The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love Part 2

61. That conjugial love proceeds from the marriage of good and truth, will be shewn in the following section or paragraph: It is mentioned here only with a view of shewing that this love is celestial, spiritual, and holy, because it is from a celestial, spiritual, and holy origin. In order to see that the origin of conjugial love is from the marriage of good and truth, it may be expedient in this place briefly to premise somewhat on the subject. It was said just above, that in every created thing there exists a conjunction of good and truth; and there is no conjunction unless it be reciprocal; for conjunction on one part, and not on the other in its turn, is dissolved of itself. Now as there is a conjunction of good and truth, and this is reciprocal, it follows that there is a truth of good, or truth grounded in good, and that there is a good of truth, or good grounded in truth; that the truth of good, or truth grounded in good, is in the male, and that it is the very essential male (or masculine) principle, and that the good of truth, or good grounded in truth, is in the female, and that it is the very essential female (or feminine) principle; also that there is a conjugial union between those two, will be seen in the following section: it is here only mentioned in order to give some preliminary idea on the subject.

62. III. THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF THIS LOVE WITH THE MARRIAGE OF THE LORD AND THE CHURCH; that is, that as the Lord loves the church, and is desirous that the church should love him, so a husband and a wife mutually love each other. That there is a correspondence herein, is well known in the Christian world: but the nature of that correspondence as yet is not known; therefore we will explain it presently in a particular paragraph. It is here mentioned in order to shew that conjugial love is celestial, spiritual, and holy, because it corresponds to the celestial, spiritual, and holy marriage of the Lord and the church. This correspondence also follows as a consequence of conjugial love's originating in the marriage of good and truth, spoken of in the preceding article; because the marriage of good and truth const.i.tutes the church with man: for the marriage of good and truth is the same as the marriage of charity and faith; since good relates to charity, and truth to faith. That this marriage const.i.tutes the church must at once be acknowledged, because it is a universal truth; and every universal truth is acknowledged as soon as it is heard, in consequence of the Lord's influx and at the same time of the confirmation of heaven. Now since the church is the Lord's, because it is from him, and since conjugial love corresponds to the marriage of the Lord and the church, it follows that this love is from the Lord.

63. But in what manner the church from the Lord is formed with two married partners, and how conjugial love is formed thereby, shall be ill.u.s.trated in the paragraph spoken of above: we will at present only observe, that the church from the Lord is formed in the husband, and through the husband in the wife; and that when it is formed in each, it is a full church; for in this case is effected a full conjunction of good and truth; and the conjunction of good and truth const.i.tutes the church. That the uniting inclination, which is conjugial love, is in a similar degree with the conjunction of good and truth, which is the church, will be proved by convincing arguments in what follows in the series.

64. IV. THIS LOVE, FROM ITS ORIGIN AND CORRESPONDENCE, IS CELESTIAL, SPIRITUAL, HOLY, PURE, AND CLEAN, ABOVE EVERY OTHER LOVE IMPARTED BY THE LORD TO THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN AND THE MEN OF THE CHURCH. That such is the nature and quality of conjugial love from its origin, which is the marriage of good and truth, was briefly shewn above; but the subject was then barely touched upon: in like manner that such is the nature and quality of that love, from its correspondence with the marriage of the Lord and the church. These two marriages, from which conjugial love, as a slip or shoot, descends, are essentially holy, therefore if it be received from its author, the Lord, holiness from him follows of consequence, which continually cleanses and purifies it: in this case, if there be in the man's will a desire and tendency to it, this love becomes daily and continually cleaner and purer. Conjugial love is called celestial and spiritual because it is with the angels of heaven; celestial, as with the angels of the highest heaven, these being called celestial angels; and spiritual, as with the angels beneath that heaven, these being called spiritual angels. Those angels are so called, because the celestial are loves, and thence wisdoms, and the spiritual are wisdoms and thence loves; similar thereto is their conjugial principle.

Now as conjugial love is with the angels of both the superior and the inferior heavens, as was also shewn in the first paragraph concerning marriages in heaven, it is manifest that it is holy and pure. The reason why this love in its essence, considered in regard to its origin, is holy and pure above every other love with angels and men, is, because it is as it were the head of the other loves: concerning its excellence something shall be said in the following article.

65. V. IT IS ALSO THE FOUNDATION LOVE OF ALL CELESTIAL AND SPIRITUAL LOVES, AND THENCE OF ALL NATURAL LOVES. The reason why conjugial love considered in its essence is the foundation love of all the loves of heaven and the church, is, because it originates in the marriage of good and truth, and from this marriage proceed all the loves which const.i.tute heaven and the church with man: the good of this marriage const.i.tutes love, and its truth const.i.tutes wisdom; and when love draws near to wisdom, or joins itself therewith, then love becomes love; and when wisdom in its turn draws near to love, and joins itself therewith, then wisdom becomes wisdom. Love truly conjugial is the conjunction of love and wisdom. Two married partners, between or in whom this love subsists, are an image and form of it: all likewise in the heavens, where faces are the genuine types of the affections of every one's love, are likenesses of it; for, as was shewn above, it pervades them in the whole and in every part. Now as two married partners are an image and form of this love, it follows that every love which proceeds from the form of essential love itself, is a resemblance thereof; therefore if conjugial love be celestial and spiritual, the loves proceeding from it are also celestial and spiritual. Conjugial love therefore is as a parent, and all other loves are as the offspring. Hence it is, that from the marriages of the angels in the heavens are produced spiritual offspring, which are those of love and wisdom, or of good and truth; concerning which production, see above, n. 51, 52.

66. The same is evident from man's having been created for this love, and from his formation afterwards by means of it. The male was created to become wisdom grounded in the love of growing wise, and the female was created to become the love of the male grounded in his wisdom, and consequently was formed according thereto; from which consideration it is manifest, that two married partners are the very forms and images of the marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth. It is well to be observed, that there is not any good or truth which is not in a substance as in its subject: there are no abstract goods and truths; for, having no abode or habitation, they no where exist, neither can they appear as airy unfixed principles; therefore in such case they are mere ent.i.ties, concerning which reason seems to itself to think abstractedly; but still it cannot conceive of them except as annexed to subjects: for every human idea, however elevated, is substantial, that is, affixed to substances. It is moreover to be observed, that there is no substance without a form; an unformed substance not being any thing, because nothing can be predicated of it; and a subject without predicates is also an ent.i.ty which has no existence in reason. These philosophical considerations are adduced in order to shew still more clearly, that two married partners who are principled in love truly conjugial, are actually forms of the marriage of good and truth, or of love and wisdom.

67. Since natural loves flow from spiritual, and spiritual from celestial, therefore it is said that conjugial love is the foundation love of all celestial and spiritual loves, and thence of all natural loves. Natural loves relate to the loves of self and of the world; spiritual loves to love towards the neighbour; and celestial loves to love to the Lord; and such as are the relations of the loves, it is evident in what order they follow and are present with man. When they are in this order, then the natural loves live from the spiritual, and the spiritual from the celestial, and all in this order from the Lord, in whom they originate.

68. VI. INTO THIS LOVE ARE COLLECTED ALL JOYS AND DELIGHTS FROM FIRST TO LAST. All delights whatever, of which a man (_h.o.m.o_) has any perception, are delights of his love; the love manifesting itself, yea, existing and living thereby. It is well known that the delights are exalted in proportion as the love is exalted, and also in proportion as the incident affections touch the ruling love more nearly. Now as conjugial love is the foundation love of all good loves, and as it is inscribed on all the parts and principles of man, even the most particular, as was shewn above, it follows that its delights exceed the delights of all other loves, and also that it gives delight to the other loves, according to its presence and conjunction with them; for it expands the inmost principles of the mind, and at the same time the inmost principles of the body, as the delicious current of its fountain flows through and opens them. The reason why all delights from first to last are collected into this love, is on account of the superior excellence of its use, which is the propagation of the human race, and thence of the angelic heaven; and as this use was the chief end of creation, it follows that all the beat.i.tudes, satisfactions, delights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures, which the Lord the Creator could possibly confer upon man, are collected into this his love. That delights follow use, and are also communicated to man according to the love thereof, is manifest from the delights of the five senses, seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, and touch: each of these has its delights with variations according to the specific uses of each; what then must be the delight annexed to the sense of conjugial love, the use of which comprehends all other uses?

69. I am aware that few will acknowledge that all joys and delights from first to last are collected into conjugial love; because love truly conjugial, into which they are collected, is at this day so rare that its quality is not known, and scarcely its existence, agreeably to what was explained and confirmed above, n. 58, 59; for such joys and delights exist only in genuine conjugial love; and as this is so rare on earth, it is impossible to describe its super-eminent felicities any otherwise than from the mouth of angels, because they are principled in it. They have declared, that the inmost delights of this love, which are delights of the soul, into which the conjugial principle of love and wisdom, or of good and truth from the Lord, first flows, are imperceptible and thence ineffable, because they are the delights of peace and innocence conjointly; but that in their descent they become more and more perceptible; in the superior principles of the mind as beat.i.tudes, in the inferior as satisfactions, in the breast as delights thence derived; and that from the breast they diffuse themselves into every part of the body, and at length unite themselves in ultimates and become the delight of delights. Moreover the angels have related wonderful things respecting these delights; adding further, that their varieties in the souls of conjugial pairs, and from their souls in their minds, and from their minds in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, are infinite and also eternal; that they are exalted according to the prevalence of wisdom with the husband; and this, because they live to eternity in the bloom of their age, and because they know no greater blessedness than to grow wiser and wiser.

But a fuller account of these delights, as given by the angels, may be seen in the MEMORABLE RELATIONS, especially in those added to some of the following chapters.

70. VII. NONE HOWEVER COME INTO THIS LOVE, AND CAN REMAIN IN IT, BUT THOSE WHO APPROACH THE LORD, AND LOVE THE TRUTHS OF THE CHURCH AND PRACTISE ITS GOODS. The reason why none come into that love but those who approach the Lord, is, because monogamical marriages, which are of one husband with one wife, correspond to the marriage of the Lord and the church, and because such marriages originate in the marriage of good and truth; on which subject, see above, n. 60 and 62. That from this origin and correspondence it follows, that love truly conjugial is from the Lord, and exists only with those who come directly to him, cannot be fully confirmed unless these two arcana be specifically treated of, as shall be done in the chapters which immediately follow; one of which will treat on the origin of conjugial love as derived from the marriage of good and truth, and the other on the marriage of the Lord and the church, and on its correspondence. That it hence follows, that, conjugial love with man (_h.o.m.o_) is according to the state of the church with him, will also be seen in those chapters.

71. The reason why none can be principled in love truly conjugial but those who receive it from the Lord, that is, who come directly to him, and by derivation from him live the life of the church, is, because this love, considered in its origin and correspondence, is celestial, spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, above every love implanted in the angels of heaven and the men of the church; as was shewn above, n. 64; and these its distinguis.h.i.+ng characters and qualities cannot possibly exist, except with those who are conjoined to the Lord, and by him are consociated with the angels of heaven; for these shun extra-conjugial loves, which are conjunctions with others than their own conjugial partner, as they would shun the loss of the soul and the lakes of h.e.l.l; and in proportion as married partners shun such conjunctions, even as to the libidinous desires of the will and the intentions thence derived, so far love truly conjugial is purified with them, and becomes successively spiritual, first during their abode on earth, and afterwards in heaven.

It is not however possible that any love should become perfectly pure either with men or with angels; consequently neither can this love: nevertheless, since the intention of the will is what the Lord princ.i.p.ally regards, therefore so far as any one is in this intention, and perseveres in it, so far he is initiated into its purity and sanct.i.ty, and successively advances therein. The reason why none can be principled in spiritual conjugial love, but those who are of the above description by virtue of conjunction with the Lord, is, because heaven is in this love; and the natural man, whose conjugial love derives its pleasure only from the flesh, cannot approach to heaven nor to any angel, no, nor to any man principled in this love, it being the foundation of all celestial and spiritual loves; which may be seen above, n. 65-67. That this is the case, has been confirmed to me by experience. I have seen genii in the spiritual world, who were in a state of preparation for h.e.l.l, approaching to an angel while he was being entertained by his consort; and at a distance, as they approached, they became like furies, and sought out caverns and ditches as asylums, into which they cast themselves. That wicked spirits love what is similar to their affection, however unclean it is, and hold in aversion the spirits of heaven, as what is dissimilar, because it is pure, may be concluded from what was said in the PRELIMINARY MEMORABLE RELATION, n.

10.

72. The reason why those who love the truths of the church and practise its goods, come into this love and are capable of remaining in it, is, because no others are received by the Lord; for these are in conjunction with him, and thereby are capable of being kept in that love by influence from him. The two const.i.tuents of the church and heaven in man (_h.o.m.o_) are the truth of faith and the good of life; the truth of faith const.i.tutes the Lord's presence, and the good of life according to the truths of faith const.i.tutes conjunction with him, and thereby the church and heaven. The reason why the truth of faith const.i.tutes the Lord's presence, is, because it relates to light, spiritual light being nothing else; and the reason why the good of life const.i.tutes conjunction, is, because it relates to heat; and spiritual heat is nothing but the good of life, for it is love; and the good of life originates in love; and it is well known, that all light, even that of winter, causes presence, and that heat united to light causes conjunction; for gardens and shrubberies appear in all degrees of light, but they do not bear flowers and fruits unless when heat joins itself to light. From these considerations the conclusion is obvious, that those are not gifted by the Lord with love truly conjugial, who merely know the truths of the church, but those who know them and practise their good.

73. VIII. THIS LOVE WAS THE LOVE OF LOVES WITH THE ANCIENTS, WHO LIVED IN THE GOLDEN, SILVER, AND COPPER AGES. That conjugial love was the love of loves with the most ancient and the ancient people, who lived in the ages thus named, cannot be known from historical records, because their writings are not extant; and there is no account given of them except by writers in succeeding ages, who mention them, and describe the purity and integrity of their lives, and also the successive decrease of such purity and integrity, resembling the debas.e.m.e.nt of gold to iron: but an account of the last or iron age, which commenced from the time of those writers, may in some measure be gathered from the historical records of the lives of some of their kings, judges, and wise men, who were called _sophi_ in Greece and other countries. That this age however should not endure, as iron endures in itself, but that it should be like iron mixed with clay, which do not cohere, is foretold by Daniel, chap. ii. 43. Now as the golden, silver, and copper ages pa.s.sed away before the time when writing came into use, and thus it is impossible on earth to acquire any knowledge concerning their marriages, it has pleased the Lord to unfold to me such knowledge by a spiritual way, by conducting me to the heavens inhabited by those most ancient people, that I might learn from their own mouths the nature and quality of their marriages during their abode here on earth in their several ages: for all, who from the beginning of creation have departed by death out of the natural world, are in the spiritual world, and as to their loves resemble what they were when alive in the natural world, and continue such to eternity. As the particulars of this knowledge are worthy to be known and related, and tend to confirm the sanct.i.ty of marriages, I am desirous to make them public as they were shown me in the spirit when awake, and were afterwards recalled to my remembrance by an angel, and thus described.

And as they are from the spiritual world, like the other accounts annexed to each chapter, I am desirous to arrange them so as to form six MEMORABLE RELATIONS according to the progressions of the several periods of time.

74. THESE SIX MEMORABLE RELATIONS from the spiritual world, concerning conjugial love, discover the nature and quality of that love in the earliest times and afterwards, and also at the present day; whence it appears that that love has successively fallen away from its sanct.i.ty and purity, until it became adulterous; but that nevertheless there is a hope of its being brought back again to its primeval or ancient sanct.i.ty.

75. THE FIRST MEMORABLE RELATION. On a time, while I was meditating on conjugial love, my mind was seized with a desire of knowing what had been the nature and quality of that love among those who lived in the GOLDEN AGE, and afterwards among those who lived in the following ages, which have their names from silver, copper, and iron: and as I knew that all who lived well in those ages are in the heavens, I prayed to the Lord that I might be allowed to converse with them and be informed: and lo! an angel presented himself and said, "I am sent by the Lord to be your guide and companion: I will first lead and attend you to those who lived in the first age or period of time, which is called golden:" and he said, "The way to them is difficult; it lies through a shady forest, which none can pa.s.s unless he receive a guide from the Lord." I was in the spirit, and prepared myself for the journey; and we turned our faces towards the east; and as we advanced I saw a mountain, whose height extended beyond the region of the clouds. We pa.s.sed a great wilderness, and came to the forest planted with various kinds of trees and rendered shady by their thickness, of which the angel had advertised me. The forest was divided by several narrow paths; and the angel said, that according to the number of those paths are the windings and intricacies of error: and that unless his eyes were opened by the Lord, so as to see olives entwined with vine tendrils, and his steps were directed from olive to olive, the traveller would miss his way, and fall into the abodes of Tartarus, which are round about at the sides. This forest is of such a nature, to the end that the pa.s.sage may be guarded; for none but a primeval nation dwells upon that mountain. After we had entered the forest, our eyes were opened, and we saw here and there olives entwined with vines, from which hung bunches of grapes of a blue or azure color, and the olives were ranged in continual wreaths; we therefore made various circuits as they presented themselves to our view; and at length we saw a grove of tall cedars and some eagles perched on their branches; on seeing which the angel said, "We are now on the mountain not far from its summit:" so we went forward, and lo!

behind the grove was a circular plain, where there were feeding he and she-lambs, which were representative forms of the state of innocence and peace of the inhabitants of the mountain. We pa.s.sed over this plain, and lo! we saw tabernacles, to the number of several thousands in front on each side in every direction as far as the eye could reach. And the angel said, "We are now in the camp, where are the armies of the Lord Jehovah; for so they call themselves and their habitations. These most ancient people, while they were in the world, dwelt in tabernacles; therefore now also they dwell in the same. But let us bend our way to the south, where the wiser of them live, that we may meet some one to converse with." In going along I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at a door of a certain tent; but as we approached, the boys and girls appeared like men and women of a middle stature. The angel then said, "All the inhabitants of this mountain appear at a distance like infants, because they are in a state of innocence; and infancy is the appearance of innocence." The men on seeing us hastened towards us and said, "Whence are you; and how came you here? Your faces are not like those of our mountain." But the angel in reply told them how, by permission, we had had access through the forest, and what was the cause of our coming. On hearing this, one of the three men invited and introduced us into his tabernacle. The man was dressed in a blue robe and a tunic of white wool: and his wife had on a purple gown, with a stomacher under it of fine linen wrought in needle-work. And as my thought was influenced by a desire of knowing the state of marriages among the most ancient people, I looked by turns on the husband and the wife, and observed as it were a unity of their souls in their faces; and I said, "You are one:" and the man answered, "We are one; her life is in me, and mine in her; we are two bodies, but one soul: the union between us is like that of the two viscera in the breast, which are called the heart and the lungs; she is my heart and I am her lungs; but as by the heart we here mean love, and by the lungs wisdom, she is the love of my wisdom, and I am the wisdom of her love; therefore her love from without veils my wisdom, and my wisdom from within enters into her love: hence, as you said, there is an appearance of the unity of our souls in our faces." I then asked, "If such a union exists, is it possible for you to look at any other woman than your own?" He replied, "It is possible but as my wife is united to my soul, we both look together, and in this case nothing of l.u.s.t can enter; for while I behold the wives of others, I behold them by my own wife, whom alone I love: and as my own wife has a perception of all my inclinations, she, as an intermediate, directs my thoughts and removes every thing discordant, and therewith impresses cold and horror at every thing unchaste; therefore it is as impossible for us to look unchastely at the wife of any other of our society, as it is to look from the shades of Tartarus to the light of our heaven therefore neither have we any idea of thought, and still less any expression of speech, to denote the allurements of libidinous love." He could not p.r.o.nounce the word wh.o.r.edom, because the chast.i.ty of their heaven forbade it. Hereupon my conducting angel said to me, "You hear now that the speech of the angels of this heaven is the speech of wisdom, because they speak from causes." After this, as I looked around, I saw their tabernacle as it were overlaid with gold; and I asked, "Whence is this?" He replied, "It is in consequence of a flaming light, which, like gold, glitters, irradiates, and glances on the curtains of our tabernacle while we are conversing about conjugial love; for the heat from our sun, which in its essence is love, on such occasions bares itself, and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its golden color; and this happens because conjugial love in its origin is the sport of wisdom and love; for the man was born to be wisdom, and the woman to be the love of the man's wisdom: hence spring the delights of that sport, in and derived from conjugial love between us and our wives.

We have seen clearly for thousands of years in our heaven, that those delights, as to quant.i.ty, degree, and intensity, are excellent and eminent according to our wors.h.i.+p of the Lord Jehovah, from whom flows that heavenly union or marriage, which is the union and marriage of love and wisdom." As he said this, I saw a great light upon the hill in the middle of the tabernacles; and I inquired, "Whence is that light?" And he said, "It is from the sanctuary of the tabernacle of our wors.h.i.+p." I asked whether I might approach it; to which he a.s.sented. I approached therefore, and saw the tabernacle without and within, answering exactly to the description of the tabernacle which was built for the sons of Israel in the wilderness; the form of which was shewed to Moses on Mount Sinai, Exod. xxv. 40; chap. xxvi. 30. I then asked, "What is within in that sanctuary, from which so great a light proceeds?" He replied, "It is a tablet with this inscription, THE COVENANT BETWEEN JEHOVAH AND THE HEAVENS:" he said no more. And as by this time we were ready to depart, I asked, "Did any of you, during your abode in the natural world, live with more than one wife?" He replied, "I know not one; for we could not think of more. We have been told by those who had thought of more, that instantly the heavenly blessedness of their souls withdrew from their inmost principles to the extreme parts of their bodies, even to the nails, and together therewith the honorable badges of manhood; when this was perceived they were banished the land." On saying this, the man ran to his tabernacle, and returned with a pomegranate, in which there was abundance of seeds of gold: and he gave it me, and I brought it away with me, as a sign that we had been with those who had lived in the golden age. And then, after a salutation of peace, we took our leave, and returned home.

76. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day the same angel came to me, and said, "Do you wish me to lead and attend you to the people who lived in the SILVER AGE OR PERIOD, that we may hear from them concerning the marriages of their time?" And he added, "Access to these also can only be obtained by the Lord's favor and protection." I was in the spirit as before, and accompanied my conductor. We first came to a hill on the confines between the east and the south; and while we were ascending it, he shewed me a great extent of country: we saw at a distance an eminence like a mountain, between which and the hill on which we stood was a valley, and behind the valley a plain, and from the plain a rising ground of easy ascent. We descended the hill intending to pa.s.s through the valley, and we saw here and there on each side pieces of wood and stone, carved into the figures of men, and of various beasts, birds, and fishes; and I asked the angel what they meant, and whether they were idols? He replied, "By no means: they are representative forms of various moral virtues and spiritual truths. The people of that age were acquainted with the science of correspondences; and as every man, beast, bird, and fish, corresponds to some quality, therefore each particular carved figure represents partially some virtue or truth, and several together represent virtue itself, or truth, in a common extended form. These are what in Egypt were called hieroglyphics." We proceeded through the valley, and as we entered the plain, lo! we saw horses and chariots; horses variously harnessed and caparisoned, and chariots of different forms; some carved in the shape of eagles, some like whales, and some like stags with horns, and like unicorns; and likewise beyond them some carts, and stables round about at the sides; and as we approached, both horses and chariots disappeared, and instead thereof we saw men (_homines_), in pairs, walking, talking, and reasoning. And the angel said to me, "The different species of horses, chariots, and stables, seen at a distance, are appearances of the rational intelligence of the men of that period; for a horse, by correspondence, signifies the understanding of truth, a chariot, its doctrine, and stables, instructions: you know that in this world all things appear according to correspondences." But we pa.s.sed by these things, and ascended by a long acclivity, and at length saw a city, which we entered; and in walking through the streets and places of public resort, we viewed the houses: they were so many palaces built of marble, having steps of alabaster in front, and at the sides of the steps pillars of jasper: we saw also temples of precious stone of a sapphire and lazure color. And the angel said to me, "Their houses are of stone, because stones signify natural truths, and precious stones spiritual truths; and all those who lived in the silver age had intelligence grounded in spiritual truths, and thence in natural truths: silver also has a similar signification." In taking a view of the city, we saw here and there consorts in pairs: and as they were husbands and wives, we expected that some of them would invite us to their houses; and while we were in this expectation, as we were pa.s.sing by, we were invited by two into their house, and we ascended the steps and entered; and the angel, taking upon him the part of speaker, explained to them the occasion of our coming to this heaven; informing them that it was for the sake of instruction concerning marriages among the ancients, "of whom," says he, "you in this heaven are a part." They said, "We were from a people in Asia; and the chief pursuit of our age was the truths whereby we had intelligence. This was the occupation of our souls and minds; but our bodily senses were engaged in representations of truths in form; and the science of correspondences conjoined the sensual things of our bodies with the perceptions of our minds, and procured us intelligence." On hearing this, the angel asked them to give some account of their marriages: and the husband said, "There is a correspondence between spiritual marriage, which is that of truth with good, and natural marriage, which is that of a man with one wife; and as we have studied correspondences, we have seen that the church, with its truths and goods, cannot at all exist but with those who live in love truly conjugial with one wife: for the marriage of good and truth const.i.tutes the church with man: therefore all we in this heaven say, that the husband is truth, and the wife the good thereof; and that good cannot love any truth but its own, neither can truth in return love any good but its own: if any other were loved, internal marriage, which const.i.tutes the church, would perish, and there would remain only external marriage, to which idolatry, and not the church, corresponds; therefore marriage with one wife we call sacrimony; but if it should have place with more than one among us, we should call it sacrilege." As he said this, we were introduced into an ante-chamber, where there were several devices on the walls, and little images as it were of molten silver; and I inquired, "What are these?" They said, "They are pictures and forms representative of several qualities, characters, and delights, relating to conjugial love. These represent unity of souls, these conjunction of minds, these harmony of bosoms, these the delights thence arising." While we were viewing these things, we saw as it were a rainbow on the wall, consisting of three colors, purple (or red), blue and white; and we observed how the purple pa.s.sed the blue, and tinged the white with an azure color, and that the latter color flowed back through the blue into the purple, and elevated the purple into a kind of flaming l.u.s.tre: and the husband said to me, "Do you understand all this?" I replied, "Instruct me:" and he said, "The purple color, from its correspondence, signifies the conjugial love of the wife, the white the intelligence of the husband, the blue the beginning of conjugial love in the husband's perception from the wife, and the azure, with which the white was tinged, signifies conjugial love in this case in the husband; and this latter color flowing back through the blue into the purple, and elevating the purple into a kind of flaming l.u.s.tre, signifies the conjugial love of the husband flowing back to the wife.

Such things are represented on these walls, while from meditating on conjugial love, its mutual, successive, and simultaneous union, we view with eager attention the rainbows which are there painted." Hereupon I observed, "These things are more than mystical at this day; for they are appearances representative of the arcana of the conjugial love of one man with one wife." He replied, "They are so; yet to us in our heaven they are not arcana, and consequently neither are they mystical." As he said this, there appeared at a distance a chariot drawn by small white horses; on seeing which the angel said, "That chariot is a sign for us to take our leave;" and then, as we were descending the steps, our host gave us a bunch of white grapes hanging to the vine leaves: and lo! the leaves became silver; and we brought them down with us for a sign that we had conversed with the people of the silver age.

77. THE THIRD MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day, my conducting and attendant angel came to me and said, "Make ready, and let us go to the heavenly inhabitants in the west, who are from the men that lived in the third period, or in the copper age. Their dwellings are from the south by the west towards the north; but they do not reach into the north."

Having made myself ready, I attended him, and we entered their heaven on the southern quarter. There was a magnificent grove of palm trees and laurels. We pa.s.sed through this, and immediately on the confines of the west we saw giants, double the size of ordinary men. They asked us, "Who let you in through the grove?" The angel said, "The G.o.d of heaven." They replied, "We are guards to the ancient western heaven; but pa.s.s on." We pa.s.sed on, and from a rising ground we saw a mountain rising to the clouds, and between us and the mountain a number of villages, with gardens, groves, and plains intermixed. We pa.s.sed through the villages and came to the mountain, which we ascended; and lo! its summit was not a point but a plain, on which was a s.p.a.cious and extensive city. All the houses of the city were built of the wood of the pine-tree, and their roofs consisted of joists or rafters; and I asked, "Why are the houses here built of wood?" The angel replied, "Because wood signifies natural good; and the men of the third age of the earth were principled in this good; and as copper also signifies natural good, therefore the age in which they lived the ancients named from copper. Here are also sacred buildings constructed of the wood of the olive, and in the middle of them is the sanctuary, where is deposited in an ark the Word that was given to the inhabitants of Asia before the Israelitish Word; the historical books of which are called the WARS OF JEHOVAH, and the prophetic books, ENUNCIATIONS; both mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxi.

verses 14, 15, and 27-30. This Word at this day is lost in the kingdoms of Asia, and is only preserved in Great Tartary." Then the angel led me to one of the sacred buildings, which we looked into, and saw in the middle of it the sanctuary, the whole in the brightest light; and the angel said, "This light is from that ancient Asiatic Word: for all divine truth in the heavens gives forth light." As we were leaving the sacred building, we were informed that it had been reported in the city that two strangers had arrived there; and that they were to be examined as to whence they came, and what was their business; and immediately one of the public officers came running towards us, and took us for examination before the judges: and on being asked whence we came, and what was our business, we replied, "We have pa.s.sed the grove of palm-trees, and also the abodes of the giants, the guards of your heaven, and afterwards the region of villages; from which circ.u.mstances you may conclude, that we have not come here of ourselves, but by direction of the G.o.d of heaven. The business on which we are come is, to be instructed concerning your marriages, whether they are monogamical or polygamical." and they said, "What are polygamical marriages? Are not they adulterous?" And immediately the bench of judges deputed an intelligent person to instruct us in his own house on this point: and when we were come to his house, he set his wife by his side, and spoke as follows: "We are in possession of precepts concerning marriages, which have been handed down to us from the primeval or most ancient people, who were principled in love truly conjugial, and thereby excelled all others in the virtue and potency of that love while they were in the world, and who are now in a most blessed state in their heaven, which is in the east. We are their posterity, and they, as fathers, have given us, their sons, rules of life, among which is the following concerning marriages: 'Sons, if you are desirous to love G.o.d and your neighbour, and to become wise and happy to eternity, we counsel you to live married to one wife; if you depart from this precept, all heavenly love will depart from you, and therewith internal wisdom; and you will be banished.' This precept of our Fathers we have obeyed as sons, and have perceived its truth, which is, that so far as any one loves his conjugial partner alone, so far he becomes celestial and internal, and that so far as any one does not love his married partner alone, so far he becomes natural and external; and in this case he loves only himself and the images of his own mind, and is doating and foolish.

From these considerations, all of us in this heaven live married to one wife; and this being the case, all the borders of our heaven are guarded against polygamists, adulterers, and wh.o.r.emongers; if polygamists invade us, they are cast out into the darkness of the north; if adulterers, they are cast out into fires of the west; and if wh.o.r.emongers, they are cast out into the delusive lights of the south." On hearing this, I asked, "What he meant by the darkness of the north, the fires of the west, and the delusive lights of the south?" He answered, "The darkness of the north is dulness of mind and ignorance of truths; the fires of the west are the loves of evil; and the delusive lights of the south are the falsifications of truth, which are spiritual wh.o.r.edoms." After this, he said, "Follow me to our repository of curiosities:" so we followed him, and he shewed us the writings of the most ancient people, which were on the tables of wood and stone, and afterwards on smooth blocks of wood; the writings of the second age were on sheets of parchment; of these he brought me a sheet, on which were copied the rules of the people of the first age from their tables of stone, among which also was the precept concerning marriages. Having seen these and other ancient curiosities, the angel said, "It is now time for us to take our leave;"

and immediately our host went into the garden, and plucked some twigs off a tree, and bound them into a little bunch, and gave them to us, saying, "These twigs are from a tree, which is native of or peculiar to our heaven, and whose juice has a balsamic fragrance." We brought the bunch down with us, and descended by the eastern way, which was not guarded; and lo! the twigs were changed into s.h.i.+ning bra.s.s, and the upper ends of them into gold, as a sign that we had been with the people of the third age, which is named from copper or bra.s.s.

78. THE FOURTH MEMORABLE RELATIONS. After two days the angel again addressed me, saying, "Let us complete the period of the ages; the last still remains, which is named from IRON. The people of this age dwell in the north on the side of the west, in the inner parts or breadth-ways: they are all from the old inhabitants of Asia, who were in possession of the ancient Word, and thence derived their wors.h.i.+p; consequently they were before the time of our Lord's coming into the world. This is evident from the writings of the ancients, in which those times are so named. These same periods are meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bra.s.s, the legs of iron, and the feet of iron and of clay, Dan. ii. 32, 33." These particulars the angel related to me in the way, which was contracted and antic.i.p.ated by changes of state induced in our minds according to the genius or disposition of the inhabitants whom we pa.s.sed; for s.p.a.ces and consequent distances in the spiritual world are appearances according to the state of their minds.

When we raised our eyes, lo! we were in a forest consisting of beeches, chestnut-trees and oaks: and on looking around us, there appeared bears to the left, and leopards to the right: and when I wondered at this, the angel said, "They are neither bears nor leopards, but men, who guard these inhabitants of the north; by their nostrils they have a scent of the sphere of life of those who pa.s.s by, and they rush violently on all who are spiritual, because the inhabitants are natural. Those who only read the Word, and imbibe thence nothing of doctrine, appear at a distance like bears; and those who confirm false principles thence derived, appear like leopards." On seeing us, they turned away, and we proceeded. Beyond the forest there appeared thickets, and afterwards fields of gra.s.s divided into areas, bordered with box: this was succeeded by a declivity which led to a valley, wherein were several cities. We pa.s.sed some of them, and entered into one of a considerable size: its streets were irregular, and so were the houses, which were built of brick, with beams between, and plastered. In the places of public resort were consecrated buildings of hewn lime-stone; the under-structure of which was below the ground, and the super-structure above. We went down into one of them by three steps, and saw on the walls idols of various forms, and a crowd on their knees paying adoration to them: in the middle of the building was a company, above whom might be seen the head of the tutelary G.o.d of that city. As we went out, the angel said to me, "Those idols, with the ancients who lived in the silver age, as above described, were images representative of spiritual truths and moral virtues; and when the science of correspondence was forgotten and extinct, they first became objects of wors.h.i.+p, and afterwards were adored as deities: hence came idolatry."

When we were come out of the consecrated building, we made our observations on the men and their dress. Their faces were like steel, of a grayish color, and they were dressed like comedians, with napkins about their loins hanging from a tunic b.u.t.toned close at the breast; and on their heads they wore curled caps like sailors. But the angel said, "Enough of this; let us seek some instruction concerning the marriages of the people of this age." We then entered into the house of one of the grandees, who wore on his head a high cap. He received us kindly, and said, "Come in and let us converse together." We entered into the vestibule, and there seated ourselves; and I asked him about the marriages of his city and country. He said, "We do not here live with one wife, but some with two or three, and some with more, because we are delighted with variety, obedience, and honor, as marks of dignity; and these we receive from our wives according to their number. With one wife there would be no delight arising from variety; but disgust from sameness: neither would there be any flattering courteousness arising from obedience, but a troublesome disquietude from equality; neither would there be any satisfaction arising from dominion and the honor thence derived, but vexation from wrangling about superiority. And what is a woman? Is she not born subject to man's will; to serve, and not to domineer? Wherefore in this place every husband in his own house enjoys as it were royal dignity; and as this is suited to our love, it const.i.tutes also the blessedness of our life." But I asked, "In such case, what becomes of conjugial love, which from two souls makes one, and joins minds together, and renders a man (_h.o.m.o_) blessed? This love cannot be divided; for if it be it becomes a heat which effervesces and pa.s.ses away." To this he replied, "I do not understand what you say; what else renders a man (_h.o.m.o_) blessed, but the emulation of wives contending for the honor of the first place in the husband's favor?" As he said this, a man entered into the women's apartment and opened the two doors; whence there issued a libidinous effluvium, which had a stench like mire; this arose from polygamical love, which is connubial, and at the same time adulterous; so I rose and shut the doors.

Afterwards I said, "How can you subsist upon this earth, when you are void of any love truly conjugial, and also when you wors.h.i.+p idols?" He replied, "As to connubial love, we are so jealous of our wives, that we do not suffer any one to enter further within our houses than the vestibule; and where there is jealousy, there must also be love. In respect to idols, we do not wors.h.i.+p them; but we are not able to think of the G.o.d of the universe, except by means of such forms presented to our eyes; for we cannot elevate our thoughts above the sensual things of the body, nor think of G.o.d above the objects of bodily vision." I then asked him again, "Are not your idols of different forms? How then can they excite the idea of one G.o.d?" He replied, "This is a mystery to us; somewhat of the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d lies concealed in each form." I then said, "You are merely sensual corporeal spirits; you have neither the love of G.o.d nor the love of a married partner grounded in any spiritual principle; and these loves together form a man (_h.o.m.o_) and from sensual make him celestial." As I said this, there appeared through the gate as it were lightning: and on my asking what it meant, he said, "Such lightning is a sign to us that there will come the ancient one from the east, who teaches us concerning G.o.d, that He is one, the alone omnipotent, who is the first and the last; he also admonishes us not to wors.h.i.+p idols, but only to look at them as images representative of the virtues proceeding from the one G.o.d, which also together form his wors.h.i.+p. This ancient one is our angel, whom we revere and obey. He comes to us, and raises us, when we are falling into obscure wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d from mere fancies respecting images." On hearing this, we left the house and went out of the city; and in the way, from what we had seen in the heavens, we drew some conclusions respecting the circuit and the progression of conjugial love; of the circuit that it had pa.s.sed from the east to the south, from the south to the west, and from the west to the north; and of the progression, that it had decreased according to its circulation, namely, that in the east it was celestial, in the south spiritual, in the west natural, and in the north sensual; and also that it had decreased in a similar degree with the love and the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d: from which considerations we further concluded, that this love in the first age was like gold, in the second like silver, in the third like bra.s.s, and in the fourth like iron, and that at length it ceased.

On this occasion the angel, my guide and companion, said, "Nevertheless I entertain a hope that this love will be revived by the G.o.d of heaven, who is the Lord, because it is capable of being so revived."

79. THE FIFTH MEMORABLE RELATION, The angel that had been my guide and companion to the ancients who had lived in the four ages, the golden, the silver, the copper, and the iron, again presented himself to me, and said, "Are you desirous of seeing the age which succeeded those ancient ones, and to know what its quality formerly was, and still is? Follow me, and you shall see. They are those concerning whom Daniel thus prophesied: '_A kingdom shall arise after those four in which iron shall be mixed with miry clay: they shall mingle themselves together by the seed of man: but they shall not cohere one with the other, as iron is not mixed with clay_, Dan. ii. 41-43:'" and he said, "By the seed of man, whereby iron shall be mixed with clay, and still they shall not cohere, is meant the truth of the Word falsified." After he had said this, I followed him, and in the way, he related to me these particulars. "They dwell in the borders between the south and the west, but at a great distance beyond those who lived in the four former ages, and also at a greater depth." We then proceeded through the south to the region bordering on the west, and pa.s.sed though a formidable forest; for in it there were lakes, out of which crocodiles raised their heads, and opened at us their wide jaws beset with teeth; and between the lakes were terrible dogs, some of which were three-headed like Cerberus, some two-headed, all looking at us as we pa.s.sed with a horrible hungry snarl and fierce eyes. We entered the western tract of this region, and saw dragons and leopards, such as are described in the Revelation, chap.

xii. 3; chap. xiii. 2. Then the angel said to me, "All these wild beasts which you have seen, are not wild beasts but correspondences, and thereby representative forms of the l.u.s.ts of the inhabitants whom we shall visit. The l.u.s.ts themselves are represented by those horrible dogs; their deceit and cunning by crocodiles; their falsities and depraved inclinations to the things which relate to wors.h.i.+p, by dragons and leopards: nevertheless the inhabitants represented do not live close behind the forest, but behind a great wilderness which lies intermediate, that they may be fully withheld and separated from the inhabitants of the foregoing ages, being of an entirely different genius and quality from them: they have indeed heads above their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s above their loins, and loins above their feet, like the primeval men; but in their heads there is not any thing of gold, nor in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s any thing of silver, nor in their loins any thing of bra.s.s, no, nor in their feet any thing of pure iron; but in their heads is iron mixed with clay, in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s is each mixed with bra.s.s, in their loins is also each mixed with silver, and in their feet is each mixed with gold: by this inversion they are changed from men (_homines_) into graven images of men, in which inwardly nothing coheres; for what was highest, is made lowest, thus what was the head is become the heel, and _vice versa_. They appear to us from heaven like stage-players, who lie upon their elbows with the body inverted, and put themselves in a walking motion; or like beasts, which lie on their backs, and lift the feet upwards, and from the head, which they plunge in the earth, look towards heaven." We pa.s.sed through the forest, and entered the wilderness, which was not less terrible: it consisted of heaps of stones, and ditches between them, out of which crept hydras and vipers, and there flew forth venomous flying serpents. This whole wilderness was on a continual declivity: we descended by a long steep descent, and at length came into the valley inhabited by the people of that region and age. There were here and there cottages, which appeared at length to meet, and to be joined together in the form of a city: this we entered, and lo! the houses were built of the scorched branches of trees, cemented together with mud and covered with black slates. The streets were irregular; all of them at the entrance narrow, but wider as they extended, and at the end s.p.a.cious, where there were places of public resort: here there were as many places of public resort as there were streets. As we entered the city, it became dark, because the sky did not appear; we therefore looked up and light was given us, and we saw: and then I asked those we met, "Are you able to see because the sky does not appear above you?" They replied "What a question is this! we see clearly; we walk in full light." On hearing this, the angel said to me, "Darkness to them is light, and light darkness, as is the case with birds of night; as they look downwards and not upwards." We entered into some of the cottages, and saw in each a man with his woman, and we asked them, "Do all live here in their respective houses with one wife only?"

And they replied with a hissing, "What do you mean by one wife only? Why do not you ask, whether we live with one harlot? What is a wife but a harlot? By our laws it is not allowable to commit fornication with more than one woman; but still we do not hold it dishonorable or unbecoming to do so with more; yet out of our own houses we glory in the one among another: thus we rejoice in the license we take, and the pleasure attending it, more than polygamists. Why is a plurality of wives denied us, when yet it has been granted, and at this day is granted in the whole world about us? What is life with one woman only, but captivity and imprisonment? We however in this place have broken the bolt of this prison, and have rescued ourselves from slavery, and made ourselves free, and who is angry with a prisoner for a.s.serting his freedom when it is in his power?" to this we replied, "You speak, friend, as if without any sense of religion. What rational person does not know that adulteries are profane and infernal, and that marriages are holy and heavenly. Do not adulteries take place with devils in h.e.l.l, and marriages with angels in heaven? Did you never read the sixth commandment [Footnote: According to the division of the commandments adopted by the Church of England, it is the _seventh_ that is here referred to.] of the decalogue? and in Paul, that adulterers can by no means enter heaven?" Hereupon our host laughed heartily, and regarded me as a simpleton, and almost as out of my senses. But just then there came running a messenger from the chief of the city, and said, "Bring the two strangers into the town-hall; and if they refuse to come, drag them there: we have seen them in a shade of light; they have entered privately; they are spies." Hereupon the angel said to me, "The reason why we were seen in a shade, is, because the light of heaven in which we have been, is to them a shade, and the shade of h.e.l.l is to them light; and this is because they regard nothing as sin, not even adultery: hence they see what is false altogether as what is true; and what is false is lucid in h.e.l.l before satans, and what is true darkens their eyes like the shade of night." We said to the messenger, "We will not be pressed, still less will we be dragged into the town-hall; but we will go with you of our own accord." So we went: and lo! there was a great crowd a.s.sembled, out of which came some lawyers, and whispered to us, saying, "Take heed to yourselves how you speak any thing against religion, the form of our government, and good manners:" and we replied, "We will not speak against them, but for them and from them." Then we asked, "What are your religious notions respecting marriages?" At this the crowd murmured, and said, "What have you to do here with marriages? Marriages are marriages." Again we asked, "What are your religious notions respecting wh.o.r.edoms?" At this also they murmured, saying, "What have you to do here with wh.o.r.edoms? Wh.o.r.edoms are wh.o.r.edoms: let him that is guiltless cast the first stone." And we asked thirdly, "Does your religion teach that marriages are holy and heavenly, and that adulteries are profane and infernal?" Hereupon several in the crowd laughed aloud, jested, and bantered, saying, "Inquire of our priests, and not of us, as to what concerns religion. We acquiesce entirely in what they declare; because no point of religion is an object of decision in the understanding. Have you never heard that the understanding is without any sense or discernment in mysteries, which const.i.tute the whole of religion? And what have actions to do with religion? Is not the soul made blessed by the muttering of words from a devout heart concerning expiation, satisfaction, and imputation, and not by works?" But at this instant there came some of the wise ones of the city, so called, and said, "Retire hence; the crowd grows angry; a storm is gathering: let us talk in private on this subject; there is a retired walk behind the town-hall; come with us there." We followed them; and they asked us whence we came, and what was our business there? And we said, "to be instructed concerning marriages, whether they are holy with you, as they were with the ancients who lived in the golden, silver, and copper ages; or whether they are not holy." And they replied, "What do you mean by holiness? Are not marriages works of the flesh and of the night?" And we answered, "Are they not also works of the spirit? and what the flesh does from the spirit, is not that spiritual? and all that the spirit does, it does from the marriage of good and truth. Is not this marriage spiritual, which enters the natural marriage of husband and wife?" To this the wise ones, so called, made answer, "There is too much subtlety and sublimity in what you say on this subject; you ascend far above rational principles to spiritual: and who, beginning at such an elevation, can descend thence, and thus form any decision?" To this they added with a smile of ridicule, "Perhaps you have the wings of an eagle, and can fly in the highest region of heaven, and make these discoveries: this we cannot do." We then asked them to tell us, from the alt.i.tude or region in which the winged ideas of their minds fly, whether they knew, or were able to know, that the love of one man with one wife is conjugial love, into which are collected all the beat.i.tudes, satisfactions, delights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures of heaven; and that this love is from the Lord according to the reception of good and truth from him; thus according to the state of the church? On hearing this, they turned away, and said, "These men are out of their senses; they enter the ether with their judgement, and scatter about vain conjectures like nuts and almonds." After this they turned to us, saying, "We will give a direct answer to your windy conjectures and dreams;" and they said, "What has conjugial love in common with religion and inspiration from G.o.d? Is not this love with every one according to the state of his potency? Is it not the same with those who are out of the church as with those who are in it, with Gentiles as with Christians, yea, with the impious as with the pious? Has not every one the strength of this love either hereditarily, or from bodily health, or from temperance of life, or from warmth of climate? By medicines also it may be strengthened and stimulated. Is not the case similar with the brute creation, especially with birds which unite in pairs? Moreover, is not this love carnal? and what has a carnal principle in common with the spiritual state of the church? Does this love, as to its ultimate effect with a wife, differ at all from love as to its effect with a harlot? Is not the l.u.s.t similar, and the delight similar? Wherefore it is injurious to deduce the origin of conjugial love from the holy things of the church." On hearing this, we said to them, "You reason from the stimulus of lasciviousness, and not from conjugial love; you are altogether ignorant what conjugial love is, because it is cold with you; from what you have said we are convinced that you are of the age which has its name from and consists of iron and clay, which do not cohere, according to the prophecy in Daniel, chap. ii. 43; for you make conjugial love and adulterous love the same thing; and do these two cohere any more than iron and clay? You are believed and called wise, and yet you have not the smallest pretensions to that character." On hearing this, they were inflamed with rage and made a loud cry, and called the crowd together to cast us out; but at that instant, by virtue of power given us by the Lord, we stretched out our hands, and lo! the flying serpents, vipers, and hydras, and also the dragons from the wilderness, presented themselves, and entered and filled the city; at which the inhabitants being terrified fled away. The angel then said to me, "Into this region new comers from the earth daily enter, and the former inhabitants are by turns separated and cast down into the gulphs of the west, which appear at a distance like lakes of fire and brimstone. All in those gulphs are spiritual and natural adulterers."

80. THE SIXTH MEMORABLE RELATION. As the angel said this, I looked to the western boundary, and lo! there appeared as it were lakes of fire and brimstone; and I asked him, why the h.e.l.ls in that quarter had such an appearance? He replied, "They appear as lakes in consequence of the falsifications of truth; because water in the spiritual sense signifies truth; and there is an appearance as it were of fire round about them, and in them, in consequence of the love of evil, and as it were of brimstone in consequence of the love of what is false. Those three things, the lake, the fire, and the brimstone, are appearances, because they are correspondences of the evil loves of the inhabitants. All in that quarter are shut up in eternal work-houses, where they labor for food, for clothing, and for a bed to lie on; and when they do evil, they are grievously and miserably punished." I further asked the angel, why he said that in that quarter are spiritual and natural adulterers, and why he had not rather said, that they were evil doers and impious? He replied, "Because all those who make light of adulteries, that is, who commit them from a confirmed persuasion that they are not sins, and thus are in the purpose of committing them from a belief of their being harmless, are in their hearts evil doers and impious; for the conjugial human principle ever goes hand in hand with religion; and every step and movement made under the influence of religion, and leading to it, is also a step and movement made under the influence of the conjugial principle, and leading to it, which is peculiar and proper to the Christian." On asking what that conjugial principle was, he said, "It is the desire of living with one wife; and every Christian has this desire according to his religion." I was afterwards gr