Conjugial Love, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1768] at sacred-texts.com

Conjugial Love

XII. MARRIED PARTNERS ARE THAT FORM IN THEIR INMOST PRINCIPLES, AND THENCE IN WHAT IS DERIVED FROM THOSE PRINCIPLES, IN PROPORTION AS THE INTERIORS OF THEIR MINDS ARE OPENED. There are three things of which every man consists, and which follow in an orderly connection,--the soul, the mind, and the body: his inmost is the soul, his middle is the mind, and his ultimate is the body. Every thing which flows from the Lord into a man, flows into his inmost principle, which is the soul, and descends thence into his middle principle, which is the mind, and through this into his ultimate principle, which is the body. Such is the nature of the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord with man: it flows immediately into his soul, and thence proceeds to the principles next succeeding, and through these to the extreme or outermost: and thus conjointly all the principles constitute conjugial love. From an idea of this influx it is manifest, that two married partners are the form of conjugial love in their inmost principles, and thence in those derived from the inmost.

But the reason why married partners become that form in proportion as the interiors of their minds are opened, is, because the mind is successively opened from infancy even to extreme old age: for a man is born corporeal: and in proportion as the mind is opened proximately above the body, he becomes rational; and in proportion as his rational principle is purified, and as it were drained of the fallacies which flow in from the bodily senses, and of the concupiscences which flow in from the allurements of the flesh, in the same proportion it is opened; and this is affected solely by wisdom: and when the interiors of the rational mind are open, the man becomes a form of wisdom; and this form is the receptacle of love truly conjugial. "The wisdom which constitutes this form, and receives this love, is rational, and at the same time moral, wisdom: rational wisdom regards the truths and goods which appear inwardly in man, not as its own, but as flowing in from the Lord; and moral wisdom shuns evils and falses as leprosies, especially the evils of lasciviousness, which contaminate its conjugial love."

To the above I shall add two MEMORABLE RELATIONS: the FIRST is this. One morning before sun-rise I was looking towards the east in the spiritual world, and I saw four horsemen as it were issuing from a cloud refulgent with the flame of the dawning day. On their heads they had crested helmets, on their arms as it were wings, and around their bodies light orange-colored tunics; thus clad as for expedition, they rose in their seats, and gave their horses the reins, which thus ran as if they had had wings to their feet. I kept my eye fixed on their course or flight, desiring to know where they were going; and lo! three of the horsemen took their direction towards three different quarters, the south, the west, and the north; and the fourth in a short space of time halted in the east. Wondering at all this, I looked up into heaven, and inquired where those horsemen were going? I received for answer, "To the wise men in the kingdoms of Europe, who with clear reasoning and acute discernment discuss the subjects of their investigation, and are distinguished above the rest for their genius, that they may assemble together and explain the secret RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY."

It was then said from heaven, "Wait awhile, and you will see twenty-seven chariots; three, in which are Spaniards; three, in which are Frenchmen; three, in which are Italians; three, in which are Germans; three, in which are Dutchmen or Hollanders; three, in which are Englishmen; three, in which are Swedes; three, in which are Danes; and three, in which are Poles." In about two hours I saw the chariots, drawn by horses of a pale-red color, with remarkable trappings: they passed rapidly along towards a spacious house in the confines of the east and south, around which all alighted from their several chariots, and entered in with much confidence. Then it was said to me, "Go, and do you also enter, and you will hear." I went and entered: and on examining the house within, I saw that it was square, the sides looking to the four quarters: in each side there were three high windows of crystalline glass, the frames of which were of olive-wood; on each side of the frames were projections from the walls, like chambers vaulted above, in which there were tables. The walls of these chambers were of cedar, the roof of the noble almug wood, and the floor of poplar boards. Near the eastern wall, where no windows were seen, there was set a table overlaid with gold, on which was placed a TURBAN set with precious stones, which was to be given as a prize or reward to him who should by investigation discover the secret about to be proposed. While my attention was directed to the chamber projections like closets near the windows, I saw five men in each from every kingdom of Europe, who were prepared and waiting to know the object for the exercise of their judgements. An angel then presented himself in the middle of the palace, and said, "The object for the exercise of your judgements shall be RESPECTING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND RESPECTING ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY. Investigate this and decide upon it; and write your decision on a piece of paper, and put it into the silver urn which you see placed near the golden table, and subscribe the initial letter of the kingdom from which you come; as F for French, B for Batavians or Hollanders, I for Italians, E for English, P for Poles, G for German, H for Spaniards (_Hispani_), D for Danes, S for Swedes." As he said this, the angel departed, saying, "I will return." Then the five men, natives of the same country, in each closet near the windows, took into consideration the proposed subject, examined it attentively, and came to a decision according to their respective talents and powers of judgement, which they wrote on a piece of paper, and placed it in the silver urn, having first subscribed the initial letter of their kingdom. This business being accomplished in about three hours, the angel returned and drew the papers in order from the urn, and read them before the assembly.

From the FIRST PAPER which he happened to lay hold of, he read as follows; "We five, natives of the same country, in one closet have decreed that the origin of conjugial love is from the most ancient people in the golden age, and that it was derived to them from the creation of Adam and his wife; hence is the origin of marriages, and with marriages the origin of conjugial love. The virtue or potency of conjugial love we derive from no other source than climate or situation in regard to the sun, and the consequent heat of the country; and we are confirmed in this sentiment, not by vain conjectures of reason, but by evident proofs of experience, as by the case of the people who live under the line, or the equinoctial, where the heat of the day is intense, and by the case of those who live nearer to the line, or more distant from it; and also from the co-operation of the sun's heat with the vital heat in the living creatures of the earth and the fowls of heaven, in the time of spring during prolification. Moreover, what is conjugial love but heat, which becomes virtue or potency, if the heat supplied from the sun be added to it?" To this decision was subscribed the letter H, the initial of the kingdom from which they were.

After this he put his hand into the urn a SECOND TIME, and took out a paper from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our lodge have agreed that the origin of conjugial love is the same with the origin of marriages, which were sanctioned by laws in order to restrain man's innate concupiscences prompting him to adultery, which ruins the soul, defiles the reason, pollutes the morals, and infects the body with disease: for adultery is not human but bestial, not rational but brutish, and thus not in any respect Christian but barbarous: with a view to the condemnation of such adultery, marriages originated, and at the same time conjugial love. The case is the same with the virtue or potency of this love; for it depends on chastity, which consists in abstaining from the rovings of whoredom: the reason is, because virtue or potency, with him who loves his married partner alone, is confined to one, and is thus collected and as it were concentrated; and then it becomes refined like a quintessence from which all defilement is separated, which would otherwise be dispersed and cast away in every direction. One of us five, who is a priest, has also added predestination as a cause of that virtue or potency, saying, 'Are not marriages predestinated? and this being the case, are not the progeny thence issuing and the means conducive thereto, predestinated also?' He insisted on adding this cause because he had sworn to it." To this decision was subscribed the letter B. On hearing it, a certain spirit observed with a smile, "How fair an apology is predestination for weakness or impotence!"

Presently he drew from the urn a THIRD PAPER, from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our department have deliberated concerning the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and have seen this to be the principal, that it is the same with the origin of marriage, because conjugial love had no existence before marriage; and the ground of its existence is, that when any one is desperately in love with a virgin, he desires in heart and soul to possess her as being lovely above all things; and as soon as she betroths herself to him he regards her as another self. That this is the origin of conjugial love, is clearly manifest from the fury of every man against his rivals, and from the jealousy which takes place in case of violation. We afterwards considered the origin of the virtue or potency of this love; and the sentiments of three prevailed against the other two, viz., that virtue or potency with a married partner arises from some degree of licentiousness with the sex. They affirmed that they knew from experience that the potency of the love of the sex is greater than the potency of conjugial love." To this decision was subscribed the letter I. On hearing it, there was a cry from the table, "Remove this paper and take another out of the urn."

And instantly he drew out a FOURTH, from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, under our window have come to this conclusion, that the origin of conjugial love and of the love of the sex is the same, the former being derived from the latter; only that the love of the sex is unlimited, indeterminate, loose, promiscuous, and roving; whereas conjugial love is limited, determinate, fixed, regular, and constant; and that this love therefore has been sanctioned and established by the prudence of human wisdom as necessary to the existence of every empire, kingdom, commonwealth, and even society; for without it men would wander like droves of cattle in fields and forests, with harlots and ravished females, and would fly from one habitation to another to avoid the bloody murders, violations, and depredations, whereby the whole human race would be in danger of being extirpated. This is our opinion concerning the origin of conjugial love. But the virtue or potency of conjugial love we deduce from an uninterrupted state of bodily health continuing from infancy to old age; for the man who always retains a sound constitution and enjoys a continual freedom from sickness, feels his vigor unabated, while his fibres, nerves, muscles, and sinews, are neither torpid, relaxed, nor feeble, but retain the full strength of their powers: farewell." To this decision was subscribed the letter E.

FIFTHLY, he drew a paper out of the urn, from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, at our table, from the rationality of our minds, have examined into the origin of conjugial love and of its virtue or potency; and from all the considerations which have presented themselves, we have seen and concluded upon no other origin of conjugial love than this: that every man, from incentives and consequent incitements which are concealed in the interiors of his mind and body, after indulging in various desires of his eyes, at length fixes his mind and inclination on one of the female sex, until his passion is determined entirely to her: from this moment his warmth is enkindled more and more, until at length it becomes a flame; in this state the inordinate love of the sex is banished, and conjugial love takes its place. A youthful bridegroom under the influence of this flame, knows no other than that the virtue or potency of this love will never cease; for he wants experience and therefore knowledge respecting a state of the failure of his powers, and of the coldness of love which then succeeds to delights: conjugial love therefore has its origin in this first ardor before the nuptial ceremony, and from the same source it derives its virtue or potency; but this virtue or potency changes its aspect after the nuptial ceremony, and decreases and increases; yet still it continues with regular changes, or with decrease and increase, even to old age, by means of prudent moderation, and by restraining the libidinous desires which burst forth from the lurking places of the mind not yet thoroughly purified: for libidinous desire precedes wisdom. This is our judgement concerning the origin and continuance of conjugial virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter P.

SIXTHLY, he drew out a paper, from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, from the fellowship subsisting among us, have attentively considered the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and have agreed in assigning two; one of which is the right education of children, and the other the distinct possession of inheritances. We have assigned these two, because they aim at and regard the same end, which is the public good: and this end is obtained, because infants conceived and born from conjugial love become proper and true children; and these in consequence of the natural love of the parents, exalted by the consideration of their offspring being legitimate, are educated to be heirs of all their parents' possessions both spiritual and natural. That the public good is founded on a right education of children and on a distinct possession of inheritances, is obvious to reason. Of the love of the sex and conjugial love, the latter appears as if it were one with the former, but it is distinctly different; neither is the one love near to the other, but within it; and what is within is more excellent than what is without: and we have seen that conjugial love from creation is within, and lies hid in the love of the sex, just as an almond does in its shell; therefore when conjugial love comes out of its shell, which is the love of the sex, it glitters before the angels like a gem, a beryl, and astroites. The reason of this is, because on conjugial love is inscribed the safety of the whole human race, which we conceive to be understood by the public good. This is our judgement respecting the origin of this love. With respect to the origin of its virtue or potency, from a consideration of its causes, we have concluded it to be the development and separation of conjugial love from the love of the sex, which is effected by wisdom on the man's part, and by the love of the man's wisdom on the part of the wife: for the love of the sex is common to man and beast; whereas conjugial love is peculiar to men: therefore so far as conjugial love is developed and separated from the love of the sex, so far a man is a man and not a beast; and a man acquires virtue or potency from his love, as a beast does from his." To this decision was subscribed the letter G.

SEVENTHLY, he drew out a paper from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in the chamber under the light of our window, have found our thoughts and thence our judgements exhilarated by meditating on conjugial love; for who is not exhilarated by this love, which, while it prevails in the mind, prevails also through the whole body? We judge of the origin of this love from its delights; for who in any case knows or has known the trace of any love except from its delight and pleasurableness? The delights of conjugial love in their origins are felt as beatitudes, satisfactions, and happinesses, in their derivations as pleasantnesses and pleasures, and in their ultimates as superlative delights. The love of the sex therefore originates when the interiors of the mind, and thence the interiors of the body, are opened for the influx of those delights; but conjugial love originated at the time when, from entering into marriage engagements, the primitive sphere of that love ideally promoted those delights. The virtue or potency of this love arises from its passing, with its inmost principles, from the mind into the body; for the mind, by derivation from the head, is in the body, while it feels and acts, especially when it is delighted from this love: hence we judge of the degrees of its potency and the regularity of its alterations. Moreover we also deduce the virtue of potency from the stock whence a man is descended: if this be noble on the father's side, it becomes also by transmission noble with his offspring. That such nobility is generated, inherited and descends by transmission, is agreeable to the dictates of reason supported by experience." To this decision was subscribed the letter F.

From the paper which came forth the EIGHTH in order, he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our place of assembly have not discovered the real origin of conjugial love, because it lies deeply concealed in the sacred repositories of the mind. The most consummate vision cannot, by any intellectual effort, reach that love in its origin. We have made many conjectures; but after the vain exertion of subtle inquiry, we have been in doubt whether our conjectures might not be called rather trifling than judicious; therefore whoever is desirous to extract the origin of that love from the sacred repositories of his mind, and to exhibit it clearly before his eyes, let him go to _Delphos_. We have contemplated that love beneath its origin, and have seen that in the mind it is spiritual, and as a fountain from which a sweet stream flows, whence it descends into the breast, where it becomes delightful, and is called bosom love, which in itself is full of friendship and confidence, from a full inclination to reciprocality; and that when it has passed the breast, it becomes genial love. These and similar considerations, which a young man revolves in his mind while he is determining his choice to one of the sex, kindle in his heart the fire of conjugial love; which fire, as it is the primitive of that love is its origin. In respect to the origin of its virtue or potency, we acknowledge no other than that love itself, they being inseparable companions, yet still they are such that sometimes the one precedes and sometimes the other. When the love precedes and the virtue or potency follows it, each is noble because in this case potency is the virtue of conjugial love; but if the potency precedes and the love follows, each is then ignoble; because in this case the love is subordinate to carnal potency; we therefore judge of the quality of each from the order in which the love descends or ascends, and thus proceeds from its origin to its proposed end." To this decision was subscribed the letter D.

Lastly, or NINTHLY, he took up a paper, from which he read as follows: "We, natives of the same country, in our council-chamber have exercised our judgement on the two points proposed, viz., the origin of conjugial love, and the origin of its virtue or potency. In the subtleties of inquiry respecting the origin of conjugial love, in order to avoid obscurity in our reasonings, we have distinguished between the love of the sex as being spiritual, natural, and carnal; and by the spiritual love of the sex we have understood love truly conjugial, because this is spiritual; and by the natural love of the sex we have understood polygamical love, because this is natural; and by the merely carnal love of the sex we have understood adulterous love because this is merely carnal. In exercising our judgements to examine into love truly conjugial, we have clearly seen that this love exists only between one male and one female, and that from creation it is celestial and inmost, the soul and father of all good loves, being inspired into the first parents, and capable of being inspired into Christians; it is also of such a conjunctive nature that by it two minds may become one mind, and two men (_homines_) as it were one man (_homo_); which is meant by becoming one flesh. That this love was inspired at creation, is plain from these words in the book of creation, '_And a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh_,' Gen. ii. 24. That it can be inspired into Christians, is evident from these words, '_Jesus said, Have ye not read, that he who made them from the beginning, made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they two shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no longer two but one flesh_,' Matt. xix. 4-6. So far in regard to the origin of conjugial love: but as to the origin of the virtue or potency of love truly conjugial, we conceive it to proceed from a similitude of minds and unanimity; for when two minds are conjugially united, their thoughts spiritually kiss each other, and these inspire into the body their virtue or potency." To this decision was subscribed the letter S.

There were standing behind an oblong stage in the palace, erected before the doors, some strangers from Africa, who cried out to the natives of Europe, "Permit one of us to deliver his sentiments respecting the origin of conjugial love, and respecting its virtue or potency." And immediately all the tables gave signs of assent with their hands. Then one of them entered and stood at the table on which the turban was placed, and said, "You Christians deduce the origin of conjugial love from love itself; but we Africans deduce it from the God of heaven and earth. Is not conjugial love a chaste, pure, and holy love? Are not the angels of heaven principled therein? Is not the whole human race, and thence the whole angelic heaven, the seed of that love? And can such super-eminent principle derive its existence from any other source than from God himself, the Creator and Preserver of the universe? You Christians deduce conjugial virtue or potency from various causes rational and natural; but we Africans deduce it from the state of man's conjunction with the God of the universe. This state we call a state of religion; but you call it a state of the church: for when the love is derived from that state, and is fixed and permanent, it must needs produce its own virtue, which resembles it, and thus also is fixed and permanent. Love truly conjugial is known only to those few who live near to God; consequently the potency of that love is known to none else. This potency is described by the angels in the heavens as the delight of a perpetual spring."

As he said these word, the whole assembly arose, and lo! behind the golden table on which lay the turban, there appeared a window that had not before been seen; and through it was heard a voice, saying, "THE AFRICAN IS TO HAVE THE TURBAN." The angel then gave it into his hand, but did not place it upon his head; and he went home with it. The inhabitants of the kingdoms of Europe then left the assembly and entered their chariots, in which they returned to their respective societies.

THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. Awaking from sleep at midnight, I saw at some elevation towards the east an angel holding in his right hand a paper, which appeared extremely bright, being illuminated by the light flowing from the sun. In the middle of the paper there was written in golden letters, THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. From the writing there darted forth a splendor which formed a wide circle about the paper. This circle or encompassing splendor appeared like the early dawn in spring. After this I saw the angel descending with the paper in his hand; and as he descended the paper became less and less lucid, and the writing, which was THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, changed from a golden into a silver color, afterwards into a copper color, next into an iron color, and at length into the color of iron and copper rust: finally, I saw the angel enter an obscure mist, and through the mist descend upon the ground; and here I did not see the paper, although he still held it in his hand. This happened in the world of spirits, in which all men first assemble after their decease. The angel then said to me, "Ask those who come hither whether they see me, or anything in my hand." There came a great number; one company from the east, another from the south, another from the west, and another from the north; and I asked those who came from the east and from the south, who in the world had applied themselves to literary pursuits, "Do you see any one here with me, and anything in his hand?" They all said, "No." I then put the same question to those who came from the west and from the north, who in the world had believed in the words of the learned; and these gave the same answer: nevertheless the last of them, who in the world had been principled in simple faith grounded in charity, or in some degree of truth grounded in good, when the rest were gone away, said, that they saw a man with a paper, the man in a graceful dress, and the paper with letters written upon it: and when they applied their eyes nearer to it, they said that they could read these words, _The marriage of good and truth_; and they addressed the angel, intreating him to explain to them the meaning of the writing. He said, "All things in the whole heaven and in the whole world, are a marriage of good and truth; for all things whatever, both those which live and communicate life and those which do not live and do not communicate life, were created from and into the marriage of good and truth. There does not exist anything which was created into truth alone, or any thing which was created into good alone: solitary good or solitary truth is not any thing; but by marriage they exist and become something which derives its nature and quality from that of the marriage. In the Lord the Creator are divine good and divine truth in their very substance: the _esse_ of his substance is divine good, and its _existere_ is divine truth: in him also they are in their very essential union; for in him they infinitely make a one: and since these two in the Creator himself are a one, therefore also they are a one in all things created from him; hereby also the Creator is conjoined in an eternal covenant as of marriage with all things created from himself." The angel further said, that the Sacred Scripture, which proceeded immediately from the Lord, is in general and in particular a marriage of good and truth; and since the church, which is formed by the truth of doctrine, and religion, which is formed by the good of life agreeable to the truth of doctrine, are with Christians derived solely from the Sacred Scripture, therefore it may manifestly appear, that the church in general and in particular is a marriage of good and truth; (that this is the case, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 373, 483.) What has just been said concerning the marriage of good and truth, is applicable also to the MARRIAGE OF CHARITY AND FAITH; for good relates to charity, and truth to faith. Some of the spirits above-mentioned who did not see the angel and the writing, being still near, and hearing these things, said in an under tone, "_Yes, we also comprehend what has been spoken_;" but the angel then said to them, "Turn aside a little from me and speak in like manner." They turned aside, and then said aloud, "_It is not so_." After this the angel spoke concerning the MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH with married pairs, saying, that if their minds were in that marriage, the husband being truth, and the wife the good thereof, they would both be in the delights of the blessedness and innocence, and thence in the happiness which the angels of heaven enjoy; and in this state the prolific principle of the husband would be in a continual spring, and thereby in the endeavour and vigor of propagating its truth, and the wife would be in a continual reception thereof from a principle of love. The wisdom which husbands derive from the Lord, is sensible of no greater delight than to propagate its truths; and the love of wisdom which wives have from the Lord is sensible of no higher gratification than to receive those truths as it were in the womb, and thus to conceive them, to carry them in the womb, and to bring them forth. Spiritual prolifications with the angels of heaven are of this sort; and if you are disposed to believe it, natural prolifications are also from the same origin. The angel, after a salutation of peace, raised himself from the ground, and passing through the mist ascended into heaven; and then the paper shone as before according to the degrees of ascent; and behold! the circle, which before appeared as the dawn of day, descended and dispelled the mist which caused darkness on the ground, and a bright sunshine succeeded.

ON THE MARRIAGE OF THE LORD AND THE CHURCH, AND ITS CORRESPONDENCE.

The reason why the marriage of the Lord and the church, together with its correspondence, is here also treated of, is, because without knowledge and intelligence on this subject, scarcely any one can know, that conjugial love in its origin is holy, spiritual, and celestial, and that it is from the Lord. It is said indeed by some in the church, that marriages have relation to the marriage of the Lord with the church; but the nature and quality of this relationship is unknown, in order therefore that this relationship may be exhibited to the understanding so as to be seen in some degree of light, it is necessary to treat particularly of that holy marriage which has place with and in those who are the Lord's church. These also, and no others, are principled in love truly conjugial. But for the better elucidation of this arcanum, it may be expedient to consider the subject distinctly, as arranged under the following articles: I. _The Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom and Husband, and the church the bride and wife; and the conjunction of the Lord with the church, and the reciprocal conjunction of the church with the Lord, is called a marriage._ II. _The Lord is also called a Father, and the church, a mother._ III. _The offspring derived from the Lord as a husband and father, and from the church as a wife and mother, are all spiritual; and in the spiritual sense of the Word are understood by sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law, and by other names of relations._ IV. _The spiritual offspring, which are born from the Lord's marriage with the church are truths and goods; truths, from which are derived understanding, perception, and all thought; and goods, from which are derived love, charity, and all affection._ V. _From the marriage of good and truth, which proceeds from the Lord in the way of influx, man (homo) receives truth, and the Lord conjoins good thereto; and thus the church is formed by the Lord with man._ VI. _The husband does not represent the Lord and the wife the church; because both together, the husband and the wife, constitute the church._ VII. _Therefore there is not a correspondence of the husband with the Lord and of the wife with the church, in the marriages of the angels in the heavens and of men on earth._ VIII. _But there is a correspondence with conjugial love, semination, prolification, the love of infants, and similar things which exist in marriages, and are derived from them._ IX. _The Word is the medium of conjunction, because it is from the Lord, and therefore is the Lord._ X. _The church is from the Lord, and exists with those who come to him, and live according to his precepts._ XI. _Conjugial love is according to the state of the church, because it is according to the state of wisdom with man (homo)._ XII. _And as the church is from the Lord, conjugial love is also from him._ We proceed to the explanation of each article.

I. THE LORD IN THE WORD IS CALLED THE BRIDEGROOM AND HUSBAND, AND THE CHURCH THE BRIDE AND WIFE; AND THE CONJUNCTION OF THE LORD WITH THE CHURCH, AND THE RECIPROCAL CONJUNCTION OF THE CHURCH WITH THE LORD, IS CALLED A MARRIAGE. That the Lord in the Word is called the Bridegroom and Husband, and the church the bride and wife, may appear from the following passages: "_He that hath the BRIDE is the BRIDEGROOM; but the friend of the BRIDEGROOM, who standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth with joy because of the BRIDEGROOM'S voice_," John iii. 29: this was spoken by John the Baptist concerning the Lord. "_Jesus said, so long as the BRIDEGROOM is with them, the SONS OF THE NUPTIALS cannot fast: the days will come when the BRIDEGROOM will be taken away from them, and then will they fast_," Matt ix. 15; Mark ii. 19, 20; Luke v. 34, 35. "_I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, prepared as a BRIDE adorned for HER HUSBAND_," Rev. xxi. 2. The New Jerusalem signifies the New Church of the Lord, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 880, 881. "_The angel said to John, Come, and I will shew thee the BRIDE, THE LAMB'S WIFE: and he shewed him the holy city, New Jerusalem_," Rev. xxi. 9, 10. "_The time of the MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB is come, and HIS WIFE hath made herself ready. Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the MARRIAGE OF THE LAMB_," Rev. xix. 7, 9. The BRIDEGROOM, whom the five prepared virgins went forth to meet, and with WHOM they entered in to the MARRIAGE, Matt. xxv. 1-10, denotes the Lord; as is evident from verse 13, where it is said, "Watch, therefore; because ye know neither the day nor the hour in which the SON OF MAN will come:" not to mention many passages in the prophets.

II. THE LORD IS ALSO CALLED A FATHER, AND THE CHURCH, A MOTHER. The Lord is called a Father, as appears from the following passages: "_Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counsellor, GOD, THE FATHER OF ETERNITY, the Prince of Peace_," Isaiah ix. 6. "_Thou, JEHOVAH, art OUR FATHER, our REDEEMER; thy name is from an age_," Isaiah lxiii. 16. Again, "_Jesus said, He that seeth ME, seeth the FATHER that sent ME_," John xii. 45. "_If ye have known ME, ye have known my FATHER also; and henceforth ye have known him, and have seen him_," John xiv. 7. "_Philip said, Shew us the FATHER: Jesus said unto him, He that seeth me, seeth the FATHER; how sayest them then, Shew us the FATHER_?" John xiv. 8, 9. "_Jesus said, The FATHER and I are one_," John x. 30. "_All things that the FATHER hath are MINE_," John xvi. 15; chap. xvii. 10. "_The FATHER is in ME, and I IN THE FATHER_," John x. 38; chap, xiv 10, 11, 20. That the Lord and his Father are one, as the soul and the body are one, and that God the Father descended from heaven, and assumed the human (nature or principle), to redeem and save men, and that his human nature is what is called the Son, and is said to be sent into the world, has been fully shewn in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED.

The church is called a mother, as appears from the following passages: "_Jehovah said, Contend with YOUR MOTHER: she is not MY WIFE, and I am not her HUSBAND_." Hosea ii. 2, 5. "_Thou art thy MOTHER'S daughter, that loatheth her HUSBAND_," Ezek. xvi. 45. "_Where is the hill of thy MOTHER'S divorcement, whom I have put away_?" Isaiah l. 1. "_Thy MOTHER was like a vine planted by the waters, bearing fruit_," Ezek. xix. 10; speaking of the Jewish church. "_Jesus stretching out his hand to the disciples, said, MY MOTHER and my brethren are those who hear the Word of God, and do it_," Luke viii. 21; Matt. xii. 49, 50; Mark iii. 33-35: the Lord's disciples means the church. "_There was standing at the cross of Jesus his mother: and Jesus seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved, standing by, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son; and he saith to the disciple, Behold thy mother: wherefore from that hour the disciple took her unto his own_," John xix. 25-27. This implies, that the Lord did not acknowledge Mary as a mother, but the church; therefore he calls her Woman, and the disciple's mother. The reason why the Lord called her the mother of this disciple, or of John, was, because John represented the church as to the goods of charity, which are the church in real effect; therefore it is said, He took her unto his own. Peter represented truth and faith, James charity, and John the works of charity, as may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 5, 6, 790, 798, 879; and the twelve disciples together represented the church as to all its constituent principles, as may be seen, Ibid, n. 233, 790, 903, 915.

III. THE OFFSPRING DERIVED FROM THE LORD AS A HUSBAND AND FATHER, AND FROM THE CHURCH AS A WIFE AND MOTHER, ARE ALL SPIRITUAL; AND IN THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD ARE UNDERSTOOD BY SONS AND DAUGHTERS, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, SONS-IN-LAW, AND DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW, AND BY OTHER NAMES OF RELATIONS. That no other than spiritual offspring are born of the Lord by the church, is a proposition which wants no demonstration, because reason sees it to be self-evident; for it is the Lord from whom every good and truth proceeds, and it is the church which receives them and brings them into effect; and all the spiritual things of heaven and the church relate to good and truth. Hence it is that sons and daughters in the Word, in its spiritual sense, signify truths and goods: sons, truths conceived in the spiritual man, and born in, the natural; and daughters, goods in like manner: therefore those who are regenerated by the Lord, are called in the Word sons of God, sons of the kingdom, born of him; and the Lord called the disciples sons: the male child, that the woman brought forth, and that was caught up to God, Rev. xii. 5, has a similar signification; see APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 543. Since daughters signify goods of the church, therefore in the Word mention is so frequently made of the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem, the daughter of Israel, and the daughter of Judah; by whom is signified not any daughter, but the affection of good, which is an affection of the church; see also APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 612. The Lord also calls those who are of his church, brethren and sisters; see Matt. xii. 49, 50; chap. xxv. 40; chap, xxviii. 10; Mark iii. 35; Luke viii. 21.

IV. THE SPIRITUAL OFFSPRING, WHICH ARE BORN FROM THE LORD'S MARRIAGE WITH THE CHURCH, ARE TRUTHS AND GOODS; TRUTHS, FROM WHICH ARE DERIVED UNDERSTANDING, PERCEPTION, AND ALL THOUGHT; AND GOODS, FROM WHICH ARE DERIVED LOVE, CHARITY, AND ALL AFFECTION. The reason why truths and goods are the spiritual offspring, which are born of the Lord by the church, is, because the Lord is essential good and essential truth, and these in him are not two but one; also, because nothing can proceed from the Lord but what is in him, and what he is. That the marriage of truth and good proceeds from the Lord, and flows in with men, and is received according to the state of the mind and life of those who are of the church, was shewn in the foregoing section on the MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. The reason why by means of truths a man has understanding, perception, and all thought, and by means of goods has love, charity, and all affection, is, because all things of man relate to truth and good; and there are two constituents of man--the will and the understanding; the will being the receptacle of good, and the understanding of truth. That love, charity and affection, belong to the will, and that perception and thought belong to the understanding, may appear without the aid of light arising from demonstration; for there is a light derived from the understanding itself by which these propositions are seen to be self-evident.

V. FROM THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, WHICH PROCEEDS FROM THE LORD IN THE WAY OF INFLUX, MAN (_homo_) RECEIVES TRUTH, AND THE LORD CONJOINS GOOD THERETO; AND THUS THE CHURCH IS FORMED BY THE LORD WITH MAN. The reason why a man receives truth by virtue of the good and truth which proceed as a one from the Lord, is, because he receives this as his own, and appropriates it to himself as his own; for he thinks what is true as from himself, and in like manner speaks from what is true; and this takes place because truth is in the light of the understanding, and hence he sees it: and whatever he sees in himself, or in his mind, he knows not whence it is; for he does not see the influx, as he sees those objects which strike upon the bodily vision; hence he supposes that it is himself. That it should appear thus, is granted by the Lord to him, in order that he may be a man (_homo_), and that he may have a reciprocal principle of conjunction: add to this, that every man is born a faculty of knowing, understanding, and growing wise; and this faculty receives truths, whereby it has knowledges, intelligence, and wisdom. And since the female was created through the truth of the male, and is formed into the love thereof more and more after marriage, it follows, that she also receives the husband's truth in herself, and conjoins it with her own good.

The Lord adjoins and conjoins good to the truths which a man receives, because he cannot take good as of himself, it being no object of his sight, as it does not relate to light, but to heat, which is felt and not seen; therefore when a man sees truth in his thought, he seldom reflects upon the good which flows into it from the love of the will, and which gives it life: neither does a wife reflect upon the good belonging to her, but upon the husband's inclination towards her, which is according to the assent of his understanding to wisdom: the good which belongs to her from the Lord, she applies, without the husband's knowing any thing respecting such application. From these considerations then it plainly appears, that a man receives truth from the Lord, and that the Lord adjoins good to that truth, according to the application of truth to use; consequently as the man is desirous to think, and thence to live, wisely.

The church is thus formed with a man by the Lord, because in such case he is in conjunction with the Lord, in good from Him, and in truth as from himself; thus he is in the Lord, and the Lord in him, according to the Lord's words in John xv. 4:, 5. The case is the same, if instead of good we say charity, and instead of truth faith; because good is of charity, and truth is of faith.

VI. THE HUSBAND DOES NOT REPRESENT THE LORD, AND THE WIFE THE CHURCH; BECAUSE BOTH TOGETHER, THE HUSBAND AND THE WIFE, CONSTITUTE THE CHURCH. It is a Common saying in the church, that as the Lord is the Head of the church, so the husband is the head of the wife; whence it should follow, that the husband represents the Lord, and the wife the church: but the Lord is the Head of the church; and man (_homo_), the man (_vir_) and the woman, are the church; and still more the husband and wife together. With these the church is first implanted in the man, and through him in the wife; because the man with his understanding receives the truth of the church, and the wife from the man; but if it be _vice versa_, it is not according to order: sometimes, however, this is the case; but then it is with men, who either are not lovers of wisdom, and consequently are not of the church, or who are in a servile dependence on the will of their wives. Something on this subject may be seen in the preliminary RELATIONS, n. 21.

VII. THEREFORE THERE IS NOT A CORRESPONDENCE OF THE HUSBAND WITH THE LORD AND OF THE WIFE WITH THE CHURCH, IN THE MARRIAGES OF THE ANGELS IN THE HEAVENS AND OF MEN ON EARTH. This follows as a consequence from what has just been said; to which, nevertheless, it may be expedient to add, that it appears as if truth was the primary constituent of the church, because it is first in respect to time: from this appearance, the prelates of the church have exalted faith, which is of truth, above charity, which is of good; in like manner the learned have exalted thought, which is of the understanding, above affection, which is of the will; therefore the knowledge of what the good of charity and the affection of the will are, lies deeply buried as in a tomb, while some even cast earth upon them, as upon the dead, to prevent their rising again. That the good of charity, notwithstanding, is the primary constituent of the church, may be plainly seen by those who have not closed the way from heaven to their understandings, by confirmations in favor of faith, as the sole constituent of the church, and in favor of thought, as the sole constituent of man. Now as the good of charity is from the Lord, and the truth of faith is with a man as from himself, and these two principles cause conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, such as is understood by the Lord's words, that He is in them, and they in Him, John xv. 4, 5, it is evident that this conjunction constitutes the church.

VIII. BUT THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE WITH CONJUGIAL LOVE, SEMINATION, PROLIFICATION, THE LOVE OF INFANTS, AND SIMILAR THINGS WHICH EXIST IN MARRIAGES AND ARE DERIVED FROM THEM. These, however, are arcana of too deep a nature to enter the understanding with any degree of light, unless preceded by knowledge concerning correspondence; nor is it possible, if this knowledge be wanting, so to explain them as to make them comprehensible. But what correspondence is, and that it exists between natural things and spiritual, is abundantly shown in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, also in the ARCANA COELESTIA, and specifically in the DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, and particularly in a MEMORABLE RELATION respecting it in the following pages. Before some knowledge on this subject is acquired, we will only present to the intellectual view, as in a shade, these few particulars: conjugial love corresponds to the affection of genuine truth, its chastity, purity, and sanctity; semination corresponds to the potency of truth; prolification corresponds to the propagation of truth; and the love of infants corresponds to the defence of truth and good. Now as truth with a man (_homo_) appears as his own, and good is adjoined thereto from the Lord, it is evident that these correspondences are those of the natural or external man with the spiritual or internal man: but some degree of light will be reflected on this subject from the MEMORABLE RELATIONS which follow.

IX. THE WORD IS THE MEDIUM OF CONJUNCTION, BECAUSE IT IS FROM THE LORD, AND THEREFORE IS THE LORD. The Word is the medium of conjunction of the Lord with man (_homo_), and of man with the Lord, because in its essence it is divine truth united to divine good, and divine good united to divine truth: that this union exists in every part of the Word in its celestial and spiritual sense, may be seen in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED, n. 373, 483, 689, 881; whence it follows, that the Word is the perfect marriage of good and truth; and as it is from the Lord, and what is from him is also himself, it follows, that while a man reads the Word, and collects truths out of it, the Lord adjoins good. For a man does not see the goods which affect him in reading; because he reads the Word from the understanding, and the understanding acquires thence only such things as are of its own nature, that is, truths. That good is adjoined thereto from the Lord, is made sensible to the understanding from the delight which flows in during a state of illustration; but this takes place interiorly with those only who read the Word to the end that they may become wise; and such persons are desirous of learning the genuine truths contained in the Word, and thereby of forming the church in themselves; whereas those who read the Word only with a view to gain the reputation of learning, and those also who read it from an opinion that the mere reading or hearing it inspires faith and conduces to salvation, do not receive any good from the Lord; for the end proposed by the latter is to save themselves by the mere expressions contained in the Word, in which there is nothing of truth; and the end proposed by the former is to be distinguished for their learning; which end has no conjunction with any spiritual good, but only with the natural delight arising from worldly glory. As the Word is the medium of conjunction, it is therefore called the old and the new Covenant: a covenant signifies conjunction.

X. THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, AND EXISTS WITH THOSE WHO COME TO HIM AND LIVE ACCORDING TO HIS PRECEPTS. It is not denied at this day that the church is the Lord's, and consequently that it is from the Lord. The reason why it exists with those who come to him, is, because his church in that part of the globe which is called Christian, is derived from the Word; and the Word is from him, and in such a manner from him, that it is himself, the divine truth being therein united to the divine good, and this also is the Lord. This is meant by the Word, "_which was with God, and which was God, from which men have life and light, and which was made flesh_," John i. 1-14. Moreover, the reason why the church exists with those who come to him, is, because it exists with those who believe in him; and to believe that he is God the Saviour and Redeemer, that he is Jehovah our justice, that he is the door by which we are to enter into the sheepfold, that is, into the church, that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to the Father but by him, that the Father and he are one, besides many other particulars which he himself teaches; to believe these things, I say, is impossible for any one, except by influence from him; and the reason why this is impossible unless he be approached, is, because he is the God of heaven and earth, as he also teaches. Who else is to be approached, and who else can be? The reason why the church exists with those who live according to his precepts, is, because there is conjunction with none else; for he says, "_He that hath my precepts, and doeth them, he it is that loveth me; and I will love him, and will make my abode with him: but he that doth not love me, doth not keep my precepts_," John XIV. 21-24. Love is conjunction; and conjunction with the Lord is the church.

XI. CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF THE CHURCH, BECAUSE IT IS ACCORDING TO THE STATE OF WISDOM WITH MAN (_homo_). That conjugial love is according to the state of wisdom with man, has been often said above, and will be often repeated in the following pages: at present therefore we will show what wisdom is, and that it makes one with the church. "There are belonging to man knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. Knowledge relates to information; intelligence, to reason; and wisdom to life. Wisdom considered in its fulness relates at the same time to information, to reason, and to life: information precedes, reason is formed by it, and wisdom by both; as is the case when a man lives rationally according to the truths which he knows. Wisdom therefore relates to both reason and life at once; and it becomes (or is making) wisdom while it is a principle of reason and thence of life; but it is wisdom when it is made a principle of life and thence of reason. The most ancient people in this world acknowledged no other wisdom than the wisdom of life; which was the wisdom of those who were formerly called SOPHI: but the ancient people, who succeeded the most ancient, acknowledged the wisdom of reason as wisdom; and these were called PHILOSOPHERS. At this day, however, many call even knowledge, wisdom; for the learned, the erudite, and the mere sciolists, are called wise; thus wisdom has declined from its mountain-top to its valley. But it may be expedient briefly to shew what wisdom is in its rise, in its progress, and thence in its full state. The things relating to the church, which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with man; those relating to the public weal, which are called things of a civil nature, hold a place below these; and those relating to science, to experience, and to art, which are called natural things, constitute their seat or basis. The reason why the things relating to the church, which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles with man, is, because they conjoin themselves with heaven, and by heaven with the Lord; for no other things enter from the Lord through heaven with man. The reason why the things relating to the public weal, which are called things of a civil nature, hold a place beneath spiritual things, is, because they have relation to the world, and conjoin themselves with it; for statutes, laws, and rules, are what bind men, so that a civil society and state may be composed of them in a well-connected order. The reason why the things relating to science, to experience, and to art, which are called natural, constitute their seat or basis, is, because they conjoin themselves closely with the five bodily senses; and these senses are the ultimates on which the interior principles of the mind and the inmost principles of the soul, as it were sit or rest. Now as the things relating to the church, which are called spiritual, reside in the inmost principles, and as the things residing in the inmost principles constitute the head, and the succeeding things beneath them, which are called things of a civil nature, constitute the body, and the ultimate things, which are called natural, constitute the feet; it is evident, that while these three kinds of things follow in their order, a man is a perfect man; for in such case there is an influx like that of the things of the head into those of the body, and through the body into the feet; thus spiritual things flow into things of a civil nature, and through them into natural things. Now as spiritual things are in the light of heaven, it is evident that by their light they illustrate the things which succeed in order, and by their heat, which is love, animate them; and when this is the case the man has wisdom. As wisdom is a principle of life, and thence of reason, as was said above, it may be asked, What is wisdom as a principle of life? In a summary view, it is to shun evils, because they are hurtful to the soul, to the public weal, and to the body; and it is to do goods, because they are profitable to the soul, to the public weal, and to the body. This is the wisdom which is meant by the wisdom to which conjugial love binds itself; for it binds itself thereto by shunning the evil of adultery as the pest of the soul, of the public weal, and of the body: and as this wisdom originates in spiritual things relating to the church, it follows, that conjugial love is according to the state of the church; because it is according to the state of wisdom with men. Hereby also is understood what has been frequently said above, that so far as a man becomes spiritual, so far he is principled in love truly conjugial; for a man becomes spiritual by means of the spiritual things of the church." More observations respecting the wisdom with which conjugial love conjoins itself, may be seen below, n. 163-165.

XII. AND AS THE CHURCH IS FROM THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE IS ALSO FROM HIM. As this follows as a consequence from what has been said above, it is needless to dwell upon the confirmation of it. Moreover, that love truly conjugial is from the Lord, all the angels of heaven testify; and also that this love is according to their state of wisdom, and that their state of wisdom is according to the state of the church with them. That the angels of heaven thus testify, is evident from the MEMORABLE RELATIONS annexed to the chapters, containing an account of what was seen and heard in the spiritual world.

To the above I shall add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. I was conversing on a time with two angels, one from the eastern heaven and the other from the southern; who perceiving me engaged in meditation on the arcana of wisdom relating to conjugial love, said, "Are you at all acquainted with the SCHOOLS OF WISDOM in our world?" I replied, "Not as yet." And they said, "There are several; and those who love truths from spiritual affection, or because they are truths, and because they are the means of attaining wisdom, meet together on a given signal, and investigate and decide upon such questions as require deeper consideration than common." They then took me by the hand, saying, "Follow us; and you shall see and hear: to-day the signal for meeting is given." I was led across a plain to a hill; and lo! at the foot of the hill was an avenue of palms continued even to its summit, which we entered and ascended: on the summit or top of the hill was a grove, the trees of which, on an elevated plot of ground, formed as it were a theatre, within which was a court paved with various colored stones: around it in a square form were placed seats, on which the lovers of wisdom were seated; and in the middle of the theatre was a table, on which was laid a sealed paper. Those who sat on the seats invited us to sit down where there was room: and I replied, "I was led here by two angels to see and hear, and not to sit down." Then those two angels went into the middle of the court to the table, and broke the seal of the paper, and read in the presence of those who were seated the arcana of wisdom written on the paper, which were now to be investigated and explained. They were written by angels of the third heaven, and let down upon the table. There were three arcana, FIRST, What is the image of God, and what the likeness of God, into which man (_homo_) was created? SECOND, Why is not a man born into the knowledge of any love, when yet beasts and birds, from the highest to the lowest, are born into the knowledge of all their loves? THIRD, What is signified by the tree of life, and what by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and what by eating thereof? Underneath was written, Collect your opinions on these three questions into one decision, and write it on a new piece of paper, and lay it on this table, and we shall see it: if the decision, on examination, appear just and reasonable, each of you shall receive a prize of wisdom. Having read the contents of the paper, the two angels withdrew, and were carried up into their respective heavens.

Then those who sat on the seats began to investigate and explain the arcana proposed to them, and delivered their sentiments in order; first those who sat on the north, next those on the west, afterwards those on the south, and lastly those on the east. They began with the first subject of inquiry, WHAT IS THE IMAGE OF GOD, AND WHAT THE LIKENESS OF GOD, INTO WHICH MAN WAS CREATED? But before they proceeded, these words were read in the presence of them all out of the book of creation, "_God said, Let us make man into OUR IMAGE, according to OUR LIKENESS: and God created man into HIS IMAGE; into the IMAGE OF GOD created he him_," Gen. i. 26, 27. "_In the day that God created man, into the LIKENESS OF GOD made he him_," Gen. v. 1. Those who sat on the north spoke first, saying, "The image of God and the likeness of God are the two lives breathed into man by God, which are the life of the understanding; for it is written, '_Jehovah God breathed into Adam's nostril the soul of LIVES; and man became a living soul_,' Gen. ii. 7; into the nostrils denotes into the perception, that the will of good and the understanding of truth, and thereby the soul of lives, was in him; and since life from God was breathed into him, the image and likeness of God signify integrity derived from wisdom and love, and from justice and judgment in him." These sentiments were favored by those who sat to the west; only they added, that the state of integrity then breathed in from God is continually breathed into every man since; but that it is a man as in a receptacle; and a man, as he is a receptacle, is an image and likeness of God. After this, the third in order, who were those who were seated on the south, delivered their sentiments as follows: "An image of God and a likeness of God are two distinct things; but in man they are united from creation; and we see, as from an interior light, that the image of God maybe destroyed by man, but not the likeness of God. This appears as clear as the day from this consideration, that Adam retained the likeness of God after that he had lost the image of God; for it is written after the curse, '_Behold the man is as one of us, knowing good and evil_,' Gen. iii. 22; and afterwards he is called a likeness of God, and not an image of God, Gen. v. 1. But we will leave to our associates who sit on the east, and are thence in superior light, to say what is properly meant by an image of God, and what by a likeness of God." And then, after silence was obtained, those who sat on the east arose from their seats, and looked up to the Lord, and afterwards sat down again, and thus began: "An image of God is a receptacle of God; and since God is love itself and wisdom itself, an image of God is a receptacle of love and wisdom from God in it; but a likeness of God is a perfect likeness and full appearance, as if love and wisdom are in a man, and thence altogether as his; for a man has no other sensation than that he loves and is wise from himself, or that he wills good and understands truth from himself; when nevertheless nothing of all this is from himself, but from God. God alone loves from himself and is wise from himself; because God is love itself and wisdom itself. The likeness or appearance that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are in a man as his, causes a man to be a man, and makes him capable of being conjoined to God, and thereby of living to eternity: from which consideration it follows, that a man is a man from this circumstance, that he can will good and understand truth altogether as from himself, and yet know and believe that it is from God; for as he knows and believes this, God places his image in him, which could not be if he believed it was from himself and not from God." As they said this, being overpowered with zeal derived from the love of truth, they thus continued: "How can a man receive any thing of love and wisdom, and retain it, and reproduce it, unless he feel it as his own? And how can there be conjunction with God by love and wisdom, unless a man have some reciprocity of conjunction? For without such a reciprocity conjunction is impossible; and the reciprocity of conjunction is, that a man should love God, and enjoy the things which are of God, as from himself, and yet believe that it is from God. Also, how can a man live eternally, unless he be conjoined to an eternal God? Consequently how can a man be a man without such a likeness of God in him?" These words met with the approbation of the whole assembly; and they said, Let this conclusive decision be made from them, "A man is a recipient of God, and a recipient of God is an image of God; and since God is love itself and wisdom itself, a man is a recipient of those principles; and a recipient becomes an image of God in proportion to reception; and a man is a likeness of God from this circumstance, that he feels in himself that the things which are of God are in him as his own; but still from that likeness he is only so far an image of God, as he acknowledges that love and wisdom, or good and truth, are not his own in him, and consequently are not from him, but are only in God, and consequently from God."

After this, they entered upon the next subject of discussion, WHY IS NOT A MAN BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF ANY LOVE, WHEN YET BEASTS AND BIRDS, FROM THE HIGHEST TO THE LOWEST, ARE BORN INTO THE KNOWLEDGE OF ALL THEIR LOVES? They first confirmed the truth of the proposition by various considerations; as in regard to a man, that he is born into no knowledge, not even into the knowledge of conjugial love; and they inquired, and were informed by attentive examiners, that an infant from connate knowledge cannot even move itself to the mother's breast, but must be moved thereto by the mother or nurse; and that it knows only how to suck, and this in consequence of habit acquired by continual suction in the womb; and that afterwards it does not know how to walk, or to articulate any human expression; no, nor even to express by its tone of voice the affection of its love, as the beasts do: and further, that it does not know what is salutary for it in the way of food, as all the beasts do, but catches at whatever falls in its way, whether it be clean or unclean, and puts it into its mouth. The examiners further declared, that a man without instruction is an utter stranger to every thing relating to the sexes and their connection; and that neither virgins nor young men have any knowledge thereof without instruction from others, notwithstanding their being educated in various sciences: in a word, a man is born corporeal as a worm; and he remains such, unless he learns to know, to understand, and to be wise, from others. After this, they gave abundant proofs that beasts, from the highest to the lowest, as the animals of the earth, the fowls of the air, reptiles, fishes, the small creatures called insects, are born into all the knowledges of the loves of their life, as into the knowledge of all things relating to nourishment, to habitation, to the love of the sex and prolification, and to the rearing of their young. This they continued by many wonderful things which they recollected to have seen, heard, and read, in the natural world, (so they called our world, in which they had formerly lived), in which not representative but real beasts exist. When the truth of the proposition was thus fully proved they applied all the powers of their minds to search out and discover the ends and causes which might serve to unfold and explain this arcanum; and they all said, that the divine wisdom must needs have ordained these things, to the end that a man, may be a man, and a beast a beast; and thus, that the imperfection of a man at his birth becomes his perfection, and the perfection of a beast at his birth is his imperfection.

Those on the NORTH then began to declare their sentiments, and said, "A man is born without knowledges, to the end that he may receive them all; whereas supposing him to be born into knowledges, he could not receive any but those into which he was born, and in this case neither could he appropriate any to himself; which they illustrated by this comparison: a man at his first birth is like ground in which no seeds are implanted, but which nevertheless is capable of receiving all seeds, and of bringing them forth and fructifying them; whereas a beast is like ground already sown, and tilled with grasses and herbs, which receives no other seeds than what are sown in it, or if it received any it would choke them. Hence it is, that a man requires many years to bring him to maturity of growth; during which time he is capable of being cultivated like ground, and of bringing forth as it were grain, flowers, and trees of every kind; whereas a beast arrives at maturity in a few years, during which no cultivation can produce any thing in him but what is born with him." Afterwards, those on the WEST delivered their sentiments, and said, "A man is not born knowledge, as a beast is; but he is born faculty and inclination; faculty to know, and inclination to love; and he is born faculty not only to know but also to understand and be wise; he is likewise born the most perfect inclination to love not only the things relating to self and the world, but also those relating to God and heaven; consequently a man, by birth from his parents, is an organ which lives merely by the external senses, and at first by no internal senses, to the end that he may successively become a man, first natural, afterwards rational, and lastly spiritual; which could not be the case if he was born into knowledges and loves, as the beasts are: for connate knowledges and affections set bounds to that progression; whereas connate faculty and inclination set no such bounds; therefore a man is capable of being perfected, in knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom to eternity." Those on the SOUTH next took up the debate, and expressed their sentiments as follows: "It is impossible for a man to take any knowledge from himself, since he has no connate knowledge; but he may take it from others; and as he cannot take any knowledge from himself, so neither can he take any love; for where there is no knowledge there is no love; knowledge and love being undivided companions, and no more capable of separation than will and understanding, or affection and thought; yea, no more than essence and form: therefore in proportion as a man takes knowledge from others, so love joins itself thereto as its companion. The universal love which joins itself is the love of knowing, of understanding, and of growing wise; this love is peculiar to man alone, and not to any beast, and flows in from God. We agree with our companions from the west, that a man is not born into any love, and consequently not into any knowledge; but that he is only born into an inclination to love, and thence into a faculty to receive knowledges, not from himself but from others, that is, by others: we say, by others, because neither have these received any thing of knowledge from themselves, but from God. We agree also with our companions to the north, that a man is first born as ground, in which no seeds are sown, but which is capable of receiving all seeds, both useful and hurtful. To these considerations we add, that beasts are born into natural loves, and thereby into knowledges corresponding to them; and that still they do not know, think, understand, and enjoy any knowledges, but are led through them by their loves, almost as blind persons are led through the streets by dogs, for as to understanding they are blind; or rather like people walking in their sleep, who act from the impulse of blind knowledge, the understanding being asleep." Lastly, those on the EAST declared their sentiments, and said, "We agree with our brethren in the opinions they have delivered, that a man knows nothing from himself, but from and by others, to the end that he may know and acknowledge that all knowledge, understanding, and wisdom, is from God; and that a man cannot otherwise be conceived, born, and generated of the Lord, and become an image and likeness of him; for he becomes an image of the Lord by acknowledging and believing, that he has received and does receive from the Lord all the good of love and charity, and all the truth of wisdom and faith, and not the least portion thereof from himself; and he becomes a likeness of the Lord by his being sensible of those principles in himself, as if they were from himself. This he is sensible of, because he is not born into knowledges, but receives them; and what he receives, appears to him as if it was from himself. This sensation is given him by the Lord, to the end that he may be a man and not a beast; since by willing, thinking, loving, knowing, understanding, and growing wise, as from himself, he receives knowledges, and exalts them into intelligence, and by the use thereof into wisdom; thus the Lord conjoins man to himself, and man conjoins himself to the Lord. This could not have been the case, unless it had been provided by the Lord, that man should be born in total ignorance." When they had finished speaking, it was the desire of all present, that a conclusion should be formed from the sentiments which had been expressed; and they agreed upon the following: "That a man is born into no knowledge, to the end that he may come into all knowledge, and may advance into intelligence, and thereby into wisdom, and that he is born into no love, to the intent that he may come into all love, by application of the knowledges from intelligence, and into love to the Lord by love towards his neighbour, and may thereby be conjoined to the Lord, and by such conjunction be made a man, and live for ever."

After this they took the paper, and read the third subject of investigation, which was, WHAT IS DIGNIFIED BY THE TREE OF LIFE, WHAT BY THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, AND WHAT BY EATING THEREOF? and all the others intreated as a favor, that those who were from the east would unfold this arcanum, because it required a more than ordinary depth of understanding, and because those who were from the east are in flaming light, that is, in the wisdom of love, this wisdom being understood by the garden of Eden, in which those two trees were placed. They said, "We will declare our sentiments; but as man does not take any thing from himself, but from the Lord, therefore we will speak from him; but yet from ourselves as of ourselves:" and then they continued, "A tree signifies a man, and the fruit thereof the good of life; hence the tree of life signifies a man living from God, or God living in man; and since love and wisdom, and charity and faith, or good and truth, constitute the life of God in man, therefore these are signified by the tree of life, and hence man has eternal life: the like is signified by the tree of life, of which it will be given to eat, Rev. ii. 7; chap xxii. 2, 14. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil signifies a man believing that he lives from himself and not from God; thus that in man love and wisdom, charity and faith, that is, good and truth, are his and not God's; believing this, because he thinks and wills, and speaks and acts to all appearance, as from himself: and as a man from this faith persuades himself, that God has implanted himself, or infused his divine into him, therefore the serpent said, '_God doth know, in the day that ye eat of the fruit of that tree, your eyes will be opened, and ye will be as God, knowing good and evil_,' Gen. iii. 5. Eating of those trees signifies reception and appropriation; eating of the tree of life, the reception of life eternal, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the reception of damnation; therefore also both Adam and his wife, together with the serpent, were cursed: the serpent means the devil as to self-love and the conceit of his own intelligence. This love is the possessor of that tree; and the men who are in conceit, grounded in that love, are those trees. Those persons, therefore, are grievously mistaken who believe that Adam was wise and did good from himself, and that this was his state of integrity; when yet Adam himself was cursed by reason of that belief; for this is signified by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; therefore he then fell from the state of integrity in which he had been, in consequence of believing that he was wise and did good from God and not at all from himself; for this is meant by eating of the tree of life. The Lord alone, when he was in the world, was wise and did good from himself; because the essential divine from birth was in him and was his; therefore also from his own ability he was made the Redeemer and Saviour." From all these considerations they came to this conclusion, "That by the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and eating thereof, is signified that life for man is God in him, and that in this case he has heaven and eternal life; but that death for man is the persuasion and belief, that life for him is not God but self; whence he has hell and eternal death, which is condemnation."

After this they looked into the paper left by the angels upon the table, and saw written underneath, COLLECT YOUR OPINIONS ON THESE THREE QUESTIONS INTO ONE DECISION. Then they collected them, and saw that they cohered in one series, and that the series or decision was this, "That man is created to receive love and wisdom from God, and yet to all appearance as from himself; and this for the sake of reception and conjunction: and that therefore a man is not born into any love, or into any knowledge, and also not into any ability of loving and growing wise from himself; therefore if he ascribes all the good of love and truth of wisdom to God, he becomes a living man; but if he ascribes them to himself, he becomes a dead man." These words they wrote on a new piece of paper, and placed it on the table: and lo! on a sudden the angels appeared in bright light, and carried the paper away into heaven; and after it was read there, those who sat on the seats heard these words from thence, "Well, well;" and instantly there appeared a single angel as it were flying from heaven, with two wings about his feet, and two about his temples, having in his hand prizes, consisting of robes, caps, and wreaths of laurel; and he alighted on the ground, and gave those who sat on the north robes of an opaline color; those who sat on the west robes of scarlet color; those who sat on the south caps whose borders were ornamented with bindings of gold and pearls, and which on the left side upwards were set with diamonds cut in the form of flowers; but to those who sat to the east he gave wreaths of laurel, intermixed with rubies and sapphires. Then all of them, adorned with their respective prizes, went home from the school of wisdom; and when they shewed themselves to their wives, their wives came to meet them, being distinguished also with ornaments presented to them from heaven; at which the husbands wondered.

THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. On a time when I was meditating on conjugial love, lo! there appeared at a distance two naked infants with baskets in their hands, and turtledoves flying around them; and on a nearer view, they seemed as if they were naked, handsomely ornamented with garlands; chaplets of flowers decorated their heads, and wreaths of lilies and roses of a hyacinthine blue, hanging obliquely from the shoulders to the loins, adorned their bosoms; and round about both of them there was as it were a common band woven of small leaves interspersed with olives. But when they came nearer, they did not appear as infants, or naked, but as two persons in the prime of their age, wearing cloaks and tunics of shining silk, embroidered with the most beautiful flowers: and when they were near me, there breathed forth from heaven through them a vernal warmth, attended with an odoriferous fragrance, like what arises from gardens and fields in the time of spring. They were two married partners from heaven, and they accosted me; and because I was musing on what I had just seen, they inquired, "What did you see?" And when I told them that at first they appeared to me as naked infants, afterwards as infants decorated with garlands, and lastly as grown up persons in embroidered garments, and that instantly I experienced a vernal warmth with its delights, they smiled pleasantly, and said, "In the way we did not seem to ourselves as infants, or naked, or adorned with garlands, but constantly in the same appearance which we now have: thus at a distance was represented our conjugial love; its state of innocence by our seeming like naked infants, its delights by garlands, and the same delights now by our cloaks and tunics being embroidered with flowers; and as you said that, as we approached, a vernal warmth breathed on you, attended with its pleasant fragrance as from a garden, we will explain to you the reason of all this." They said, "We have now been married partners for ages, and constantly in the prime of our age in which you now see us: our first state was like the first state of a virgin and a youth, when they enter into consociation by marriage; and we then believed, that this state was the very essential blessedness of our life; but we were informed by others in our heaven, and have since perceived ourselves, that this was a state of heat not tempered by light; and that it is successively tempered, in proportion as the husband is perfected in wisdom, and the wife loves that wisdom in the husband; and that this is effected by and according to the uses which each, by mutual aid, affords to society; also that delights succeed according to the temperature of heat and light; or of wisdom and its love. The reason why on our approach there breathed on you as it were a vernal warmth, is, because conjugial love and that warmth in our heaven act in unity; for warmth with us is love; and the light, wherewith warmth is united, is wisdom; and use is as it were the atmosphere which contains each in its bosom. What are heat and light without that which contains them? In like manner, what are love and wisdom without their use? In such case there is nothing conjugial in them, because the subject is wanting in which they should exist to produce it. In heaven where there is vernal warmth, there is love truly conjugial; because the vernal principle exists only where warmth is equally united to light, or where warmth and light are in equal proportions; and it is our opinion, that as warmth is delighted with light, and _vice versa_, so love is delighted with wisdom, and wisdom in its turn with love." He further added, "With us in heaven there is perpetual light, and on no occasion do the shades of evening prevail, still less is there darkness; because our sun does not set and rise like yours, but remains constantly in a middle altitude between the zenith and the horizon, which, as you express it, is at an elevation of 45 degrees. Hence, the heat and light proceeding from our sun cause perpetual spring, and a perpetual vernal warmth inspires those with whom love is united with wisdom in just proportion; and our Lord, by the eternal union of heat and light, breathes nothing but uses: hence also come the germinations of your earth, and the connubial associations of your birds and animals in the spring; for the vernal warmth opens their interiors even to the inmost, which are called their souls, and affects them, and communicates to them its conjugial principle, and causes their principle of prolification to come into its delights, in consequence of a continual tendency to produce fruits of use, which use is the propagation of their kind. But with men (_homines_) there is a perpetual influx of vernal warmth from the Lord; wherefore they are capable of enjoying marriage delights at all times, even in the midst of winter; for the males of the human race were created to be recipients of light, that is, of wisdom from the Lord, and the females to be recipients of heat, that is, of the love of the wisdom of the male from the Lord. Hence then it is, that, as we approached, there breathed on you a vernal warmth attended with an odoriferous fragrance, like what arises from gardens and fields in the spring." As he said this, he gave me his right hand, and conducted me to houses inhabited by married partners in a like prime of their age with himself and his partner; and said, "These wives, who now seem like young virgins, were in the world infirm old women; and their husbands, who now seem in the spring of youth, were in the world decrepit old men; and all of them were restored by the Lord to this prime of their age, because they mutually loved each other, and from religious motives shunned adulteries as enormous sins:" and he added, "No one knows the blessed delights of conjugial love, unless he rejects the horrid delights of adultery; and no one can reject these delights, unless he is under the influence of wisdom from the Lord; and no one is under the influence of wisdom from the Lord, unless he performs uses from the love of uses." I also saw on this occasion their house utensils, which were all in celestial forms, and glittered with gold, which had a flaming appearance from the rubies with which it was studded.

ON THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE.

As we are yet only at the entrance of our subject respecting conjugial love specifically considered, and as conjugial love cannot be known specifically, except in a very indistinct and obscure manner, unless its opposite, which is the unchaste principle, also in some measure appear; and as this unchaste principle appears in some measure, or in a shade, when the chaste principle is described together with the non-chaste, non-chastity being only a removal of what is unchaste from what is chaste; therefore we will now proceed to treat of the chaste principle and the non-chaste. But the unchaste principle, which is altogether opposite to the chaste, is treated of in the latter part of this work, entitled ADULTEROUS LOVE AND ITS SINFUL PLEASURES, where it is fully described with all its varieties. But what the unchaste principle is, and what the non-chaste, and with what persons each of them prevails, shall be illustrated in the following order: I. _The chaste principle and the non-chaste are predicated only of marriages and of such things as relate to marriages._ II. _The chaste principle is predicated only of monogamical marriages, or of the marriage of one man with one wife._ III. _The Christian conjugial principle alone is chaste._ IV. _Love truly conjugial is essential chastity._ V. _All the delights of love truly conjugial, even the ultimate, are chaste._ VI. _With those who are made spiritual by the Lord, conjugial love is more and more purified and rendered chaste._ VII. _The chastity of marriage exists by a total renunciation of whoredoms from a principle of religion._ VIII. _Chastity cannot he predicated of infants, or of boys and girls, or of young men and virgins before they feel in themselves the love of the sex._ IX. _Chastity cannot be predicated of eunuchs so born, or of eunuchs so made._ X. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who do not believe adulteries to be evils in regard to religion; and still less of those who do not believe them to be hurtful to society._ XI. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who abstain from adulteries only for various external reasons._ XII. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who believe marriages to be unchaste._ XIII. _Chastity cannot be predicated of those who have renounced marriage by vows of perpetual celibacy, unless there be and remain in them the love of a life truly conjugial._ XIV. _A state of marriage is to be preferred to a state of celibacy._ We will now proceed to an explanation of each article.

I. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE AND THE NON-CHASTE ARE PREDICATED ONLY OF MARRIAGES AND OF SUCH THINGS AS RELATE TO MARRIAGES. The reason of this is, because, as will be shewn presently, love truly conjugial is essential chastity; and the love opposite to it, which is called adulterous, is essential unchastity; so far therefore as any one is purified from the latter love, so far he is chaste; for so far the opposite, which is destructive of chastity, is taken away; whence it is evident that the purity of conjugial love is what is called chastity. Nevertheless there is a conjugial love which is not chaste, and yet it is not unchastity; as is the case with married partners, who, for various external reasons, abstain from the effects of lasciviousness so as not to think about them; howbeit, if that love is not purified in their spirits, it is still not chaste; its form is chaste, but it has not in it a chaste essence.

The reason why the chaste principle and the non-chaste are predicated of such things as relate to marriages, is, because the conjugial principle is inscribed on both sexes from inmost principles to ultimates; and a man's quality as to his thoughts and affections, and consequently as to his bodily actions and behaviour, is according thereto. That this is the case, appears more evidently from such as are unchaste. The unchaste principle abiding in their minds is heard from the tone of their voice in conversation, and from their applying whatever is said, even though it be chaste, to wanton and loose ends; (the tone of the voice in conversation is grounded in the will-affection, and the conversation itself is grounded in the thought of the understanding;) which is a proof that the will and the understanding, with everything belonging to them, consequently the whole mind, and thence everything belonging to the body, from inmost principles to ultimates, abound with what is unchaste. I have been informed by the angels, that, with the greatest hypocrites, the unchaste principle is perceivable from hearing their conversation, however chastely they may talk, and also is made sensible from the sphere that issues from them; which is a further proof that unchastity resides in the inmost principles of their minds, and thence in the inmost principles of their bodies, and that the latter principles are exteriorly covered like a shell painted with figures of various colors. That a sphere of lasciviousness issues forth from the unchaste, is manifest from the statutes prescribed to the sons of Israel, ordaining that everything should be unclean that was touched even by the hand of those who were defiled by such unchaste persons. From these considerations it may be concluded that the case is similar in regard to the chaste, viz., that with them everything is chaste from inmost principles to ultimates, and that this is an effect of the chastity of conjugial love. Hence it is, that in the world it is said, "To the pure all things are pure, and to the defiled all things are defiled."

II. THE CHASTE PRINCIPLE IS PREDICATED ONLY OF MONOGAMICAL MARRIAGES, OR OF THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WIFE. The reason of this is, because with them conjugial love does not reside in the natural man, but enters into the spiritual man, and successively opens to itself a way to the essential spiritual marriage, or the marriage of good and truth, which is its origin, and conjoins itself therewith; for that love enters according to the increase of wisdom, which is according to the implantation of the church from the Lord, as has been abundantly shewn above. This cannot be effected with polygamists; for they divide conjugial love; and this love when divided, is not unlike the love of the sex, which in itself is natural; but on this subject something worthy of attention may be seen in the section on POLYGAMY.

III. THE CHRISTIAN CONJUGIAL PRINCIPLE ALONE IS CHASTE. This is, because love truly conjugial keeps pace with the state of the church in man (_homo_), and because the state of the church is from the Lord, as has been shewn in the foregoing section, n. 130, 131, and elsewhere; also because the church in its genuine truths is in the Word, and the Lord is there present in those truths. From these considerations it follows, that the chaste conjugial principle exists nowhere but in the Christian world, and still that there is a possibility of its existing elsewhere. By the Christian conjugial principle we mean the marriage of one man with one wife. That this conjugial principle is capable of being ingrafted into Christians, and of being transplanted hereditarily into the offspring from parents who are principled in love truly conjugial, and that hence both the faculty and the inclination to grow wise in the things of the church and of heaven may become connate, will be seen in its proper place. Christians, if they marry more wives than one, commit not only natural but also spiritual adultery: this will be shewn in the section on POLYGAMY.

IV. LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL IS ESSENTIAL CHASTITY. The reasons for this are, 1. Because it is from the Lord, and corresponds to the marriage of the Lord and the church. 2. Because it descends from the marriage of good and truth. 3. Because it is spiritual, in proportion as the church exists with man (_homo_). 4. Because it is the foundation and head of all celestial and spiritual loves. 5. Because it is the orderly seminary of the human race, and thereby of the angelic heaven. 6. Because on this account it also exists with the angels of heaven, and gives birth with them to spiritual offspring, which are love and wisdom. 7. And because its uses are thus more excellent than the other uses of creation. From these considerations it follows, that love truly conjugial, viewed from its origin and in its essence, is pure and holy, so that it may be called purity and holiness, consequently essential chastity: but that nevertheless it is not altogether pure, either with men or angels, may be seen below in article VI, n. 146.

V. ALL THE DELIGHTS OF LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, EVEN THE ULTIMATE, ARE CHASTE. This follows from what has been above explained, that love truly conjugial is essential chastity, and from the considerations that delights constitute its life. That the delights of this love ascend and enter heaven, and in the way pass through the delights of the heavenly loves, in which the angels of heaven are principled; also, that they conjoin themselves with the delights of the conjugial love of the angels, has been mentioned above. Moreover, I have heard it declared by the angels, that they perceive those delights with themselves to be exalted and filled, while they ascend from chaste marriages on the earths: and when some by-standers, who were unchaste, inquired concerning the ultimate delights whether they were chaste, they assented and said, "How should it be otherwise? Are not these the delights of true conjugial love in their fulness?" The origin, nature, and quality of the delights of this love, may be seen above, n. 69: and also in the MEMORABLE RELATIONS, especially those which follow.

VI. WITH THOSE WHO ARE MADE SPIRITUAL BY THE LORD, CONJUGIAL LOVE IS MORE AND MORE PURIFIED AND RENDERED CHASTE. The reasons for this are, 1. Because the first love, by which is meant the love previous to the nuptials and immediately after them, partakes somewhat of the love of the sex, and thus of the ardor belonging to the body not as yet moderated by the love of the spirit. 2. Because a man (_homo_) from natural is successively made spiritual; for he becomes spiritual in proportion as his rational principle, which is the medium between heaven and the world, begins to drive a soul from influx out of heaven, which is the case so far as it is affected and delighted with wisdom; concerning which wisdom see above, n. 130; and in proportion as this is effected, in the same proportion his mind is elevated into a superior _aura_, which is the continent of celestial light and heat, or, what is the same, of the wisdom and love in which the angels are principled; for heavenly light acts in unity with wisdom, and heavenly heat with love; and in proportion as wisdom and the love thereof increase, with married pairs, in the same proportion conjugial love is purified with them; and as this is effected successively, it follows that conjugial love is rendered more and more chaste. This spiritual purification may be compared with the purification of natural spirits, which is effected by the chemists, and is called defecation, rectification, castigation, acution, decantation, and sublimation; and wisdom purified may be compared with alcohol, which is a highly rectified spirit. 3. Now as spiritual wisdom in itself is of such a nature that it becomes more and more warmed with the love of growing wise, and by virtue of this love increases to eternity; and as this is effected in proportion as it is perfected by a kind of defecation, castigation, rectification, acution, decantation, and sublimation, and this by elevating and abstracting the intellect from the fallacies of the senses, and the will from the allurements of the body; it is evident that conjugial love, whose parent is wisdom, is in like manner rendered successively more and more pure, and thereby chaste. That the first state of love between married partners is a state of heat not yet tempered by light; but that it is successively tempered in proportion as the husband is perfected in wisdom, and the wife loves it in her husband, may be seen in the MEMORABLE RELATION, n. 137.

It is however to be observed, that there is no conjugial love altogether chaste or pure either with men (_homines_) or with angels; there is still somewhat not chaste or not pure which adjoins or subjoins itself thereto; but this has a different origin from that which gives birth to what is unchaste: for with the angels the chaste principle is above and the non-chaste beneath, and there is as it were a door with a hinge interposed by the Lord, which is opened by determination, and is carefully prevented from standing open, lest the one principle should pass into the other, and they should mix together: for the natural principle of man from his birth is defiled and fraught with evils; whereas his spiritual principle is not so, because its birth is from the Lord, for it is regeneration; and regeneration is a successive separation from the evils to which a man is naturally inclined. That no love with either men or angels is altogether pure, or can be pure; but that the end, purpose, or intention of the will, is principally regarded by the Lord: and that therefore so far as a man is principled in a good end, purpose, or intention, and perseveres therein, so far he is initiated into purity, and so far he advances and approaches towards purity, may be seen above, n. 71.

VII. THE CHASTITY OF MARRIAGE EXISTS BY A TOTAL RENUNCIATION OF WHOREDOMS FROM A PRINCIPLE OF RELIGION. The reason of this is, because chastity is the removal of unchastity; it being a universal law, that so far as any one removes evil, so far a capacity is given for good to succeed in its place; and further, so far as evil is hated, so far good is loved; and also _vice versa_; consequently, so far as whoredom is renounced, so far the chastity of marriage enters. That conjugial love is purified and rectified according to the renunciation of whoredoms, every one sees from common perception as soon as it is mentioned and heard; thus before confirmation; but as all have not common perception, it is of importance that the subject should also be illustrated in the way of proof by such considerations as may tend to confirm it. These considerations are, that conjugial love grows cold as soon as it is divided, and this coldness causes it to perish; for the heat of unchaste love extinguishes it, as two opposite heats cannot exist together, but one must needs reject the other and deprive it of its potency. Whenever therefore the heat of conjugial love begins to acquire a pleasant warmth, and from a sensation of its delights to bud and flourish, like an orchard and garden in spring; the latter from the vernal temperament of light and heat from the sun of the natural world, but the former from the vernal temperament of light and heat from the sun of the spiritual world.

There is implanted in every man (_homo_) from creation, and consequently from his birth, an internal and an external conjugial principle; the internal is spiritual, and the external natural: a man comes first into the latter, and as he becomes spiritual, he comes into the former. If therefore he remains in the external or natural conjugial principle, the internal or spiritual conjugial principle is veiled or covered, until he knows nothing respecting it; yea, until he calls it an ideal shadow without a substance: but if a man becomes spiritual, he then begins to know something respecting it, and afterwards to perceive something of its quality, and successively to be made sensible of its pleasantness, agreeableness, and delights; and in proportion as this is the case, the veil or covering between the external and internal, spoken of above, begins to be attenuated, and afterwards as it were to melt, and lastly to be dissolved and dissipated. When this effect takes place, the external conjugial principle remains indeed; but it is continually purged and purified from its dregs by the internal; and this, until the external becomes as it were the face of the internal, and derives its delight from the blessedness which is in the internal, and at the same time its life, and the delights of its potency. Such is the renunciation of whoredoms, by which the chastity of marriage exists. It may be imagined, that the external conjugial principle, which remains after the internal has separated itself from it, or it from itself, resembles the external principle not separated: but I have heard from the angels that they are altogether unlike; for that the external principle in conjunction with the internal, which they called the external of the internal, was void of all lasciviousness, because the internal cannot be lascivious, but only be delighted chastely; and that it imparts the same disposition to its external, wherein it is made sensible of its own delights: the case is altogether otherwise with the external separated from the internal; this they said, was lascivious in the whole and in every part. They compared the external conjugial principle derived from the internal to excellent fruit, whose pleasant taste and flavor insinuate themselves into its outward rind, and form this into correspondence with themselves; they compared it also to a granary, whose store is never diminished, but is continually recruited according to its consumption; whereas they compared the external principle, separate from the internal, to wheat in a winnowing machine, when it is put in motion about its axis; in which case the chaff only remains, which is dispersed by the wind; so it is with the conjugial principle, unless the adulterous principle be renounced.

The reason why the chastity of marriage does not exist by the renunciation of whoredoms, unless it be made from a principle of religion, is, because a man (_homo_) without religion is not spiritual, but remains natural; and if the natural man renounces whoredoms, still his spirit does not renounce them; and thus, although it seems to himself that he is chaste by such renunciation, yet nevertheless unchastity lies inwardly concealed like corrupt matter in a wound only outwardly healed. That conjugial love is according to the state of the church with man, may be seen above n. 130. More on this subject may be seen in the exposition of article XI.

VIII. CHASTITY CANNOT BE PREDICATED OF INFANTS, OR OF BOYS AND GIRLS, OR OF YOUNG MEN AND VIRGINS BEFORE THEY FEEL IN THEMSELVES THE LOVE OF THE SEX. This is because the chaste principle and the unchaste are predicated only of marriages, and of such things as relate to marriages, as may be seen above, n. 139; and of those who know nothing of the things relating to marriage, chastity is not predicable; for it is as it were nothing relating to them; and nothing cannot be an object either of affection or thought: but after this nothing there arises something, when the first motion towards marriage is felt, which is the love of the sex. That virgins and young men, before they feel in themselves the love of the sex, are commonly called chaste, is owing to ignorance of what chastity is.