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7911 Verses 21-24. And Moses called all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw ye forth, and take you an animal of the flock according to your families, and kill ye the passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in, the blood that is in the basin, and ye shall touch the lintel and the two posts with the blood that is in the basin; and no one of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. And Jehovah will pass through to inflict a plague on Egypt; and He shall see the blood upon the lintel, and upon the two posts, and Jehovah will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come unto your houses to inflict a plague. And ye shall keep this word for a statute to thee and to thy sons forever. And Moses called all the elders of Israel, signifies the enlightenment of the understanding of those who are of the spiritual church by means of the influx and presence of truth Divine; and said unto them, signifies perception; Draw ye forth, signifies that they should compel themselves; and take you an animal of the flock, signifies to receive the good of innocence; according to your families, signifies according to the good of each truth; and kill ye the passover, signifies preparation for the presence of the Lord and consequent liberation; and ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, signifies an external means by which there is purification; and dip it in the blood, signifies the holy truth which is of the good of innocence; that is in the basin, signifies that is in the good of the natural; and ye shall touch the lintel and the two posts, signifies the goods and truths of the natural; with the blood that is in the basin, signifies the holy truth which is of the good of innocence in the natural; and no one of you shall go out of the door of his house, signifies that they shall abide steadfast in good, which must not be regarded from truth; until the morning, signifies even to a state of enlightenment; and Jehovah will pass through, signifies the presence of the Divine; to inflict a plague on Egypt, signifies whence comes damnation to those of the church who have been in faith separate from charity; and He will see the blood upon the lintel, and on the two posts, signifies a noticing of the holy truth which is of the good of innocence in the natural; and Jehovah will pass over the door, signifies that damnation will flee from thence; and will not allow the destroyer to come unto your houses, signifies that falsity and evil which are from the hells shall in no wise come near the will; to inflict a plague, signifies the damnation which they bring on themselves; and ye shall keep this word for a statute to thee and to thy sons forever, signifies that hereafter all this shall be according to Divine order for those who are of the spiritual church.

7912 And Moses called all the elders of Israel. That this signifies the enlightenment of the understanding of those who are of the spiritual church by the influx and presence of truth Divine, is evident from the signification of calling, when said of truth Divine, as being influx and presence (see n. 6177, 6840, 7390, 7451, 7721); from the representation of Moses, as being the law Divine, thus the Word and truth Divine (see the preface to Genesis 18, also n. 4859, 5922, 6723, 6752, 6771, 6827, 7010, 7014, 7089, 7382); from the signification of elders, as being the chief things of wisdom and intelligence which are in agreement with truth and good (n. 6524, 6525, 6890), to call which, or to present them to view, denotes to enlighten the understanding; and from the representation of Israel as being the spiritual church (n. 4286, 6426, 6637). From all this it is evident that by Moses called all the elders of Israel is signified the enlightenment of the understanding of those who are of the spiritual church by means of the influx and presence of truth Divine.

7913 And said unto them. That this signifies perception, is evident from the signification of saying, in the historicals of the Word, as being perception (see n. 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2080, 2619, 2862, 3395, 3509, 5687, 5743, 5877, 6251).

7914 Draw ye forth. That this signifies that they should compel themselves, is evident from the signification of drawing forth, when said of the good of innocence, which they who are of the spiritual church were to receive from the Lord, as being to compel themselves. For the good of innocence, which is the good of love to the Lord, is not received by the man of the spiritual church unless he compels himself; because it can with difficulty be believed by him that the Lord is the only God, and also that His Human is Divine; and therefore as he is not in faith, neither can be in love to Him, consequently not in the good of innocence, unless he compels himself. (That man ought to compel himself, and that when he compels himself it is from freedom, but not when he is compelled, see n. 1937, 1947.) This is signified by drawing forth, namely the paschal animal. That to draw it forth involves some secret thing which does not appear in the sense of the letter, is manifest.

7915 And take you an animal of the flock.* That this signifies to receive the good of innocence, is evident from the signification of the paschal lamb, which here is an animal of the flock, as being the good of innocence (see n. 3519, 3994, 7840).

The Hebrew son, here used, means animal of the flock, which Swedenborg here accordingly renders pecudem gregis. [REVISER.]

7916 According to your families. That this signifies according to the good of each truth, is evident from the signification of families, when said of the sons of Israel, by whom is represented the spiritual church, as being the goods of truth; for the goods of that church are called goods of truth. Families have this signification because in the internal sense none but spiritual things are meant, that is, those which are of heaven and the church, thus which are of faith and charity; and therefore in this sense families denote the things which descend from good through truth, and are the goods of truth.

7917 And kill the passover. That this signifies preparation for the presence of the Lord and consequent liberation, is evident from the signification of killing, as being preparation (as above, n. 7843); and from the signification of the passover, as being the presence of the Lord, and the liberation of those who are of the spiritual church.

7918 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop. That this signifies an external means by which there is purification, is evident from the signification of hyssop, as being external truth, which is a means of purification (of which in what follows). It is said that they should take a bunch of hyssop, because a bunch is predicated of truths and their arrangement (n. 5530, 5881, 7408). That hyssop denotes external truth as a means of purification, is because all spiritual purification is effected by means of truths. For the earthly and worldly loves from which man is to be purified, are not recognized except by means of truths, and when these are instilled by the Lord, there is also instilled at the same time horror for these loves as for things unclean and damnable, the effect of which is that when anything of the kind flows into the thought, this feeling of horror returns, and consequently aversion for such things. Thus man is purified by truths as by an external means. It was on this account ordered that circumcision should be performed by means of knives or lancets of flint. (That lancets or knives of flint denote the truths of faith whereby purification is effected, see n. 2799, 7044; and that circumcision denotes purification from filthy loves, n. 2039, 2632, 3112, 3413, 4462, 7045.)[2] As hyssop has this signification, it was therefore employed in cleansings, which in the internal sense signified purifications from falsities and evils, as in the cleansing of the leprosy, in Moses:The priest shall take for the leper that is to be cleansed two living clean birds, and cedar wood, and scarlet and hyssop, and shall dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed, and he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed (Lev. 14:4-7);and in like manner in the cleansing of a house, if the leprosy be in it (verses 49-51). For preparing the water of separation by which cleansings were wrought, cedar wood and hyssop were also employed (Num. 19:6, 18); by cedar wood was signified internal spiritual truth, and by hyssop external; thus by cedar an interior means of purification, by hyssop an exterior one. That hyssop denotes a means of purification is very manifest in David:Thou shalt purge me with hyssop, and I shall become clean; Thou shalt wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow (Ps. 51:7);where to be purged with hyssop and made clean denotes external purification; to be washed and made whiter than snow, internal purification; snow and whiteness are predicated of truth (n. 3301, 3993, 4007, 5319). That hyssop denotes lowest truth, and cedar highest truth, is plain from these words in the first book of Kings:Solomon spoke of woods, from the cedar which is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that goeth out of the wall (1 Kings 4:33);where cedar denotes internal truth which is of intelligence; and hyssop, external truth which is of intelligence.

7919 And dip it in the blood. That this signifies the holy truth which is of the good of innocence, is evident from the signification of blood, here the blood of a lamb, as being the holy truth of the good of innocence (of which above, n. 7846, 7877). (What the truth of the good of innocence is, see n. 7877.)

7920 That is in the basin. That this signifies which is in the good of the natural, is evident from the signification of a basin,...

And they shall take of the blood, and put it upon the two posts and upon the lintel, upon the houses in which they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and things unleavened; upon things bitter they shall eat it. Eat ye not of it raw, and by boiling boiled in waters, but roast with fire; its head upon its legs and upon its midst. And ye shall not leave of it until the morning; and that which is left of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it: your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; this is the passover of Jehovah.

Exodus 12: 7-11

Arcana Coelestia 7845. “And they shall take of the blood,” signifies the holy truth which is of the good of innocence; “and shall put it upon the two posts and upon the lintel,” signifies the truths and the goods of the natural; “upon the houses,” signifies those things which are of the will of good; “in which they shall eat it,” signifies enjoyment; “and they shall eat the flesh,” signifies the enjoyment of good; “in that night,” signifies along with the damnation of the evil; “roast with fire,” signifies the good which is of love; “and things unleavened,” signifies purified from all falsity; “upon things bitter,” signifies by means of the undelightful things of temptations; “they shall eat it,” signifies enjoyment; “eat ye not of it raw,” signifies that it shall not be without love; “and by boiling boiled in waters,” signifies that it shall not go forth from truth; “but roast with fire,” signifies that it shall go forth from love; “its head upon its legs and upon its midst,” signifies from the inmost to the external; “and ye shall not leave of it until the morning,” signifies the duration of this state before a state of enlightenment in heaven; “and that which is left of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire,” signifies a state of the means for the end through temptations; “and thus shall ye eat it,” signifies enjoyment in a state of separation from the evil who had infested, and preservation then; “your loins girded,” signifies in respect to the interiors; “your shoes on your feet,” signifies in respect to the exteriors; “and your staff in your hand,” signifies in respect to the intermediates; and ye shall eat it in haste,” signifies the affection of separation; “this is the passover of Jehovah,” signifies the presence of the Lord and liberation by Him.

AC 7849. The case herein is this: when those who before the Lord’s coming had been detained in custody in the lower earth (n. 6854, 6914, 7091, 7828) were to be liberated, they had to be prepared to receive the influx of good and truth from the Lord, for they were to pass through the midst of hell; and lest in that passage evils and falsities should flow in from the infernal spirits round about, they had to be prepared, so that they might then be in a full state of truth and good. But of the Lord’s Divine mercy that passage shall be spoken of in what follows. This preparation, or initiation to a state of reception of good and truth, is described by the things which were to be done between the tenth day of the month and the fourteenth day, and which were to be observed in respect to the eating of the paschal lamb.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

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Arcana Colestia 7774. Verses 4-8. And Moses said, Thus said Jehovah, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt. And every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh about to sit upon his throne, even unto the firstborn of the maidservant that is behind the millstones; and every firstborn of beast. And there shall be a great cry in the whole land of Egypt, such as there hath been none like it, nor shall be like it anymore. And to all the sons of Israel shall not a dog move his tongue, from man and even to beast; that ye may know that Jehovah doth separate between the Egyptians and Israel. And all these thy servants shall come down unto me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, Get thee out, and all the people that is at thy feet; and thereafter I will go out. And he went out from Pharaoh in the wrath of anger.

AC 7812. Besides the spirits of whom mention has now been made, there are also spirits who infuse contrary persuasions; being those who while they lived in the world were banished from the society of others, because they were evil. When they approach, there appears as it were a flying flame which glides down near the face; they place themselves beneath, at the man’s hinder parts, and speak from there toward the parts above. They speak things contrary to those which the instructing spirit from the angels has said; namely, that they need not live according to the instruction, but at their own good will and pleasure, and the like. They usually come immediately after the former spirits have departed. But the men on that earth know who and of what quality these spirits are, and therefore they pay no regard to them. Nevertheless they thus learn what evil is, and so what good is; for by evil is learned what is good, the quality of good being known from its opposite. All perception of a thing is according to reflection bearing on the distinctions that come from contraries in various ways and in various degrees.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

Progressive states, no one(state) is condemned until they know (it is seen for what it is) ...

Arcana Coelestia 7795... By these “wonders being multiplied” are signified the successive degrees of their states. The reason why there are so many degrees is in order that the evil may be confirmed in the fact that they are in evil; and also that the good may be enlightened concerning the state of those within the church who have lived evilly (n. 7633). Except for these reasons, the evil might be condemned and let down into hell without so many successive changes of states. [2] That before the evil are condemned and let down into hell they undergo so many states is altogether unknown in the world. It is believed that man is at once either condemned or saved, and that this is effected without any process; but the case is otherwise. Justice reigns there, and no one is condemned until he himself knows, and is inwardly convinced, that he is in evil, and that it is utterly impossible for him to be in heaven. His own evils are also laid open to him, according to the words of the Lord in Luke: There is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; or hidden, that shall not be known. Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in the bed chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (Luke 12:2-3; Matthew 10:26-27; Mark 4:22); and what is more, he is also warned to desist from evil; but when he cannot do this because of the dominion of evil, the power is then taken away from him of doing evil by falsifications of truth and pretenses of good, which is effected successively from one degree to another, and finally condemnation follows and the letting down into hell. This takes place when he comes into the evil of his life. [3] The evil of the life is evil of the will and of the thought thence derived; thus it is the man’s inward quality and what would be his quality outwardly if he were not hindered by the laws, and likewise by fears of the loss of gain, of honor, of reputation, and of life. This is the life which follows every man after death, but not the outward life, except that which proceeds from the inward life; for in outward things a man pretends what is contrary; and therefore when a man after death is being vastated in respect to outward things, it then plainly appears what had been his quality both in will and in thought. To this state every evil person is reduced by means of degrees of vastation, for all vastation in the other life advances from outward to inward things. From all this it can be seen what is the nature of the justice in the other life, and what the nature of the process before an evil person is condemned. From this it is evident that by “My wonders being multiplied in the land of Egypt,” is signified that the evil may be confirmed in the fact that they have been in no faith, but in evil.

Heaven and Hell 513 1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Shattering experiences do happen in the other life — that is, some people who arrive there from the world are shattered there: Arcana Coelestia 698, 7122, 7474, 9763. Upright people are shattered as regards false elements, and evil people as to true ones: 7474, 7541-7542. Shattering experiences happen to upright people so that they can shed the earthly and worldly preoccupations they acquired while they were living in the world: 7186, 9763; and so that evil and false things may be removed, providing room for the inflow of good and true things out of heaven from the Lord, and providing the ability to accept them: 7122, 9331 [9330?]. We cannot be raised into heaven before things like this are removed because they get in the way and do not agree with heavenly values: 6928, 7122, 7136 [7186?], 7541-7542, 9763. This is how people who are to be raised into heaven are prepared: 4728, 7090. It is dangerous for people to enter heaven before they have been prepared: 537-538. On the state of enlightenment and the joy of people who are emerging from shattering experiences and being raised into heaven, and on how they are accepted there: 2699, 2701, 2704. The area where shattering experiences take place is called the lower earth: 4728, 7090. A description of this area under the soles of the feet, surrounded by hells: 4940-4951, 7090; from experience: 699. The particular hells that attack and shatter more than the others: 7317, 7502, 7545. People who attack and shatter upright souls later fear and flee and avoid them: 7768. These attacks and shattering experiences take different forms depending on the stubbornness of the evil and false elements and the manner and mode in which they persist: 1106-1113. Some people undergo shattering experiences willingly: 1107. Some people are shattered by fears: 4942; some by being assailed by evil things they had done in the world and false things they had thought in the world, which gives rise to anxiety and pangs of conscience: 1106. Some are shattered by spiritual imprisonment, which is ignorance and deprivation of truth yoked to a longing to know what is true: 1109, 2694; some by dreams [reading somnium; the first edition has somnum, sleep], some by a state halfway between waking and sleep, with a description: 1108. People who have claimed credit for their deeds seem to be chopping wood: 1110. And so on, with a wide range of variety: 699.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

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7868 Verses 12-16. And I will pass through the land of Egypt in that night, and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from man and even unto beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments; I am Jehovah. And the blood shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where ye are; and I shall see the blood, and I will pass over you, and there shall not be in you a plague for a destroyer, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to Jehovah in your generations, ye shall keep it by an eternal statute. Seven days shall ye eat unleavened things; even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses; for everyone that eateth what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, even that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And there shall be for you in the first day a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no work shall be done in them, save that which every soul must eat, this only shall be done by you. And I will pass through the land of Egypt, signifies presence with those who had infested; in that night, signifies the state of their evil; and I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, signifies the damnation of those who are in faith separate from charity; from man and even unto beast, signifies their evil cupidities interior and exterior; and on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments, signifies their falsities which are to be damned; I am Jehovah, signifies the Lord, that He is the only God; and the blood, signifies the truth of the good of innocence; shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where ye are, signifies that it is a testifying of the will of good; and I shall see the blood, signifies the noticing of this truth by those who inflict the damnation; I will pass over you, signifies that it will flee from thence; and there shall not be in you a plague for a destroyer, signifies that damnation from the hells shall not flow in; when I smite the land of Egypt, signifies when they are damned who are in faith separate from charity; and this day shall be unto you for a memorial, signifies the quality of this state in worship; and ye shall keep it a feast to Jehovah, signifies the worship of the Lord on account of liberation from damnation; in your generations, signifies in those things which are of faith and charity; ye shall keep it by an eternal statute, signifies the worship of the Lord according to the order of heaven on the part of those who are of the spiritual church; seven days, signifies what is holy; shall ye eat things unleavened, signifies purification from falsities; even on the first day ye shall cause leaven to cease from your houses, signifies that no falsity whatever must be in the good; for everyone that eateth what is leavened, signifies who appropriates to himself falsity; even that soul shall be cut off from Israel, signifies that he shall be separated from those who are of the spiritual church, and that he shall be damned; from the first day until the seventh day, signifies a full holy state; and there shall be for you in the first day a holy convocation, signifies that in the beginning all shall be together; and in the seventh day a holy convocation, signifies so at the end of the state; no work shall be done in them, signifies a keeping back then from earthly and worldly things; save that which every soul must eat, signifies when spiritual and celestial good is appropriated; this only shall be done by you, signifies that to these only they shall then pay attention.

7869 And I will pass through the land of Egypt. That this signifies presence among those who had infested, is evident from the signification of to pass through, when through a land and by Jehovah, as being presence; and from the signification of the Egyptians, as being those who had infested those who were of the spiritual church (n. 6692, 7097), here denoted by the land of Egypt.

7870 In that night. That this signifies the state of their evil, is evident from the signification of night, as being a state when there is nothing but evil and falsity; for night is opposed to day, and thick darkness to light, and by day and light is signified when there is truth and good; consequently by night is also signified the last time of the church, for then, because there is no faith and charity, falsities and evils reign (see n. 2353, 6000); by night is also signified total devastation (n. 7776), and likewise damnation (n. 7851). From all this it is evident that the state of those who are in hell is called night-not that the darkness of night prevails with them, for they see one another; but because the state of truth and good which is in the heavens is called day, consequently the state of falsity and evil is called night. Moreover, there is thick darkness there when anything of light from heaven flows in; for then their light from which they see is dissipated and becomes thick darkness.[2] The light from which they see is indeed derived from the light from the Lord through heaven, for in the other life there is no light from any other source; but this light with those in hell is received by the capacity they have of understanding truth. This capacity of being able to understand remains with them, as it does with every man, however much they are in evil and falsity; but when that heavenly light passes from this capacity into the will, so that they do not wish to understand, and from this passes into evil and falsity, then the heavenly light with them is turned into a light which is like the light from a coal fire; and this light, as already said, is turned into dense thick darkness by the light of heaven when it flows in. (That in the hells there is such a light as is that from a coal fire, see n. 1528, 3340, 4418, 4531; and that this light is turned into thick darkness at the presence of the light of heaven, n. 1783, 3412, 4533, 5057, 5058, 6000.) From all this it can be seen that in the other life everyone has light according as his capacity of understanding is instructed in truths from good, or in falsities from evil.

7871 And I will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt. That this signifies the damnation of those who are in faith separate from charity, is evident from the signification of smiting, as being damnation; for to smite is to kill or put to death, and by death, in the spiritual sense, is signified damnation (see n. 6119); and from the signification of the firstborn, when predicated of the Egyptians, by whom are represented those who are in falsities from evil, as being faith separated from charity (n. 3325, 7039, 7766, 7778, 7779). That firstborn, in the genuine sense, when said of the spiritual church, denotes the faith which is of charity (see n. 367, 2435, 3325, 3494, 6344, 7035); consequently in the opposite sense the firstborn denotes faith without charity.

7872 From man and even unto beast. That this signifies their evil cupidities interior and exterior, is evident from the signification of from man and even unto beast, as being the affection of good interior and exterior (see n. 7424, 7523); for by man is signified the affection of interior good, and by beast the affection of exterior good. Hence in the opposite sense, as here, where the firstborn of the Egyptians are treated of, evil affections are signified, that is, cupidities interior and exterior. (That beasts denote good affections, and in the opposite sense, evil affections or cupidities, see n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 719, 776, 1823, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198.)

7873 And on all the gods of Egypt I will do judgments. That this signifies their falsities, which are to be damned, is evident from the signification of gods, as being falsities (of which presently); and from the signification of doing judgments, as being to be damned; for to judge, or do judgments, is either for life or for death; for life it denotes salvation, for death it denotes damnation. In the Word gods are often mentioned. When the angels are so called, truths are signified (see n. 4295, 4402, 7268); hence in the opposite sense by the gods of the nations, are signified falsities (n. 4402, 4544). That truths are called gods is because truth proceeds from the Divine Itself, and in itself is Divine; consequently they who receive it are called gods-not that they are gods, but that the truth which is with them is Divine. Hence it is that in the original tongue God is called Elohim, in the plural. The Divine Itself is the Divine good, but that which proceeds from it is the Divine truth, which fills the universal heaven. As then god denotes truth, therefore in the opposite sense it denotes falsity.

7874 I am Jehovah. That this signifies the Lord, that He is the only God, can be seen from what was shown above (n. 7401, 7444, 7544, 7598, 7636).

7875 And the blood. That this signifies the truth of the good of innocence, is evident from the signification of the blood of the lamb, as being the truth of the good of innocence (as above, n. 7846).

7876 Shall be to you for a sign upon the houses where ye are. That this signifies that it is a testifying of the will of good, is evident from the signification of being for a sign, as being a testifying; and from the signification of houses, as being that which is of the will of good (see n. 7848).

7877 And I shall see the blood. That this signifies the noticing of this truth by those who inflict the damnation, is evident from the signification of to see, as being to understand and to notice (see n. 2150, 2325, 2807, 3764, 4403-4421, 4567, 4723, 5400), that it denotes a noticing by those who inflict the damnation, follows below; and from the signification of blood,...

And Jehovah said unto Moses and unto Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month is to you the head of the months; this is the first to you in the months of the year. Speak ye unto all the assemblage of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month they shall take to them everyone a lamb* for the house of his fathers, a lamb for the house; and if the house is too little for a lamb, then let him take he and his neighbor near unto his house in the number of the souls; everyone for the mouth of his eating shall ye count for the lamb. A lamb unblemished, a male, a son of a year shall be for you; ye shall take it from the lambs and from the she-goats;** and it shall be for you to be kept even unto the fourteenth day of this month; and the whole congregation of the assemblage of Israel shall kill it between the two evenings. 

Exodus 12: 1-6

* The word “lamb” here (Latin pecud-, Hebrew seh) must be understood to mean the young of both sheep and goats, as defined in verse 5, and also by Swedenborg himself in n. 8020. Thus it is either a lamb or a kid. We have no word in English that will precisely render either the Hebrew term or the Latin one. In verse however, the word “lambs,” near the end of the verse, is agnus in the Latin, and keves in the Hebrew, and thus is correctly rendered “lambs.” [Reviser].** Latin capra, Hebrew ez, a “she-goat,” the mother being taken for her little one. Both “kids” and “she-goats” signify “the innocence of the external or natural man, thus the truth and the good of innocence” (Arcana Coelestia n. 3518, subdivisions 3 and 4). [Reviser.]

Arcana Coelestia 7814. Man has been so created that he can look upward, or above himself; and can also look downward, or below himself. To look above himself is to look to his neighbor, to his country, to the church, to heaven, especially to the Lord; but to look below himself is to look to the earth, to the world, and especially to himself.

AC 7816. To look above oneself is to be uplifted by the Lord; for no one can look above himself, unless he is uplifted by Him who is above. But to look below himself is of man, because then he does not suffer himself to be uplifted.

AC7822 THE CONTENTS. The subject treated of in this chapter in the internal sense is the liberation of those who are of the spiritual church, and the damnation of those who are in faith separate from Charity. The damnation of these latter and the liberation of the former are represented by the passover, and the states in respect to charity and faith of those who are liberated, by the things to be observed on the days of the passover.

AC 7823 In the supreme sense by the passover is represented the damnation of the unfaithful and the liberation of the faithful by the Lord, when He had been glorified. The quality of the state of the faithful at that time, and also what its quality would be afterward, both in the universal and in every particular, is described in this supreme sense by the statutes of the passover.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

And Moses said, Thus said Jehovah, About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt. And every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die ... Exodus 11:4

The different experinces or states of mind of proprium

Arcana Coelestia 141. Countless things can be said about the proprium — about what the proprium is like in the case of the bodily-minded and worldly man, what it is like in the case of the spiritual man, and what in the case of the celestial man. With the bodily-minded and worldly man the proprium is his all. He is unaware of anything else but the proprium. And, as has been stated, if he were to lose his proprium he would think that he was dying. With the spiritual man the proprium takes on a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and that He confers wisdom and intelligence, and consequently the ability to think and to act, it is more a matter of something he says and not so much something he believes. The celestial man however acknowledges that the Lord is the life of all, who confers the ability to think and act, because he perceives that this is so. Nor does he ever desire the proprium. Nevertheless even though he does not desire it the Lord grants him a proprium which is joined to him with a complete perception of what is good and true, and with complete happiness. Angels possess a proprium such as this, and at the same time utmost peace and tranquillity, for their proprium has within it things that are the Lord's, who is governing their proprium, that is, governing them by means of their proprium. This proprium is utterly heavenly, whereas the proprium of the bodily-minded man is hellish. But more about the proprium further on.

What is damned

AC 7795[2] That before the evil are condemned and let down into hell they undergo so many states is altogether unknown in the world. It is believed that man is at once either condemned(damned) or saved, and that this is effected without any process; but the case is otherwise. Justice reigns there, and no one is condemned(damned) until he himself knows, and is inwardly convinced, that he is in evil, and that it is utterly impossible for him to be in heaven. His own evils are also laid open to him, according to the words of the Lord in Luke: There is nothing covered up, that shall not be revealed; or hidden, that shall not be known. Wherefore whatsoever ye have said in the darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in the bed chambers shall be proclaimed upon the housetops (Luke 12:2-3; Matthew 10:26-27; Mark 4:22);

He who loses his life...

The person who is searching and then finding his own soul (his own will, his intellect, his emotions and his self-life as his goals; his self-seeking, self-possessed persona and identity), will be repeatedly losing it. And yet the person loosing-away or destroying his soul (his own will, his self-centered life of a self-seeking, self-possessed persona and identity, his emotions, his plans and goals) – on account of Me – will be progressively finding and discovering it [i.e., his true self, identity and purpose]. Matthew 10:39 (Jonathan Mitchell New Testament Translation)

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.

You can find a downloadable version of The Workbook here...

INTRODUCTION

A New Way of Being

Logopraxis is Practical Christianity and offers a way of relating to Sacred Texts that is focused on the examination of our mental life with a view to repentance and applying them to life. Since Logopraxis is an experiential understanding of the relationship between the Word and the inner processes involved in the regeneration of the human mind, understanding our practice is essential; and hopefully this Workbook will be helpful to those actively involved in doing this work. The Logopraxis approach for engaging with the Word is process-orientated and continues to be an experiment for each of us, in how to be in spiritual community through shared, lived experience of how the Word works in our minds and lives. 

Logopraxis seeks to reorientate our relationship with the Word, and invites us to take the Lord’s principles and work with them with a view to confirm their truth in our own experience. The individual practise of gathering material from personal application of the Word is not something done for ourselves alone, but always with a view to supporting our Logopraxis Life Group, each of us offering a direct experience of practicing the Word which creates conditions that open the possibility for the ‘collective human’ of the Church to come into being, in whom the Lord dwells. In this way, working creatively and interactively with the Workbook can be another form of prayer – allowing for the Word to broaden our awareness of the Life it contains, and how it lives in others.

This new way of being relies on a method of work that is outlined in detail in the following sections, where the practice of placing the Word at the centre of our individual and collective spiritual life is supported; where spiritual literacy is developed and enhanced; where we accept that everything that arises in our life does so under the Lord’s Providence, offering material for work; and where the method asks us to submit to the authority of the Word as the Lord, in order to identify, guide and direct our inner work.  

Spiritual Literacy

Thinking spiritually, or practising spiritual literacy skills, underpins all of our Logopraxis work, and relies on the tools detailed throughout the Workbook, particularly in Step 3, How to Meet and the Appendix. It refers to the ability to ‘read ’what presents into our conscious awareness, in the light of what the Word teaches is true. In cultivating these skills, we seek to observe the spiritual principles within the literal meaning of the Text, and from these to then recognise states of thought or feeling that arise in us while engaging with the Word, or while people in our Life Group share their experience with the Word.

Our day-to-day activities and relationships are the field in which our inner reactions and responses can be observed, and seen to illustrate what the Word teaches regarding the nature of self and the nature of the Divine, of the Lord. Natural or material thinking is dominated by worldly concerns that involve people (including ourselves), places, events, memories of the past, or projections regarding the future - and in general terms, this mode of thought functions from the belief that what the senses perceive are ‘real ’things. Spiritual thinking is not concerned with that but rather is focused on those things that belong to our states of mind: the relations of goods and truths, thoughts and affections, motivations and intentions, beliefs and attitudes, shunning evils and falsities, and the activity of the hellish proprium and the hells versus what is of the Lord and heaven.

So, the practise of spiritual literacy skills involves working to remove the natural material world elements of person, place, time, and space from the content of what we are reading or listening to, and to hold the intention to see how what’s being offered might be framed in a way that captures the universal aspects of spiritual process. This divided attention of observing both internal and external states while engaging with the Word is a valuable tool in stilling the mind and helps us to be consciously present to what arises both in ourselves and in our Life Group. When universal aspects are shared, others are then more easily able to resonate with them in relation to their own work with the Word, and to see how it is true for the processes they personally experience. When this is seen, it more fully supports the Lord’s end - which is the regeneration of the human mind. In this way, the good of the Word as the Lord is made more visible in our midst.

THE LOGOPRAXIS CYCLE

The Framework

By engaging with truths in an effort to examine the quality of our mental life, we open ourselves to experiencing the transforming power of the Word first-hand, and to that end Logopraxis work begins with a set reading. The focus Text is broken down into a number of short readings, each of which forming the basis for a Logopraxis session. Participants work through their selected reading over a two-week cycle, noting their insights and reflections while moving through the following six steps:

Read and Note

Review and Select

Creating a Task

The Task into Practise

Reflect

Prepare a Submission

If we can approach the Text with an openness to receiving what it is the Lord has to say to us in this way, then what we observe, what is reflected back, what catches our attention, what we are drawn to - will give us an indication about where our specific work lies in terms of our spiritual regeneration.

Arcana Colestia 141. Countless things can be said about the proprium - about what the proprium is like in the case of the bodily-minded and worldly man, what it is like in the case of the spiritual man, and what in the case of the celestial man. With the bodily-minded and worldly man the proprium is his all. He is unaware of anything else but the proprium. And, as has been stated, if he were to lose his proprium he would think that he was dying. With the spiritual man the proprium takes on a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and that He confers wisdom and intelligence, and consequently the ability to think and to act, it is more a matter of something he says and not so much something he believes. The celestial man however acknowledges that the Lord is the life of all, who confers the ability to think and act, because he perceives that this is so. Nor does he ever desire the proprium. Nevertheless even though he does not desire it the Lord grants him a proprium which is joined to him with a complete perception of what is good and true, and with complete happiness. Angels possess a proprium such as this, and at the same time utmost peace and tranquillity, for their proprium has within it things that are the Lord's, who is governing their proprium, that is, governing them by means of their proprium. This proprium is utterly heavenly, whereas the proprium of the bodily-minded man is hellish. But more about the proprium further on.

Heaven and Hell 8. Everyone in the heavens knows, believes and even perceives that he wills and does nothing good from himself; and that he thinks and believes nothing of truth from himself; but from the Divine, thus from the Lord, and that the good and truth which are from himself are not good and truth because they have no life from the Divine in them. The angels of the inmost heaven also clearly perceive and feel the influx, and the more of it they receive, the more they seem to themselves to be in heaven, because the more are they in love and faith and in the light of intelligence and wisdom and in heavenly joy therefrom. Since all those [states] proceed from the Divine of the Lord and in these the angels have their heaven, it is clear that it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven, and not the angels from anything of their proprium.

Conjugial Love 270. The third account: Awakening one morning, I fell to thinking about some questions having to do with conjugial love, coming finally to this one: In what region of the human mind is truly conjugial love seated, and in what region, therefore, coldness in marriage? I knew that the human mind is divided into three regions, one above the other, and that natural love resides in the lowest region, spiritual love in the next higher one, and celestial love in the highest. I knew also that in each region there is a marriage of good and truth, and because good has to do with love, and truth with wisdom, that in each region there is a marriage of love and wisdom; moreover, that this marriage is the same as a marriage of the will and understanding, since the will is the recipient vessel of love, and the understanding the recipient vessel of wisdom. [2] While I was deep in thought on this question, I suddenly saw two swans flying towards the north, and presently two birds of paradise flying towards the south, and then two turtledoves flying in the east. Following their flight with my eyes, I next saw the two swans veer their course from the north to the east, likewise the two birds of paradise from the south, until they met up with the pair of turtledoves in the east. Then together they flew towards a certain lofty palace there, rising in the midst of olive trees, palms and beeches. The palace had three rows of windows, one above another; and as I watched, I saw the birds fly into the palace - the swans through windows standing open in the lowest row, the birds of paradise through windows open in the middle row, and the turtledoves through windows open in the highest row. [3] After I witnessed this event, an angel stood beside me and said, Do you understand the things you have seen? A little, I replied. The palace, said the angel, represents the abodes of conjugial love as these exist in human minds. Its highest level - into which the turtledoves disappeared - represents the highest region of the mind, where conjugial love resides in the goodness of love together with its wisdom. The middle level - into which the birds of paradise disappeared - represents the intermediate region, where conjugial love resides in a love of truth together with its intelligence. And the lowest level - into which the swans disappeared - represents the lowest region of the mind, where conjugial love resides in a love of what is just and right together with its knowledge. [4] These degrees are also symbolized by the three pairs of birds - the two turtledoves symbolizing conjugial love in the highest region, the two birds of paradise conjugial love in the intermediate region, and the two swans conjugial love in the lowest region. The three kinds of trees surrounding the palace - the olive trees, palms and beeches - symbolize the same. In heaven we call the highest region of the mind celestial, the intermediate one spiritual, and the lowest one natural. And we conceive of them as being like apartments in a house, one above another, with steps going up from one to the next, like stairs. Moreover, on each level there are as it were two sets of rooms, one for love, one for wisdom, with a bedroom, so to speak, in front, where they come together in bed - love with its wisdom, or good with its truth, or to say the same thing, the will with its intellect. In such a palace, all the mysteries of conjugial love become visible as though in effigy. [5] Hearing this, being fired with a desire to see one, I asked whether a person might go in and look at the palace there, since it was a representational one. The angel replied that only angels in the third heaven could, because for them every representation of love and wisdom becomes real. What I have related to you I have heard from them, he said, including as well the following, that truly conjugial love resides in the highest region, in the midst of mutual love in the chamber or apartment of the will, and at the same time in the midst of perceptions of wisdom in the chamber or apartment of the intellect; and these come together in bed in a bedroom that is located in front on the east side.

Divine Love and Wisdom 114. Not only is the Lord in heaven but He also is heaven itself, because love and wisdom make the angel, and these two with angels are the Lord's. Hence it follows that the Lord is heaven. For angels are not angels from their proprium. Their proprium is exactly like that of a man and this is evil. That an angel's proprium is such is because all angels have been men, and that proprium adheres to them from birth. It is only removed, and to the extent that it is removed, to that extent they receive love and wisdom, that is, the Lord in themselves. Anyone can see if only he will raise his understanding a little that the Lord can dwell with angels only in what is His, that is, in what is His Very Own, which is Love and Wisdom, and certainly not in the angels' proprium which is evil. Hence it is that so far as evil is removed, so far the Lord is in them, and so far they are angels. The very angelic itself of heaven is the Divine Love and Wisdom. This Divine is called the angelic when it is in angels. From this again it is clear that angels are angels from the Lord, and not from themselves; consequently, the same is true regarding heaven. 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to maintain focus on understanding the Text’s application to the inner life while reinforcing key LP principles highlighted in the exchanges.