234. In treating here on the causes of coldness in marriages, we shall
treat also at the same time on the causes of separation, and likewise of
divorce, because they are connected; for separations come from no other
source than from coldnesses, which are successively inborn after
marriage, or from causes discovered after marriage, from which also
coldness springs; but divorces come from adulteries; for these are
altogether opposite to marriages; and opposites induce coldness, if not
in both parties, at least in one. This is the reason why the causes of
coldness, separations, and divorces, are brought together into one
chapter. But the coherence of the causes will be more clearly discerned
from viewing them in the following series:--I. _There are spiritual heat
and spiritual cold; and spiritual heat is love, and spiritual cold the
privation thereof._ II. _Spiritual cold in marriages is a disunion of
souls and a disjunction of minds, whence come indifference, discord,
contempt, disdain, and aversion; from which, in several cases, at length
comes separation as to bed, chamber, and house._ III. _There are several
successive causes of cold, some internal, some external, and some
accidental._ IV. _Internal causes of cold are from religion._ V. _The
first of these causes is the rejection of religion by each of the
parties._ VI. _The second is, that one has religion and not the other._
VII. _The third is, that one is of one religion and the other of
another._ VIII. _The fourth is the falsity of the religion imbibed._ IX.
_With many, these are causes of internal cold, but not at the same time
of external._ X. _There are also several external causes of cold; the
first of which is dissimilitude of minds and manners._ XI. _The second
is, that conjugial love is believed to be the same as adulterous love,
only that the latter is not allowed by law, but the former is._ XII.
_The third is, a striving for pre-eminence between married partners._
XIII. _The fourth is, a want of determination to any employment or
business, whence comes wandering passion._ XIV. _The fifth is,
inequality of external rank and condition._ XV. _There are also causes
of separation._ XVI. _The first of them is a vitiated state of mind._
XVII. _The second is a vitiated state of body._ XVIII. _The third is
impotence before marriage._ XIX. _Adultery is the cause of divorce._ XX.
_There are also several accidental causes of cold; the first of which
is, that enjoyment is common (or cheap), because continually allowed._
XXI. _The second is that living with a married partner, from a covenant
and compact, seems to be forced and not free._ XXII. _The third is,
affirmation on the part of the wife, and her talking incessantly about
love._ XXIII. _The fourth is, the man's continually thinking that his
wife is willing; and on the other hand, the wife's thinking that the man
is not willing._ XXIV. _As cold is in the mind it is also in the body;
and according to the increase of that cold, the externals also of the
body are closed._ We proceed to an explanation of each article.
235. I. THERE ARE SPIRITUAL HEAT AND SPIRITUAL COLD; AND SPIRITUAL HEAT
IS LOVE, AND SPIRITUAL COLD IS THE PRIVATION THEREOF. Spiritual heat is
from no other source than the sun of the spiritual world; for there is
in that world a sun proceeding from the Lord, who is in the midst of it;
and as it is from the Lord, it is in its essence pure love. This sun
appears fiery before the angels, just as the sun of our world appears
before men. The reason of its appearing fiery is, because love is
spiritual fire. From that sun proceed both heat and light; but as that
sun is pure love, the heat thence derived in its essence is love, and
the light thence derived in its essence is wisdom; hence it is manifest
what is the source of spiritual heat, and that spiritual heat is love.
But we will also briefly explain the source of spiritual cold. It is
from the sun of the natural world, and its heat and light. The sun of
the natural world was created that its heat and light might receive in
them spiritual heat and light, and by means of the atmospheres might
convey spiritual heat and light even to ultimates in the earth, in order
to produce effects of ends, which are of the Lord in his sun, and also
to clothe spiritual principles with suitable garments, that is, with
materials, to operate ultimate ends in nature. These effects are
produced when spiritual heat is joined to natural heat; but the contrary
comes to pass when natural heat is separated from spiritual heat, as is
the case with those who love natural things, and reject spiritual: with
such, spiritual heat becomes cold. The reason why these two loves, which
from creation are in agreement, become thus opposite, is, because in
such case the dominant heat becomes the servant, and _vice versa_; and
to prevent this effect, spiritual heat, which from its lineage is lord,
then recedes; and in those subjects, spiritual heat grows cold, because
it becomes opposite. From these considerations it is manifest that
spiritual cold is the privation of spiritual heat. In what is here said,
by heat is meant love; because that heat living in subjects is felt as
love. I have heard in the spiritual world, that spirits merely natural
grow intensely cold while they apply themselves to the side of some
angel who is in a state of love; and that the case is similar in regard
to the infernal spirits, while heat flows into them out of heaven; and
that nevertheless among themselves, when the heat of heaven is removed
from them, they are inflamed with great heat.
236. II. Spiritual cold in marriages is a disunion of souls and a
disjunction of minds, whence come indifference, discord, contempt,
disdain, and aversion; from which, in several cases, at length comes
separation as to bed, chamber, and house. That these effects take place
with married partners, while their primitive love is on the decline, and
becomes cold, is too well known to need any comment. The reason is,
because conjugial cold above all others resides in human minds; for the
essential conjugial principle is inscribed on the soul, to the end that
a soul may be propagated from a soul, and the soul of the father into
the offspring. Hence it is that this cold originates there, and
successively goes downward into the principles thence derived, and
infects them; and thus changes the joys and delights of the primitive
love into what is sad and undelightful.
237. III. THERE ARE SEVERAL SUCCESSIVE CAUSES OF COLD, SOME INTERNAL,
SOME EXTERNAL, AND SOME ACCIDENTAL. That there are several causes of
cold in marriages, is known in the world; also that they arise from many
external causes; but it is not known that the origins of the causes lie
concealed in the inmost principles, and that from these they descend
into the principles thence derived, until they appear in externals; in
order therefore that it may be known that external causes are not causes
in themselves, but derived from causes in themselves, which, as was
said, are in inmost principles, we will first distribute the causes
generally into internal and external, and afterwards will particularly
examine them.
238. IV. INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD ARE FROM RELIGION. That the very origin
of conjugial love resides in the inmost principles of man, that is, in
his soul, is demonstrable to every one from the following considerations
alone; that the soul of the offspring is from the father, which is known
from the similitude of inclinations and affections, and also from the
general character of the countenance derived from the father and
remaining with very remote posterity; also from the propagative faculty
implanted in souls from creation; and moreover by what is analogous
thereto in the subjects of the vegetable kingdom, in that there lies hid
in the inmost principles of germination the propagation of the seed
itself, and thence of the whole, whether it be a tree, a shrub, or a
plant. This propagative or plastic force in seeds in the latter kingdom,
and in souls in the other, is from no other source than the conjugial
sphere, which is that of good and truth, and which perpetually emanates
and flows in from the Lord the Creator and Supporter of the universe;
concerning which sphere, see above, n. 222-225; and from the endeavour
of those two principles, good and truth, therein, to unite into a one.
This conjugial endeavour remains implanted in souls, and conjugial love
exists by derivation from it as its origin. That this same marriage,
from which the above universal sphere is derived, constitutes the church
with man, has been abundantly shewn above in the chapter ON THE MARRIAGE
OF GOOD AND TRUTH, and frequently elsewhere. Hence there is all the
evidence of rational demonstration, that the origin of the church and of
conjugial love are in one place of abode, and in a continual embrace;
but on this subject see further particulars above, n. 130, where it was
proved, that conjugial love is according to the state of the church with
man; thus that it is grounded in religion, because religion constitutes
this state. Man also was created with a capacity of becoming more and
more interior, and thereby of being introduced or elevated nearer and
nearer to that marriage, and thus into love truly conjugial, and this
even so far as to perceive a state of its blessedness. That religion is
the only means of introduction and elevation, appears clearly from what
was said above, namely, that the origin of the church and of conjugial
love are in the same place of abode, and in mutual embrace there, and
that hence they must needs be conjoined.
239. From what has been said above it follows, that where there is no
religion, there is no conjugial love; and that where there is no
conjugial love, there is cold. That conjugial cold is the privation of
that love, maybe seen above, n. 235; consequently that conjugial cold is
also a privation of a state of the church, or of religion. Sufficient
evidence of the truth of this may be deduced from the general ignorance
that now prevails concerning love truly conjugial. In these times, who
knows, and who is willing to acknowledge, and who will not be surprised
to hear, that the origin of conjugial love is deduced hence? But the
only cause and source of this ignorance is, that, notwithstanding there
is religion, still there are not the truths of religion; and what is
religion without truths? That there is a want of the truths of religion,
is fully shown in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED; see also the MEMORABLE
RELATION, n. 566 of that work.
240. V. OF INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE FIRST IS THE REJECTION OF
RELIGION BY EACH OF THE PARTIES. Those who reject the holy things of the
church from the face to the hinder part of the head, or from the breast
to the back, have not any good love; if any proceeds apparently from the
body, still there is not any in the spirit. With such persons goods
place themselves on the outside of evils, and cover them, as raiment
glittering with gold covers a putrid body. The evils which reside
within, and are covered, are in general hatreds, and thence intestine
combats against everything spiritual; for all things of the church which
they reject, are in themselves spiritual; and as love truly conjugial is
the fundamental love of all spiritual loves, as was shewn above, it is
evident that interior hatred is contrary to it, and that the interior or
real love with such is in favor or the opposite, which is the love of
adultery; therefore such persons, more than others, will be disposed to
ridicule this truth, that every one has conjugial love according to the
state of the church; yea, they will possibly laugh at the very mention
of love truly conjugial; but be it so; nevertheless they are to be
pardoned, because it is as impossible for them to distinguish in thought
between the marriage embrace and the adulterous, as it is for a camel to
go through the eye of a needle. Such persons, as to conjugial love, are
starved with cold more than others. If they keep to their married
partners, it is only on account of some of the external causes mentioned
above, n. 153, which withhold and bind them. Their interiors of the soul
and thence of the mind are more and more closed, and in the body are
stopped up; and in this case even the love of the sex is thought little
of, or becomes insanely lascivious in the interiors of the body, and
thence in the lowest principles of their thought. It is these who are
meant in the MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 79, which they may read if they
please.
241. VI. OF INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE SECOND IS, THAT ONE OF THE
PARTIES HAS RELIGION AND NOT THE OTHER. The reason of this is, because
the souls must of course disagree; for the soul of one is open to the
reception of conjugial love, while the soul of the other is closed to
it. It is closed with the party that has not religion, and it is open
with the one that has; hence such persons cannot live together
harmoniously; and when once conjugial love is banished, there ensues
cold; but this is with the party that has no religion. This cold cannot
be dissipated except by the reception of a religion agreeing with that
of the other party, if it be true; otherwise, with the party that has no
religion, there ensues cold, which descends from the soul into the body,
even to the cuticles; in consequence of which he can no longer look his
married partner directly in the face, or accost her in a communion of
respirations, or speak to her except in a subdued tone of voice, or
touch her with the hand, and scarcely with the back; not to mention the
insanities which, proceeding from that cold, make their way into the
thoughts, which they do not make known; and this is the reason why such
marriages dissolve of themselves. Moreover, it is well known, that an
impious man thinks meanly of a married partner; and all who are without
religion are impious.
242. VII. OF INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE THIRD IS, THAT ONE OF THE
PARTIES IS OF ONE RELIGION AND THE OTHER OF ANOTHER. The reason of this
is, because with such persons good cannot be conjoined with its
corresponding truth; for as was shewn above, the wife is the good of the
husband's truth, and he is the truth of the wife's good. Hence of two
souls there cannot be made one soul; and hence the stream of that love
is closed: and consequently a conjugial principle is entered upon, which
has a lower place of abode, and which is that of good with another
truth, or of truth with another good than its own, between which there
cannot be any harmonious love: hence with the married partner that is in
a false religion, there commences a cold, which grows more intense in
proportion as he differs from the other party. On a certain time, as I
was wandering through the streets of a great city inquiring for a
lodging, I entered a house inhabited by married partners of a different
religion; being ignorant of this circumstance, the angels instantly
accosted me, and said, "We cannot remain with you in that house; for the
married partners who dwell there differ in religion." This they
perceived from the internal disunion of their souls.
243. VIII. OF INTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE FOURTH IS, THE FALSITY OF THE
RELIGION. This is, because falsity in spiritual things either takes away
religion or defiles it. It takes it from those with whom genuine truths
are falsified; it defiles it, where there are indeed falsities, but not
genuine truths, which therefore could not be falsified. In the latter
case there may be imputed goods with which those falses may be conjoined
by applications from the Lord; for these falses are like various
discordant tones, which by artful arrangements and combinations are
brought into harmony, and communicate to harmony its agreeableness: in
this case some conjugial love is communicable; but with those who have
falsified with themselves the genuine truths of the church, it is not
communicable. The prevailing ignorance concerning love truly conjugial,
or a negative doubting respecting the possibility of the existence of
such love, is from persons of the latter description; and from the same
source also comes the wild imagination, in the minds of the generality,
that adulteries are not evils in a religious point of view.
244. IX. WITH MANY, THE ABOVE-MENTIONED ARE CAUSES OF INTERNAL COLD, BUT
NOT AT THE SAME TIME OF EXTERNAL. If the causes above pointed out and
confirmed, which are the causes of internal cold, produced similar
external cold, as many separations would ensue as there are cases of
internal cold, which are as many as there are marriages of those who are
in a false or a different religion, or in no religion; respecting whom
we have already treated; and yet it is well-known, that many such live
together as if they mutually loved and were friendly to each other: but
whence this originates, with those who are in internal cold, will be
shewn in the following chapter CONCERNING THE CAUSES OF APPARENT LOVE,
FRIENDSHIP, AND FAVOR IN MARRIAGES. There are several causes which
conjoin minds (_animos_) but still do not conjoin souls; among these are
some of those mentioned above, n. 183; but still cold lies interiorly
concealed, and makes itself continually observed and felt. With such
married partners the affections depart from each other; but the
thoughts, while they come forth into speech and behaviour, for the sake
of apparent friendship and favor, are present; therefore such persons
know nothing of the pleasantness and delight, and still less of the
satisfaction and blessedness of love truly conjugial, accounting them to
be little else than fables. These are of the number of those who deduce
the origin of conjugial love from the same causes with the nine
companies of wise ones assembled from the several kingdoms of Europe;
concerning whom see the MEMORABLE RELATION above, n. 103-114.
245. It may be urged as an objection to what has been proved above, that
still the soul is propagated from the father although it is not
conjoined to the soul of the mother, yea, although cold residing therein
causes separation; but the reason why souls or offspring are
nevertheless propagated is, because the understanding of the man is not
closed, but is capable of being elevated into the light into which the
soul is; but the love of his will is not elevated into the heat
corresponding to the light there, except by the life, which makes him
from natural become spiritual; hence it is, that the soul is still
procreated, but, in the descent, while it becomes seed, it is veiled
over by such things as belong to his natural love; from this springs
hereditary evil. To these considerations I will add an arcanum from
heaven, namely, that between the disjoined souls of two persons,
especially of married partners, there is effected conjunction in a
middle love; otherwise there would be no conception with men
(_homines_). Besides what is here said of conjugial cold, and its place
of abode in the supreme region of the mind, see the LAST MEMORABLE
RELATION of this chapter, n. 270.
246. X. THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD, THE FIRST OF
WHICH IS DISSIMILITUDE OF MINDS AND MANNERS. There are both internal and
external similitudes and dissimilitudes. The internal arise from no
other source than religion; for religion is implanted in souls, and by
them is transmitted from parents to their offspring as the supreme
inclination; for the soul of every man derives life from the marriage of
good and truth, and from this marriage is the church; and as the church
is various and different in the several parts of the world, therefore
also the souls of all men are various and different; wherefore internal
similitudes and dissimilitudes are from this source, and according to
them the conjugial conjunctions of which we have been treating; but
external similitudes and dissimilitudes are not of the souls but of
minds; by minds (_animos_) we mean the affections and thence the
external inclinations, which are principally insinuated after birth by
education, social intercourse, and consequent habits of life; for it is
usual to say, I have a mind to do this or that; which indicates an
affection and inclination to it. Persuasions conceived respecting this
or that kind of life also form those minds; hence come inclinations to
enter into marriage even with such as are unsuitable, and likewise to
refuse consent to marriage with such as are suitable; but still these
marriages, after a certain time of living together, vary according to
the similitudes and dissimilitudes contracted hereditarily and also by
education; and dissimilitudes induce cold. So likewise dissimilitudes of
manners; as for example, an ill-mannered man or woman, joined with a
well-bred one; a neat man or woman, joined with a slovenly one; a
litigious man or woman, joined with one that is peaceably disposed; in a
word, an immoral man or woman, joined with a moral one. Marriages of
such dissimilitudes are not unlike the conjunctions of different species
of animals with each other, as of sheep and goats, of stags and mules,
of turkeys and geese, of sparrows and the nobler kind of birds, yea, as
of dogs and cats, which from their dissimilitudes do not consociate with
each other, but in the human kind these dissimilitudes are indicated not
by faces, but by habits of life; wherefore external colds are from this
source.
247. XI. OF EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE SECOND IS, THAT CONJUGIAL LOVE
IS BELIEVED TO BE THE SAME AS ADULTEROUS LOVE, ONLY THAT THE LATTER IS
NOT ALLOWED BY LAW, BUT THE FORMER IS. That this is a source of cold, is
obvious to reason, while it is considered that adulterous love is
diametrically opposite to conjugial love; wherefore when it is believed
that conjugial love is the same as adulterous, they both become alike in
idea; and in such case a wife is regarded as a harlot, and marriage as
uncleanness; the man himself also is an adulterer, if not in body, still
in spirit. That hence ensue contempt, disdain, and aversion, between the
man and his woman, and thereby intense cold, is an unavoidable
consequence; for nothing stores up in itself conjugial cold more than
adulterous love; and as adulterous love also passes into such cold, it
may not undeservedly be called essential conjugial cold.
248. XII. OF EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE THIRD IS, A STRIVING FOR
PRE-EMINENCE BETWEEN MARRIED PARTNERS. This is, because conjugial love
principally respects the union of wills, and the freedom of decision
thence arising; both which are ejected from the married state by a
striving for pre-eminence or superiority; for this divides and tears
wills into pieces, and changes the freedom of decision into servitude.
During the influence of such striving, the spirit of one of the parties
meditates violence against the other; if in such case their minds were
laid open and viewed by spiritual sight, they would appear like two
boxers engaged in combat, and regarding each other with hatred and favor
alternately; with hatred while in the vehemence of striving, and with
favor while in the hope of dominion, and while under the influence of
lust. After one has obtained the victory over the other, this contention
is withdrawn from the externals, and betakes itself into the internals
of the mind, and there abides with its restlessness stored up and
concealed. Hence cold ensues both to the subdued party or servant, and
to the victor or dominant party. The reason why the latter also suffers
cold is, because conjugial love no longer exists with them, and the
privation of this love is cold; see n. 235. In the place of conjugial
love succeeds heat derived from pre-eminence; but this heat is utterly
discordant with conjugial heat, yet it can exteriorly resemble it by
means of lust. After a tacit agreement between the parties, it appears
as if conjugial love was made friendship; but the difference between
conjugial and servile friendship in marriages, is like that between
light and shade, between a living fire and an _ignis fatuus_, yea, like
that between a well-conditioned man and one consisting only of bone and
skin.
249. XIII. OF EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE FOURTH IS, A WANT OF
DETERMINATION TO ANY EMPLOYMENT OR BUSINESS, WHENCE COMES WANDERING
PASSION. Man (_homo_) was created for use, because use is the continent
of good and truth, from the marriage of which proceeds creation, and
also conjugial love, as was shewn above. By employment and business we
mean every application to uses; while therefore a man is in any
employment and business, or in any use, in such case his mind is limited
and circumscribed as in a circle, within which it is successively
arranged into a form truly human, from which as from a house he sees
various concupiscences out of himself, and by sound reason within
exterminates them; consequently also he exterminates the wild insanities
of adulterous lust; hence it is that conjugial heat remains better and
longer with such than with others. The reverse happens with those who
give themselves up to sloth and ease; in such case the mind is unlimited
and undetermined, and hence the man (_homo_) admits into the whole of it
everything vain and ludicrous which flows in from the world and the
body, and leads to the love thereof; that in this case conjugial love
also is driven into banishment, is evident; for in consequence of sloth
and ease the mind grows stupid and the body torpid, and the whole man
becomes insensible to every vital love, especially to conjugial love,
from which as from a fountain issue the activities and alacrities of
life. Conjugial cold with such is different from what it is with others;
it is indeed the privation of conjugial love, but arising from defect.
250. XIV. OF EXTERNAL CAUSES OF COLD THE FIFTH IS, INEQUALITY OF
EXTERNAL RANK AND CONDITION. There are several inequalities of rank and
condition, which while parties are living together put an end to the
conjugial love which commenced before marriage; but they may all be
referred to inequalities as to age, station, and wealth. That unequal
ages induce cold in marriage, as in the case of a lad with an old woman,
and of a young girl with a decrepit old man, needs no proof. That
inequality of station has a similar effect, as in the marriage of a
prince with a servant maid, or of an illustrious matron with a servant
man, is also acknowledged without further proof. That the case is the
same in regard to wealth, unless a similitude of minds and manners, and
an application of one party to the inclinations and native desires of
the other, consociate them, is evident. But in all such cases, the
compliance of one party on account of the pre-eminence of station and
condition of the other, effects only a servile and frigid conjunction;
for the conjugial principle is not of the spirit and heart, but only
nominal and of the countenance; in consequence of which the inferior
party is given to boasting, and the superior blushes with shame. But in
the heavens there is no inequality of age, station, or wealth; in regard
to age, all there are in the flower of their youth, and continue so into
eternity; in regard to station, they all respect others according to the
uses which they perform. The more eminent in condition respect inferiors
as brethren, neither do they prefer station to the excellence of use,
but the excellence of use to station; also when maidens are given in
marriage, they do not know from what ancestors they are descended; for
no one in heaven knows his earthly father, but the Lord is the Father of
all. The case is the same in regard to wealth, which in heaven is the
faculty of growing wise, according to which a sufficiency of wealth is
given. How marriages are there entered into, may be seen above, n. 229.
251. XV. THERE ARE ALSO CAUSES OF SEPARATION. There are separations from
the bed and also from the house. There are several causes of such
separations; but we are here treating of legitimate causes. As the
causes of separation coincide with the causes of concubinage, which are
treated of in the latter part of this work in their own chapter, the
reader is referred thereto that he may see the causes in their order.
The legitimate causes of separation are the following.
252. XVI. THE FIRST CAUSE OF LEGITIMATE SEPARATION IS A VITIATED STATE
OF MIND. The reason of this is, because conjugial love is a conjunction
of minds; if therefore the mind of one of the parties takes a direction
different from that of the other, such conjunction is dissolved, and
with the conjunction the love vanishes. The states of vitiation of the
mind which cause separation, may appear from an enumeration of them;
they are for the most part, the following: madness, frenzy, furious
wildness, actual foolishness and idiocy, loss of memory, violent
hysterics, extreme silliness so as to admit of no perception of good and
truth, excessive stubbornness in refusing to obey what is just and
equitable; excessive pleasure in talkativeness and conversing only on
insignificant and trifling subjects; an unbridled desire to publish
family secrets, also to quarrel, to strike, to take revenge, to do evil,
to steal, to tell lies, to deceive, to blaspheme; carelessness about the
children, intemperance, luxury, excessive prodigality, drunkenness,
uncleanness, immodesty, application to magic and witchcraft, impiety,
with several other causes. By legitimate causes we do not here mean
judicial causes, but such as are legitimate in regard to the other
married partner; separation from the house also is seldom ordained in a
court of justice.
253. XVII. THE SECOND CAUSE OF LEGITIMATE SEPARATION IS A VITIATED STATE
OF BODY. By vitiated states of body we do not mean accidental diseases,
which happen to either of the married partners during their marriage,
and from which they recover; but we mean inherent diseases, which are
permanent. The science of pathology teaches what these are. They are
manifold, such as diseases whereby the whole body is so far infected
that the contagion may prove fatal; of this nature are malignant and
pestilential fevers, leprosies, the venereal disease, gangrenes,
cancers, and the like; also diseases whereby the whole body is so far
weighed down, as to admit of no consociability, and from which exhale
dangerous effluvia and noxious vapors, whether from the surface of the
body, or from its inward parts, in particular from the stomach and
lungs; from the surface of the body proceed malignant pocks, warts,
pustules, scorbutic phthisic, virulent scab, especially if the face be
defiled thereby: from the stomach proceed foul, stinking, rank and crude
eructations: from the lungs, filthy and putrid exhalations, arising from
imposthumes, ulcers, abcesses, or from vitiated blood or lymph therein.
Besides these there are also various other diseases, as lipothamia,
which is a total faintness of body and defect of strength; paralysis,
which is a loosing and relaxation of the membranes and ligaments which
serve for motion; certain chronic diseases, arising from a loss of the
sensibility and elasticity of the nerves, or from too great a thickness;
tenacity, and acrimony of the humors; epilepsy; fixed weakness arising
from apoplexy; certain phthisical complaints, whereby the body is
wasted; the cholic, cæliac affection, rupture, and other like diseases.
254. XVIII. THE THIRD CAUSE OF LEGITIMATE SEPARATION IS IMPOTENCE BEFORE
MARRIAGE. The reason why this is a cause of separation is, because the
end of marriage is the procreation of children, which cannot take place
where this cause of separation operates; and as this is foreknown by the
parties, they are deliberately deprived of the hope of it, which hope
nevertheless nourishes and strengthens their conjugial love.
255. XIX. ADULTERY IS THE CAUSE OF DIVORCE. There are several reasons
for this, which are discernible in rational light, and yet at this day
they are concealed. From rational light it may be seen that marriages
are holy and adulteries profane; and thus that marriages and adulteries
are diametrically opposite to each other; and that when opposites act
upon each other, one destroys the other even to the last spark of its
life. This is the case with conjugial love, when a married person
commits adultery from a confirmed principle, and thus from a deliberate
purpose. With those who know anything of heaven and hell, these things
are more clearly discernible by the light of reason: for they know that
marriages are in and from heaven, and that adulteries are in and from
hell, and that these two cannot be conjoined, as heaven cannot be
conjoined with hell, and that instantly, if they are conjoined with man
(_homo_), heaven recedes, and hell enters. Hence then it is, that
adultery is the cause of divorce; wherefore the Lord saith, that
"_whosoever shall put away his wife, except for whoredom, and shall
marry another, committeth adultery_," Matt. xix. 9. He saith, if, except
for whoredom, he shall put away his wife, and marry another, he
committeth adultery; because putting away for this cause is a plenary
separation of minds, which is called divorce; whereas other kinds of
putting away, grounded in their particular causes are separations, of
which we have just treated; after these, if another wife is married,
adultery is committed; but not so after a divorce.
256. XX. THERE ARE ALSO SEVERAL ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF COLD; THE FIRST OF
WHICH IS, THAT ENJOYMENT IS COMMON (OR CHEAP), BECAUSE CONTINUALLY
ALLOWED. The reason why this consideration is an accidental cause of
cold is, because it exists with those who think lasciviously respecting
marriage and a wife, but not with those who think holily respecting
marriage, and securely respecting a wife. That from being common (or
cheap) in consequence of being continually allowed, even joys become
indifferent, and also tiresome, is evident from the case of pastimes and
public shows, musical entertainments, dancing, feasting, and the like,
which in themselves are agreeable, because vivifying. The case is the
same with the intimacy and connection between married partners,
especially between those who have not removed the unchaste love of the
sex from the love which they bear to each other; and when they think of
enjoyment's being common (or cheap) in consequence of being continually
allowed, they think vainly in the absence of the faculty of enjoyment.
That this consideration is to such persons a cause of cold is
self-evident. It is called accidental, because it joins inward cold as a
cause, and ranks on its side as a reason. To remove the cold arising
from this circumstance, it is usual with wives, from the prudence
implanted in them, to offer resistance to what is allowable. But the
case is altogether otherwise with those who think chastely respecting
wives; wherefore with the angels the consideration of enjoyment's being
common in consequence of being continually allowed, is the very delight
of their souls, and contains their conjugial love; for they are
continually in the delight of that love, and in its ultimates according
to the presence of their minds uninterrupted by cares, thus from the
decisions of the judgement of the husbands.
257. XXI. OF ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF COLD THE SECOND IS, THAT LIVING WITH A
MARRIED PARTNER, FROM A COVENANT AND CONTRACT, SEEMS FORCED AND NOT
FREE. This cause operates only with those with whom conjugial love in
the inmost principles is cold; and since it unites with internal cold,
it becomes an additional or accidental cause. With such persons,
extra-conjugial love, arising from consent and the favor thereof, is
interiorly in heat; for the cold of the one is the heat of the other;
which, if it is not sensibly felt, is still within, yea, in the midst of
cold; and unless it was thus also within, there would be no reparation.
This heat is what constitutes the force or compulsion, which is
increased in proportion as, by one of the parties, the covenant grounded
in agreement and the contract grounded in what is just, are regarded as
bonds not to be violated; it is otherwise if those bonds are loosed by
each of the parties. The case is reversed with those who have rejected
extra-conjugial love as detestable, and think of conjugial love as of
what is heavenly and heaven; and the more so if they perceive it to be
so: with such that covenant with its articles of agreement, and that
contract with its sanctions, are inscribed on their hearts, and are
continually being inscribed thereon more and more. In this case the bond
of that love is neither secured by a covenant agreed upon, nor by a law
enacted; but both covenant and law are from creation implanted in the
love itself, which influences the parties; from the latter (namely, the
covenant and the law implanted from creation in the love itself) are
derived the former (namely, the covenant and law) in the world, but not
_vice versa_. Hence, whatever relates to that love is felt as free;
neither is there any freedom but what is of love: and I have heard from
the angels, that love truly conjugial is most free, because it is the
love of loves.
258. XXII. OF ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF COLD THE THIRD IS, AFFIRMATION ON THE
PART OF THE WIFE, AND HER TALKING INCESSANTLY ABOUT LOVE. With the
angels in heaven there is no refusal and repugnance on the part of the
wives, as there is with some wives on earth: with the angels in heaven
also the wives converse about love, and are not silent as some wives on
earth; but the causes of these differences I am not allowed to declare,
because it would be unbecoming; nevertheless they are declared in four
MEMORABLE RELATIONS at the close of the chapters, by the angels' wives,
who freely speak of them to their husbands, by the three in the hall
over which there was a golden shower, and by the seven who were sitting
in a rosary. These memorable relations are adduced, to the end that
every thing may be explained that relates to conjugial love, which is
the subject here treated of both in general and in particular.
259. XXIII. OF ACCIDENTAL CAUSES OF COLD THE FOURTH IS, THE MAN'S
CONTINUALLY THINKING THAT HIS WIFE IS WILLING; AND ON THE OTHER HAND THE
WIFE'S THINKING THAT THE MAN IS NOT WILLING. That the latter
circumstance is a cause of love's ceasing with wives, and the former a
cause of cold with men, is too obvious to need any comment. For that the
man who thinks that his wife, when in his sight by day, and when lying
at his side by night, is desirous or willing, should grow cold to the
extremities, and on the other hand that the wife, who thinks that the
man is able and not willing, should lose her love, are circumstances
among many others well known to husbands who have considered the arcana
relating to conjugial love. These circumstances are adduced also, to the
end that this work may be perfected, and THE CONJUGIAL LOVE AND ITS
CHASTE DELIGHTS may be completed.
260. XXIV. AS COLD IS IN THE MIND IT IS ALSO IN THE BODY; AND ACCORDING
TO THE INCREASE OF THAT COLD, THE EXTERNALS ALSO OF THE BODY ARE CLOSED.
It is believed at the present day that the mind of man (_homo_) is in
the head, and nothing of it in the body, when yet the soul and the mind
are both in the head and in the body; for the soul and the mind are the
man (_homo_), since both constitute the spirit which lives after death;
and that this spirit is in a perfect human form, has been fully shewn in
the treatises we have published. Hence, as soon as a man thinks
anything, he can in an instant utter it by means of his bodily mouth,
and at the same time represent it by gesture; and as soon as he wills
anything, he can in an instant bring it into act and effect by his
bodily members: which could not be the case unless the soul and the mind
were together in the body, and constituted his spiritual man. From these
considerations it may be seen, that while conjugial love is in the mind,
it is similar to itself in the body; and since love is heat, that it
opens the externals of the body from the interiors; but on the other
hand, that the privation thereof, which is cold, closes the externals of
the body from the interiors: hence it is manifest what is the cause of
the faculty (of conjugial love) with the angels enduring for ever, and
what is the cause of its failing with men who are cold.
* * * * *
261. To the above I shall add THREE MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. In the
superior northern quarter near the east in the spiritual world, there
are places of instruction for boys, for youths, for men, and also for
old men: into these places all who die infants are sent and are educated
in heaven; so also all who arrive fresh from the world, and desire
information about heaven and hell, are sent to the same places. This
tract is near the east, that all may be instructed by influx from the
Lord; for the Lord is the east, because he is in the sun there, which
from him is pure love; hence the heat from that sun in its essence is
love, and the light from it in its essence is wisdom. These are inspired
into them from the Lord out of that sun; and they are inspired according
to reception, and reception is according to the love of growing wise.
After periods of instruction, those who are made intelligent are sent
forth thence, and are called disciples of the Lord. They are sent forth
first into the west, and those who do not remain there, into the south,
and some through the south into the east, and are introduced into the
societies where they are to reside. On a time, while I was meditating
respecting heaven and hell, I began to desire a universal knowledge of
the state of each, being aware, that whoever knows universals, may
afterwards comprehend particulars, because the latter are contained in
the former, as parts in a whole. In this desire I looked to the above
tract in the northern quarter near the east, where were the places of
instruction, and went there by a way then open to me. I entered one of
the colleges, where there were some young men, and addressed the chief
teachers there who gave instruction, and asked them whether they were
acquainted with the universals respecting heaven and hell. They replied,
that they knew some little; "but if we look," said they, "towards the
east to the Lord, we shall receive illustration and knowledge." They did
so, and said, "There are three universals of hell, which are
diametrically opposite to the universals of heaven. The universals of
hell are these three loves; the love of dominion grounded in self-love,
the love of possessing the goods of others grounded in the love of the
world, and adulterous love. The universals of heaven opposite to these
are the three following loves; the love of dominion grounded in the love
of use, the love of possessing worldly goods grounded in the love of
performing uses therewith, and love truly conjugial." Hereupon, after
expressing my good wishes towards them, I took my leave, and returned
home. When I was come home, it was said to me from heaven, "Examine
those three universals above and beneath, and afterwards we shall see
them in your hand." It was said _in the hand_, because whatever a man
examines intellectually, appears to the angels as if inscribed on his
hands.
262. After this I examined the first universal love of hell, which is
the love of dominion grounded in self-love, and afterwards the universal
love of heaven corresponding to it, which is the love of dominion
grounded in the love of uses; for I was not allowed to examine one love
without the other, because, being opposites, the understanding does not
perceive the one without the other; wherefore that each may be
perceived, they must be set in opposition to each other; for a beautiful
and handsome face is rendered conspicuous by contrasting it with an ugly
and deformed one. While I was considering the love of dominion grounded
in self-love, I perceived that this love was in the highest degree
infernal, and consequently prevailed with those who are in the deepest
hell; and that the love of dominion grounded in the love of uses was in
the highest degree heavenly, and consequently prevailed with those who
are in the highest heaven. The love of dominion grounded in self-love is
in the highest degree infernal, because to exercise dominion from
self-love, is to exercise it from _proprium_, and a man's _proprium_
from his birth is essential evil, which is diametrically opposite to the
Lord; wherefore the more persons who are under the influence of such
evil, advance therein, the more they deny God and the holy things of the
church, and worship themselves and nature. Let such persons, I entreat
them, examine that evil in themselves, and they will see this to be the
case. This love also is of such a nature, that in proportion as it is
left unrestrained, which is the case so long as it is not checked by
impossibilities, in the same proportion it rushes impetuously from step
to step, even to the highest, and there also finds no bounds, but is sad
and sorrowful because there is no higher step for it to ascend. This
love with statesmen is so intense that they wish to be kings and
emperors, and if it were possible, to have dominion over all things of
the world, and to be called kings of kings and emperors of emperors;
while the same love with the clergy is so intense that they wish to be
gods and, as far as is possible, to have dominion over all things of
heaven, and to be called gods of gods. That neither of these acknowledge
any God, will be seen in what follows. On the other hand, those who
desire to exercise dominion from the love of uses, do not desire it from
themselves, but from the Lord; since the love of uses is from the Lord,
and is the Lord himself: these regard dignities only as means to the
performance of uses, setting uses far above dignities; whereas the
former set dignities far above uses.
263. While I was meditating on these things, an angel from the Lord said
to me, "You shall presently see, and be convinced by ocular
demonstration, what is the nature and quality of that infernal love."
Then suddenly the earth opened on the left, and I saw a devil ascending
from hell, with a square cap on his head let down over his forehead even
to his eyes: his face was full of pimples as of a burning fever, his
eyes fierce and firy, his breast swelling immensely; from his mouth he
belched smoke like a furnace, his loins seemed all in a blaze, instead
of feet he had bony ankles without flesh, and from his body exhaled a
stinking and filthy heat. On seeing him I was alarmed, and cried out,
"Approach no nearer; tell me, whence are you?" He replied in a hoarse
tone of voice, "I am from below, where I am with two hundred in the most
supereminent of all societies. We are all emperors of emperors, king of
kings, dukes of dukes, and princes of princes; no one in our society is
barely an emperor, a king, a duke, or a prince. We sit there on thrones
of thrones, and despatch thence mandates through the whole world and
beyond it." I then said to him, "Do you not see that you are insane from
the phantasy of super-eminence?" and he replied, "How can you say so,
when we absolutely seem to ourselves, and are also acknowledged by each
other, to have such distinction?" On hearing this, I was unwilling to
repeat my charge of insanity, as he was insane from phantasy; and I was
informed that this devil, during his abode in the world, had been only a
house-steward, and at that time he was so lifted up in spirit, that he
despised all mankind in comparison with himself, and indulged in the
phantasy that he was more worthy than a king, and even than an emperor;
in consequence of which proud conceit, he had denied God, and had
regarded all the holy things of the church as of no concern to himself,
but of some to the stupid multitude. At length I asked him, "How long do
you two hundred thus glory among yourselves?" He replied "to eternity;
but such of us as torture others for denying our super-eminence, sink
under ground; for we are allowed to glory, but not to do mischief to any
one." I asked him again, "Do you know what befalls those who sink under
ground?" He said, "They sink down into a certain prison, where they are
called viler than the vile, or the vilest, and are set to work." I then
said to him. "Take heed therefore, lest you also should sink down."
264. After this the earth again opened, but now on the right; and I saw
another devil rising thence, who had on his head a kind of turban,
wrapped about with spires as of a snake, the head of which stood out
from the crown; his face was leprous from the forehead to the chin, and
so were his hands; his loins were naked and as black as soot, through
which was discernible in dusky transparence the fire as of a furnace;
and the ankles of his feet were like two vipers. The former devil, on
seeing him, fell on his knees, and adored him. On my asking why he did
so, he said, "He is the God of heaven and earth, and is omnipotent." I
then asked the other, "What do you say to this?" he replied, "What shall
I say? I have all power over heaven and hell; the lot of all souls is in
my hand." Again I enquired, "How can he, who is emperor of emperors, so
submit himself, and how can you receive adoration?" he answered, "He is
still my servant; what is an emperor before God? the thunder of
excommunication is in my right hand." I then said to him, "How can you
be so insane? In the world you were only a canon; and because you were
infected with the phantasy that you also had the keys of heaven, and
thence the power of binding and loosing, you have inflamed your spirit
to such a degree of madness, that you now believe yourself to be very
God." Upon this he swore with indignation that it was so, and said, "The
Lord has not any power in heaven, because he has transferred it all to
us. We have only to give the word of command, and heaven and hell
reverently obey us. If we send any one to hell, the devils immediately
receive him; and so do the angels receive those whom we send to heaven."
I asked further, "How many are there in your society?" he said, "Three
hundred; and we are all gods there; but I am god of gods." After this
the earth opened beneath the feet of each, and they sank down into their
respective hells; and I saw that beneath their hells were workhouses,
into which those who injure others would fall; for every one in hell is
left to his phantasy, and is also permitted to glory in it; but he is
not allowed to injure another. The reason why such are there, is,
because a man is then in his spirit; and the spirit, after it is
separated from the body, comes into the full liberty of acting according
to its affections and consequent thoughts. I was afterwards permitted to
look into their hells: that which contained the emperors of emperors and
kings of kings, was full of all uncleanness; and the inhabitants
appeared like various kinds of wild beasts, with fierce eyes; and so it
was in the other, which contained the gods and the god of gods: in it
there appeared the direful birds of night, which are called _ochim_ and
_ijim_, flying about them. The images of their phantasies were presented
to me under this appearance. From these circumstances it was manifest,
what is the nature and quality of political and ecclesiastical
self-love; that the latter would make its votaries desirous of being
gods, while the former would make them desirous of being emperors; and
that under the influence of such loves men wish and strive to attain the
objects of their desires, so far as they are left without restraint.
265. Afterwards a hell was opened, where I saw two men, one sitting on a
bench, holding his feet in a basket full of serpents which seemed to be
creeping upwards by his breast even to his neck; and the other sitting
on a blazing ass, at whose sides red serpents were creeping, raising
their heads and necks, and pursuing the rider. I was told that they had
been popes who had compelled emperors to resign their dominions, and had
ill-treated them both in word and deed at Rome, whither they went to
supplicate and adore them; and that the basket in which were the
serpents, and the blazing ass with snakes at his sides, were
representations of their love of dominion grounded on self-love, and
that such appearances are seen only by those who look at them from a
distance. There were some canons present, whom I asked whether those had
really been popes? They said, that they were acquainted with them, and
knew that they had been such.
266. After beholding these sad and hideous spectacles, I looked around,
and saw two angels in conversation standing near me. One wore a woollen
robe that shone bright with flaming purple, and under it a vest of fine
bright linen; the other had on similar garments of scarlet, together
with a turban studded on the right side with carbuncles. I approached
them, and, greeting them with a salutation of peace, respectfully asked
them, "For what purpose are you here below?" They replied, "We have let
ourselves down from heaven by the Lord's command, to speak with you
respecting the blessed lot of those who are desirous to have dominion
from the love of uses. We are worshipers of the Lord. I am prince of a
society; my companion is chief priest of the same." The prince moreover
said, "I am the servant of my society, because I serve it by doing
uses:" the other said, "I am minister of the church there, because in
serving them I minister holy things to the uses of their souls. We both
are in perpetual joys grounded in the eternal happiness which is in them
from the Lord. All things in our society are splendid and magnificent;
they are splendid from gold and precious stones, and magnificent from
palaces and paradises. The reason of this is, because our love of
dominion is not grounded in self-love, but in the love of uses: and as
the love of uses is from the Lord, therefore all good uses in the
heavens are splendid and refulgent; and as all in our society are in
this love, therefore the atmosphere appears golden from the light which
partakes of the sun's flame-principle, and the sun's flame-principle
corresponds to that love." As they said this, they appeared to me to be
encompassed with such a sphere, from which an aromatic odor issued that
was perceivable by the senses. I mentioned this circumstance to them,
and intreated them to continue their discourse respecting the love of
uses; and they proceeded thus: "The dignities which we enjoy, we indeed
sought after and solicited for no other end than that we might be
enabled more fully to perform uses, and to extend them more widely. We
are also encompassed with honor, and we accept it, not for ourselves,
but for the good of the society; for the brethren and consociates, who
form the commonalty of the society, scarcely know but that the honors of
our dignities are in ourselves, and consequently that the uses which we
perform are from ourselves; but we feel otherwise, being sensible that
the honors of the dignities are out of ourselves, and that they are as
the garments with which we are clothed; but that the uses which we
perform, from the love of them, are within us from the Lord: and this
love receives its blessedness from communication by uses with others;
and we know from experience, that so far as we do uses from the love
thereof, so far that love increases, and with it wisdom, whereby
communication is effected; but so far as we retain uses in ourselves,
and do not communicate them, so far blessedness perishes: and in such
case use becomes like food stored up in the stomach, which, not being
dispersed, affords no nourishment to the body and its parts, but remains
undigested, and thereby causes loathing: in a word, the whole heaven is
nothing but a continent of use, from first principles to last. What is
use but the actual love of our neighbor? and what holds the heavens
together with this love?" On hearing this I asked, "How can any one know
whether he performs uses from self-love, or from the love of uses? every
man, both good and bad, performs uses, and that from some love. Suppose
that in the world there be a society composed of mere devils, and
another composed of mere angels; I am of opinion that the devils in
their society, from the fire of self-love, and the splendor of their own
glory, would do as many uses as the angels in their society; who then
can know from what love, and from what origin uses flow?" To this the
two angels replied, "Devils do uses for the sake of themselves and of
reputation, that they may be raised to honors or may gain wealth; but
angels do not do uses from such motives, but for the sake of uses from
the love thereof. A man cannot discern the true quality of those uses;
but the Lord discerns it. Every one who believes in the Lord, and shuns
evils as sins, performs uses from the Lord; but every one who neither
believes in the Lord, nor shuns evils as sins, does uses from self and
for the sake of self. This is the difference between the uses done by
devils and those done by angels." Having said this, the two angels
departed; and I saw them from afar carried in a firy chariot like Elias,
and conveyed into their respective heavens.
267. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. Not long after this interview with
the angels, I entered a certain grove, and while I was walking there, I
meditated on those who are in the concupiscence and consequent phantasy
of possessing the things of the world; and then at some distance from me
I saw two angels in conversation, and by turns looking at me; I
therefore went nearer to them, and as I approached they thus accosted
me: "We have perceived in ourselves that you are meditating on what we
are conversing about, or that we are conversing on what you are
meditating about, which is a consequence of the reciprocal communication
of affections." I asked therefore what they were conversing about? they
replied, "About phantasy, concupiscence, and intelligence; and just now
about those who delight themselves in the vision and imagination of
possessing whatever the world contains." I then entreated them to favor
me with their sentiments on those three subjects,--concupiscence,
phantasy, and intelligence. They began by saying, "Every one is by birth
interiorly in concupiscence, but by education exteriorly in
intelligence; and no one is in intelligence, still less in wisdom,
interiorly, thus as to his spirit, but from the Lord: for every one is
withheld from the concupiscence of evil, and held in intelligence,
according as he looks to the Lord, and is at the same time in
conjunction with him; without this, a man is mere concupiscence; yet
still in externals, or as to the body, he is in intelligence arising
from education; for a man lusts after honors and wealth, or eminence and
opulence, and in order to attain them, it is necessary that he appear
moral and spiritual, thus intelligent and wise; and he learns so to
appear from infancy. This the reason why, as soon as he comes among men,
or into company, he inverts his spirit, and removes it from
concupiscence, and speaks and acts from the fair and honorable maxims
which he has learnt from infancy, and retains in the bodily memory: and
he is particularly cautious, lest anything of the wild concupiscence
prevalent in his spirit should discover itself. Hence every man who is
not interiorly led by the Lord, is a pretender, a sycophant, a
hypocrite, and thereby an apparent man, and yet not a man; of whom it
may be said, that his shell or body is wise, and his kernel or spirit
insane; also that his external is human, and his internal bestial. Such
persons, with the hinder part of the head look upwards, and with the
fore part downwards; thus they walk as if oppressed with heaviness, with
the head hanging down and the countenance prone to the earth; and when
they put off the body, and become spirits, and are thereby set at
liberty from external restraints, they become the madnesses of their
respective concupiscences. Those who are in self-love desire to domineer
over the universe, yea, to extend its limits in order to enlarge their
dominion, of which they see no end: those who are in the love of the
world desire to possess whatever the world contains, and are full of
grief and envy in case any of its treasures are hid and concealed from
them by others: therefore to prevent such persons from becoming mere
concupiscences, and thereby no longer men, they are permitted in the
spiritual world to think from a fear of the loss of reputation, and
thereby of honor and gain, and also from a fear of the law and its
penalties, and also to give their mind to some study or work whereby
they are kept in externals and thus in a state of intelligence, however
wild and insane they may be interiorly." After this I asked them,
whether all who are in any concupiscence, are also in the phantasy
thereof; they replied, that those are in the phantasy of their
respective concupiscences, who think interiorly in themselves, and too
much indulge their imagination by talking with themselves; for these
almost separate their spirit from connection with the body, and by
vision overflow the understanding, and take a foolish delight as if they
were possessed of the universe and all that it contains: into this
delirium every man comes after death, who has abstracted his spirit from
the body, and has not wished to recede from the delight of the delirium
by thinking at all religiously respecting evils and falses, and least of
all respecting the inordinate love of self as being destructive of love
to the Lord, and respecting the inordinate love of the world, as being
destructive of neighborly love.
268. After this the two angels and also myself were seized with a desire
of seeing those who from worldly love are in the visionary concupiscence
or phantasy of possessing all wealth; and we perceived that we were
inspired with this desire to the end that such visionaries might be
known. Their dwellings were under the earth of our feet, but above hell:
we therefore looked at each other and said, "Let us go." There was an
opening, and in it a ladder by which we descended; and we were told that
we must approach them from the east, lest we should enter into the mist
of their phantasy, whereby our understanding and at the same time our
sight would be obscured; and lo! there appeared a house built of reeds,
and consequently full of chinks, standing in a mist, which continually
issued like smoke through the chinks of three of the walls. We entered,
and saw perhaps fifty here and fifty there sitting on benches, with
their faces turned from the east and south, and looking towards the west
and north. Before each person there was a table, on which were large
purses, and by the purses a great quantity of gold coin: so we asked
them, "Is that the wealth of all the persons in the world?" they
replied, "Not of all in the world, but of all in the kingdom." The sound
of their voice was hissing; and they had round faces, which glistened
like the shell of a snail, and the pupils of their eyes in a green plane
as it were shot forth lightning, which was an effect of the light of
phantasy. We stood in the midst of them, and said, "You believe that you
possess all the wealth of the kingdom;" they replied, "We do possess
it." We then asked, "Which of you?" they said, "Every one;" and we
asked, "How every one? there are many of you:" they said, "Every one of
us knows that all which another has is his own. No one is allowed to
think, and still less to say, 'Mine are not thine;' but every one may
think and say, 'Thine are mine.'" The coin on the tables appeared, even
to us, to be pure gold; but when we let in light from the east, we saw
that they were little grains of gold, which they had magnified to such a
degree by a union of their common phantasy. They said, that every one
that enters ought to bring with him some gold, which they cut into small
pieces, and these again into little grains, and by the unanimous force
of their phantasy they increase them into larger coin. We then said,
"Were you not born men of reason; whence then have you this visionary
infatuation?" they said, "We know that it is an imaginary vanity; but as
it delights the interiors of our minds, we enter here and are delighted
as with the possession of all things: we continue in this place,
however, only a few hours, at the end of which we depart; and as often
as we do so we again become of sound mind; yet still our visionary
delight alternately succeeds and occasions our alternate entrance into
and departure from these habitations: thus we are alternately wise and
foolish; we also know that a hard lot awaits those who by cunning rob
others of their goods." We inquired, "What lot?" they said, "They are
swallowed up and are thrust naked into some infernal prison, where they
are kept to hard labor for clothes and food, and afterwards for some
pieces of coin of trifling value, which they collect, and in which they
place the joy of their hearts; but if they do any harm to their
companions, they are fined a part of their coin."
269. Afterwards we ascended from these hells to the south, where we had
been before, and the angels related there several interesting
particulars respecting concupiscence not visionary or phantastic, in
which all men are born; namely, that while they are in it, they are like
persons infatuated, and yet seem to themselves to be most eminently
wise; and that from this infatuation they are alternately let into the
rational principle which is in their externals; in which state they see,
acknowledge, and confess their insanity; but still they are very
desirous to quit their rational and enter their insane state; and also
do let themselves into it, as into a free and delightful state
succeeding a forced and undelightful one; thus it is concupiscence and
not intelligence that interiorly pleases them. There are three universal
loves which form the constituent principles of every man by creation:
neighbourly love, which also is the love of doing uses; the love of the
world, which also is the love of possessing wealth; and the love of
self, which also is the love of bearing rule over others. Neighbourly
love, or the love of doing uses, is a spiritual love; but the love of
the world, or the love of possessing wealth, is a material love; whereas
the love of self, or the love of bearing rule over others, is a
corporeal love. A man is a man while neighbourly love, or the love of
doing uses, constitutes the head, the love of the world the body, and
the love of self the feet; whereas if the love of the world constitutes
the head, the man is as it were hunched-backed; but when the love of
self constitutes the head, he is like a man standing not on his feet,
but on the palms of his hands with his head downwards and his haunches
upwards. When neighbourly love constitutes the head, and the two other
loves in order constitute the body and feet, the man appears from heaven
of an angelic countenance, with a beautiful rainbow about his head;
whereas if the love of the world constitutes the head, he appears from
heaven of a pale countenance like a corpse, with a yellow circle about
his head; but if the love of self constitutes the head, he appears from
heaven of a dusky countenance, with a white circle about his head.
Hereupon I asked, "What do the circles about the head represent?" they
replied, "They represent intelligence; the white circle about the head
of the dusky countenance represents, that his intelligence is in
externals, or about him, but insanity is in his internals, or in him. A
man also who is of such a quality and character, is wise while in the
body, but insane while in the spirit; and no man is wise in spirit but
from the Lord, as is the case when he is regenerated and created again
or anew by him." As they said this, the earth opened to the left, and
through the opening I saw a devil rising with a white lucid circle
around his head, and I asked him, Who he was? He said, "I am Lucifer,
the son of the morning: and because I made myself like the Most High, I
was cast down." Nevertheless he was not Lucifer, but believed himself to
be so. I then said, "Since you were cast down, how can you rise again
out of hell?" he replied, "There I am a devil, but here I am an angel of
light: do you not see that my head is surrounded by a lucid sphere? you
shall also see, if you wish, that I am super-moral among the moral,
super-rational among the rational, yea, super-spiritual among the
spiritual: I can also preach; yea, I have preached." I asked him, "What
have you preached?" he said, "Against fraudulent dealers and adulterers,
and against all infernal loves; on this occasion too I, Lucifer, called
myself a devil, and denounced vengeance against myself as a devil; and
therefore I was extolled to the skies with praises. Hence it is that I
am called the son of the morning; and, what I myself was surprised at,
while I was in the pulpit, I thought no other than that I was speaking
rightly and properly; but I discovered that this arose from my being in
externals, which at that time were separated from my internals: but
although I discovered this, still I could not change myself, because
through my haughtiness I did not look to God." I next asked him, "How
could you so speak, when you are yourself a fraudulent dealer, an
adulterer, and a devil?" He answered, "I am one character when I am in
externals or in the body, and another when in internals or in the
spirit; in the body I am an angel, but in the spirit a devil; for in the
body I am in the understanding, but in the spirit I am in the will; and
the understanding carries me upwards, whereas the will carries me
downwards. When I am in the understanding my head is surrounded by a
white belt, but when the understanding submits itself entirely to the
will, and becomes subservient to it, which is our last lot, the belt
grows black and disappears; and when this is the case, we cannot again
ascend into this light." Afterwards he spoke of his twofold state, the
external and the internal, more rationally than any other person; but on
a sudden when he saw the angels attendant on me, his face and voice were
inflamed, and he became black, even as to the belt round his head, and
he sunk down into hell through the opening from which he arose. The
bystanders, from what they had seen, came to this conclusion, that a man
is such as his love, and not such as his understanding is; since the
love easily draws over the understanding to its side, and enslaves it. I
then asked the angels, "Whence have devils such rationality?" They said,
"It is from the glory of self-love; for self-love is surrounded by
glory, and glory elevates the understanding even into the light of
heaven; for with every man the understanding is capable of being
elevated according to knowledges, but the will only by a life according
to the truths of the church and of reason: hence even atheists, who are
in the glory of reputation arising from self-love, and thence in a high
conceit of their own intelligence, enjoy a more sublime rationality than
many others; this, however, is only when they are in the thought of the
understanding, and not when they are in the affection of the will. The
affection of the will possesses a man's internal, whereas the thought of
the understanding possesses his external." The angel further declared
the reason why every man is constituted of the three loves above
mentioned; namely, the love of use, the love of the world, and the love
of self; which is, that he may think from God, although as from himself.
He also said, that the supreme principles in a man are turned upwards to
God, the middle outwards to the world, and the lowest downwards to self;
and since the latter are turned downwards, a man thinks as from himself,
when yet it is from God.
270. THE THIRD MEMORABLE RELATION. One morning on awaking from sleep my
thoughts were deeply engaged on some arcana of conjugial love, and at
length on this, "_In what region of the human mind does love truly
conjugial reside, and thence in what region does conjugial cold
reside_?" I knew that there are three regions of the human mind, one
above the other, and that in the lowest region dwells natural love; in
the superior, spiritual love; and in the supreme, celestial love; and
that in each region there is a marriage of good and truth; and good is
of love, and truth is of wisdom; that in each region there is a marriage
of love and wisdom; and that this marriage is the same as the marriage
of the will and the understanding, since the will is the receptacle of
love, and the understanding the receptacle of wisdom. While I was thus
deeply engaged in thought, lo! I saw two swans flying towards the north,
and presently two birds of paradise flying towards the south, and also
two turtle doves flying in the east: as I was watching their flight, I
saw that the two swans bent their course from the north to the east, and
the two birds of paradise from the south, also that they united with the
two doves in the east, and flew together to a certain lofty palace
there, about which there were olives, palms, and beeches. The palace had
three rows of windows, one above the other; and while I was making my
observations, I saw the swans fly into the palace through open windows
in the lowest row, the birds of paradise through others in the middle
row, and the doves through others in the highest. When I had observed
this, an angel presented himself, and said, "Do you understand what you
have seen?" I replied, "In a small degree." He said, "That palace
represents the habitations of conjugial love, such as are in human
minds. Its highest part, into which the doves flew, represents the
highest region of the mind, where conjugial love dwells in the love of
good with its wisdom; the middle part, into which the birds of paradise
flew, represents the middle region, where conjugial love dwells in the
love of truth with its intelligence: and the lowest part, into which the
swans flew, represents the lowest region of the mind, where conjugial
love dwells in the love of what is just and right with its knowledge.
The three pairs of birds also signify these things; the pair of turtle
doves signifies conjugial love of the highest region, the pair of birds
of paradise conjugial love of the middle region, and the pair of swans
conjugial love of the lowest region. Similar things are signified by the
three kinds of trees about the palace, the olives, palms, and beeches.
We in heaven call the highest region of the mind celestial, the middle
spiritual, and the lowest natural; and we perceive them as stories in a
house, one above another, and an ascent from one to the other by steps
as by stairs; and in each part as it were two apartments, one for love,
the other for wisdom, and in front as it were a chamber, where love with
its wisdom, or good with its truth, or, what is the same, the will with
its understanding, consociate in bed. In that palace are presented as in
an image all the arcana of conjugial love." On hearing this, being
inflamed with a desire of seeing it, I asked whether anyone was
permitted to enter and see it, as it was a representative palace? He
replied, "None but those who are in the third heaven, because to them
every representative of love and wisdom becomes real: from them I have
heard what I have related to you, and also this particular, that love
truly conjugial dwells in the highest region in the midst of mutual
love, in the marriage-chamber or apartment of the will, and also in the
midst of the perceptions of wisdom in the marriage-chamber or apartment
of the understanding, and that they consociate in bed in the chamber
which is in front, in the east." I also asked, "Why are there two
marriage-chambers?" He said, "The husband is in the marriage-chamber of
the understanding, and the wife in that of the will." I then asked,
"Since conjugial love dwells there, where then does conjugial cold
dwell?" He replied, "It dwells also in the supreme region, but only in
the marriage-chamber of the understanding, that of the will being closed
there: for the understanding with its truths, as often as it pleases,
can ascend by a winding staircase into the highest region into its
marriage-chamber; but if the will with the good of its love does not
ascend at the same time into the consociate marriage-chamber, the latter
is closed, and cold ensues in the other: this is _conjugial cold_. The
understanding, while such cold prevails towards the wife, looks
downwards to the lowest region, and also, if not prevented by fear,
descends to warm itself there at an illicit fire." Having thus spoken,
he was about to recount further particulars respecting conjugial love
from its images in that palace; but he said, "Enough at this time;
inquire first whether what has been already said is above the level of
ordinary understandings; if it is, what need of saying more? but if not,
more will be discovered."
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