Logopraxis

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6672. Verses 15-21. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah; and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him; and if it be a daughter, then she shall live. And the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, and they kept the boys alive. And the king of Egypt called the midwives, and said to them, Wherefore do ye this word, and keep the boys alive? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are living, and they have brought forth before the midwife comes unto them. And God did well to the midwives; and the people was multiplied and became very numerous. And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that He made them houses. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women, signifies influx from the separated memory-knowledges into the natural, where the true memory-knowledges of the church are; of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah, signifies the quality and state of the natural where memory-knowledges are; and he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools, signifies a discernment of the truth and good flowing in from the internal into memory-knowledges; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him, signifies if it is truth, that they should destroy it in any way they could; and if it be a daughter, then she shall live, signifies that they should not do so if it is good; and the midwives feared God, signifies that true memory-knowledges were guarded because by the Divine; and did not as the king of Egypt spoke to them, signifies that it was not done as they who were in falsities intended; and they kept the boys alive, signifies that truths being of good were preserved; and the king of Egypt called the midwives, signifies that they who were in falsities conspired against those who were in true memory-knowledges in the natural; and said unto them, Wherefore do ye this word, and keep the boys alive? signifies anger because truths were not destroyed; and the midwives said unto Pharaoh, signifies a discernment of these true memory-knowledges in the natural; Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women, signifies that the memory-knowledges of the church are not like the memory-knowledges opposed to them; for they are living, signifies that spiritual life is in them; and they have brought forth before the midwife comes unto them, signifies that the natural has no knowledge before they have life; and God did well to the midwives, signifies that the natural was blessed by the Divine; and the people was multiplied and became very numerous, signifies that truths therein were brought forth continually, and so increased; and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, signifies because true memory-knowledges were guarded by the Divine; that He made them houses, signifies that they were disposed into the heavenly form.

6673. And the king of Egypt said to the midwives of the Hebrew women. That this signifies influx from the separated memory-knowledges into the natural where the true memory-knowledges of the church are, is evident from the signification of saying, as being influx (see n. 5743, 6291); from the signification of the king of Egypt, as being separated memory-knowledges which are opposed to the truths of the church (n. 6651); from the signification of midwives, as being the natural (n. 4588, 4921); and from the signification of the Hebrews, as being the things of the church (n. 5136, 5236); thus also true memory-knowledges which are of the church. That midwives denote the natural, is because the natural receives that which flows in from the internal, and thus as it were acts as a midwife.

6674. Of whom the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. That this signifies the quality and state of the natural where memory-knowledges are, is evident from the signification of name, as being quality (see n. 144, 145, 1896, 2009), and also state (n. 1946, 2643, 3422, 4298); for all names in the Word signify things, and comprise in sum total all things that belong to the subject that is being treated of, thus its quality and state; here therefore the names Shiphrah and Puah signify the quality and state of the natural where true memory-knowledges are, because this is the subject treated of, as is plain from what precedes (n. 6673).

[2] He who does not know that a name denotes the quality and state of the subject being treated of, can believe that where a name is mentioned, the name merely is meant; thus when the Lord speaks of His name, that it is merely the name, when yet it is the quality of the worship, that is, everything of faith and charity by which He is to be worshiped, as in these passages:

Where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matt. 18:20);

here the name is not meant, but worship from faith and charity.

As many as received, to them gave He power to be the sons of God, to them that believe in His name (John 1:12);

here also by name is meant faith and charity, whereby the Lord is worshiped.

These things have been written that ye may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye may have life in His name (John 20:31);

where the sense is the same.

[3] Again:

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:13-14);

Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it you (John 15:16; 16:23-24).

Here it is not meant that they should ask the Father in the Lord's name, but that they should ask the Lord Himself; for there is no way open to the Divine Good which is the Father (see n. 3704), except through the Lord's Divine Human, as is also known in the churches; and therefore to ask the Lord Himself is to ask according to the truths of faith, and whatever is asked in accordance with these truths is granted, as the Lord Himself says in the previous passage from John:

If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it (John 14:14).

This can be seen further from the fact that the Lord is the name of Jehovah, of which thus in Moses:

I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way; beware of His faces, and hear His voice, and do not provoke Him, because My name is in the midst of Him (Exod. 23:20-21).

[4] In John:

Father, glorify Thy name: there came forth a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John 12:28).

I have manifested Thy name to the men whom thou hast given Me out of the world. I have made known unto them Thy name, and I will make it known; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:6, 26).

From these passages it is plain that the Lord as to the Divine Human is the name of Jehovah, or His whole quality; hence all Divine worship is from the Divine Human, and it is this which is to be worshiped; for thus is worshiped the Divine Itself, to which no thought reaches in any other way, and if no thought, no conjunction.

[5] That the name of the Lord is everything of faith and love by which the Lord is to be worshiped is still more plain from the following passages:

Ye shall be hated of all for My name's sake (Matt. 10:22).

Whoso shall receive one such little child in My name receiveth me (Matt. 18:5).

Everyone that hath left houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for My name's sake; shall receive a hundredfold (Matt. 19:29).

They cried, Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Matt. 21:9).

Verily I say to you, For ye shall not see Me until the time shall come when ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord (Luke 13:35).

Whosoever shall give you to drink a cup of water in My name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward (Mark 9:41).

The seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons obey us in Thy name. Jesus said to them, In this rejoice not, that the spirits obey you, but rather rejoice that your names have been written in heaven (Luke 10:17, 20);

names written in heaven are not names, but the quality of their faith and charity.

[6] So it is with names written in the book of life in the following passages:

Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. He that overcometh shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before the Father and before His angels (Rev. 3:4-5).

He that entereth in by the door is the Shepherd of the sheep. He calleth His own sheep by name (John 10:2-3).

Jehovah said unto Moses, I know thee by name (Exod. 33:12, 17).

Many believed in His name, when they saw His signs which He did (John 2:23).

He that believeth in Him is not judged, but he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed in the name of the Only-begotten Son of God (John 3:18).

They shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west (Isa. 59:19).

All people walk everyone in the name of his God, and we will walk in the name of Jehovah our God (Micah 4:5).

[7] In Moses:

They were to worship Jehovah God in the place which He should choose, and should put His name (Deut. 21:5, 11, 14).

Also in Isa. 18:7; Jer. 7:12; and in many other passages; as Isa. 26:8, 13; 41:25; 43:7; 49:1; 50:10; 52:5; 62:2; Jer. 23:27; 26:16; Ezek. 20:14, 44; 36:21-23; Micah 5:4; Mal. 1:11; Deut. 10:8; Rev. 2:17; 3:12; 13:8; 14:11; 15:2; 17:8; 19:12, 13, 16; 22:3-4.

[8] That the name of Jehovah denotes everything by which He is worshiped,...

The Wordly, Spiritual and Celestial man's Own(Proprium)

AC 141. Innumerable things might be said about man’s Own(Proprium) in describing its nature with the corporeal and worldly man, with the spiritual man, and with the celestial man.

With the corporeal and worldly man, his Own(Proprium) is his all, he knows of nothing else than his Own(Proprium), and imagines, as before said, that if he were to lose this Own(Proprium) he would perish.

With the spiritual man also his Own(Proprium) has a similar appearance, for although he knows that the Lord is the life of all, and gives wisdom and understanding, and consequently the power to think and to act, yet this knowledge is rather the profession of his lips than the belief of his heart.

But the celestial man discerns that the Lord is the life of all and gives the power to think and to act, for he perceives that it is really so. He never desires his Own(Proprium), nevertheless an Own(Proprium) is given him by the Lord, which is conjoined with all perception of what is good and true, and with all happiness. The angels are in such an Own(Proprium), and are at the same time in the highest peace and tranquility, for in their Own(Proprium) are those things which are the Lord’s, who governs their Own(Proprium), or them by means of their Own(Proprium). This Own(Proprium) is the veriest celestial itself, whereas that of the corporeal man is infernal. But concerning this Own(Proprium) more hereafter.

 

Man's Own(Proprium) - the Infernal/Hellish proprium

AE 483(16)... Man's proprium resides in the sensual and natural man, therefore conclusions formed from these alone are formed from the proprium, or from man's own intelligence; for the Divine flows in through the spiritual man into the natural, but not into the natural when the spiritual above it is closed, whereas the spiritual man is opened by means of truths, and by a life according to them.

AC 154. Nothing evil or false can possibly exist that is not the proprium or derived from the proprium. For man's proprium is evil itself, which means that man is nothing but evil and falsity. This has become clear to me from the fact that when the contents of the proprium are presented to view in the world of spirits they look so ugly that nobody can paint any uglier picture. (Those contents vary however according to the nature of the proprium.) As a result when anyone is offered a glimpse of the contents of his proprium he is horrified at himself and wishes to run as though from the devil. On the other hand contents of the proprium which have been given life by the Lord look beautiful and attractive, varying according to the life to which a celestial quality that is the Lord's can be added. Indeed people who have received charity, that is, been made alive by it, look like boys and girls with very attractive faces. And people who have received innocence look like naked small children adorned in different ways with garlands of flowers twined around their breasts, and precious stones in their hair, living and playing in brightest light, with a sense of happiness stemming from the depths of their being.

AE 323 The reason why death signifies the love of man's proprium, is, because death signifies the extinction of spiritual life, and thence natural life separated from spiritual life (as above, 321), and this life is the life of the love of man's proprium; for from it man loves nothing but himself and the world, and thence also he loves all kinds of evils, which, from the love of that life, are delightful to him.

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 145. Because acting from freedom appears to man as if from his own proprium, therefore heavenly freedom may also be called the heavenly proprium, and infernal freedom may be called the infernal proprium. The infernal proprium is that into which man is born, and this is evil; but the heavenly proprium is that into which man is reformed, and this is good.

 

The Heavenly Own(Proprium)

HH 591... The good that is from heaven is all from the Lord; for the angels in the heavens are all withheld from their proprium, and are kept in the Lord's proprium, which is Good Itself. But the spirits in the hells are all in their proprium, and everyone's proprium is nothing but evil; and because it is nothing but evil it is hell.

AC 8497... goodness and truth which flow in from the Lord are joined together and so to speak made the person's own. This is what the joining of heaven, that is, of those in heaven, to the Lord is like. The words 'as if from what was their own' are used because the good of faith and charity can never be imparted to man or angel to be actually his own, for men and angels are merely recipients, or forms properly adjusted to receive life from the Lord, and so goodness and truth from Him. True life comes from no other source; and since life comes from the Lord it cannot be more than what seems to be a person's own. Those who abide in the Lord however clearly perceive that life flows in, consequently that goodness and truth do so since these are contained in that life. The reason why life seems to be a person's own is that in His Divine Love the Lord wishes to impart and join to a person all that is His, and so far as it can be done He does join it. What is then the person's own, yet is imparted to him by the Lord, is called a heavenly self or proprium,

 

Fear and resistance initially arises when what is higher approaches ...

Arcana Coelestia 6497. Genesis Chapter 50:14-21 . And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, and they said, Peradventure Joseph will hate us, and returning will return unto us all the evil that we requited to him. And they commanded Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, Thus shall ye say unto Joseph, I pray forgive I pray the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, because they requited evil to thee; and now forgive I pray the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before him; and they said, Behold we are thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear ye not; for am I in God’s stead? And you thought evil against me, but God thought it for good, in order to do as it is this day, to keep alive a great people. And now fear ye not: I will sustain you, and your babes. And he comforted them, and spake upon their heart.

AC 6559...How the case is with returning evil, or with penalties, in the spiritual world, must be told, because from this the internal sense of these words is plain. If evil spirits do any evil in the world of spirits beyond what they have imbued themselves with by their life in the world, punishers are instantly at hand and chastise them in exact accordance with the degree in which they pass these limits; for it is a law in the other life that no one must become worse than he had been in this world. They who are being punished cannot tell how these chastisers know that the evil is beyond what they had imbued themselves with; but they are informed that there is such an order in the other life that the very evil is attended with its penalty, so that the evil of the deed is wholly conjoined with the evil of the penalty, that is to say, its penalty is in the evil itself; and therefore that it is according to order for the requiters to be instantly at hand.

[2] This is what happens when evil spirits do evil in the world of spirits; but in their own hell they chastise one another according to the evil which they had by act imbued themselves with in this world; for this evil they bring with them into the other life. From all this it is evident how it is to be understood that the penalty impends according to the desert, which is signified by the words, “returning he will return unto us all the evil that we requited to him.” But as regards good spirits, if perchance they speak or do evil, they are not punished, but pardoned, and also excused; for their end is not to speak or do evil, and they know that such things are excited in them by hell, so that they have not come to pass by their fault; and the same is also observed from their resistance, and afterward from their grief.

 

The Awakening Series

Heaven and Hell. 491. There are three states that man passes through after death before he comes into either heaven or hell. The first state is the state of his exteriors, the second state the state of his interiors, and the third his state of preparation. These states man passes through in the world of spirits.

First State: HH 498. This first state of man after death continues with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year; but seldom with anyone beyond a year; for a shorter or longer time with each one differently in accordance with the agreement or disagreement of his interiors with his exteriors. For with everyone the exteriors and interiors must make one and correspond. In the spiritual world no one is permitted to think and will in one way and speak and act in another. Everyone there will be an image of his own affection or his own love, and therefore such as he is interiorly, such he will be exteriorly; and for this reason a spirit's exteriors are first disclosed and reduced to order that they may serve the interiors as a corresponding plane.

Second State: HH 499 The second state of man after death is called the state of his interiors, because he is then let into the interiors of his mind, that is, of his will and thought; while his exteriors, which he had been in during his first state, are laid asleep.

Third State: HH 512. The third state of man after death, that is, of his spirit, is a state of instruction. This state is for those who come into heaven and become angels....

Here is a Round 3 recording of a general overview of the transition from Genesis to Exodus, along with some definitions of terms like: church, charity and the 'good of ...'.

 

The Contents Summaries

Here also are two documents which contain the extracted portions of the text from the Arcana Coelesita titled The Contents.  This may be something that you find useful in offering a sense of the general movement of the processes that are described over the chapters of Genesis and Exodus.

Genesis AC - 'The Contents' Summaries PDF

Exodus AC - 'The Contents' Summaries PDF

The natural mind cannot come up with anything on its own 

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture115. But as there are those who maintain, and have confirmed themselves in the opinion, that without a Word it is possible for a man to know of the existence of God, and of heaven and hell, and of all the other things taught by the Word, and as they thereby weaken the authority and holiness of the Word, if not with the lips, yet in the heart, therefore it is not practicable to deal with them from the Word, but only from rational light, for they do not believe in the Word, but in themselves. Investigate the matter from rational light, and you will find that in man there are two faculties of life called the understanding and the will, and that the understanding is subject to the will, but not the will to the understanding, for the understanding merely teaches and shows the way. Make further investigation, and you will find that man's will is what is his own [proprium], and that this, regarded in itself, is nothing but evil, and that from this springs what is false in the understanding.

[2] Having discovered these facts you will see that from himself a man does not desire to understand anything but that which comes from the own of his will, and also that it is not possible for him to do so unless there is some other source from which he may know it. From the own of his will a man does not desire to understand anything except that which relates to himself and to the world; everything above this is to him in thick darkness. So that when he sees the sun, the moon, the stars, and chances to think about their origin, how is it possible for him to think otherwise than that they exist of themselves? Can he raise his thoughts higher than do many of the learned in the world who acknowledge only nature, in spite of the fact that from the Word they know of the creation of all things by God? What then would these same have thought if they had known nothing from the Word?

[3] Do you believe that the wise men of old, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, and others, who wrote about God and the immortality of the soul, got this from themselves [proprio]? Not so, but from others who had it by tradition from those who first knew it from the [Ancient] Word. Neither do the writers on natural theology get any such matters from themselves. They merely confirm by rational arguments what they have already become acquainted with from the church in which is the Word; and there may be some among them who confirm without believing it.

116... If man had been able of himself to know that there is a God and a life after death, why has he not known that after death a man is still a man? Why does he believe that his soul or spirit is like a breath of air, or like the ether, and that it has no eyes with which to see, nor ears with which to hear, nor mouth with which to speak, until it shall have been conjoined and combined with its carcass and with its skeleton? Assume then the existence of a doctrine of worship that has been hatched solely from rational light, and will not that doctrine be that a man's own self is to be worshiped? For ages this is what has been done, and is done at the present day by some who know from the Word that God alone ought to be worshiped. From what is man's own, any other kind of worship, even that of the sun and moon, is impossible.

The Lord alone has Proprium

Arcana Coelestia 149 [2] Man's proprium when viewed from heaven looks just like something bony, lifeless, and utterly misshapen, and so in itself something dead. But once it has received life from the Lord it appears as something having flesh. For man's proprium is something altogether dead, though it has the appearance to him of being something; indeed it appears to be everything. Whatever is living within him comes from the Lord's life; and if this were to leave him, he would fall down dead as a stone. For he is purely an organ of life, though the nature of the organ determines that of the life-affection. The Lord alone possesses Proprium. By His Proprium He has redeemed man and by His Proprium saves him. The Lord's Proprium is Life, and from His Proprium man's proprium, which in itself is dead, is given life.

The 'chinks' that arise when we think from the senses

6564...The Lord continually flows in through man’s internal with good and truth, good giving life and its heat, which is love, and truth giving enlightenment and its light, which is faith. But when this influx advances further, namely, into the exteriors, with the evil it is resisted and rejected, or is perverted or stifled; and then according to the rejection, perversion, or stifling, the interiors are closed, an entrance only remaining open here and there as through chinks round about; and from this there remains to the man the capacity to think and will, but against truth and good. This closing penetrates toward the exteriors more and more, according to the life of evil, and the consequent persuasion of falsity, and this down to the sensuous degree, from which then comes the thought. Pleasures and cravings then carry everything off. In such a state are those who are in the hells; for all considerations of what is honorable and good for the sake of gain, honor, and reputation, are taken away from the evil who come into the other life, and then they are in what is sensuous.

It will feel like self compulsion

6567...So long as the mere truth which is of faith predominates with a man, and not the good which is of charity, so long the natural or external man has not been made submissive to the spiritual or internal man. But as soon as good has the dominion, the natural or external man submits himself, and then the man becomes a spiritual church. That such is the case is known from the fact that the man does from affection what the truth teaches, and that he does not act contrary to this affection, however the natural desires it. The very affection and consequent reason have the dominion, and subdue in the natural the delights of the love of self and of the world, as also the fallacies which had filled the memory-knowledges there; and at last so completely that this subjugation comes to be among the man’s pleasures; and then the natural is at rest, and afterward is in agreement; and when it is in agreement, it then partakes of the pleasantness of the internal. From all this it may be known what is meant by the submission of the things in the natural under the internal, which is signified by “his brethren went and fell down before him, and said, Behold we are thy servants.”

As a tree falls, there it lies - the hellish proprium cannot be changed

Spiritual Experiences 4645. HOW IT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD THAT AS A TREE FALLS, IT REMAINS: MEMORY. So long as a man is alive [in the world], he is in the ultimate of order. He possesses a corporeal memory, which grows, and in which are to be rooted things which are of the interior memory; hence the more harmonies and correspondences of good and truth there are in them and among them, the more he has of life from the Lord, and the more he can be perfected in the other life. But that memory in which interior things are rooted, is exterior or corporeal. Man, after death, has, indeed, all his own exterior or corporeal memory, or the whole and every one of its belongings; but it can no longer grow; and, where it is not, new harmonies and correspondences cannot be formed. And, hence, all things of his interior memory are there, and they are terminated in his exterior memory, although it is not allowed to use this. From these things it may be manifest, what means [the statement] that as the tree falls it remains. Not that he who is in good cannot be perfected: he is perfected, immensely, even to angelic wisdom - but, according to the harmony and correspondence which existed between internals and externals, whilst he was alive in the world. After the life of the body, no one receives external things, but things interior and internal.

Divine Providence 277b. That man must be led away from evil in order to be reformed is evident without explanation; for he that is in evil in the world is in evil after he has left the world; consequently if evil is not removed in the world it cannot be removed afterwards. Where the tree falls there it lies. So, too, does a man's life when he dies remain such as it has been. Every one is judged according to his deeds; not that these are enumerated, but because he returns to them and acts in the same way; for death is a continuation of life, with the difference that man cannot then be reformed. All reformation is effected in completeness, that is, simultaneously in first principles and in outmosts; and outmosts are reformed in agreement with first principles while man is in the world, and cannot be reformed afterwards, because the outmosts of life that man carries with him after death become quiescent, and are in agreement with his interiors, that is, they act as one.

Heaven and Hell 547. From this it is clear that it is from hell that man does evil, and from the Lord that he does good. But man believes that whatever he does he does from himself, and in consequence of this the evil that he does sticks to him as his own; and for this reason man is the cause of his own evil, and in no way the Lord. Evil in man is hell in him, for it is the same thing whether you say evil or hell. And since man is the cause of his own evil he is led into hell, not by the Lord but by himself. For so far is the Lord from leading man into hell that it is He who delivers man from hell, and this He does so far as man does not will and love to be in his own evil. All of man's will and love continues with him after death (470-484). He who wills and loves evil in the world wills and loves the same evil in the other life, but he no longer suffers himself to be withdrawn from it. If, therefore, a man is in evil he is tied to hell,...

Arcana Coelestia Genesis Chapter 50:13-22. And his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a sepulcher, from Ephron the Hittite, upon the faces of Mamre. And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father, after he had buried his father. And Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, and they said, Peradventure Joseph will hate us, and returning will return unto us all the evil that we requited to him. And they commanded Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, Thus shall ye say unto Joseph, I pray forgive I pray the transgression of thy brethren, and their sin, because they requited evil to thee; and now forgive I pray the transgression of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before him; and they said, Behold we are thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear ye not; for am I in God’s stead. And you thought evil against me, but God thought it for good, in order to do as it is this day, to keep alive a great people. And now fear ye not: I will sustain you, and your babes. And he comforted them, and spake upon their heart. And Joseph dwelt in Egypt, he and his father’s house; and Joseph lived a hundred and ten years.

6578. And spake upon their heart. That this signifies trust, is evident from the signification of “speaking upon the heart,” as being to impart trust, namely, that evil should not befall; for “to speak” denotes influx (see n. 2951, 5481, 5797), and the “heart” denotes the will (n. 2930, 3888); thus “to speak upon the heart” denotes influx into the will, and the resulting trust. From all this it is also evident that there is a marriage of truth which is of the understanding, and of good which is of the will, in every detail of the Word; for “comforting” is said of the understanding, and “speaking upon the heart,” of the will; therefore also his “comforting them” signifies hope, for this is of the understanding by means of truth; and his “speaking upon their heart” signifies trust, for this is of the will by means of good, because genuine trust is impossible with any but those who are in the good of charity; and genuine hope with any but those who are in the good of faith.

 

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

Arcana Coelestia 6497.Genesis: CH 50 7-11. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8. And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their babes, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and the army was exceeding great. 10. And they came to the threshing-floor Atad, which is in the passage of the Jordan, and they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11. And the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the mourning in the threshing-floor Atad, and they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim, which is in the passage of the Jordan.

Divine Love and Wisdom 69  There are two things proper to nature - space and time. From these man in the natural world forms the ideas of his thought, and thereby his understanding. If he remains in these ideas, and does not raise his mind above them, he is in no wise able to perceive things spiritual and Divine, for these he involves in ideas drawn from space and time; and so far as that is done the light [lumen] of his understanding becomes merely natural. To think from this lumen in reasoning about spiritual and Divine things, is like thinking from the thick darkness of night about those things that appear only in the light of day. From this comes naturalism. But he who knows how to raise his mind above ideas of thought drawn from space and time, passes from thick darkness into light, and has discernment in things spiritual and Divine, and finally sees the things which are in and from what is spiritual and Divine; and then from that light he dispels the thick darkness of the natural lumen, and banishes its fallacies from the middle to the sides. Every man who has understanding is able to transcend in thought these properties of nature, and actually does so.

Arcana Coelestia 3404 [2] In order that it may be still more evident what these appearances of truth are, take also the following example. It is known that the Divine is infinite as to being (Esse), and eternal as to manifestation (Existere), and that the finite is not capable of comprehending the infinite, nor indeed the eternal, for the eternal is the infinite as to manifestation (Existere); and as the Divine Itself is infinite and eternal, all things which are from the Divine are also infinite and eternal, and being infinite cannot possibly be comprehended by angels, because these are finite. For this reason the things which are infinite and eternal are presented before the angels in appearances which are finite; but still in such appearances as are very far above the sphere of man’s comprehension. For example, man cannot possibly have any idea of the eternal except from time; and this being the case, he cannot possibly comprehend what is from eternity, thus what the Divine was before time, or before the world was created. And so long as there is in his thought anything of an idea from time, if he thinks on the subject he must necessarily fall into errors from which he cannot be extricated. But to the angels, who are not in the idea of time, but in the idea of state (of mind), it is given to perceive this most clearly, for the eternal with them is not the eternal of time, but the eternal of state (of mind), without the idea of time. [3] Hence it is manifest in what appearances the angels are in comparison with man, and how much their appearances are above those with man; for man cannot have the smallest thought apart from time and space; whereas the angels derive nothing from these; but in their stead from state (of mind) as to being (Esse) and as to manifestation (Existere). From all this we can see what is the nature of the appearances of truth here treated of, and which are of a higher degree. In what follows, the appearances of truth of a lower degree are treated of in their order, even as they are adapted to mankind.

Spiritual Experiences - Minor ( Interium Diary) 4609. What a mental image of the infinite and eternal is like if the mental imagery is from space and time. I spoke with spirits also about a mental image of the infinite and eternal derived from space and time, saying that an image of them entirely perishes and becomes none, causing disbelief in the Divinity. It was suggested to think of the eternal before the creation of the world, and that if time is in the thought, there is no idea of it. If we think from time, that finite notion arises that there was some beginning to the existence of God, thus that He arose. It is not possible to think otherwise, from time. [2] The case is the same with regard to space outside of the universe, which also cannot exist to infinity, if we think from space. There would be no endpoint, and so forth - although one is never led away from that absurdity except when one's notion of time and space perishes. The more interiorly anyone is elevated into heaven, the farther he or she is removed from the mental image of time and space; and the more deeply one is removed from heaven, the more one comes into the image of time and space - thus the farther away one is from a mental image of the infinite and eternal, thus from faith. Time and space are what fix human mental imagery and cause it to be entirely earthly and to relate to other imagery, of which the person is unaware. And they constitute the earthly person, who reasons. The same applies to the Divine Humanity of the Lord, whose finite image we conceive of from the bodily properties in ourselves and in others. Unless we are removed from this image, we cannot conceive otherwise than that the Lord is just as any other human being. Likewise, the image of Three in the one God: the numerical image of a trine is one of space and time. From the human, the finite image is conceived of as a separated trine, but according to the angelic mental image as one.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

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6650. Verses 8-14. And there arose a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph. And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and numerous more than we. Come, let us use prudence with it;* peradventure it will be multiplied, and it will be that wars will happen, and it will also join itself to our enemies, and fight against us, and go up out of the land. And they set over it princes of tributes, in order to afflict it with burdens. And it built cities of store-houses for Pharaoh, Pithom and Raamses. And as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied, and so it was increased. And they were moved with loathing because of the sons of Israel. And the Egyptians made the sons of Israel to serve with cruelty; and they rendered their life bitter with grievous service, in clay, and in bricks, and in all service in the field, with all their service wherein they made them serve with cruelty. And there arose a new king over Egypt, signifies separated memory-knowledges which are opposed to the truths of the church; who knew not Joseph, signifies which were completely alienated from the internal; and he said unto his people, signifies subordinate memory-knowledges; Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and numerous more than we, signifies that the truths of the church prevail over alienated memory-knowledges; come, let us use prudence with it, signifies cunning; peradventure it will be multiplied, and it will be that wars will happen, signifies prevalence if it grows; and it will also join itself to our enemies and fight against us, signifies that thus their companions who would occasion evil would be strengthened; and go up out of the land, signifies that thus the church will be set up anew; and they set over it princes of tributes, signifies falsities that would compel to serve; to afflict it with burdens, signifies a growing worse through servitudes; and it built cities of storehouses for Pharaoh, signifies doctrines from falsified truths in the natural where alienated memory-knowledges are; Pithom and Raamses, signifies their quality; and as they afflicted it, so it was multiplied, signifies that truths grew according to the infestations; and so it increased, signifies that they were strengthened; and they were moved with loathing because of the sons of Israel, signifies greater aversion; and the Egyptians made the sons of Israel to serve, signifies an intention to subjugate; with cruelty, signifies unmercifulness; and they rendered their life bitter with grievous service, signifies until the intention to subjugate became troublesome; in clay, and in bricks, signifies by reason of the evils which they contrived, and the falsities which they devised; and in all service in the field, signifies the intention to subjugate directed against the things of the church; with all their service wherein they made them serve with cruelty, signifies the intention to subjugate in many ways by reason of unmercifulness.

* The singular number is here used in both the Hebrew and the Latin. The same peculiar form is found also in the English Bible (Gen. 11:6),Behold the people is one.

6651. And there arose a new king over Egypt. That this signifies separated memory-knowledges which are opposed to the truths of the church, is evident from the representation of Pharaoh, who is here the king, as being memory-knowledge in general (see n. 6015). He is called a king, because a king in the genuine sense signifies truth (n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 6148), and in the opposite sense falsity; and when by the king is meant Pharaoh, false memory-knowledge is signified, that is, memory-knowledge which is opposed to the truths of the church. From this also a new king is mentioned, for he who was king in Joseph's time represented memory-knowledge that was in agreement with the truths of the church. (That Egypt denotes memory-knowledge, here in particular, see above, n. 6638.)

6652. Who knew not Joseph. That this signifies which were completely alienated from the internal, is evident from the signification of not knowing, as being to be alienated; for he who does not know truth, and does not desire to know it, is alienated from the truth of the church (that alienation is here signified is plain from what follows, for he severely and cruelly afflicted the sons of Israel, by whom is represented the church, n. 6637); and from the representation of Joseph, as being the internal (n. 6177, 6224). Memory-knowledges alienated from the internal are memory-knowledges opposed to the church; for the good and truth which make the church flow in through the internal; and if these are not received by the natural, the internal is closed, and so the man is alienated from good and truth, and then no other memory-knowledges which are in the natural are acknowledged as truths than those which are false. These are then multiplied, and the truths themselves are cast out of doors.

6653. And he said unto his people. That this signifies subordinate memory-knowledges, is evident from the signification of people, as being truths, and in the opposite sense falsities (n. 1259, 1260, 3295, 3581), here memory-knowledges separated from truth, because it is the people of Egypt. (That Egypt is memory-knowledge, see n. 6638.) That they are subordinate memory-knowledges is because it is said that the king said unto his people. That by people are signified truths, is because in the word those are called a people who are under a king, and by a king is signified truth (n. 6651). By a people are signified truths, but those are meant who are in truths. The reason why truths are spoken of abstractedly, is that spirits and angels so think and speak, for in this way they comprehend a subject in a universal manner, and at the same time singly the particulars belonging to it, without reflecting specifically on any people that is in truths, which reflection would withdraw the mind from a universal idea, thus from extension of view, consequently from wisdom. For determination of the thought to any specific people, as also to any person, limits and confines the ideas, and turns them from the perception of a subject as it is from one boundary to the other. As is the case with the idea of a people, so is it with other denominations which in the internal sense signify things unbounded - as with a nation as being good, with a king as being truth, with a prince as being primary truth, with a priest as being good, and with a son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother, sister, father, mother, and many other denominations.

6654. Behold, the people of the sons of Israel are many and numerous more than we. That this signifies that the truths of the church prevail over alienated memory-knowledges, is evident from the representation of the sons of Israel, as being the truths and goods of the church (see n. 6647); from the signification of many and numerous, as being to prevail (that to be multiplied, or to become many and numerous, is said of truth, see also above, n. 6648); and from the representation of the king of Egypt and his people, who are here meant by more than we, as being alienated memory-knowledges (as above, n. 6652). Hence it is plain that by Behold the people of Israel are many and numerous more than we is signified that truths prevail over alienated memory-knowledges.

6655. Come, let us use prudence with it. That this signifies cunning, is evident from the signification of prudence, when said of the evil, who have been alienated from truth and good, as being cunning; for that which the evil do from cunning, and also from deceit, they call prudence. Of the cunning which is signified by prudence, something may here be related. All who are in evil call cunning prudence, and make intelligence and wisdom to consist in nothing else. They who are of this character in the world become worse in the other life, and there act continually from cunning against things good and true; and those are recognized as intelligent and wise among them who seem to themselves able to invalidate and destroy truths by falsities, no matter by what art or wickedness. From this it can be seen what is the quality of men within the church when they make prudence to consist in cunning: that they have communication with the hells. Those who are true men of the church are so far removed from cunning that they absolutely abhor it; and those of them who are as the angels, desire that if it were possible their minds should be open, so that what they think may be manifest to everyone; for they intend nothing but good toward their neighbor, and if they see evil in anyone they excuse it. It is otherwise with those who are in evil; these are afraid lest anything which they think and will should show itself; for they intend nothing but evil to the neighbor; if good, it is for the sake of self; and if they do what is good, it is only in the outward form, that they may appear good for the sake of gain and honor; for they know that what is good and true, just and fair, and also what is honorable, have a strong hidden power of attracting minds, even of those who are evil.

6656. Peradventure it will be multiplied, and it will be that wars will happen. That this signifies prevalence if it grows, is evident from the signification of being multiplied, as being to grow as to truths (see n. 43, 55, 913, 983, 2846, 2847); and from the signification of wars, as being combats concerning truths and falsities, that is, spiritual combats (n. 1664, 2686); and because it follows that it will also join itself to our enemies, their prevalence in these combats is signified.

6657. And it will also join itself to our enemies, and fight against us. That this signifies that so their companions who would occasion evil would be strengt

Arcana Coelestia 6497.Genesis: CH 50 7-11. And Joseph went up to bury his father; and with him went up all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, 8. And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father’s house: only their babes, and their flocks, and their herds, they left in the land of Goshen. 9. And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and the army was exceeding great. 10. And they came to the threshing-floor Atad, which is in the passage of the Jordan, and they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing; and he made a mourning for his father seven days. 11. And the inhabitant of the land, the Canaanite, saw the mourning in the threshing-floor Atad, and they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians; wherefore they called the name of it Abel-mizraim, which is in the passage of the Jordan.

They aren't left but ordered in relation to the rest

6532. They left in the land of Goshen. That this signifies that these were in the inmost of the memory-knowledges of the church, is evident from the signification of the “land of Goshen,” as being the middle or inmost in the natural, where are the memory-knowledges of the church (see n. 5910, 6028, 6031, 6068). That the goods of innocence and charity, interior and exterior (n. 6529-6531), were in that inmost, is signified by their “leaving the little ones, the flocks, and the herds, in the land of Goshen;” for wherever things are left, there they are; thus by “they left” in the internal sense is not here signified leaving, but being there, namely, in the inmost of the memory-knowledges of the church, which is “the land of Goshen.”

 

The interior making an image of itself in what is more exterior

Heaven and Hell 558. [a] Furthermore, so far as anyone is in heavenly love, which is loving uses and goods and being moved by delight of heart when doing them for the sake of the Church, country, human society, and a fellow-citizen, he is so far led by the Lord, because that love is the love in which the Lord is, and which is from Him. But so far as anyone is in the love of self, which is performing uses and goods for the sake of himself; so far he is led by himself; and so far as anyone is led by himself he is not led by the Lord. And from this it also follows that so far as anyone loves himself he removes himself from the Divine, thus also from heaven. To be led by one's self is to be led by one's proprium; and man's proprium is nothing but evil; for man's inherited evil is loving self more than God, and the world more than heaven. 1 Whenever man looks to himself in the good that he does, he is let into his proprium, that is, into his inherited evils; for he then looks from goods to himself and not 2 from himself to goods, and therefore he presents an image of himself in his goods, and not an image of the Divine.

Conjugial Love 193 ... woman was created out of man by the transcription of his proprial wisdom, which is wisdom from natural truth; and that the love of this wisdom was transferred from man into woman that it might become conjugial love; also that this was done, to the end that in the man there may be, not self love but love of his wife, and she from her innate disposition cannot do otherwise than convert the self love with the man into his love to her. Moreover, I have heard that this is effected by the wife's love, neither the man nor the wife being conscious of it. Hence it is that no man can ever truly love his partner conjugially if he is in the pride of self- intelligence from love of self.

[3] When this arcanum of the creation of woman out of man is understood, it can be seen that in marriage woman is likewise created, as it were, that is, is formed from man; and that this is effected by the wife, or rather through the wife, by the Lord, it being the Lord who infuses into women the inclination so to act; for the wife receives the man's image into herself by appropriating to herself his affections (see above, no. 183); also by conjoining the man's internal will to her own will, of which hereafter; and, moreover, by appropriating to herself the propagations of his soul, of which likewise hereafter. From this it is evident, that in accordance with the description in the Book of Creation interiorly understood, a woman is formed into a wife by means of such things as she takes from her husband and from his breast and inscribes on herself.

CL 183. The angels replied: Without use, love and wisdom are merely abstract ideas of thought, and after some tarrying in the mind, these pass away like the wind; but in use, the two are brought together and become a one which is called real. Love, being the activity of life, cannot rest unless it is doing something; nor can wisdom exist and subsist except when doing something from love and with it; and doing is use. Therefore we define use as the doing of good from love by means of wisdom. Use is good itself.

[4] Since these three, love, wisdom, and use, flow into the souls of men, it can be evident whence comes the saying that that all good is from God; for every deed done from love by means of wisdom is called good, and use is also a deed. What is love without wisdom but something fatuous? and, without use, what is love together with wisdom but a state of the mind? But with use, love and wisdom not only make the man, they are the man. Indeed, and this perhaps will astonish you, they propagate man; for in man's seed is his soul in perfect human form, covered over with substances from the purest things of nature, from which, in the mother's womb, is formed a body. This use is the supreme and ultimate use of Divine Love by means of Divine Wisdom.

[5] Finally the angels said: The conclusion then must be that in its origin all fructification, all propagation, and all prolification is from the influx of love, wisdom, and use from the Lord---from immediate influx from the Lord into the souls of men, from mediate influx into the souls of animals, and from influx yet more mediate into the inmost parts of plants; and all are effected in ultimates from firsts. That fructifications, propagations, and prolifications are continuations of creation is evident; for creation can come from no other source than Divine Love by means of Divine wisdom in Divine Use. Therefore, all things in the universe are procreated and formed from use, in use, and for use.

[6] After this, those sitting on the grassy couches asked the angels, Whence are the delights of conjugial love, which are innumerable and ineffable? The angels answered: They are from the uses of love and wisdom. This can be seen from the fact, that so far as one loves to be wise for the sake of genuine use he is in the vein and potency of conjugial love, and so far as he is in these two he is in its delights. It is use that does this; for when love acts by means of wisdom, 2 the two are in mutual delight, and they sport together like little children, as it were. Then, as they come to adolescence, they join together productively, this being done as though by betrothals, nuptials, marriages, and propagations, and this continually and with variety, to all eternity. This is what takes place between love and wisdom, inwardly present in use.

 

The grief that is experienced in the shift from a historical faith to a more interior, living faith

6538. Which is in the passage of the Jordan. That this signifies which is a state of initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, is evident from the signification of the “Jordan,” as being initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, thus that which is first of the Lord’s kingdom and church in respect to entrance, and last in respect to exit (see n. 4255); (that the rivers bounding the land of Canaan were representative of the ultimates in the Lord’s kingdom, may be seen above, n. 1585, 4116, 4240); hence by the “passage of Jordan” is signified initiation into the knowledges of good and truth, for the knowledges of good and truth are the first things whereby man is initiated into the things that belong to the church.

6539. And they wailed there a very great and grievous wailing. That this signifies grief, is evident from the signification of a “wailing,” as being grief. The grief here signified is the grief of initiation (see n. 6537); for before the knowledges of good and truth, which are the initiaments, can be planted in good, and thus become the good of the church, there is grief; because another state must be induced on the natural, and the memory-knowledges there must be set in a different order; thus those which the man had previously loved must be destroyed; and therefore he must undergo temptations. Hence comes the grief which is represented by the grievous wailing which they wailed.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

The Word allows the seeing that we are withheld from the evil of the proprium (of what is 'own').

Arcana Coelestia 1661.[3] Every man combats first of all from the goods and truths he has received through knowledges; and from them and by them he judges about evils and falsities. Every man also, when he first begins to combat, supposes that the goods and truths from which he combats are his own; that is, he attributes them to himself, and at the same time attributes to himself the power by which he resists. This also is permitted; for the man cannot then know otherwise. Until a man has been regenerated, he cannot possibly know, so as to be able to say that he knows, acknowledges, and believes, that nothing of good and truth is from himself, but that all good and truth are from the Lord; or that he cannot resist any evil and falsity from his own power; for he does not know that evil spirits excite and infuse the evils and falsities; still less that by means of evil spirits he is in communication with hell; and that hell presses upon him as the sea does upon every part of a dike, which pressure of hell no man can possibly resist by his own powers. But as until he has been regenerated a man cannot but suppose that he resists by his own powers, this also is permitted; and thus he is introduced into combats or temptations; but afterwards he is more and more enlightened.

[4] When a man is in such a state that he supposes good and truth to be from himself, and that the power of resisting is his own, then the goods and truths from which he combats against evils and falsities are not goods and truths, although they appear so; for there is what is his own in them, and he places self-merit in victory, and glories as if it were he who had overcome the evil and falsity, when yet it is the Lord alone who combats and overcomes. That this is really the case, none can know but they who are being regenerated by means of temptations.

AC 2406 [2] As regards this matter, few, if any, know that all men without exception are withheld from evils by the Lord, and this by a mightier force than man can ever believe. For the endeavor of every man is continually toward evil, and this both from what is hereditary, into which he is born, and from what is actual, which he has procured for himself; and this to such a degree that if he were not withheld by the Lord, he would rush headlong every moment toward the lowest hell. But the mercy of the Lord is so great that at every moment, even the least, the man is uplifted and held back, to prevent him from rushing thither. This is the case with the good also, but with a difference according to their life of charity and faith. Thus the Lord combats continually with man, and for man with hell, although it does not so appear to the man. That it is really so has been given me to know by much experience, which of the Lord’s Divine mercy will be related elsewhere. (See also n. 929, 1581)

AC 1581 With no one, except the Lord, can the evil that is in the external man be separated. Whatever a man has once acquired, remains; but it seems to be separated when it is quiescent, for thus it appears to be none. Neither does it become quiescent so as to appear as none, except from the Lord; and when it does thus become quiescent, then for the first time do goods flow in from the Lord, and affect the external man. Such is the state of the angels; nor do they know otherwise than that evil has been separated from them; whereas there is only a withholding from the evil, thus a quiescence, so that it appears as none; consequently this is an appearance, as also the angels know when they reflect.

The Word enables the opposite states of hell (of the proprium to be seen)

Heaven and Hell 541. That every good has an opposite evil, and every truth an opposite falsity, may be known from this, that there is not anything that has not reference to its opposite, and that its quality and degree is known from its opposite, and its degree; and this is the origin of all perception and sensation.

True Christian Religion 661. There I went to the head teachers who were giving instruction, and asked them whether they were acquainted with the universals concerning heaven and hell. They replied that they knew something of them, though not much; But if we look, said they, towards the east, we shall receive both enlightenment and knowledge. [3] They did so and then said: There are three universals of hell, but they are diametrically opposite to those of heaven. The universals of hell are these three loves: the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing the property of others from the love of the world, and scortatory love. The universals of heaven opposite to these are these three loves: the love of ruling from the love of use, the love of possessing worldly goods from the love of performing uses by means of them, and love truly conjugial. ... [4] Thereupon I examined the first universal love of hell, namely, the love of ruling from the love of self, and afterwards the universal love of heaven corresponding to it, namely, the love of ruling from the love of uses. I was not allowed to examine the one without the other, because the understanding has no perception of one love without the other, for they are opposites. In order, therefore, that both may be perceived they must be placed in contrast, one against the other; just as a beautiful and handsome face is seen to advantage when an ugly and deformed one is placed in contrast with it. When I was considering the love of ruling from the love of self, it was granted me to see that this love was in the highest degree infernal, and consequently prevails with those who are in the deepest hell; and that the love of ruling from the love of uses is in the highest degree celestial, and consequently prevails with those who are in the highest heaven.

Conjugial Love 424. I. THAT THE NATURE OF SCORTATORY LOVE CANNOT BE KNOWN UNLESS THE NATURE OF CONJUGIAL LOVE IS KNOWN. Here, as in no. 423, by scortatory love is meant the love of adultery which destroys conjugial love. That the nature of this scortatory love cannot be known unless the nature of conjugial love is known, has no need of demonstration; it needs only to be illustrated by comparisons. For instance, Who can know what evil and falsity are unless he knows what good and truth are? and who can know what the unchaste is, or the dishonorable, the indecorous, and the ugly, unless he knows what the chaste is, or the honorable, the decorous, and the beautiful? Who can discern insanities save one who is wise, that is, Who knows what Wisdom is? Who can rightly perceive inharmonious stridors save one who by learning and study has absorbed harmonious numbers? In like manner, who can see clearly the nature of adultery unless he has seen clearly the nature of marriage? or Who can set before his judgment the filthiness of the pleasures of scortatory love unless he has previously set before his judgment the cleanness of conjugial love? Because I have now finished The Delights of wisdom concerning Conjugial Love, therefore, from the intelligence thence acquired, I am able to describe the pleasures [of insanity] from scortatory love.

The Word Explained 4736. The cotton, and thus the background, was of a snow-white color. As to what is meant by a snow-white color, this also may be seen explained above [n. 4671], to wit, that which is shining white in spiritual things; thus that which is without blemish; consequently, that which corresponds to the light from which its brightness comes; thus intellectual life which consists in truths, and so, truths themselves, these being likened to rays of light. But the color white is taken, for the reason that in that color all colors are becomingly [presented]. Such is the case in the form of truth, wherein all colors must be becomingly interwoven, as it were, otherwise, truth cannot exist; for it must have a relation to all those things that give due testimony to its verity, and that come near it; and this, moreover, in order that something may be borrowed from opposites, to the end that the truth may be seen distinctly. It is this that is here represented in general, being represented in the interwoven colored threads, from the white to the scarlet red, the mediate colors being the hyacinth and the purple. This every one can comprehend from an intimate examination of colors.

Spiritual Experiences 398. CONCERNING PERMISSIONS. The Doctrine of Permissions is a complete doctrine. He who does not understand permissions, or conclude [rightly] concerning them, falls into doubt and negation concerning the power of God Messiah over the universe. But this should be known: that without permission no one would be able to be reformed; for opposites must be induced in order that forms of truth and of good may exist, which forms derive their existence thus perception, and the like, from opposites. Hence arise temptations, vastations, punishments, the persecutions of the faithful and of the faith, and many more things besides. In a word, without the permission of evils, which must be understood in a right sense, man could never be regenerated and led to the faculties by which he can be bent to good by God Messiah with some perception of it, consequently with some happiness. 1747, Dec. 25.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.

On Enlightenment

Doctrine of Sacred Scripture 57. iii. The genuine truth which must be of doctrine appears in the sense of the letter to none but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord. Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, and exists with those who love truths because they are truths and make them of use for life. With others there is no enlightenment in the Word. The reason why enlightenment is from the Lord alone is that the Lord is in all things of the Word. The reason why enlightenment exists with those who love truths because they are truths and make them of use for life is that such are in the Lord and the Lord in them. For the Lord is His own Divine truth, and when this is loved because it is Divine truth (and it is loved when it is made of use), the Lord is in it with the man.

58. The reason why the Word shines and is translucent with such, is that there is a spiritual and celestial sense in every particular of the Word, and these senses are in the light of heaven, so that through these senses and by their light the Lord flows into the natural sense, and into the light of it with a man. This causes the man to acknowledge the truth from an interior perception, and afterwards to see it in his own thought, and this as often as he is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth. For perception comes from affection, and thought from perception, and thus is produced the acknowledgment which is called faith.

No one comes into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences unless...

56. It might be believed that the doctrine of genuine truth could be procured by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is furnished through a knowledge of correspondences. But doctrine is not procured by means of that sense, but is only lighted up and corroborated. For as said before (n. 26), no one comes into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences unless he is first in genuine truths from doctrine. If a man is not first in genuine truths he may falsify the Word by means of some correspondences with which he is acquainted, by connecting them together and interpreting them so as to confirm that which cleaves to his mind from some principle previously received. Moreover the spiritual sense of the Word is not given anyone except by the Lord alone, and it is guarded by Him as heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it. It is better therefore for man to study the Word in the sense of the letter; from this alone is doctrine furnished.

Veiled truths

55. The doctrine of genuine truth can also be drawn in full from the sense of the letter of the Word, because in this sense the Word is like a man clothed whose face and hands are bare. All things that concern man's life, and consequently his salvation, are bare; but the rest are clothed. In many places also where they are clothed they shine through their clothing, like a face through a thin veil of silk. The truths of the Word also appear and shine through their clothing more and more clearly in proportion as they are multiplied by a love for them, and are ranged in order by this love. But this also is by means of doctrine.

40. The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are in part not naked truths, but appearances of truth ...  But being correspondences they are receptacles and abodes of genuine truth; and are like enclosing and containing vessels, as a crystal cup encloses noble wine, and as a silver plate holds palatable food. They are also like garments which clothe, as swathings do an infant, and a pretty dress a maiden. They are also like the memory-knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man which contain within them perceptions and affections of truth of the spiritual man. The naked truths themselves which are enclosed, held, clothed, and contained, are in the spiritual sense of the Word; and the naked goods are in its celestial sense.

51. i. The Word cannot be understood without doctrine. This is because the Word in the sense of the letter consists exclusively of correspondences, to the end that things spiritual and celestial may be simultaneous or together therein, and that every word may be their container and support. For this reason, in some places in the sense of the letter the truths are not naked, but clothed, and are then called appearances of truth.

Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.