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. That there are duties proper to the husband, and
others proper to the wife, needs not to be illustrated by an enumeration
of them; for they are many and various: and every one that chooses to do
so can arrange them numerically according to their genera and species.
The duties by which wives principally conjoin themselves with their
husbands, are those which relate to the education of the children of
each sex, and of the girls till they are marriageable.
175. The wife cannot enter into the duties proper to the husband, nor on
the other hand the husband into the duties proper to the wife, because
they differ like wisdom and the love thereof, or like thought and the
affection thereof, or like understanding and the will thereof. In the
duties proper to husbands, the primary agent is understanding, thought,
and wisdom; whereas in the duties proper to wives, the primary agent is
will, affection, and love; and the wife from the latter performs her
duties, and the husband from the former performs his; wherefore their
duties are naturally different, but still conjunctive in a successive
series. Many believe that women can perform the duties of men, if they
are initiated therein at an early age, as boys are. They may indeed be
initiated into the practice of such duties, but not into the judgement
on which the propriety of duties interiorly depends; wherefore such
women as have been initiated into the duties of men, are bound in
matters of judgement to consult men, and then, if they are left to their
own disposal, they select from the counsels of men that which suits
their own inclination. Some also suppose that women are equally capable
with men of elevating their intellectual vision, and into the same
sphere of light, and of viewing things with the same depth; and they
have been led into this opinion by the writings of certain learned
authoresses: but these writings, when examined in the spiritual world in
the presence of the authoresses, were found to be the productions, not
of judgement and wisdom, but of ingenuity and wit; and what proceeds
from these on account of the elegance and neatness of the style in which
it is written, has the appearance of sublimity and erudition; yet only
in the eyes of those who dignify all ingenuity by the name of wisdom. In
like manner men cannot enter into the duties proper to women, and
perform them aright, because they are not in the affections of women,
which are altogether distinct from the affections of men. As the
affections and perceptions of the male (and of the female) sex are thus
distinct by creation and consequently by nature, therefore among the
statutes given to the sons of Israel this also was ordained, "_A woman
shall not put on the garment of a man, neither shall a man put on the
garment of a woman; because this is an abomination_." Deut. xxii. 5.
This was, because, all in the spiritual world are clothed according to
their affections; and the two affections, of the woman and of the man,
cannot be united except (as subsisting) between two, and in no case (as
subsisting) in one.
176. XVII. THESE DUTIES ALSO, ACCORDING TO MUTUAL AID, CONJOIN THE TWO
INTO A ONE, AND AT THE SAME TIME CONSTITUTE ONE HOUSE. It is well known
in the world that the duties of the husband in some way conjoin
themselves with the duties of the wife, and that the duties of the wife
adjoin themselves to the duties of the husband, and that these
conjunctions and adjunctions are a mutual aid, and according thereto:
but the primary duties, which confederate, consociate, and gather into
one the souls and lives of two married partners, relate to the common
care of educating their children; in relation to which care, the duties
of the husband and of the wife are distinct, and yet join themselves
together. They are distinct; for the care of suckling and nursing the
infants of each sex, and also the care of instructing the girls till
they become marriageable, is properly the duty of the wife; whereas the
care of instructing the boys, from childhood to youth, and from youth
till they become capable of governing themselves, is properly the duty
of the husband: nevertheless the duties, of both the husband and the
wife, are blended by means of counsel and support, and several other
mutual aids. That these duties, both conjoined and distinct, or both
common and peculiar, combine the minds of conjugial partners into one;
and that this is effected by the love called _storge_, is well known. It
is also well known, that these duties, regarded in their distinction and
conjunction, constitute one house.
177. XVIII. MARRIED PARTNERS, ACCORDING TO THESE CONJUNCTIONS, BECOME
ONE MAN (homo) MORE AND MORE. This coincides with what is contained in
article VI.; where it was observed, that conjunction is effected
successively from the first days of marriage and that with those who are
principled in love truly conjugial, it is effected more and more
thoroughly to eternity; see above. They become one man in proportion as
conjugial love increases; and as this love in the heavens is genuine by
virtue of the celestial and spiritual life of the angels, therefore two
married partners are there called two, when they are regarded as husband
and wife, but one, when they are regarded as angels.
178. XIX. THOSE WHO ARE PRINCIPLED IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, ARE SENSIBLE
OF THEIR BEING A UNITED MAN, AND AS IT WERE ONE FLESH. That this is the
case, must be confirmed not from the testimony of any inhabitant of the
earth, but from the testimony of the inhabitants of heaven; for there is
no love truly conjugial at this day with men on earth; and moreover, men
on earth are encompassed with a gross body, which deadens and absorbs
the sensation that two married partners are a united man, and as it were
one flesh; and besides, those in the world who love their married
partners only exteriorly, and not interiorly, do not wish to hear of
such a thing: they think also on the subject lasciviously under the
influence of the flesh. It is otherwise with the angels of heaven, who
are principled in spiritual and celestial conjugial love, and are not
encompassed with so gross a body as men on earth. From those among them
who have lived for ages with their conjugial partners in heaven, I have
heard it testified, that they are sensible of their being so united, the
husband with the wife, and the wife with the husband, and each in the
other mutually and interchangeably, as also in the flesh, although they
are separate. The reason why this phenomenon is so rare on earth, they
have declared to be this; because the union of the souls and minds of
married partners on earth is made sensible in their flesh; for the soul
constitutes the inmost principles not only of the head, but also of the
body: in like manner the mind, which is intermediate between the soul
and the body, and which, although it appears to be in the head, is yet
also actually in the whole body: and they have declared, that this is
the reason why the acts, which the soul and mind intend, flow forth
instantly from the body; and that hence also it is, that they
themselves, after the rejection of the body in the former world, are
perfect men. Now, since the soul and the mind join themselves closely to
the flesh of the body, in order that they may operate and produce their
effects, it follows that the union of soul and mind with a married
partner is made sensible also in the body as one flesh. As the angels
made these declarations, I heard it asserted by the spirits who were
present, that such subjects belong to angelic wisdom, being above
ordinary apprehension; but these spirits were rational-natural, and not
rational-spiritual.
179. XX. LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, CONSIDERED IN ITSELF, IS A UNION OF
SOULS, A CONJUNCTION OF MINDS, AND AN ENDEAVOUR TOWARDS CONJUNCTION IN
THE BOSOMS AND THENCE IN THE BODY. That it is a union of souls and a
conjunction of minds, may be seen above, n. 158. The reason why it is an
endeavour towards conjunction in the bosoms is, because the bosom (or
breast) is as it were a place of public assembly, and a royal
council-chamber, while the body is as a populous city around it. The
reason why the bosom is as it were a place of public assembly, is,
because all things, which by derivation from the soul and mind have
their determination in the body, first flow into the bosom; and the
reason why it is as it were a royal council chamber, is, because in the
bosom there is dominion over all things of the body; for in the bosom
are contained the heart and lungs; and the heart rules by the blood, and
the lungs by the respiration, in every part. That the body is as a
populous city around it, is evident. When therefore the souls and minds
of married partners are united, and love truly conjugial unites them, it
follows that this lovely union flows into their bosoms, and through
their bosoms into their bodies, and causes an endeavour towards
conjunction; and so much the more, because conjugial love determines the
endeavour to its ultimates, in order to complete its satisfactions; and
as the bosom is intermediate between the body and the mind, it is
evident on what account conjugial love has fixed therein the seat of its
delicate sensation.
180. XXI. THE STATES OF THIS LOVE ARE INNOCENCE, PEACE, TRANQUILLITY,
INMOST FRIENDSHIP, FULL CONFIDENCE, AND A MUTUAL DESIRE OF MIND AND
HEART TO DO EVERY 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. All these
things are in conjugial love, and thence are derived from it, because
its origin is from the marriage of good and truth, and this marriage is
from the Lord; and because love is of such a nature, that it desires to
communicate with another, whom it loves from the heart, yea, confer joys
upon him, and thence to derive its own joys. This therefore is the case
in an infinitely high degree with the divine love, which is in the Lord,
in regard to man, whom he created a receptacle of both love and wisdom
proceeding from himself; and as he created man (_homo_) for the
reception of those principles, the man (_vir_) for the reception of
wisdom, and the woman for the reception of the love of the man's wisdom,
therefore from inmost principles he infused into men (_homines_)
conjugial love into which love he might insinuate all things blessed,
satisfactory, delightful, and pleasant, which proceed solely from his
divine love through his divine wisdom, together with life, and flow into
their recipients; consequently, which flow into those who are principled
in love truly conjugial; for these alone are recipients. Mention is made
of innocence, peace, tranquillity, inmost friendship, full confidence,
and the mutual desire of doing every good to each other; for innocence
and peace relate to the soul, tranquillity to the mind, inmost
friendship to the breast, full confidence to the heart, and the mutual
desire of doing every good to each other, to the body as derived from
the former principles.
181. XXII. THESE THINGS CAN ONLY EXIST IN THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH
ONE WIFE. This is a conclusion from all that has been said above, and
also from all that remains to be said; therefore there is no need of any
particular comment for its confirmation.
* * * * *
182. To the above I will add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. After some
weeks, I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Lo! there is again an
assembly on Parnassus: come hither, and we will shew you the way." I
accordingly came; and as I drew near, I saw a certain person on Helicon
with a trumpet, with which he announced and proclaimed the assembly. And
I saw the inhabitants of Athens and its suburbs ascending as before; and
in the midst of them three novitiates from the world. They were of a
Christian community; one a priest, another a politician, and the third a
philosopher. These they entertained on the way with conversation on
various subjects, especially concerning the wise ancients, whom they
named. They inquired whether they should see them, and were answered in
the affirmative, and were told, that if they were desirous, they might
pay their respects to them, as they were courteous and affable. The
novitiates then inquired after Demosthenes, Diogenes, and Epicurus; and
were answered, "Demosthenes is not here, but with Plato; Diogenes, with
his scholars, resides under Helicon, because of his little attention to
worldly things, and his being engaged in heavenly contemplations;
Epicurus dwells in a border to the west, and has no intercourse with us;
because we distinguish between good and evil affections, and say, that
good affections are one with wisdom, and evil affections are contrary to
it." When they had ascended the hill Parnassus, some guards there
brought water in crystal cups from a fountain in the mount, and said,
"This is water from the fountain which, according to ancient fable, was
broken open by the hoof of the horse Pegasus, and was afterwards
consecrated to nine virgins: but by the winged horse Pegasus they meant
the understanding of truth, by which comes wisdom; by the hoofs of his
feet they understood experiences whereby comes natural intelligence; and
by the nine virgins they understood knowledges and sciences of every
kind. These things are now called fables; but they were correspondences,
agreeable to the primeval method of speaking." Then those who attended
the three strangers said, "Be not surprised; the guards are told thus to
speak; but we know that to drink water from the fountain, means to be
instructed concerning truths, and by truths concerning goods, and
thereby to grow wise." After this, they entered the Palladium, and with
them the three novitiates, the priest, the politician, and the
philosopher; and immediately the laureled sophi who were seated at the
tables, asked, "WHAT NEWS FROM THE EARTH?" They replied, "This is news;
that a certain person declares that he converses with angels, and has
his sight opened into the spiritual world, equally as into the natural
world; and he brings thence much new information, and, among other
particulars, asserts, that a man lives a man after death, as he lived
before in the world; that he sees, hears, speaks, as before in the
world; that he is clothed and decked with ornaments, as before in the
world; that he hungers and thirsts, eats and drinks, as before in the
world; that he enjoys conjugial delights, as before in the world; that
he sleeps and wakes, as before in the world; that in the spiritual world
there are land and water, mountains and hills, plains and valleys,
fountains and rivers, paradises and groves; also that there are palaces
and houses, cities and villages, as in the natural world; and further,
that there are writings and books, employments and trades; also precious
stones, gold and silver; in a word, that there are all such things there
as there are on earth, and that those things in the heavens are
infinitely more perfect; with this difference only, that all things in
the spiritual world are from a spiritual origin, and therefore are
spiritual, because they are from the sun of that world, which is pure
love; whereas all things in the natural world are from a natural origin,
and therefore are natural and material, because they are from the sun of
that world, which is pure fire; in short, that a man after death is
perfectly a man, yea more perfectly than before in the world; for before
in the world he was in a material body, but in the spiritual world he is
in a spiritual body." Hereupon the ancient sages asked, "What do the
people on the earth think of such information?" The three strangers
replied, "We know that it is true, because we are here, and have viewed
and examined everything; wherefore we will tell you what has been said
and reasoned about it on earth." Then the PRIEST said, "Those of our
order, when they first heard such relations, called them visions, then
fictions; afterwards they insisted that the man had seen spectres, and
lastly they hesitated, and said, 'Believe them who will; we have
hitherto taught that a man will not be in a body after death until the
day of the last judgement.'" Then the sages asked, "Are there no
intelligent persons among those of your order, who can prove and evince
the truth, that a man lives a man after death?" The priest said, "There
are indeed some who prove it, but not to the conviction of others. Those
who prove it say, that it is contrary to sound reason to believe, that a
man does not live a man till the day of the last judgement, and that in
the mean while he is a soul without a body. What is the soul, or where
is it in the interim? Is it a vapor, or some wind floating in the
atmosphere, or some thing hidden in the bowels of the earth? Have the
souls of Adam and Eve, and of all their posterity, now for six thousand
years, or sixty ages, been flying about in the universe, or been shut up
in the bowels of the earth, waiting for the last judgement? What can be
more anxious and miserable than such an expectation? May not their lot
in such a case be compared with that of prisoners bound hand and foot,
and lying in a dungeon? If such be a man's lot after death, would it not
be better to be born an ass than a man? Is it not also contrary to
reason to believe, that the soul can be re-clothed with its body? Is not
the body eaten up by worms, mice, and fish? And can a bony skeleton that
has been parched in the sun, or mouldered into dust, be introduced into
a new body? And how could the cadaverous and putrid materials be
collected, and reunited to the souls? When such questions as these are
urged, those of our order do not offer any answers grounded in reason,
but adhere to their creed, saying, 'We keep reason under obedience to
faith.' With respect to collecting all the parts of the human body from
the grave at the last day, they say, 'This is a work of omnipotence;'
and when they name omnipotence and faith, reason is banished; and I am
free to assert, that in such case sound reason is not appreciated, and
by some is regarded as a spectre; yea, they can say to sound reason,
'Thou art unsound.'" On hearing these things, the Grecian sages said,
"Surely such paradoxes vanish and disperse of themselves, as being full
of contradiction; and yet in the world at this day they cannot be
dispersed by sound reason. What can be believed more paradoxical than
what is told respecting the last judgement; that the universe will then
be destroyed, and that the stars of heaven will then fall down upon the
earth, which is less than the stars; and that then the bodies of men,
whether they be mouldering carcases, or mummies eaten by men, or reduced
to mere dust, will meet and be united again with their souls? We, during
our abode in the world, from the inductions of reason, believed the
immortality of the souls of men; and we also assigned regions for the
blessed, which we call the elysian fields; and we believed that the soul
was a human image or appearance, but of a fine and delicate nature,
because spiritual." After this, the assembly turned to the other
stranger, who in the world had been a POLITICIAN. He confessed that he
did not believe in a life after death, and that respecting the new
information which he had heard about it, he thought it all fable and
fiction. "In my meditations on the subject," said he, "I used to say to
myself, 'How can souls be bodies?--does not the whole man lie dead in
the grave?--is not the eye there; how can he see?--is not the ear there,
how can he hear?--whence must he have a mouth wherewith to speak?
Supposing anything of a man to live after death, must it not resemble a
spectre? and how can a spectre eat and drink, or how can it enjoy
conjugial delights? whence can it have clothes, houses, meats, &c.?
Besides, spectres, which are mere aerial images, appear as if they
really existed; and yet they do not. These and similar sentiments I used
to entertain in the world concerning the life of men after death; but
now, since I have seen all things, and touched them with my hands, I am
convinced by my very senses that I am a man as I was in the world; so
that I know no other than that I live now as I lived formerly; with only
this difference, that my reason now is sounder. At times I have been
ashamed of my former thoughts." The PHILOSOPHER gave much the same
account of himself as the politician had done; only differing in this
respect, that he considered the new relations which he had heard
concerning a life after death, as having reference to opinions and
hypotheses which he had collected from the ancients and moderns. When
the three strangers had done speaking, the sophi were all in amazement;
and those who were of the Socratic school, said, that from the news they
had heard from the earth, it was quite evident, that the interiors of
human minds had been successively closed; and that in the world at this
time a belief in what is false shines as truth, and an infatuated
ingenuity as wisdom; and that the light of wisdom, since their times,
has descended from the interiors of the brain into the mouth beneath the
nose, where it appears to the eyes as a shining of the lip, while the
speech of the mouth thence proceeding appears as wisdom. Hereupon one of
the young scholars said, "How stupid are the minds of the inhabitants of
the earth at this day! I wish we had here the disciples of Heraclitus,
who weep at every thing, and of Democritus, who laugh at every thing;
for then we should hear much lamentation and much laughter." When the
assembly broke up, they gave the three novitiates the insignia of their
authority, which were copper plates, on which were engraved some
hieroglyphic characters; with which they took their leave and departed.
183. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. I saw in the eastern quarter a grove
of palm-trees and laurels, set in winding rows, which I approached and
entered; and walking in the winding paths I saw at the end a garden,
which formed the centre of the grove. There was a little bridge dividing
the grove from the garden, and at the bridge two gates, one on the side
next the grove, and the other on the side next the garden. And as I drew
near, the keeper opened the gates, and I asked him the name of the
garden. He said, "ADRAMANDONI; which is the delight of conjugial love."
I entered, and lo! there were olive-trees; and among them ran pendulous
vines, and underneath and among them were shrubs in flower. In the midst
of the garden was a grassy circus, on which were seated husbands and
wives, and youths and maidens, in pairs; and in the midst of the circus,
on an elevated piece of ground, there was a little fountain, which, from
the strength of its spring, threw its water to a considerable height. On
approaching the circus I saw two angels clad in purple and scarlet, in
conversation with those who were seated on the grass. They were
conversing respecting the origin of conjugial love, and respecting its
delights; and this being the object of their discourse, the attention
was eager, and the reception full; and hence there was an exaltation in
the speech of the angels as from the fire of love. I collected the
following summary of what was said. They began with the difficulty of
investigating and perceiving the origin of conjugial love; because its
origin is divinely celestial, it being divine love, divine wisdom, and
divine use, which three proceed as a one from the Lord, and hence flow
as a one into the souls of men, and through their souls into their
minds, and there into the interior affections and thoughts, and through
these into the desires next to the body, and from these through the
breast into the genital region, where all principles derived from their
first origin exist together, and, in union with successive principles,
constitute conjugial love. After this the angels said, "Let us
communicate together by questions and answers; since the perception of a
thing, imbibed by hearing only, flows in indeed, but does not remain
unless the bearer also thinks of it from himself, and asks questions
concerning it." Then some of that conjugial assembly said to the angels,
"We have heard that the origin of conjugial love is divinely celestial;
because it is by virtue of influx from the Lord into the souls of men;
and, as it is from the Lord, that it is love, wisdom, and use, which are
three essentials, together constituting one divine essence, and that
nothing but what is of the divine essence can proceed from him, and flow
into the inmost principle of man (_homo_), which is called his soul; and
that these three essentials are changed into analogous and corresponding
principles in their descent into the body. We ask therefore now in the
first place, What is meant by the third proceeding divine essential,
which is called use?" The angels replied, "Love and wisdom, without use,
are only abstract ideas of thought; which also after some continuance in
the mind pass away like the winds; but in use they are collected
together, and therein become one principle, which is called real. Love
cannot rest unless it is as work; for love is the essential active
principle of life; neither can wisdom exist and subsist unless when it
is at work from and with love; and to work is use; therefore we define
use to be the doing good from love by wisdom; use being essential good.
As these three essentials, love, wisdom, and use, flow into the souls of
men, it may appear from what ground it is said, that all good is from
God; for every thing done from love by wisdom, is called good; and use
also is something done. What is love without wisdom but a mere
infatuation? and what is love with wisdom without use, but a puff of the
mind? Whereas love and wisdom with use not only constitute man (_homo_),
but also are man; yea, what possibly you will be surprised at, they
propagate man; for in the seed of a man (_vir_) is his soul in a perfect
human form, covered with substances from the purest principles of
nature; whereof a body is formed in the womb of the mother. This is the
supreme and ultimate use of the divine love by the divine wisdom."
Finally the angels said, "We will hence come to this conclusion, that
all fructification, propagation, and prolification, is originally
derived from the influx of love, wisdom, and use from the Lord, from an
immediate influx into the souls of men, from a mediate influx into the
souls of animals, and from an influx still more mediate into the inmost
principles of vegetables; and all these effects are wrought in ultimates
from first principles. That fructifications, propagations, and
prolifications, are continuations of creation, is evident; for creation
cannot be from any other source, than from divine love by divine wisdom
in divine use; wherefore all things in the universe are procreated and
formed from use, in use, and for use." Afterwards those who were seated
on the grassy couches, asked the angels "Whence are the innumerable and
ineffable delights of conjugial love?" The angels replied, "They are
from the uses of love and wisdom, as may be plain from this
consideration, that so far as any one loves to grow wise, for the sake
of genuine use, so far he is in the vein and potency of conjugial love;
and so far as he is in these two, so far he is in the delights thereof.
Use effects this; because love and wisdom are delighted with each other,
and as it were sport together like little children; and as they grow up,
they enter into genial conjunction, which is effected by a kind of
betrothing, nuptial solemnity, marriage, and propagation, and this with
continual variety to eternity. These operations take place between love
and wisdom inwardly in use. Those delights in their first principles are
imperceptible; but they become more and more perceptible as they descend
thence by degrees and enter the body. They enter by degrees from the
soul into the interiors of a man's mind, from these into its exteriors,
from these into the bosom, and from the bosom into the genital region.
Those celestial nuptial sports in the soul are not at all perceived by
man; but they thence insinuate themselves into the interiors of the mind
under a species of peace and innocence, and into the exteriors of the
mind under a species of blessedness, satisfaction, and delight; in the
bosom under a species of the delights of inmost friendship; and in the
genital region, from continual influx even from the soul with the
essential sense of conjugial love, as the delight of delights. These
nuptial sports of love and wisdom in use in the soul, in proceeding
towards the bosom, become permanent, and present themselves sensible
therein under an infinite variety of delights; and from the wonderful
communication of the bosom with the genital region, the delights therein
become the delights of conjugial love, which are superior to all other
delights in heaven and in the world; because the use of conjugial love
is the most excellent of all uses, the procreation of the human race
being thence derived, and from the human race the angelic heaven." To
this the angels added, that those who are not principled in the love of
wisdom for the sake of use from the Lord, do not know anything
concerning the variety of the innumerable delights of love truly
conjugial; for with those who do not love to grow wise from genuine
truths, but love to be insane from false principles, and by this
insanity perform evil uses from some particular love, the way to the
soul is closed: hence the heavenly nuptial sports of love and wisdom in
the soul, being more and more intercepted, cease, and together with them
conjugial love ceases with its vein, its potency, and its delights. On
hearing these statements the audience said, "We now perceive that
conjugial love is according to the love of growing wise for the sake of
uses from the Lord." The angels replied that it was so. And instantly
upon the heads of some of the audience there appeared wreaths of
flowers; and on their asking, "Why is this?" the angels said, "Because
they have understood more profoundly:" and immediately they departed
from the garden, and the latter in the midst of them.
* * * * *
ON THE CHANGE OF THE STATE OF LIFE WHICH TAKES PLACE WITH MEN AND WOMEN
BY MARRIAGE.
184. What is meant by states of life, and their changes, is very well
known to the learned and the wise, but unknown to the unlearned and the
simple; wherefore it may be expedient to premise somewhat on the
subject. The state of a man's life is its quality; and as there are in
every man two faculties which constitute his life, and which are called
the understanding and the will, the state of a man's life is its quality
as to the understanding and the will. Hence it is evident, that changes
of the state of life mean changes of quality as to the things
appertaining to the understanding and the will. That every man is
continually changing as to those two principles, but with a distinction
of variations before marriage and after it, is the point proposed to be
proved in this section; which shall be done in the following
propositions:--I. _The state of a man's (homo) life from infancy even to
the end of his life, and afterwards to eternity, is continually
changing._ II. _In like manner a man's internal form which is that of
his spirit, is continually changing._ III. _These changes differ in the
case of men and of women; since men from creation are forms of
knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and women are forms of the love of
those principles as existing with men._ IV. _With men there is an
elevation of the mind into superior light, and with women an elevation
of the mind into superior heat: and that the woman is made sensible of
the delights of her heat in the man's light._ V. _With both men and
women, the states of life before marriage are different from what they
are afterwards._ VI. _With married partners the states of life after
marriage are changed and succeed each other according to the
conjunctions of their minds by conjugial love._ VII. _Marriage also
induces other forms in the souls and minds of married partners._ VIII.
_The woman is actually formed into a wife according to the description
in the book of creation._ IX. _This formation is effected on the part of
the wife by secret means; and this is meant by the woman's being created
while the man slept._ X. _This formation on the part of the wife is
affected by the conjunction of her own will with the internal will of
the man._ XI. _The end herein is, that the will of both became one, and
that thus both may become one man (homo)._ XII. _This formation on the
part of the wife is affected by an appropriation of the affections of
the husband._ XIII. _This formation on the part of the wife is effected
by a reception of the propagations of the soul of the husband, with the
delight arising from her desire to be the love of her husband's wisdom._
XIV. _Thus a maiden is formed into a wife, and a youth into a husband._
XV. _In the marriage of one man with one wife, between whom there exists
love truly conjugial, the wife becomes more and more a wife and the
husband more and more a husband._ XVI. _Thus also their forms are
successively perfected and ennobled from within._ XVII. _Children born
of parents who are principled in love truly conjugial, derive from them
the conjugial principle of good and truth; whence they have an
inclination and faculty, if sons, to perceive the things relating to
wisdom, and if daughters, to love those things which wisdom teaches._
XVIII. _The reason of this is because the soul of the offspring is from
the father and its clothing from the mother._ We proceed to the
explanation of each article.
185. I. THE STATE OF A MAN'S (_homo_) LIFE, FROM INFANCY EVEN TO THE END
OF HIS LIFE, AND AFTERWARDS TO ETERNITY, IS CONTINUALLY CHANGING. The
common states of a man's life are called infancy, childhood, youth,
manhood, and old age. That every man, whose life is continued in the
world, successively passes from one state into another, thus from the
first to the last, is well known. The transitions into those ages only
become evident by the intervening spaces of time: that nevertheless they
are progressive from one moment to another, thus continual, is obvious
to reason; for the case is similar with a man as with a tree, which
grows and increases every instant of time, even the most minute, from
the casting of the seed into the earth. These momentaneous progressions
are also changes of state; for the subsequent adds something to the
antecedent, which perfects the state. The changes which take place in a
man's internals, are more perfectly continuous than those which take
place in his externals; because a man's internals, by which we mean the
things appertaining to his mind or spirit, are elevated into a superior
degree above his externals; and in those principles which are in a
superior degree, a thousand effects take place in the same instant in
which one effect is wrought in externals. The changes which take place
in internals, are changes of the state of the will as to affections, and
of the state of the understanding as to thoughts. The successive changes
of state of the latter and of the former are specifically meant in the
proposition. The changes of these two lives or faculties are perpetual
with every man from infancy even to the end of his life, and afterwards
to eternity; because there is no end to knowledge, still less to
intelligence, and least of all to wisdom; for there is infinity and
eternity in the extent of these principles, by virtue of the Infinite
and Eternal One, from whom they are derived. Hence comes the
philosophical tenet of the ancients, that everything is divisible _in
infinitum_; to which may be added, that it is multiplicable in like
manner. The angels assert, that by wisdom from the Lord they are being
perfected to eternity; which also means to infinity; because eternity is
the infinity of time.
186. II. IN LIKE MANNER A MAN'S (_homo_) INTERNAL FORM WHICH IS THAT OF
HIS SPIRIT, IS CONTINUALLY CHANGING. The reason why this form is
continually changing as the state of the man's life is changed, is,
because there is nothing that exists but in a form, and state induces
that form; wherefore it is the same whether we say that the state of a
man's life is changed, or that its form is changed. All a man's
affections and thoughts are in forms, and thence from forms; for forms
are their subjects. If affections and thoughts were not in subjects,
which are formed, they might exist also in skulls without a brain; which
would be the same thing as to suppose sight without an eye, hearing
without an ear, and taste without a tongue. It is well known that there
are subjects of these senses, and that these subjects are forms. The
state of life, and thence the form, with a man, is continually changing;
because it is a truth which the wise have taught and still teach, that
there does not exist a sameness, or absolute identity of two things,
still less of several; as there are not two human faces the same, and
still less several: the case is similar in things successive, in that no
subsequent state of life is the same as a preceding one; whence it
follows, that there is a perpetual change of the state of life with
every man, consequently also a perpetual change of form, especially of
his internals. But as these considerations do not teach anything
respecting marriages, but only prepare the way for knowledges concerning
them, and since also they are mere philosophical inquiries of the
understanding, which, with some persons, are difficult of apprehension,
we will pass them without further discussion.
187. III. THESE CHANGES DIFFER IN THE CASE OF MEN AND OF WOMEN; SINCE
MEN FROM CREATION ARE FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE, INTELLIGENCE, AND WISDOM; AND
WOMEN ARE FORMS OF THE LOVE OF THOSE PRINCIPLES AS EXISTING WITH MEN.
That men were created forms of the understanding, and that women were
created forms of the love of the understanding of men, may be explained
above, n. 90. That the changes of state, which succeed both with men and
women from infancy to mature age, are for the perfecting of forms, the
intellectual form with men, and the voluntary with women, follows as a
consequence: hence it is clear, that the changes with men differ from
those with women; nevertheless with both, the external form which is of
the body is perfected according to the perfecting of the internal form
which is of the mind; for the mind acts upon the body, and not _vice
versa_. This is the reason why infants in heaven become men of stature
and comeliness according as they increase in intelligence; it is
otherwise with infants on earth, because they are encompassed with a
material body like the animals; nevertheless they agree in this, that
they first grow in inclination to such things as allure their bodily
senses, and afterwards by little and little to such things as affect the
internal thinking sense, and by degrees to such things as tincture the
will with affection; and when they arrive at an age which is midway
between mature and immature, the conjugial inclination begins, which is
that of a maiden to a youth, and of a youth to a maiden; and as maidens
in the heavens, like those on earth from an innate prudence conceal
their inclination to marriage, the youths there know no other than that
they affect the maidens with love; and this also appears to them in
consequence of their masculine eagerness; which they also derive from an
influx of love from the fair sex; concerning which influx we shall speak
particularly elsewhere. From these considerations the truth of the
proposition is evident, that the changes of state with men differ from
those with women; since men from creation are forms of knowledge,
intelligence and wisdom, and women are forms of the love of those
principles as existing with men.
188. IV. WITH MEN THERE IS AN ELEVATION OF THE MIND INTO SUPERIOR LIGHT,
AND WITH WOMEN AN ELEVATION OF THE MIND INTO SUPERIOR HEAT; AND THE
WOMAN IS MADE SENSIBLE OF THE DELIGHTS OF HER HEAT IN THE MAN'S LIGHT.
By the light into which men are elevated, we mean intelligence and
wisdom; because spiritual light, which proceeds from the sun of the
spiritual world, which sun in its essence is love, acts in equality or
unity with those two principles; and by the heat into which women are
elevated, we mean conjugial love because spiritual heat, which proceeds
from the sun of that world, in its essence is love, and with women it is
love conjoining itself with intelligence and wisdom in men; which love
in its complex is called conjugial love, and by determination becomes
that love. It is called elevation into superior light and heat, because
it is elevation into the light and heat which the angels of the superior
heavens enjoy: it is also an actual elevation, as from a thick mist into
pure air, and from an inferior region of the air into a superior, and
from thence into ether; therefore elevation into superior light with men
is elevation into superior intelligence, and thence into wisdom; in
which also there are ascending degrees of elevation; but elevation into
superior heat with women is an elevation into chaster and purer
conjugial love, and continually towards the conjugial principle, which
from creation lies concealed in their inmost principles. These
elevations, considered in themselves, are openings of the mind; for the
human mind is distinguished into regions, as the world is distinguished
into regions as to the atmosphere; the lowest of which is the watery,
the next above is the aerial, and still higher is the ethereal, above
which there is also the highest: into similar regions the mind of man is
elevated as it is opened, with men by wisdom, and with women by love
truly conjugial.
189. We have said, that the woman is made sensible of the delights of
her heat in the man's light; by which we mean that the woman is made
sensible of the delights of her love in the man's wisdom, because wisdom
is the receptacle; and wherever love finds such a receptacle
corresponding to itself, it is in the enjoyment of its delights: but we
do not mean, that heat with its light is delighted out of forms, but
within them; and spiritual heat is delighted with spiritual light in
their forms to a greater degree, because those forms by virtue of wisdom
and love are vital, and thereby susceptible. This may be illustrated by
what are called the sports of heat with light in the vegetable kingdom:
out of the vegetable there is only a simple conjunction of heat and
light, but within it there is a kind of sport of the one with the other;
because there they are in forms or receptacles; for they pass through
astonishing meandering ducts, and in the inmost principles therein they
tend to use in bearing fruit, and also breathe forth their satisfactions
far and wide into the atmosphere, which they fill with fragrance. The
delight of spiritual heat with spiritual light is more vividly
perceivable in human forms, in which spiritual heat is conjugial love,
and spiritual light is wisdom.
190. V. WITH BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, THE STATES OF LIFE BEFORE MARRIAGE ARE
DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY ARE AFTERWARDS. Before marriage, each sex
passes through two states, one previous and the other subsequent to the
inclination for marriage. The changes of both these states, and the
consequent formations of minds, proceed in successive order according to
their continual increase; but we have not leisure now to describe these
changes, which are various and different in their several subjects. The
inclination to marriage, previous to marriage, are only imaginary in the
mind, and become more and more sensible in the body; but the states
thereof after marriage are states of conjunction and also of
prolification, which, it is evident, differ from the forgoing states as
effects differ from intentions.
191. VI. WITH MARRIED PARTNERS THE STATES OF LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE ARE
CHANGED AND SUCCEED EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO THE CONJUNCTIONS OF THEIR
MINDS BY CONJUGIAL LOVE. The reason why changes of the state and the
successions thereof after marriage, with both the man and the wife, are
according to conjugial love with each, and thus are either conjunctive
or disjunctive of their minds, is, because conjugial love is not only
various but also different with conjugial pairs: various, with those who
love each other interiorly; for with such it has its intermissions,
notwithstanding its being inwardly in its heat regular and permanent;
but it is different with those who love each other only exteriorly; for
with such its intermissions do not proceed from similar causes, but from
alternate cold and heat. The true ground of these differences is, that
with the latter the body is the principal agent, the ardour of which
spreads itself around, and forcibly draws into communion with it the
inferior principles of the mind; whereas, with the former, who love each
other interiorly, the mind is the principal agent, and brings the body
into communion with it. It appears as if love ascended from the body
into the soul; because as soon as the body catches the allurement, it
enters through the eyes, as through doors, into the mind, and thus
through the sight, as through an outer court, into the thoughts, and
instantly into the love: nevertheless it descends from the mind, and
acts upon the inferior principles according to their orderly
arrangement; therefore the lascivious mind acts lasciviously, and the
chaste mind chastely; and the latter arranges the body, whereas the
former is arranged by the body.
192. VII. MARRIAGE ALSO INDUCES OTHER FORMS IN THE SOULS AND MINDS OF
MARRIED PARTNERS. That marriage has this effect cannot be observed in
the natural world; because in this world souls and minds are encompassed
with a material body, through which the mind rarely shines: the men
(_homines_) also of modern times, more than the ancients, are taught
from their infancy to assume feigned countenances, whereby they deeply
conceal the affections of their minds; and this is the reason why the
forms of minds are not known and distinguished according to their
different quality, as existing before marriage and after it:
nevertheless that the forms of souls and minds differ after marriage
from what they were before, is very manifest from their appearance in
the spiritual world; for they are then spirits and angels, who are minds
and souls in a human form, stripped of their outward coverings, which
had been composed of watery and earthy elements, and of aerial vapors
thence arising; and when these are cast off, the forms of the minds are
plainly seen, such as they had been inwardly in their bodies; and then
it is clearly perceived, that there is a difference in regard to those
forms with those who live in marriage, and with those who do not. In
general, married partners have an interior beauty of countenance, the
man deriving from the wife the ruddy bloom of her love, and the wife
from the man the fair splendor of his wisdom; for two married partners
in the spiritual world are united as to their souls; and moreover there
appears in each a human fulness. This is the case in heaven, because
there are no marriages (_conjugia_) in any other place; beneath heaven
there are only nuptial connections (_connubia_), which are alternately
tied and loosed.
193. VIII. THE WOMAN IS ACTUALLY FORMED INTO A WIFE, ACCORDING TO THE
DESCRIPTION IN THE BOOK OF CREATION. In this book it is said, that the
woman was created out of the man's rib, and that the man said, when she
was brought to him, "This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh;
and she shall be called Eve (_Ischah_), because she was taken out of man
(_Isch_):" Gen. chap. ii. 21-23. A rib of the breast, in the Word,
signifies, in the spiritual sense, natural truth. This is signified by
the ribs which the bear carried between his teeth, Dan. vii. 5; for
bears signify those who read the Word in the natural sense, and see
truths therein without understanding: the man's breast signifies that
essential and peculiar principle, which is distinguished from the breast
of the woman: that this is wisdom, may be seen above, n. 187; for truth
supports wisdom as the ribs do the breast. These things are signified,
because the breast is that part of a man in which all his principles are
as in their centre. From these considerations, it is evident, that the
woman was created out of the man by a transfer of his peculiar wisdom,
which is the same thing as to be created out of natural truth; and that
the love thereof was transferred from the man into the woman, to the end
that conjugial love might exist; and that this was done in order that
the love of the wife and not self-love might be in the man: for the
wife, in consequence of her innate disposition, cannot do otherwise than
convert self-love, as existing with the man, into his love to herself;
and I have been informed, that this is effected by virtue of the wife's
love itself, neither the man nor the wife being conscious of it: hence,
no man can possibly love his wife with true conjugial love, who from a
principle of self-love is vain and conceited of his own intelligence.
When this arcanum relating to the creation of the woman from the man, is
understood, it may then be seen, that the woman in like manner is as it
were created or formed from the man in marriage; and that this is
effected by the wife, or rather through her by the Lord, who imparts
inclinations to women whereby they produce such an effect: for the wife
receives into herself the image of a man, and thereby appropriates to
herself his affections, as may be seen above, n. 183; and conjoins the
man's internal will with her own, of which we shall treat presently; and
also claims to herself the propagated forms (_propagines_) of his soul,
of which also we shall speak elsewhere. From these considerations it is
evident, that, according to the description in the book of Genesis,
interiorly understood, a woman is formed into a wife by such things as
she takes out of the husband and his breast, and implants in herself.
194. IX. THIS FORMATION IS EFFECTED ON THE PART OF THE WIFE BY SECRET
MEANS; AND THIS IS MEANT BY THE WOMAN'S BEING CREATED WHILE THE MAN
SLEPT. It is written in the book of Genesis, that Jehovah God caused a
deep sleep to fall upon Adam, so that he slept; and that then he took
one of his ribs, and builded it into a woman: chap. ii. 21, 22. That by
the man's sleep and sleeping is signified his entire ignorance that the
wife is formed and as it were created from him, appears from what was
shewn in the preceding chapter, and also from the innate prudence and
circumspection of wives, not to divulge anything concerning their love,
or their assumption of the affections of the man's life, and thereby of
the transfer of his wisdom into themselves. That this is effected on the
part of the wife without the husband's knowledge, and while he is as it
were sleeping, thus by secret means, is evident from what was explained
above, n. 166-168; where also it is clearly shewn, that the prudence
with which women are influenced herein, was implanted in them from
creation, and consequently from their birth, for reasons of necessity,
so that conjugial love, friendship, and confidence, and thereby the
blessedness of dwelling together and a happy life, may be secured:
wherefore for the right accomplishing of this, the man is enjoined to
_leave his father and mother and to cleave to his wife_, Gen. ii. 24;
Matt. xix. 4, 5. The father and mother, whom the man is to leave, in a
spiritual sense signify his _proprium_ of will and _proprium_ of
understanding; and the _proprium_ of a man's (_homo_) will is to love
himself, and the _proprium_ of his understanding is to love his own
wisdom; and to cleave to his wife signifies to devote himself to the
love of his wife. Those two _propriums_ are deadly evils to man, if they
remain with him, and the love of those two _propriums_ is changed into
conjugial love, so far as a man cleaves to his wife, that is, so far as
he receives her love; see above, n. 193, and elsewhere. To sleep
signifies to be in ignorance and unconcern; a father and a mother
signify the two _propriums_ of a man (_homo_), the one of the will and
the other of the understanding; and to cleave to, signifies to devote
one's self to the love of any one, as might be abundantly confirmed from
passages in other parts of the Word; but this would be foreign to our
present subject.
195. X. THIS FORMATION ON THE PART OF THE WIFE IS EFFECTED BY THE
CONJUNCTION OF HER OWN WILL WITH THE INTERNAL WILL OF THE MAN. That the
man possesses rational and moral wisdom, and that the wife conjoins
herself with those things which relate to his moral wisdom, may be seen
above, n. 163-165. The things which relate to rational wisdom constitute
the man's understanding, and those which relate to moral wisdom
constitute his will. The wife conjoins herself with those things which
constitute the man's will. It is the same, whether we say that the wife
conjoins herself, or that she conjoins her will to the man's will;
because she is born under the influence of the will, and consequently in
all her actions acts from the will. The reason why it is said _with the
man's internal will_, is, because the man's will resides in his
understanding, and the man's intellectual principle is the inmost
principle of the woman, according to what was observed above concerning
the formation of the woman from the man, n. 32, and in other places. The
man has also an external will; but this frequently takes its tincture
from simulation and dissimulation. This will the wife notices; but she
does not conjoin herself with it, except pretendedly or in the way of
sport.
196. XI. THE END HEREIN IS, THAT THE WILL OF BOTH MAY BECOME ONE, AND
THAT THUS BOTH MAY BECOME ONE MAN (_homo_): for whoever conjoins to
himself the will of another, also conjoins to himself his understanding;
for the understanding regarded in itself is merely the minister and
servant of the will. That this is the case, appears evidently from the
affection of love, which moves the understanding to think as it directs.
Every affection of love belongs to the will; for what a man loves that
he also wills. From these considerations it follows, that whoever
conjoins to himself the will of a man conjoins to himself the whole man:
hence it is implanted as a principle in the wife's love to unite the
will of her husband to her own will; for hereby the wife becomes the
husband's, and the husband the wife's; thus both become one man
(_homo_).
197. XII. THIS FORMATION (ON THE PART OF THE WIFE) IS EFFECTED BY AN
APPROPRIATION OF THE AFFECTIONS OF THE HUSBAND. This article agrees with
the two preceding, because affections are of the will; for affections
which are merely derivations of the love, form the will, and make and
compose it; but these affections with men are in the understanding,
whereas with women they are in the will.
198. XIII. THIS FORMATION (ON THE PART OF THE WIFE) IS EFFECTED BY A
RECEPTION OF THE PROPAGATIONS OF THE SOUL OF THE HUSBAND, WITH THE
DELIGHT ARISING FROM HER DESIRE TO BE THE LOVE OF HER HUSBAND'S WISDOM.
This coincides with what was explained above, n. 172, 173, therefore any
further explanation is needless. Conjugial delights with wives arise
solely from their desire to be one with their husbands, as good is one
with truth in the spiritual marriage. That conjugial love descends from
this spiritual marriage, has been proved above in the chapter which
treats particularly on that subject; hence it may be seen, as in an
image, that the wife conjoins the man to herself, as good conjoins truth
to itself; and that the man reciprocally conjoins himself to the wife,
according to the reception of her love in himself, as truth reciprocally
conjoins itself to good, according to the reception of good in itself;
and that thus the love of the wife forms itself by the wisdom of the
husband, as good forms itself by truth; for truth is the form of good.
From these considerations it is also evident, that conjugial delights
with the wife originate principally in her desiring to be one with the
husband, consequently to be the love of her husband's wisdom; for in
such case she is made sensible of the delights of her own heat in the
man's light, according to what was explained in Article IV., n. 188.
199. XIV. THUS A MAIDEN IS FORMED INTO A WIFE, AND A YOUTH INTO A
HUSBAND. This flows as a consequence, from what has been said above in
this and the foregoing chapter respecting the conjunction of married
partners into one flesh. A maiden becomes or is made a wife, because in
a wife there are principles taken out of the husband, and therefore
supplemental, which were not previously in her as a maiden: a youth also
becomes or is made a husband, because in a husband there are principles
taken out of the wife, which exalt his receptibility of love and wisdom,
and which were not previously in him as a youth: this is the case with
those who are principled in love truly conjugial. That it is these who
feel themselves a united man (_homo_), and as it were one flesh, may be
seen in the preceding chapter, n. 178. From these considerations it is
evident, that with females the maiden principle is changed into that of
a wife, and with men the youthful principle is changed into that of a
husband. That this is the case, was experimentally confirmed to me in
the spiritual world, as follows: Some men asserted, that conjunction
with a female before marriage is like conjunction with a wife after
marriage.--On hearing this, the wives were very indignant, and said:
"There is no likeness at all in the two cases. The difference between
them is like that between what is fancied and what is real." Hereupon
the men rejoined, "Are you not females as before?" To this the wives
replied more sharply, "We are not females, but wives; you are in fancied
and not in real love; you therefore talk fancifully." Then the men said,
"If you are not females (_feminae_) still you are women (_mulieres_):"
and they replied, "In the first states of marriage we were women
(_mulieres_); but now we are wives."
200. XV. IN THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WIFE, BETWEEN WHOM THERE
EXISTS LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, THE WIFE BECOMES MORE AND MORE A WIFE, AND
THE HUSBAND MORE AND MORE A HUSBAND. That love truly conjugial more and
more conjoins two into one man (_homo_), may be seen above n. 178, 179;
and as a wife becomes a wife from and according to conjunction with the
husband, and in like manner the husband with the wife; and as love truly
conjugial endures to eternity, it follows, that the wife becomes more
and more a wife, and the husband more and more a husband. The true
reason of this is, because in the marriage of love truly conjugial, each
married partner becomes continually a more interior man; for that love
opens the interiors of their minds; and as these are opened, a man
becomes more and more a man (_homo_): and to become more a man (_homo_)
in the case of the wife is to become more a wife, and in the case of the
husband to become more a husband. I have heard from the angels, that the
wife becomes more and more a wife as the husband becomes more and more a
husband, but not _vice versa_; because it rarely, if ever, happens, that
a chaste wife is wanting in love to her husband, but that the husband is
wanting in a return of love to his wife; and that this return of love is
wanting because he has no elevation of wisdom, which alone receives the
love of the wife: respecting this wisdom see above n. 130, 163-165.
These things however they said in regard to marriages on earth.
201. XVI. THUS ALSO THEIR FORMS ARE SUCCESSIVELY PERFECTED AND ENNOBLED
FROM WITHIN. The most perfect and noble human form results from the
conjunction of two forms by marriage so as to become one form; thus from
two fleshes becoming one flesh, according to creation. That in such case
the man's mind is elevated into superior light, and the wife's into
superior heat, and that then they germinate, and bear flowers and
fruits, like trees in the spring, may be seen above, n. 188, 189. That
from the nobleness of this form are produced noble fruits, which in the
heavens are spiritual, and on earth natural, will be seen in the
following article.
202. XVII. CHILDREN BORN OF PARENTS WHO ARE PRINCIPLED IN LOVE TRULY
CONJUGIAL, DERIVE FROM THEM THE CONJUGIAL PRINCIPLE OF GOOD AND TRUTH,
WHENCE THEY HAVE AN INCLINATION AND FACULTY, IF SONS, TO PERCEIVE THE
THINGS RELATING TO WISDOM, AND IF DAUGHTERS, TO LOVE THOSE THINGS WHICH
WISDOM TEACHES. That children derive from their parents inclination to
such things as had been objects of the love and life of the parents, is
a truth most perfectly agreeable to the testimony of history in general,
and of experience in particular; but that they do not derive or inherit
from their parents the affections themselves, and thence the lives of
those affections, but only inclinations and faculties thereto, has been
shewn me by the wise in the spiritual world; concerning whom, see the
two MEMORABLE RELATIONS above adduced. That children to the latest
posterity, from innate inclinations, if they are not modified, are led
into affections, thoughts, speech, and life, similar to those of their
parents, is clearly manifest from the Jews, who at this day are like
their fathers in Egypt, in the wilderness, in the land of Canaan, and in
the Lord's time; and this likeness is not confined to their minds only,
but extends to their countenances; for who does not know a Jew by his
look? The case is the same with the descendants of others: from which
considerations it may infallibly be concluded, that children are born
with inclinations to such things as their parents were inclined to. But
it is of the divine providence, lest thought and act should follow
inclination, that perverse inclinations may be corrected; and also that
a faculty has been implanted for this purpose, by virtue whereof parents
and masters have the power of amending the morals of children, and
children may afterwards, when they come to years of discretion, amend
their own morals.
203. We have said that children derive from their parents the conjugial
principle of good and truth, because this is implanted from creation in
the soul of every one; for it is that which flows into every man from
the Lord, and constitutes his human life. But this conjugial principle
passes into derivatives from the soul even to the ultimates of the body.
In its passage through these ultimates and those derivatives, it is
changed by the man himself in various ways, and sometimes into the
opposite, which is called the conjugial or connubial principle of what
is evil and false. When this is the case, the mind is closed from
beneath, and is sometimes twisted as a spire into the contrary; but with
some that principle is not closed, but remains half-open above, and with
some open. The latter and the former conjugial principle is the source
of those inclinations which children inherit from their parents, a son
after one manner, and a daughter after another. The reason why such
inclinations are derived from the conjugial principle, is, because, as
was proved above, n. 65, conjugial love is the foundation of all loves.
204. The reason why children born of parents who are principled in love
truly conjugial, derive inclinations and faculties, if a son, to
perceive the things relating to wisdom, and if a daughter, to love the
things which wisdom teaches, is, because the conjugial principle of good
and truth is implanted from creation in every soul, and also in the
principles derived from the soul; for it was shewn above, that this
conjugial principle fills the universe from first principles to last,
and from a man even to a worm; and also that the faculty to open the
inferior principles of the mind even to conjunction with its superior
principles, which are in the light and heat of heaven, is also implanted
in every man from creation: hence it is evident, that a superior
suitableness and facility to conjoin good to truth, and truth to good,
and thus to grow wise, is inherited by those who are born from such a
marriage; consequently they have a superior suitableness and facility
also to embrace the things relating to the church and heaven; for that
conjugial love is conjoined with these things, has been frequently shewn
above. From these considerations, reason may clearly discover the end
for which the Lord the Creator has provided, and still provides,
marriages of love truly conjugial.
205. I have been informed by the angels, that those who lived in the
most ancient times, live at this day in the heavens, in separate houses,
families, and nations, as they had lived on earth, and that scarce any
one of a house is wanting; and this because they were principled in love
truly conjugial; and that hence their children inherited inclinations to
the conjugial principle of good and truth, and were easily initiated
into it more and more interiorly by education received from their
parents, and afterwards as from themselves, when they become capable of
judging for themselves, were introduced into it by the Lord.
206. XVIII. THE REASON OF THIS IS BECAUSE THE SOUL OF THE OFFSPRING IS
FROM THE FATHER AND ITS CLOTHING FROM THE MOTHER. No wise man entertains
a doubt that the soul is from the father; it is also manifestly
conspicuous from minds, and likewise from faces which are the types of
minds, in descendants from fathers of families in a regular series; for
the father returns as in an image, if not in his sons, yet in his
grandsons and great grandsons; and this because the soul constitutes a
man's (_homo_) inmost principle, which may be covered and concealed by
the offspring nearest in descent, but nevertheless it comes forth and
manifests itself in the more remote issue. That the soul is from the
father, and its clothing from the mother, may be illustrated by
analogies in the vegetable kingdom. In this kingdom the earth or ground
is the common mother, which in itself, as in a womb, receives and
clothes seeds; yea, as it were conceives, bears, brings forth, and
educates them, as a mother her offspring from the father.
207. To the above I will add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. After some
time I was looking towards the city Athens, of which mention was made in
a former memorable relation, and I heard thence an unusual clamor. There
was in it something of laughter, and in the laughter something of
indignation, and in the indignation something of sadness: still however
the clamor was not thereby dissonant, but consonant: because one tone
was not together with the other, but one was within another. In the
spiritual world a variety and commixture of affections is distinctly
perceived in sound. I inquired from afar what was the matter. They said,
"A messenger is arrived from the place where the new comers from the
Christian world first appear, bringing information of what he has heard
there from three persons, that in the world whence they came they had
believed with the generality, that the blessed and happy after death
enjoy absolute rest from labor; and since administrations, offices, and
employments, are labor, they enjoy rest from these: and as those three
persons are now conducted hither by our emissary, and are at the gate
waiting for admission, a clamor was made, and it was deliberately
resolved they should not be introduced into the Palladium on Parnassus,
as the former were, but into the great auditory, to communicate the news
they brought from the Christian world: accordingly some deputies have
been sent to introduce them in form." Being at that time myself in the
spirit, and distances with spirits being according to the states of
their affections, and having at that time a desire to see and hear them,
I seemed to myself to be present there, and saw them introduced, and
heard what they said. The seniors or wiser part of the audience sat at
the sides of the auditory, and the rest in the midst; and before these
was an elevated piece of ground. Hither the three strangers, with the
messenger, were formally conducted by attendants, through the middle of
the auditory. When silence was obtained, they were addressed by a kind
of president of the assembly, and asked, "WHAT NEWS FROM THE EARTH?"
They replied, "There is a variety of news: but pray tell us what
information you want." The president answered, "WHAT NEWS IS THERE FROM
THE EARTH CONCERNING OUR WORLD AND HEAVEN?" They replied, "When we first
came into this world, we were informed, that here and in heaven there
are administrations, offices, employments, trades, studies, relating to
all sciences and professions, together with wonderful mechanical arts;
and yet we believed that after our removal or translation from the
natural world into the spiritual, we should enter upon an eternal rest
from labor; and what are employments but labor?" To this the president
replied, "By eternal rest from labor did you understand eternal
inactivity, in which you should be continually sitting and laying down,
with your bosoms and mouths open, attracting and inhaling delights and
joys?" "We conceived something of this sort," said the three strangers
smiling courteously. Then they were asked, "What connection have joys
and delights and the happiness thence resulting, with a state of
inactivity? By inactivity the mind is enfeebled and contracted, instead
of being strengthened and expanded; or in other words, the man is
reduced to a state of death, instead of being quickened into life.
Suppose a person to sit still in the most complete inactivity, with his
hands hanging down, his eyes fixed on the ground, and withdrawn from all
other objects, and suppose him at the same time to be encompassed by an
atmosphere of gladness, would not a lethargy seize both his head and
body, and the vital expansion of his countenance would be contracted,
and at length with relaxed fibres he would nod and totter, till he fell
to the earth? What is it that keeps the whole bodily system in its due
expansion and tension, but the tension of the mind? and whence comes the
tension of the mind but from administrations and employments, while the
discharge of them is attended with delight? I will therefore tell you
some news from heaven: in that world there are administrations, offices,
judicial proceedings both in greater and lesser cases, also mechanical
arts and employments." The strangers on hearing of judicial proceedings
in heaven, said, "To what purpose are such proceedings? are not all in
heaven inspired and led by God, and in consequence thereof taught what
is just and right? what need then is there of judges?" The president
replied, "In this world we are instructed and learn what is good and
true, also what is just and equitable, as in the natural world; and
these things we learn, not immediately from God, but mediately through
others; and every angel, like every man, thinks what is true, and does
what is good, as from himself; and this, according to the state of the
angel, is mixed and not pure: and moreover, there are among the angels
some of a simple and some of a wise character; and it is the part of the
wise to judge, when the simple, from their simplicity and ignorance, are
doubtful about what is just, or through mistake wander from it. But as
you are as yet strangers in this world, if it be agreeable to you to
accompany me into our city, we will shew you all that is contained
therein." Then they quitted the auditory, and some of the elders also
accompanied them. They were introduced into a large library, which was
divided into classes arranged according to the sciences. The three
strangers, on seeing so many books, were astonished, and said, "There
are books also in this world! whence do you procure parchment and paper,
pens and ink?" The elders replied, "We perceive that in the former world
you believed that this world is empty and void, because it is spiritual;
and you believed so because you had conceived an idea of what is
spiritual abstracted from what is material; and that which is so
abstracted appeared to you as nothingness, thus as empty and void; when
nevertheless in this world there is a fulness of all things. Here all
things are SUBSTANTIAL and not material: and material things derive
their origin from things substantial. We who live here are spiritual
men, because we are substantial and not material; hence in this world we
have all things that are in the natural world, in their perfection, even
books and writings, and many other things which are not in the natural
world." The three strangers, when they heard talk of things SUBSTANTIAL,
conceived that it must be so, as well because they saw written books, as
because they heard it asserted that material things originate in
substantial. For their further confirmation in these particulars, they
were conducted to the houses of the scribes, who were copying the
writings of the wise ones of the city; and they inspected the writings,
and wondered to see them so beautiful and elegant. After this they were
conducted to the museums, schools, and colleges, and to the places where
they had their literary sports. Some of these were called the sports of
the Heliconides, some of the Parnassides, some of the Athæides, and some
the sports of the maidens of the fountain. They were told that the
latter were so called, because maidens signify affections of the
sciences, and every one has intelligence according to his affection for
the sciences: the sports so called were spiritual exercises and trials
of skill. Afterwards they were led about the city to see the rulers,
administrators, and their officers, by whom they were conducted to see
several wonderful works executed in a spiritual manner by the
artificers. When they had taken a view of all these things, the
president again conversed with them about the eternal rest from labor,
into which the blessed and happy enter after death, and said, "Eternal
rest is not inactivity; for inactivity occasions a thorough languor,
dulness, stupor, and drowsiness of the mind and thence of the body; and
these things are death and not life, still less eternal life which the
angels of heaven enjoy; therefore eternal rest is that which dispels
such mischiefs, and causes a man to live; and it is this which elevates
the mind; consequently it is by some employment and work that the mind
is excited, vivified, and delighted; which is affected according to the
use, from which, in which, and to which the mind is actuated. Hence the
universal heaven is regarded by the Lord as containing uses; and every
angel is an angel according to use; the delight of use carries him
along, as a prosperous gale a ship, and causes him to be in eternal
peace, and the rest of peace. This is the meaning of eternal rest from
labor. That an angel is alive according as his mind is directed to use,
is evident from the consideration, that every one has conjugial love
with its energy, ability and delights, according as he devotes himself
to the genuine use in which he is." When the three strangers were
convinced that eternal rest is not inactivity, but the delight of some
useful employment, there came some maidens with pieces of embroidery and
net-work, wrought with their own hands, which they presented to them.
When the novitiate spirits were gone, the maidens sang an ode, wherein
they expressed with angelic melody the affection of useful works with
the pleasures attending it.
208. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. While I was meditating on the arcana
of conjugial love stored up with wives, there again appeared the GOLDEN
SHOWER described above; and I recollected that it fell over a hall in
the east where there lived three conjugial loves, that is, three married
pairs, who loved each other tenderly. On seeing it, and as if invited by
the sweetness of meditating on that love, I hastened towards it, and as
I approached, the shower from golden became purple, afterwards scarlet,
and when I came near, it was sparkling like dew. I knocked at the door,
and when it was opened, I said to the attendant, "Tell the husbands that
the person who before came with an angel, is come again, and begs the
favor of being admitted into their company." Presently the attendant
returned with a message of assent from the husbands, and I entered. The
three husbands with their wives were together in an open gallery, and as
I paid my respects to them, they returned the compliment. I then asked
the wives, Whether the white dove in the window afterwards appeared?
They said, "Yes; and to-day also; and it likewise expanded its wings;
from which we concluded that you were near at hand, and were desirous of
information respecting one other arcanum concerning conjugial love." I
inquired, "Why do you say _one_ arcanum; when I came here to learn
several?" They replied, "They are arcana, and some of them transcend
your wisdom to such a degree, that the understanding of your thought
cannot comprehend them. You glory over us on account of your wisdom; but
we do not glory over you on account of ours; and yet ours is eminently
distinguished above yours, because it enters your inclinations and
affections, and sees, perceives, and is sensible of them. You know
nothing at all of the inclinations and affections of your own love; and
yet these are the principles from and according to which your
understanding thinks, consequently from and according to which you are
wise; and yet wives are so well acquainted with those principles in
their husbands, that they see them in their faces, and hear them from
the tone of their voices in conversation, yea, they feel them on their
breasts, arms, and cheeks: but we, from the zeal of our love for your
happiness, and at the same time for our own, pretend not to know them;
and yet we govern them so prudently, that wherever the fancy, good
pleasure, and will of our husbands lead, we follow by permitting and
suffering it; only bending its direction when it is possible, but in no
case forcing it." I asked, "Whence have you this wisdom?" They replied,
"It is implanted in us from creation and consequently from birth. Our
husbands compare it to instinct; but we say that it is of the divine
providence, in order that the men may be rendered happy by their wives.
We have heard from our husbands, that the Lord wills that the husband
(_homo masculus_) should act freely according to reason; and that on
this account the Lord himself from within governs his freedom, so far as
respects the inclinations and affections, and governs it from without by
means of his wife; and that thus he forms a man with his wife into an
angel of heaven; and moreover love changes its essence, and does not
become conjugial love, if it be compelled. But we will be more explicit
on this subject: we are moved thereto, that is, to prudence in governing
the inclinations and affections of our husbands, so that they may seem
to themselves to act freely according to their reason, from this motive,
because we are delighted with their love; and we love nothing more than
that they should be delighted with our delights, which, in case of their
being lightly esteemed by our husbands, become insipid also to us."
Having said this, one of the wives entered her chamber, and on her
return said, "My dove still flutters its wings, which is a sign that we
may make further disclosures." They then said, "We have observed various
changes of the inclinations and affections of the men; as that they grow
cold towards their wives, while the husbands entertain vain thoughts
against the Lord and the church; that they grow cold while they are
conceited of their own intelligence; that they grow cold while they
regard with desire the wives of others; that they grow cold while their
love is adverted to by their wives; not to mention other occasions; and
that there are various degrees of their coldness: this we discover from
a withdrawal of the sense from their eyes, ears, and bodies, on the
presence of our senses. From these few observations you may see, that we
know better than the men whether it be well or ill with them; if they
are cold towards their wives, it is ill with them, but if they are warm
towards them, it is well; therefore wives are continually devising means
whereby the men may become warm and not cold towards them; and these
means they devise with a sagacity inscrutable to the men." As they said
this, the dove was heard to make a sort of moaning; and immediately the
wives said, "This is a token to us that we have a wish to communicate
greater arcana, but that it is not allowable: probably you will reveal
to the men what you have heard." I replied, "I intend to do so: what
harm can come from it?" Hereupon the wives talked together on the
subject, and then said, "Reveal it, if you like. We are well aware of
the power of persuasion which wives possess. They will say to their
husbands, 'The man is not in earnest; he tells idle tales: he is but
joking from appearances, and from strange fancies usual with men. Do not
believe him, but believe us: we know that you are loves, and we
obediences.' Therefore you may reveal it if you like; but still the
husbands will place no dependence on what comes from your lips, but on
that which comes from the lips of their wives which they kiss."
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