5050. Continuation concerning the correspondence with the Grand Man, here concerning the correspondence therewith of the loins and of the members of generation.

At the end of the preceding chapter (n. 4931-4953), it was shown from experience who in the Grand Man or heaven belong to the province of the hands, of the arms, and of the feet; and it will now be shown what are the societies in heaven or the Grand Man to which the loins correspond, and also the members adhering to the loins, which are called the members of generation. In general, be it known that the loins and the members adhering to them correspond to genuine conjugial love, and consequently to the societies in which are those who are in this love. They who are in these societies are more celestial than others, and more than others live in the delight of peace.

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5051. In a quiet dream I saw some trees planted in a wooden receptacle, one of which was tall, another lower, and two were small. The lower tree delighted me very greatly, and all the while a very pleasant rest, such as I cannot express, affected my mind. On awaking from sleep I conversed with those who induced the dream. They were angelic spirits (see n. 1977, 1979), and they told me what was signified by what I had seen-that it was conjugial love, the tall tree signifying the husband, the lower tree the wife, and the two small ones the children. They told me further that the very pleasant rest which affected my mind indicated what pleasantness of peace those have in the other life who have lived in genuine conjugial love. They added that such are those who belong to the province of the thighs next above the knees, and that those who are in a still more pleasant state belong to the province of the loins. It was also shown that this province communicates through the feet with the soles and the heels. That this is so, is plain from that great nerve in the thigh which sends forth its branches not only through the loins to the members of generation (which are the organs of conjugial love), but also through the feet to the soles and the heels. It was also then discovered what is meant in the Word by the hollow and the nerve of the thigh which was put out of joint in Jacob, when he wrestled with the angel (Gen. 32:25, 31, 32; see n. 4280, 4281, 4314-4317).

[2] I afterward saw a great dog, such as that called Cerberus by ancient writers, with a frightful open mouth; and I was told that such a dog signifies a guard to prevent man's passing over from heavenly conjugial love to the love of adultery, which is infernal; for heavenly conjugial love exists when a man together with his wife, whom he loves most tenderly, and with his children, lives content in the Lord. From this he has in this world an inward pleasantness, and in the other life heavenly joy; but when he passes from this love into the opposite, and finds in this a delight that seems to him heavenly, although it is infernal, then such a dog is presented as a guard lest there should be a communication between these opposite delights.

5052. The Lord instills conjugial love through the inmost heaven, the angels of which are in peace beyond all others. Peace in the heavens is comparatively like springtime in the world, which renders all things joyous, for in its origin peace is the celestial itself. The angels who are in the inmost heaven are the wisest of all, and from their innocence they appear to others as infants, for they love infants much more than do their fathers and mothers. They are present with infants in the womb, and through them the Lord cares for the feeding and full development of the infants therein; thus they have charge over those who are with child.

5053. There are heavenly societies to which correspond all and each of the members and organs allotted to generation in both sexes. These societies are distinct from others,