and their moral wisdom is

of the understanding and the life together, may be concluded and seen

from mere intuition and examination. But in order that it may be known

what we mean by the rational wisdom of men, and what by their moral

wisdom, we will enumerate some of the specific distinctions. The

principles constituent of their rational wisdom are called by various

names; in general they are called knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom;

but in particular they are called rationality, judgement, capacity,

erudition, and sagacity; but as every one has knowledge peculiar to his

office, therefore they are multifarious; for the clergy, magistrates,

public officers, judges, physicians and chemists, soldiers and sailors,

artificers and laborers, husbandmen, &c., have each their peculiar

knowledge. To rational wisdom also appertain all the knowledge into

which young men are initiated in the schools, and by which they are

afterwards initiated into intelligence, which also are called by various

names, as philosophy, physics, geometry, mechanics, chemistry,

astronomy, jurisprudence, politics, ethics, history, and several others,

by which, as by doors, an entrance is made into things rational, which

are the ground of rational wisdom.

164. But the constituents of moral wisdom with men are all the moral

virtues, which have respect to life, and enter into it, and also all the

spiritual virtues, which flow from love to God and love towards our

neighbour, and centre in those loves. The virtues which appertain to the

moral wisdom of men are also of various kinds, and are called

temperance, sobriety, probity, benevolence, friendship, modesty,

sincerity, courtesy, civility, also carefulness, industry, quickness of

wit, alacrity, munificence, liberality, generosity, activity,

intrepidity, prudence and many others. Spiritual virtues with men are

the love of religion, charity, truth, conscience, innocence, and many

more. The latter virtues and also the former, may in general be referred

to love and zeal for religion, for the public good, for a man's country,

for his fellow-citizens, for his parents, for his married partner, and

for his children. In all these, justice and judgement have dominion;

justice having relation to moral, and judgement to rational wisdom.

165. The reason why the conjunction of the wife with the man's rational

wisdom is from within, is, because this wisdom belongs to the man's

understanding, and ascends into the light in which women are not and

this is the reason why women do not speak from that wisdom; but, when

the conversation of the men turns on subjects proper thereto, they

remain silent and listen. That nevertheless such subjects have place

with the wives from within, is evident from their listening thereto, and

from their inwardly recollecting what had been said, and favoring those

things which they had heard from their husbands. But the reason why the

conjunction of the wife with the moral wisdom of the man is from

without, is, because the virtues of that wisdom for the most part are

akin to similar virtues with the women, and partake of the man's

intellectual will, with which the will of the wife unites and

constitutes a marriage; and since the wife knows those virtues

appertaining to the man more than the man himself does, it is said that

the conjunction of the wife with those virtues is from without.

166. VIII. FOR THE SAKE OF THIS CONJUNCTION AS AN END, THE WIFE HAS A

PERCEPTION OF THE AFFECTIONS OF THE HUSBAND, AND ALSO THE UTMOST

PRUDENCE IN MODERATING THEM. That wives know the affections of their

husbands, and prudently moderate them, is among the arcana of conjugial

love which lie concealed with wives. They know those affections by three

senses, the sight, the hearing, and the touch, and moderate them while

their husbands are not at all aware of it. Now as the reasons of this

are among the arcana of wives, it does not become me to disclose them

circumstantially; but as it is becoming for the wives themselves to do

so, therefore four MEMORABLE RELATIONS are added to this chapter, in

which those reasons are disclosed by the wives: two of the RELATIONS are

taken from the three wives that dwelt in the hall, over which was seen

falling as it were a golden shower; and two from the seven wives that

were sitting in the garden of roses. A perusal of these RELATIONS will

unfold this arcanum.

167. IX. WIVES CONCEAL THIS PERCEPTION WITH THEMSELVES AND HIDE IT FROM

THEIR HUSBANDS, FOR REASONS OF NECESSITY, IN ORDER THAT CONJUGIAL LOVE,

FRIENDSHIP, AND CONFIDENCE, AND THEREBY THE BLESSEDNESS OF DWELLING

TOGETHER AND THE HAPPINESS OF LIFE MAY BE SECURED. The concealing and

hiding of the perception of the affections of the husband by the wives,

are said to be of necessity; because if they should reveal them, they

would cause a complete alienation of their husbands, both in mind and

body. The reason of this is, because there resides deep in the minds of

many men a conjugial coldness, originating in several causes, which will

be enumerated in the chapter ON THE CAUSES OF COLDNESSES, SEPARATION,

AND DIVORCES BETWEEN MARRIED PARTNERS. This Coldness, in case the wives

should discover the affections and inclinations of their husbands, would

burst forth from its hiding places, and communicate its cold, first to

the interiors of the mind, afterwards to the breast, and thence to the

ultimates of love which are appropriated to generation; and these being

affected with cold, conjugial love would be banished to such a degree,

that there would not remain any hope of friendship, of confidence, of

the blessedness of dwelling together, and thence of the happiness of

life; when nevertheless wives are continually feeding on this hope. To

make this open declaration, that they know their husbands' affections

and inclinations of love, carries with it a declaration and publication

of their own love: and it is well known, that so far as wives make such

a declaration, so far the men grow cold and desire a separation. From

these considerations the truth of this proposition is manifest, that the

reasons why wives conceal their perception with themselves, and hide it

from their husbands, are reasons of necessity.

168. X. THIS PERCEPTION IS THE WISDOM OF THE WIFE, AND IS NOT

COMMUNICABLE TO THE MAN; NEITHER IS THE RATIONAL WISDOM OF THE MAN

COMMUNICABLE TO THE WIFE. This follows from the distinction subsisting

between the male principle and the female. The male principle consists

in perceiving from the understanding, and the female in perceiving from

love: and the understanding perceives also those things which are above

the body and are out of the world; for the rational and spiritual sight

reaches to such objects; whereas love reaches no further than to what it

feels; when it reaches further, it is in consequence of conjunction with

the understanding of the man established from creation: for the

understanding has relation to light, and love to heat; and those things

which have relation to light, are seen, and those which have relation to

heat, are felt. From these considerations it is evident, that from the

universal distinction subsisting between the male principle and the

female, the wisdom of the wife is not communicable to the man, neither

is the wisdom of the man communicable to the wife: nor, further, is the

moral wisdom of the man communicable to women, so far as it partakes of

his rational wisdom.

169. XI. THE WIFE FROM A PRINCIPLE OF LOVE IN CONTINUALLY THINKING ABOUT

THE MAN'S INCLINATION TO HER, WITH THE PURPOSE OF JOINING HIM TO

HERSELF: IT IS OTHERWISE WITH THE MAN. This agrees with what was

explained above; namely, that the inclination to unite the man to

herself is constant and perpetual with the wife, but inconstant and

alternate with the man; see n. 160: hence it follows, that the wife's

thoughts are continually employed about her husband's inclination to

her, with the purpose of joining him to herself. Her thoughts concerning

her husband are interrupted indeed by domestic concerns; but still they

remain in the affection of her love; and this affection does not

separate itself from the thoughts with women, as it does with men: these

things, however, I relate from hearsay; see the two MEMORABLE RELATIONS

from the seven wives sitting in the rose-garden, which are annexed to

some of the following chapters.

170. XII. THE WIFE CONJOINS HERSELF TO THE MAN BY APPLICATIONS TO THE

DESIRES OF HIS WILL. This being generally known and admitted, it is

needless to explain it.

171. XIII. THE WIFE IS CONJOINED TO HER HUSBAND BY THE SPHERE OF HER

LIFE FLOWING FROM THE LOVE OF HIM. There flows, yea there overflows,

from every man (_homo_) a spiritual sphere, derived from the affections

of his love, which encompasses him, and infuses itself into the natural

sphere derived from the body, so that the two spheres are conjoined.

That a natural sphere is continually flowing, not only from men, but

also from beasts, yea from trees, fruits, flowers, and also from metals,

is generally known. The case is the same in the spiritual world; but the

spheres flowing from subjects in that world are spiritual, and those

which emanate from spirits and angels are altogether spiritual; because

there appertain thereto affections of love, and thence interior

perceptions and thoughts. This is the origin of all sympathy and

antipathy, and likewise of all conjunction and disjunction, and,

according thereto, of presence and absence in the spiritual world: for

what is of a similar nature or concordant causes conjunction and

presence, and what is of a dissimilar nature and discordant causes

disjunction and absence; therefore those spheres cause distances in that

world. What effects those spiritual spheres produce in the natural

world, is also known to some. The inclinations of married partners

towards each other are from no other origin. They are united by

unanimous and concordant spheres, and disunited by adverse and

discordant spheres; for concordant spheres are delightful and grateful,

whereas discordant spheres are undelightful and ungrateful. I have been

informed by the angels, who are in a clear perception of those spheres,

that every part of a man, both interior and exterior, renews itself;

which is effected by solutions and reparations; and that hence arises

the sphere which continually issues forth. I have also been informed

that this sphere encompasses a man on the back and on the breast,

lightly on the back, but more densely on the breast, and that the sphere

issuing from the breast conjoins itself with the respiration; and that

this is the reason why two married partners, who are of different minds

and discordant affections, lie in bed back to back, and, on the other

hand, why those who agree in minds and affections, mutually turn towards

each other. I have been further informed by the angels, that these

spheres, because they flow from every part of a man (_homo_), and are

abundantly continued around him, conjoin and disjoin two married

partners not only externally, but also internally; and that hence come

all the differences and varieties of conjugial love. Lastly, I have been

informed, that the sphere of love, flowing from a wife who is tenderly

loved, is perceived in heaven as sweetly fragrant, by far more pleasant

than it is perceived in the world by a newly married man during the

first days after marriage. From these considerations is manifested the

truth of the assertion, that a wife is conjoined to a man by the sphere

of her life flowing from the love of him.

172. XIV. THE WIFE IS CONJOINED TO THE HUSBAND BY THE APPROPRIATION OF

THE POWERS OF HIS VIRTUE; WHICH HOWEVER IS EFFECTED ACCORDING TO THEIR

MUTUAL SPIRITUAL LOVE. That this is the case, I have also gathered from

the mouth of angels. They have declared that the prolific principles

imparted from the husbands are received universally by the wives and add

themselves to their life; and that thus the wives lead a life unanimous,

and successively more unanimous with their husbands; and that hence is

effectively produced a union of souls and a conjunction of minds. They

declared the reason of this was, because in the prolific principle of

the husband is his soul, and also his mind as to its interiors, which

are conjoined to the soul. They added, that this was provided from

creation, in order that the wisdom of the man, which constitutes his

soul, may be appropriated to the wife, and that thus they may become,

according to the Lord's words, one flesh: and further, that this was

provided, lest the husband (_homovir_) from some caprice should leave

the wife after conception. But they added further, that applications and

appropriations of the life of the husband with the wife are effected

according to conjugial love, because love which is spiritual union,

conjoins; and that this also is provided for several reasons.

173. XV. THUS THE WIFE RECEIVES IN HERSELF THE IMAGE OF HER HUSBAND, AND

THENCE PERCEIVES, SEES, AND IS SENSIBLE OF, HIS AFFECTIONS. From the

reasons above adduced it follows as an established fact, that wives

receive in themselves those things which appertain to the wisdom of

their husbands, thus which are proper to the souls and minds of their

husbands, and thereby from virgins make themselves wives. The reasons

from which this follows, are, 1. That the woman was created out of the

man. 2. That hence she has an inclination to unite, and as it were to

reunite herself with the man. 3. That by virtue of this union with her

partner, and for the sake of it, the woman is born the love of the man,

and becomes more and more the love of him by marriage; because in this

case the love is continually employing its thoughts to conjoin the man

to itself. 4. That the woman is conjoined to her only one (_unico suo_)

by application to the desires of his life. 5. That they are conjoined by

the spheres which encompass them, and which unite themselves universally

and particularly according to the quality of the conjugial love with the

wives, and at the same time according to the quality of the wisdom

recipient thereof with the husbands. 6. That they are also conjoined by

appropriations of the powers of the husbands by the wives. 7. From which

reasons it is evident, that there is continually somewhat of the husband

being transferred to the wife, and inscribed on her as her own. From all

these considerations it follows, that the image of the husband is formed

in the wife; by virtue of which image the wife perceives, sees, and is

sensible of, the things which are in her husband, in herself, and thence

as it were herself in him. She perceives from communication, she sees

from aspect, and she is made sensible from the touch. That she is made

sensible of the reception of her love by the husband from the touch in

the palms of the hands, on the cheeks, the shoulders, the hands, and the

breasts, I learnt from the three wives in the hall, and the seven wives

in the rose garden, spoken of in the MEMORABLE RELATIONS which follow.