IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD THERE ARE ATMOSPHERES, WATERS AND LANDS, JUST AS
IN THE NATURAL WORLD; ONLY THE FORMER ARE SPIRITUAL, WHILE THE LATTER ARE
NATURAL.
It has been said in the preceding pages, and shown in the work Heaven
and Hell, that the spiritual world is like the natural world, with the
difference only that each and every thing of the spiritual world is
spiritual, and each and every thing of the natural world is natural. As
these two worlds are alike, there are in both, atmospheres, waters, and
lands, which are the generals through and from which each and all things
take their form [existunt] with infinite variety.
174. As regards the atmospheres, which are called ethers and airs, they
are alike in both worlds, the spiritual and the natural, with the
difference only that they are spiritual in the spiritual world, and
natural in the natural world. The former are spiritual, because they
have their form from the sun which is the first proceeding of the Divine
Love and Divine Wisdom of the Lord, and from Him receive within them the
Divine fire which is love, and the Divine light which is wisdom, and
carry these down to the heavens where the angels dwell, and cause the
presence of that sun there in things greatest and least. The spiritual
atmospheres are divided substances, that is, least forms, originating
from the sun. As these each singly receive the sun, its fire, distributed
among so many substances, that is, so many forms, and as it were enveloped
by them, and tempered by these envelopments, becomes heat, adapted finally
to the love of angels in heaven and of spirits under heaven. The same is
true of the light of that sun. In this the natural atmospheres are like
spiritual atmospheres, that they also are divided substances or least
forms originating from the sun of the natural world; these also each
singly receive the sun and store up its fire in themselves, and temper
it, and carry it down as heat to the earth, where men dwell. The same is
true of natural light.
175. The difference between spiritual and natural atmospheres is that
spiritual atmospheres are receptacles of Divine fire and Divine light,
thus of love and wisdom, for they contain these interiorly within them;
while natural atmospheres are receptacles, not of Divine fire and Divine
light, but of the fire and light of their own sun, which in itself is
dead, as was shown above; consequently there is nothing interiorly in
them from the sun of the spiritual world, although they are environed
by spiritual atmospheres from that sun. That this is the difference
between spiritual and natural atmospheres has been learned from the
wisdom of angels.
176. That there are atmospheres in the spiritual, just as in the natural
world, can be seen from this, that angels and spirits breathe, and also
speak and hear - just as men do in the natural world; and respiration,
speech, and hearing are all effected by means of a lowest atmosphere,
which is called air; it can be seen also from this, that angels and
spirits, like men in the natural world, have sight, and sight is possible
only by means of an atmosphere purer than air; also from this, that
angels and spirits, like men in the natural world, think and are moved
by affection, and thought and affection are not possible except by means
of still purer atmospheres; and finally from this, that all parts of the
bodies of angels and spirits, external as well as internal, are held
together in connection by atmospheres, the external by air and the
internal by ethers. Without the surrounding pressure and action of these
atmospheres the interior and exterior forms of the body would evidently
dissolve away. Since angels are spiritual, and each and all things of
their bodies are held together in connection, form, and order by means
of atmospheres, it follows that these atmospheres are spiritual; they
are spiritual, because they arise from the spiritual sun which is the
first proceeding of the Lord's Divine Love and Divine Wisdom.
177. That there are also waters and lands in the spiritual as well as in
the natural world, with the difference that these waters and lands are
spiritual, has been said above and has been shown in the work Heaven and
Hell; and because these are spiritual, they are moved and modified by
the heat and light of the spiritual sun, the atmospheres therefrom serving
as mediums, just as the waters and lands in the natural world are moved
and modified by the heat and light of the sun of their world, its
atmospheres serving as mediums.
178. Atmospheres, waters, and lands are here specified, because these
three are generals, through and from which each and all things have
their form [existunt] in infinite variety. The atmospheres are the
active forces, the waters are the mediate forces, and the lands are
the passive forces, from which all effects have existence. These three
forces are such in their series solely by virtue of life that proceeds
from the Lord as a sun, and that makes them active.
179. THERE ARE DEGREES OF LOVE AND WISDOM, CONSEQUENTLY DEGREES OF HEAT
AND LIGHT ALSO DEGREES, OF ATMOSPHERES.
The things which follow cannot be comprehended unless it be known that
there are degrees, also what they are, and what their nature is, because
in every created thing, thus in every form, there are degrees. This Part
of Angelic Wisdom will therefore treat of degrees. That there are degrees
of love and wisdom can be clearly seen from the fact that there are angels
of the three heavens. The angels of the third heaven so far excel the
angels of the second heaven in love and wisdom, and these, the angels
of the lowest heaven, that they cannot be together. The degrees of love
and wisdom distinguish and separate them. It is from this that angels of
the lower heavens cannot ascend to angels of higher heavens, or if allowed
to ascend, they do not see the higher angels or anything that is about
them. They do not see them because the love and wisdom of the higher
angels is of a higher degree, transcending the perception of the lower
angels. For each angel is his own love and his own wisdom; and love
together with wisdom in its form is a man, because God, who is Love
itself and Wisdom itself, is a Man. It has sometimes been permitted me
to see angels of the lowest heaven who have ascended to the angels of
the third heaven; and when they had made their way thither, I have heard
them complaining that they did not see any one, and all the while they
were in the midst of the higher angels. Afterwards they were instructed
that those angels were invisible to them because their love and wisdom
were imperceptible to them, and that love and wisdom are what make an
angel appear as a man.
180. That there must be degrees of love and wisdom is still more evident
when the love and wisdom of angels are compared with the love and wisdom
of men. It is well known that the wisdom of angels, when thus compared,
is ineffable; also it will be seen in what follows that to men who are
in natural love, this wisdom is incomprehensible. It appears ineffable
and incomprehensible because it is of a higher degree.
181. Since there are degrees of love and wisdom, there are also degrees
of heat and light. By heat and light are meant spiritual heat and light,
such as angels in the heavens have, and such as men have as to the
interiors of their minds; for men have a heat of love similar to that
of the angels, and a similar light of wisdom. In the heavens, such and
so much love as the angels have, such and so much is their heat; and
the same is true of their light as compared with their wisdom; the reason
is, that with them love is in the heat, and wisdom in the light (as was
shown above). It is the same with men on earth, with the difference,
however, that angels feel that heat and see that light, but men do not,
because they are in natural heat and light; and while they are in the
natural heat and light spiritual heat is not felt except by a certain
enjoyment of love, and spiritual light is not seen except by a perception
of truth. Now since man, so long as he is in natural heat and light,
knows nothing of the spiritual heat and light within him, and since
knowledge of these can be obtained only through experience from the
spiritual world, the heat and light in which the angels and their
heavens are, shall here be especially spoken of. From this and from
no other source can enlightenment on this subject be had.
182. But degrees of spiritual heat cannot be described from experience,
because love, to which spiritual heat corresponds, does not come thus
under ideas of thought; but degrees of spiritual light can be described,
because light pertains to thought, and therefore comes under ideas of
thought. Yet degrees of spiritual heat can be comprehended by their
relation to the degrees of light, for the two are in like degree. With
respect then to spiritual light in which angels are, it has been granted
me to see it with my eyes. With angels of the higher heavens, the light
is so glistening white as to be indescribable, even by comparison with
the shining whiteness of snow, and so glowing as to be indescribable
even by comparison with the beams of this world's sun. In a word, that
light exceeds a thousand times the noonday light upon earth. But the
light with angels of the lower heavens can be described in a measure
by comparisons, although it still exceeds the most intense light of
our world. The light of angels of the higher heavens is indescribable,
because their light makes one with their wisdom; and because their
wisdom, compared to the wisdom of men, is ineffable, thus also is their
light. From these few things it can be seen that there must be degrees
of light; and because wisdom and love are of like degrees, it follows
that there must be like degrees of heat.
183. Since atmospheres are the receptacles and containants of heat and
light, it follows that there are as many degrees of atmospheres as there
are degrees of heat and light; also that there are as many as there are
degrees of love and wisdom. That there are several atmospheres, and that
these are distinct from each other by means of degrees, has been
manifested to me by much experience in the spiritual world; especially
from this, that angels of the lower heavens are not able to breathe in
the region of higher angels, and appear to themselves to gasp for
breath, as living creatures do when they are raised out of air into
ether, or out of water into air. Moreover, spirits below the heavens
appear in a kind of cloud. That there are several atmospheres, and that
they are distinct from each other by means of degrees, may be seen
above (n. 176).
184. DEGREES ARE OF A TWOFOLD KIND, DEGREES OF HEIGHT AND DEGREES OF
BREADTH.
A knowledge of degrees is like a key to lay open the causes of things,
and to give entrance into them. Without this knowledge, scarcely
anything of cause can be known; for without it, the objects and
subjects of both worlds seem to have but a single meaning, as if there
were nothing in them beyond that which meets the eye; when yet compared
to the things which lie hidden within, what is thus seen is as one to
thousands, yea, to tens of thousands. The interiors which are not open
to view can in no way be discovered except through a knowledge of
degrees. For things exterior advance to things interior and through
these to things inmost, by means of degrees; not by continuous degrees
but by discrete degrees. "Continuous degrees" is a term applied to the
gradual lessenings or decreasings from grosser to finer, or from denser
to rarer; or rather, to growths and increasings from finer to grosser,
or from rarer to denser; precisely like the gradations of light to shade,
or of heat to cold. But discrete degrees are entirely different: they
are like things prior, subsequent and final; or like end, cause, and
effect. These degrees are called discrete, because the prior is by
itself; the subsequent by itself; and the final by itself; and yet
taken together they make one. There are atmospheres, from highest to
lowest, that is, from the sun to the earth, called ethers and airs that
are separated into such degrees; they are like simples, collections of
simples, and again collections of these, which taken together are called
a composite. Such degrees are discrete [or separate], because each has
a distinct existence, and these degrees are what are meant by "degrees
of height;" but the former degrees are continuous, because they increase
continuously and these degrees are what are meant by "degrees of breadth."
185. Each and all things that have existence in the spiritual world and
in the natural world, have conjoint existence from discrete degrees and
from continuous degrees together, that is, from degrees of height and
from degrees of breadth. The dimension which consists of discrete degrees
is called height, and the dimension that consists of continuous degrees
is called breadth; their position relatively to the sight of the eye does
not alter the designation. Without a knowledge of these degrees nothing
can be known of how the three heavens differ from each other; nor can
anything be known of the differences of love and wisdom of the angels
there; nor of the differences of heat and light in which they are; nor
of the differences of atmospheres which environ and contain these. Nor
without a knowledge of these degrees can anything be known of the
differences among the interior powers of the minds of men, thus nothing
of their state as regards reformation and regeneration; nor anything
of the differences among the exterior powers of the bodies both of angels
and men; and nothing whatever can be known of the distinction between
spiritual and natural, thus nothing of correspondence. Nor, indeed, can
anything be known of any difference between the life of men and that of
beasts, or between the more perfect and the less perfect animals; neither
of the differences among the forms of the vegetable kingdom, nor among
the matters of the mineral kingdom. From which it can be seen that they
who are ignorant of these degrees are unable to see causes from anything
of judgment; they see only effects, and from these judge of causes,
which is done for the most part by an induction that is continuous
with effects. But causes produce effects not continuously but discretely;
for cause is one thing, and effect is another. The difference between the
two is like the difference between prior and subsequent, or between that
which forms and that which is formed.
186. That it may be still better comprehended what discrete degrees are,
what their nature is, and how they differ from continuous degrees, the
angelic heavens may serve as an example. There are three heavens, and
these are separated by degrees of height; therefore the heavens are one
below another, nor do they communicate with each other except by influx,
which proceeds from the Lord through the heavens in their order to the
lowest; and not contrariwise. Each heaven by itself, however, is divided
not by degrees of height but by degrees of breadth. Those who are in the
middle, that is, at the center, are in the light of wisdom; but those
who are around about, even to the boundaries, are in the shade of wisdom.
Thus wisdom grows less and less even to ignorance, as light decreases to
shade, which takes place continuously. It is the same with men. The
interiors belonging to their minds are separated into as many degrees
as the angelic heavens; and these degrees are one above another;
therefore the interiors of men which belong to their minds are separated
by discrete degrees, that is, degrees of height. Consequently a man may
be in the lowest degree, then in a higher, and also in the highest
degree, according to the degree of his wisdom; moreover, when he is
in the lowest degree only, the higher degree is shut, - but is opened
as he receives wisdom from the Lord. There are also in a man, as in
heaven, continuous degrees, that is degrees of breadth. A man is like
the heavens because as regards the interiors of his mind, he is a heaven
in least form, in the measure in which he is in love and wisdom from the
Lord. That man as regards the interiors of his mind is a heaven in least
form may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell (n. 51-58.)
187. From all this it can be seen, that one who knows nothing about
discrete degrees, that is, degrees of height, can know nothing about the
state of man as regards his reformation and regeneration, which are
effected through the reception of love and wisdom of the Lord, and
then through the opening of the interior degrees of his mind in their
order. Nor can he know anything about influx from the Lord through the
heavens nor anything about the order into which he was created. For if
anyone thinks about these, not from discrete degrees or degrees of
height but from continuous degrees or degrees of breadth, he is not able
to perceive anything about them from causes, but only from effects; and
to see from effects only is to see from fallacies, from which come
errors, one after another; and these may be so multiplied by inductions
that at length enormous falsities are called truths.
188. I am not aware that anything has been known hitherto about discrete
degrees or degrees of height, only continuous degrees or degrees of
breadth have been known; yet nothing of the real truth about cause can
become known without a knowledge of degrees of both kinds. These degrees
therefore shall be treated of throughout this Part; for it is the object
of this little work to uncover causes, that effects may-be seen from
them, and thus the darkness may be dispelled in which the man of the
church is in respect to God and the Lord, and in respect to Divine things
in general which are called spiritual things. This I may mention, that
the angels are in grief for the darkness on the earth; saying that they
see light hardly anywhere, and that men eagerly lay hold of fallacies
and confirm them, thereby multiplying falsities upon falsities; and to
confirm fallacies men search out, by means of reasonings from falsities
and from truths falsified, such things as cannot be controverted, owing
to the darkness in respect to causes and the ignorance respecting truths.
The angels lament especially over confirmations respecting faith separate
from charity and justification thereby; also over men's ideas about God,
angels and spirits, and their ignorance of what love and wisdom are.
189. DEGREES OF HEIGHT ARE HOMOGENEOUS, AND ONE IS FROM THE OTHER IN
SUCCESSION LIKE END, CAUSE, AND EFFECT.
As degrees of breadth, that is continuous degrees, are like gradations
from light to shade, from heat to cold, from hard to soft, from dense
to rare, from thick to thin, and so forth; and as these degrees are
known from sensuous and ocular experience, while degrees of height, or
discrete degrees, are not, the latter kind shall be treated of especially
in this Part; for without a knowledge of these degrees, causes cannot be
seen. It is known indeed that end, cause, and effect follow in order,
like prior, subsequent, and final; also that the end begets the cause,
and, through the cause, the effect, that the end may have form; also about
these many other things are known; and yet to know these things, and not
to see them in their applications to existing things is simply to know
abstractions, which remain in the memory only so long as the mind is in
analytical ideas from metaphysical thought. From this it is that although
end, cause, and effect advance according to discrete degrees, little if
anything is known in the world about these degrees. For a mere knowledge
of abstractions is like an airy something which flies away; but when
abstractions are applied to such things as are in the world, they become
like what is seen with the eyes on earth, and remains in the memory.
190. All things which have existence in the world, of which threefold
dimension is predicated, that is, which are called compounds, consist
of degrees of height, that is, discrete degrees; as examples will make
clear. It is known from ocular experience, that every muscle in the human
body consists of minute fibers, and these put together into little bundles
form larger fibers, called motor fibers, and groups of these form the
compound called a muscle. It is the same with nerves; in these from minute
fibers larger fibers are compacted, which appear as filaments, and these
grouped together compose the nerve. The same is true of the rest of the
combinations, bundlings and groupings out of which the organs and viscera
are made up; for these are compositions of fibers and vessels variously
put together according to like degrees. It is the same also with each and
every thing of the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. In woods there are
combinations of filaments in threefold order. In metals and stones there
are groupings of parts, also in threefold order. From all this the
nature of discrete degrees can be seen, namely, that one is from the
other, and through the second there is a third which is called the
composite; and that each degree is discreted from the others.
191. From these examples a conclusion may be formed respecting those
things that are not visible to the eye, for with those it is the same;
for example, with the organic substances which are the receptacles and
abodes of thoughts and affections in the brains; with atmospheres; with
heat and light; and with love and wisdom. For atmospheres are receptacles
of heat and light; and heat and light are receptacles of love and wisdom;
consequently, as there are degrees of atmospheres, there are also like
degrees of heat and light, and of love and wisdom; for the same principle
applies to the latter as to the former.
192. That these degrees are homogeneous, that is, of the same character
and nature, appears from what has just been said. The motor fibers of
muscles, least, larger, and largest, are homogeneous. Woody filaments,
from the least to the composite formed of these, are homogeneous. So
likewise are parts of stones and metals of every kind. The organic
substances which are receptacles and abodes of thoughts and affections,
from the most simple to their general aggregate which is the brain, are
homogeneous. The atmospheres, from pure ether to air, are homogeneous.
The degrees of heat and light in series, following the degrees of
atmospheres, are homogeneous, therefore the degrees of love and wisdom
are also homogeneous. Things which are not of the same character and
nature are heterogeneous, and do not harmonize with things homogeneous;
thus they cannot form discrete degrees with them, but only with their
own, which are of the same character and nature and with which they are
homogeneous.
193. That these things in their order are like ends, causes, and effects,
is evident; for the first, which is the least, effectuates its cause by
means of the middle, and its effect by means of the last.
194. It should be known that each degree is made distinct from the others
by coverings of its own, and that all the degrees together are made
distinct by means of a general covering; also, that this general covering
communicates with interiors and inmosts in their order. From this there
is conjunction of all and unanimous action.