Logopraxis

By The Third RoundReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Logopraxis episodes

June 13, 2022 The Third Round: The hermetically sealed nature of the Text and the Life Group allows for spiritual literacy skills to be practised so that they might become conscious in daily life applications
Arcana Coelestia

3596. Food in general signified what is of love and charity, that is, the same as celestial and spiritual food-bread what is of love to the Lord, and wine what is of charity toward the neighbor. When these had been appropriated, the persons were conjoined; thus they spoke to each other from affection, and were consociated together. Feasts with the ancients were nothing else, nor was anything else represented in the Jewish Church by their eating together of the holy things, nor was anything else represented in the primitive Christian Church by their dinners and suppers.

5915… To this sustenance corresponds the sustenance of the external man by food and drink; and therefore by “food” is signified good, and by “drink,” truth. Such also is the correspondence, that when a man is partaking of food, the angels with him are in the idea of good and truth, and wonderful to say with a difference according to the species of the food. Thus when a man in the Holy Supper receives the bread and the wine, the angels with him are in the idea of the good of love and the good of faith (n. 3464, 3735), for the reason that bread corresponds to the good of love, and wine to the good of faith; and because they correspond, they also signify the same in the Word.

Heaven and Hell
56. Again, heaven is where the Lord is acknowledged, believed in and loved. Variety in worship of the Lord resulting from the variety of good in one society and another is not harmful but beneficial, for the perfection of heaven is therefrom. It can scarcely be made clear to the comprehension that the perfection of heaven is the result of variety, without employing terms in common use in the learned world and by them showing how unity, to be perfect, is formed from various parts. Every unity has its existence from diversity, for a unity that is not the result of diversity is not anything; it has no form and therefore no quality. When, on the other hand, a unity comes into existence from various parts, and these various parts are in a perfect form in which each attaches itself in series, like a congenial friend to another, then the quality is perfect. So heaven is a unity resulting from the arrangements of various parts in the most perfect form, for the heavenly form is the most perfect of all forms. That this is the origin of all perfection is evident from all the beauty, pleasantness and delight that affect the senses as well as the mind (animus). For these exist and flow from no other source than the concert and harmony of many concordant and harmonious parts, either co-existing in order or following in order, and not from a unity apart from plurality. From this comes the saying that variety gives delight, and it is known that it is the nature of the variety which determines the delight. From all this it can be seen, as in a mirror, how perfection comes from variety even in heaven. For the things that are in the spiritual world can be seen as in a mirror from those that come into existence in the natural world.

See also A Community of Practise: Where Individual and Group Process Meet to Make the Lord Visible in Our Midst (2022)

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.
4 min
June 12, 2022 HHS07 141-169
Click Here to Print Reading
141. THE FOUR QUARTERS IN HEAVEN.
Both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters, east, south, west, and north, determined in each world by its own sun; in heaven by the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, in the world by the sun of the world. And yet there are great differences between them. In the first place, in the world that is called the south where the sun is in its greatest altitude above the earth, north where it is in its opposite position beneath the earth, east where it rises at an equinox, and west where it then sets. Thus in the world it is from the south that all the quarters are determined. But in heaven that is called the east where the Lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is the west, at the right is the south in heaven, and at the left the north; and this in whatever direction the face and the body are turned. Thus in heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are determined. That is called the east [oriens] where the Lord is seen as a sun, because all origin [origo] of life is from Him as a sun; moreover, so far as angels receive heat and light or love and intelligence from the Lord He is said to arise [exoriri] upon them. For the same reason the Lord is called the East [Oriens] in the Word.[1]
[1] In the highest sense the Lord is the east [oriens], because He is the sun of heaven, which is always rising and never setting (see numbers 101, 5097, 9668).
[read more]
142. Another difference is that to the angels the east is always before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the north to the left. But since this cannot be easily comprehended in the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every quarter, it shall be explained. The entire heaven turns itself to the Lord as to its common center; to that center do all the angels turn themselves. Also on the earth, as is well known, there is a directing of all things towards a common center; but there is this difference between this directing in the world and that in heaven, that in heaven the front parts are turned to the common center, but in the world the lower parts of the body. In the world this directing is called centripetal force, also gravitation. The interiors of angels are actually turned forwards; and since interiors manifest themselves in the face it is the face that determines the quarters.[1]
[1] In heaven all turn themselves to the Lord (see numbers 9828, 10130, 10189, 10420).
Nevertheless, it is not the angels that turn themselves to the Lord, but the Lord turns the angels to Himself (see number 10189).
It is not that the angels are present with the Lord, but the Lord is present with the angels (see number 9415).
143. It is still more difficult to comprehend in the world that in every turning of their face and body the angels have the east before the face, since man according as he turns, has every quarter before his face. This shall also be explained. Although angels, like men, turn and direct their faces and bodies in every direction, they nevertheless have the east always before their eyes. But the turnings of angels are unlike the turnings of men, because they are from a different origin. They appear alike, but they are not. The origin of these turnings is their ruling love, and from this all directions with angels and spirits are determined, for, as just said, their interiors are actually turned towards their common center, which in heaven is the Lord as a sun; consequently their ruling love is always before their face, because their love is always before their interiors, and the face has existence from the interiors, for it is their outward form; and in the heavens this love is the Lord as a sun because it is from Him that they have their love.[1] And as the Lord Himself is in angels in His love, it is the Lord who causes them to look to Him whithersoever they turn. This cannot be explained any farther now; but it will be made clearer to the understanding in subsequent chapters, especially where representations and appearances, and time and space in heaven, are treated of. That the angels have the Lord constantly before their faces it has been granted me to know and also to perceive from much experience; for whenever I have been in company with angels I have noticed the Lord’s presence before my face, not actually seen, and yet perceptible in a light; and angels have often testified that this is so. As the Lord is constantly before the faces of the angels, so it is said in the world of those who believe in the Lord and love Him that they have God before their eyes and their face, and that they look to God, and see God. These expressions have their origin in the spiritual world, from which are many things in human speech, although their source is unknown to men.
[1] In the spiritual world all constantly turn themselves to their loves; and the quarters there have their beginning in the face and are determined by it (see numbers 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).
The face is formed to a correspondence with the interiors (numbers 4791-4805, 5695).
Therefore the interiors shine forth from the face (see numbers 3527, 4066, 4796).
With angels the face makes one with the interiors (see numbers 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250).
The influx of the interiors into the face and its muscles (see numbers 3631, 4800).
144. This turning to the Lord is among the wonderful things in heaven. There may be many together in one place, some turning the face and body one way and some another, and yet all see the Lord before them, and have everyone has the south at his right, the north at his left, and the west behind him. Another wonderful thing is that, although the angels look only to the east they have also a look towards the other three quarters; but the look to these is from their interior sight, which pertains to their thought. And it is yet another wonderful thing that in heaven no one is ever permitted to stand behind another and look at the back of his head, for this would disturb the influx of good and truth from the Lord.
145. The Lord is seen by the angels, and the angels are seen by the Lord in another way. Angels see the Lord through their eyes; but the Lord sees the angels in the forehead, and this for the reason that the forehead corresponds to love, and it is through love that the Lord flows into their will, while it is through the understanding, to which the eyes correspond, that He causes Himself to be seen.[1]
[1] The forehead corresponds to heavenly love; therefore in the Word the “forehead” signifies that love (see number 9936).
The eye corresponds to the understanding, because the understanding is internal sight (see numbers 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569).
For this reason “to lift up the eyes” and “to see” signifies to understand, perceive, and observe (see numbers 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202, 4083, 4086, 4339, 5684).
146. The quarters in the heavens that give form to the Lord’s celestial kingdom differ from the quarters in the heavens that give form to His spiritual kingdom, for the reason that He is seen by the angels in His celestial kingdom as a sun, but by the angels in His spiritual kingdom as a moon; and where the Lord is seen is the east. The distance there between the position of the sun and that of the moon is thirty degrees, and there is a like difference in the position of the quarters. That heaven is divided into two kingdoms, called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, may be seen in its own chapter (numbers 20-28); and that the Lord is seen in the celestial kingdom as a sun, and in the spiritual kingdom as a moon (see number 118). But it does not follow that the quarters of heaven become confused on this account, for neither can the spiritual angels ascend among the celestial angels, nor the celestial descend among the spiritual, as may be seen above (see number 35).
147. This makes clear the nature of the Lord’s presence in the heavens, that He is every where and with everyone in the good and truth that go forth from Him; consequently He is with angels in what is His own, as has been said above (see number 12). The perception of the Lord’s presence is in their interiors; and it is from these that their eyes see, and it is by this continuity that they see the Lord outside of themselves. This shows what is meant by the Lord’s being in them and they in Him, according to His own words:
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15 verse 4).
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him (John 6 verse 56).
“The Lord’s flesh” signifies Divine good and “His blood” Divine truth.[1]
[1] In the Word “the Lord’s flesh” signifies His Divine Human, and the Divine good of His love (see numbers 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283).
And “the Lord’s blood” signifies Divine truth and the holy of faith (see numbers 4735, 4978, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152, 10210).
148. All in the heavens have their own places of abode in accordance with the quarters. Those who are in the good of love dwell towards the east and west, those who are in clear perception of it towards the east, and those who are in obscure perception of it towards the west. Those who are in wisdom from the good of love dwell towards the south and north-those who are in the clear light of wisdom towards the south, and those who are in obscure light of it towards the north. The angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and those of His celestial kingdom dwell in a like order, but differently as their good of love and light of truth from good differ; for in the celestial kingdom the love is love to the Lord, and the light of truth therefrom is wisdom; while in the spiritual kingdom there is love towards the neighbor, which is called charity, and the light of truth therefrom is intelligence, which is also called faith (see above, number 23). The quarters differ also in the two kingdoms by thirty degrees, as has been said just above (see number 146).
149. In like order the angels in each society in heaven dwell in relation to one another-towards the east there those who are in greater degree of love and charity, towards the west those who are in less degree; towards the south those who are in greater light of wisdom and intelligence, and towards the north those who are in less. This arrangement prevails because each society represents heaven, and is a heaven in a smaller form (see above, n. 51-58). The same arrangement prevails in their assemblies. They are brought into this order by virtue of the form of heaven, from which everyone knows his own place. The Lord also provides that there be in each society those of every kind, for the reason that in form heaven is every where like itself; and yet the arrangement of the whole heaven differs from the arrangement of a society as what is general from its parts, since the societies towards the east surpass those towards the west, and those towards the south surpass those towards the north.
150. Because of this the quarters in the heavens signify such things as pertain to those that dwell in them, – the east signifying love and its good clearly perceived, the west the same obscurely perceived, the south wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the north the same in obscure light. And because of this signification of the quarters in heaven they have a like signification in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word,1 since the internal or spiritual sense of the Word is in entire accord with what is in heaven.
[1] In the Word the “east” signifies love clearly perceived (see numbers 1250, 3708); the “west” love obscurely perceived (see numbers 3708, 9653); the “south” a state of light, that is, of wisdom and intelligence (see numbers 1458, 3708, 5672); and the “north” that state in obscurity (see number 3708).
151. The reverse is true of those in the hells. Those who are there do not look to the Lord as a sun nor as a moon; but they look backward away from the Lord to that dense darkness that is in the place of the sun of the world, and to the darkness that is in the place of the earth’s moon. Those that are called genii look to that dense darkness that is in the place of the world’s sun, and those called spirits look to the darkness that is in the place of the earth’s moon.[1] It has been shown above (see number 122) that the world’s sun and the earth’s moon are not seen in the spiritual world, but in place of that sun a dense darkness over against the sun of heaven, and in place of that moon a darkness over against the moon of heaven. For this reason the quarters with those in the hells are opposite to the quarters of heaven. The east to them is where that dense darkness and darkness are, the west is where the sun of heaven is, the south is to their right, and the north to their left, and this also in every turning of their bodies. Nor can they face otherwise, because the whole bent and consequent determination of their interiors tends and strives that way. It has been shown above (see number 143) that the bent and consequent actual determination of the interiors of all in the other life are in harmony with their love. The love of those in the hells is the love of self and the world, and these loves are what are signified by the world’s sun and the earth’s moon (see number 122); and these loves are opposite to love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor;[2] and this is the cause of their turning themselves backwards away from the Lord to this dense darkness. Moreover, those in the hells dwell likewise in accordance with their quarters, those who are in evil from love of self dwelling from their east to their west, and those who are in the falsities of evil from their south to their north. But more will be said about this below, where the hells are treated of.
[1] Who and what those are who are called genii, and who and what those are who are called spirits (see numbers 947, 5035, 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625).
[2] Those that are in the loves of self and of the world turn themselves backwards from the Lord (see numbers 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).
Love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor make heaven, while love of self and love of the world make hell, because the two are opposite (see numbers 2041, 3610, 4225, 4776 6210, 7366, 7369, 7490, 8232, 8678, 10455, 10741-10745).
152. When an evil spirit comes among good spirits the quarters are usually so confused that the good scarcely know where their east is. This I have sometimes seen take place, and have also heard about it from spirits who complained of it.
153. Evil spirits are sometimes seen turned towards the quarters of heaven; and they then have intelligence and perception of truth, but no affection for good; but as soon as they turn back to their own quarters they have no intelligence or perception of truth; and then they declare that the truths they heard and perceived are falsities and not truths, and they wish falsities to be truths. In respect to this turning I have been told that with the evil the intellectual part of the mind can be so turned, but not the voluntary part; and that this is provided by the Lord to the end that everyone may have the ability to see and acknowledge truths, but that no one can receive truths unless he is in good, since it is good, and never evil, that receives them; also that man has a like ability to the end that he may be made better by means of truths. Nevertheless, he is made better only so far as he is in good; consequently a man can in like manner be turned to the Lord; but if his life is evil he immediately turns himself back and confirms in himself the falsities of his evil, which are contrary to the truths he had understood and seen; and this takes place when he thinks in himself from his interior states.
154. CHANGES OF STATE OF THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN.
By changes of state of angels their changes in respect to love and faith, and wisdom and intelligence therefrom, are meant, thus their changes in respect to states of life. States are predicated of life and of what belongs to life; and as angelic life is a life of love and faith, and of wisdom and intelligence therefrom, states are predicated of these and are called states of love and faith, and states of wisdom and intelligence. How with angels these states are changed shall now be told.
155. Angels are not constantly in the same state in respect to love, and in consequence in the same state in respect to wisdom; for all their wisdom is from their love and in accordance with their love. Sometimes they are in a state of intense love, sometimes in a state of love not so intense. The state decreases by degrees from its greatest degree to its least. When in their greatest degree of love they are in the light and warmth of their life, or in a clear and delightful state; but in their least degree they are in shade and cold, or in an obscure and undelightful state. From this last state they return again to the first, and so on, these alternations following one after another with variety. There is a sequence of these states like the varied states of light and shade, or of heat and cold, or like morning, noon, evening, and night, day after day in the world, with unceasing variety throughout the year. There is also a correspondence, morning corresponding to the state of their love in its clearness, noon to the state of their wisdom in its clearness, evening to the state of their wisdom in its obscurity, and night to a state of no love or wisdom. But it must be understood that there is no correspondence of night with the states of life of those in heaven, although there is what corresponds to the dawn that precedes morning; what corresponds to night is with those in hell.[1] From this correspondence “day” and “year” signify in the Word states of life in general; “heat” and “light” signify love and wisdom; “morning” the first and highest degree of love “noon” wisdom in its light; “evening” wisdom in its shade; “dawn” the obscurity that precedes the morning; and “night” the absence of love and wisdom.[2]
[1] In heaven there is a state corresponding to the dawn that precedes morning, but no state corresponding to night (see number 6110).
The “dawn” signifies a middle state between the last and the first (see number 10134).
[2] Alternations of state in respect to enlightenment and perception occur in heaven, like the times of day in the world (see numbers 5672, 5962, 6110, 8426, 9213, 10605).
In the Word “day” and “year” signify all states in general (see numbers 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 4850, 10656).
“Morning” signifies the beginning of a new state, and a state of love (see numbers 7218, 8426, 8427, 10114, 10134).
“Evening” signifies a state of declining light and love (see numbers 10134, 10135).
“Night” signifies a state of no love or faith (see numbers 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 6110, 7870, 7947).
156. Together with the state of the angels’ interiors which pertain to their love and wisdom, the states of various things that are outside of them and that they see with their eyes are changed; for the things outside of them take on an appearance that is in accord with the things within them. But what things these are, and what kind of things they are, shall be told presently in the chapter on Representatives and Appearances in Heaven.
157. Every angel undergoes and passes through such changes of state, and also every society in general, and yet each one differently, for the reason that they differ in love and wisdom, those in the middle being in a more perfect state than those round about even to the circumference (see above, numbers 43, 128). But it would be tedious to specify the differences, since the changes each one undergoes are in accord with the quality of his love and faith. From this it happens that while one may be in clearness and delight another may be in obscurity and lack of delight, and this at the same time within the same society. So, too, the state differs in different societies; it is different in the societies of the celestial kingdom from what it is in those of the spiritual kingdom. These differences in the changes of state are in general like the variations of the states of days in different climates on the earth, for with some it is morning when with others it is evening, and with some it is hot when with others it is cold.
158. I have been taught from heaven why there are such changes of state there. The angels said that there are many reasons-first, the delight of life and of heaven, which they have from love and wisdom from the Lord, would gradually lose its value if they were in it continually, as happens with those that are in allurements and pleasures without variety. A second reason is that angels, as well as men, have what is their own [proprium], which is loving self; and all that are in heaven are withheld from what is their own, and so far as they are withheld from it by the Lord are in love and wisdom; but so far as they are not withheld they are in the love of self; and because everyone loves what is his own and is drawn by it[1] they have changes of state or successive alternations. A third reason is that they are in this way perfected, for they thus become accustomed to being held in love to the Lord and withheld from love of self; also that by alternations between delight and lack of delight the perception and sense of good becomes more exquisite.[2] The angels added that their changes of state are not caused by the Lord, since the Lord as a sun is unceasingly flowing in with heat and light, that is, with love and wisdom; but the cause is in themselves, in that they love what is their own, and this continually leads them away. This was illustrated by comparison with the sun of the world, that the cause of the changes of state of heat and cold and of light and shade, year by year and day by day, is not in that sun, since it stands unchanged, but the cause is in the earth.
[1] Man’s own [proprium] is loving self (see numbers 694, 731, 4317, 5660).
The Lord cannot be present unless what is man’s own is set aside (see numbers 1023, 1044).
It is actually set aside when one is held in good by the Lord (numbers 9334-9336, 9447, 9452-9454, 9938).
[2] The angels are being perfected to eternity (see numbers 4803, 6648).
In the heavens one state is never just like another, and from this there is an unceasing process of perfection (see number 10200).
159. I have been shown how the Lord as a sun appears to the angels of the celestial kingdom in their first state, in their second state, and in their third state. I saw the Lord as a sun, at first glowing and brilliant with a splendor that cannot be described; and I was told that such is the appearance of the Lord as a sun to the angels in their first state. Afterwards there appeared a great obscure belt about the sun, and by this its first glow and brilliancy, which gave it such splendor, began to be dulled, and I was told that such is the appearance of the sun to them in their second state. Then the belt seemed by degrees to grow darker, and the sun to appear less glowing, and this by degrees until at length it took on a shining whiteness; and I was told that such is the appearance of the sun to them in their third state. After this, that shining whiteness was seen to move to the left towards the moon of heaven, and to add itself to her light; and in consequence the moon shone forth with unwonted splendor; and I was told that such is the fourth state of those in the celestial kingdom and the first state of those in the spiritual kingdom, and that in both kingdoms changes of state have such alternations; yet not in the whole kingdom at once, but in one society after another. Furthermore, I was told that these alternations are not fixed, but come upon them sooner or later without their knowledge. And it was added that the sun in itself is not thus changed or moved; but it takes on this appearance in accord with their successive progressions of state, since the Lord appears to everyone in accord with what his state is, thus glowing when one is in intense love and less glowing and finally shining white as his love subsides; and the quality of each one’s state was represented by the obscure belt that induced upon the sun these apparent variations in its glow and light.
160. When angels are in the last of these states, which is when they are in what is their own, they begin to be sad. I have talked with them when they were in that state and have seen their sadness; but they said that they hoped to return soon to their former state, and thus into heaven again, as it were; for to them it is heaven to be withheld from what is their own.
161. There are also changes of state in the hells, but these will be described later when hell is treated of.
162. XVIII. TIME IN HEAVEN.
Although there is a succession and a progression of all things in heaven, as in the world, yet angels have no notion or idea of time and space; and this so completely that they do not even know at all what time and space are. Time in heaven will here be considered, and space in its own chapter.
163. Angels do not know what time is, although with them there is a successive progression of all things, as there is in the world, and this so completely that there is no difference whatever; and the reason is that in heaven instead of years and days there are changes of state; and where there are years and days there are times, but where there are changes of state there are states.
164. In the world there are times because the sun of the world seemingly advances in succession from one degree to another, producing times that are called seasons of the year; and besides, it revolves about the earth, producing times that are called times of day; both of these by fixed alternations. With the sun of heaven it is different. This does not mark years and days by successive progressions and revolutions, but in its appearance it marks changes of state; and this, as has been shown in the preceding chapter, is not done by fixed alternations. Consequently no idea of time is possible to angels; but in its place they have an idea of state (see above n. 154).
165. As angels have no idea derived from time, such as men in the world have, so neither do they have any idea about time and what pertains to it. They do not even know what is meant by the terms of time, such as year, month, week, day, hour, to-day, to-morrow, yesterday. When angels hear these terms used by man (for angels are always associated with man by the Lord) in place of them they perceive state and what pertains to states. Thus the natural thought of man is turned into spiritual thought with angels. This is why times in the Word signify states, and the terms of time, as enumerated above, signify corresponding spiritual things.[1]
[1] Times in the Word signify states (see numbers 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4901, 4916, 7218, 8070, 10133, 10605).
Angels think apart from the idea of time and space (see number 3404); the reasons why (see numbers 1274, 1382, 3356, 4882, 4901, 6110, 7218, 7381).
What a “year” signifies in the Word (see numbers 487, 488, 493, 893, 2906, 7828, 10209).
What a “month” (see number 3814).
What a “week” (see numbers 2044, 3845).
What a “day” (see numbers 23, 487, 488, 6110, 7680, 8426, 9213, 10132, 10605).
What “today” (see numbers 2838, 3998, 4304, 6165, 6984, 9939).
What “to-morrow” (see numbers 3998, 10497).
What “yesterday” (see numbers 6983, 7114, 7140).
166. The like is true of all things that exist from time, as the four seasons of the year, called spring, summer, autumn, and winter; the four periods of the day, morning, noon, evening, and night; and the four ages of man, infancy, youth, manhood, and old age; and all other things that either exist from time or have a succession in accordance with time. In thinking of these a man thinks from time, but an angel from state; and in consequence what there is in them from time with man is with the angels turned into an idea of state. Spring and morning are turned into an idea of the state of love and wisdom such as they are in angels in their first state; summer and noon are turned into an idea of love and wisdom such as they are in the second state; autumn and evening such as they are in the third state; night and winter into an idea of such a state as exists in hell. This is why these periods have a like significance in the Word (see above, number 155). This makes clear how natural things in the thought of man become spiritual with the angels who are with man.
167. As angels have no notion of time so they have an idea of eternity different from that which men on the earth have. Eternity means to the angels infinite state, not infinite time.[1] I was once thinking about eternity, and was able, with the idea of time, to perceive what to eternity means, namely, without end, but not what from eternity means, thus not what God did from eternity before creation. When anxiety on this account arose in my mind I was raised up into the sphere of heaven, and thus into the perception that angels have in respect to eternity; and it was then made clear to me that eternity must be thought of, not from time but from state; and then the meaning of from eternity can be seen. This then happened to me.
[1] Men have an idea of eternity associated with time, but angels apart from time (see numbers 1382, 3404, 8325).
168. When angels speak with men they never express themselves in natural ideas proper to man, all of which are from time, space, matter, and things analogous thereto, but in spiritual ideas, all of which are from states and their various changes within the angels and outside of them. Nevertheless, when these angelic ideas, which are spiritual, flow into men, they are turned in a moment and of themselves into natural ideas proper to man, that correspond perfectly to the spiritual ideas. Neither angels nor men know that this takes place; but such is all influx of heaven into man. Certain angels were permitted to enter more nearly into my thoughts, even into the natural thoughts in which there were many things from time and space; but as they then understood nothing they suddenly withdrew; and after they had withdrawn I heard them talking, and saying that they had been in darkness. [2] It has been granted me to know by experience how ignorant the angels are about time. There was a certain one from heaven who was able to enter into natural ideas, such as man has; and after he had done this I talked with him as man with man. At first he did not know what it was that I called time, and I was therefore obliged to tell him all about it, how the sun appears to be carried about our earth, and to produce years and days, and how years are thereby divided into four seasons, and also into months and weeks, and days into twenty-four hours; and how these times recur by fixed alternations, and how this is the source of times. On hearing this he was surprised, saying that he knew nothing about such things, but only what states are. [3] In speaking with him I added that it is known in the world, for men speak as if they knew that there is no time in heaven, saying of those who die that they “leave the things of time,” and that they “pass out of time,” meaning by this out of the world. I said also that some know that times in their origin are states, for they know that times are in exact accord with the states of their affections, short to those who are in pleasant and joyous states, long to those who are in unpleasant and sorrowful states, and various in a state of hope and expectation; and this therefore leads learned men to inquire what time and space are, and some know that time belongs to the natural man.
169. The natural man might think that he would be deprived of all thought if the ideas of time, space, and material things were taken away; for upon these all the thought of man rests.[1] But let him know that so far as thoughts partake of time, space, and matter they are limited and confined, but are unlimited and extended so far as they do not partake of these, since the mind is in that measure raised above bodily and worldly things. This is the source of wisdom to the angels; and such wisdom as is called incomprehensible, because it does not fall into ideas that are wholly made up of what is material.
[1] Man does not think, as angels do, apart from the idea of time (see number 3404).
[/read]
26 min
June 10, 2022 The Third Round: In a time of famine the Lord draws the remains out of storage so that the Divine Human can be found and glorified and thus sustain us
Aracana Coelestia 5342
And put the food in the cities. That this signifies that he stored it up in the interiors, namely, truths adjoined to good, is evident from the signification here of “putting,” as being to store up; from the signification of “food,” as being truth adjoined to good (of which just above, n. 4340); and from the signification of “cities,” as being the interiors of the natural mind (of which also above, n. 5297). That truths adjoined to good are stored up in the interiors of the natural mind, and there preserved for use in after life, especially for use in temptations during man’s regeneration, is a secret known to few at this day; and therefore something must be said about this. For by the “seven years of abundance of produce” are signified the truths first multiplied, and by the corn being “put in the cities” and “in the midst” is signified that these truths adjoined to good are stored up in man’s interiors: and by the “seven years of famine,” and by the sustenance at that time from the gatherings, is signified a state of regeneration through truths adjoined to good, stored up in the interiors.
[2] The secret is this: from earliest infancy even to the first of childhood, man is being introduced by the Lord into heaven, and indeed among celestial angels, by whom he is kept in a state of innocence; a state in which (as is known) infants are up to the first of childhood. When the age of childhood begins, the child gradually puts off the state of innocence, though he is still kept in a state of charity by means of the affection of mutual charity toward those like himself, which state with many continues up to youth, and meanwhile he is among spiritual angels. Then, because he begins to think from himself and to act accordingly, he can no longer be kept in charity as before; for he then calls forth inherited evils, by which he suffers himself to be led. When this state comes, the goods of charity and innocence that he had previously received, are banished according to the degree in which he thinks evils and confirms them by act; and yet they are not banished, but are withdrawn by the Lord toward the interiors and there stored up.
[3] But as he does not yet know truths, the goods of innocence and charity he had received in the two preceding states have not yet been qualified, for truths give quality to good, and good gives essence to truths; wherefore from this age he is imbued with truths by instruction, and especially by means of his own thoughts and confirmations from them. Insofar therefore as he is then in the affection of good, so far truths are conjoined with good in him by the Lord (see n. 5340), and are stored up for use. This state is what is signified by the “seven years of abundance of produce.” It is these truths adjoined to good that in the proper sense are called “remains.” Insofar therefore as the man suffers himself to be regenerated, so far the remains serve for use; for so far a supply from them is drawn forth by the Lord, and is sent back into the natural, in order to produce a correspondence of the exteriors with the interiors, or of what is natural with what is spiritual; and this is effected in the state signified by the “seven years of famine.” Such is the secret.
[4] The man of the church at this day believes that no matter what anyone’s life is, he may of mercy be received into heaven, and there enjoy eternal bliss; for he supposes admission to be all that is necessary. But he is much mistaken, for no one can be admitted and received into heaven unless he has received spiritual life, and no one can receive spiritual life unless he is being regenerated, and no one can be regenerated except through the good of life conjoined with the truth of doctrine: from this he has spiritual life. That no one can come into heaven unless he has received spiritual life through regeneration, the Lord plainly declares in John:
Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3);

Doctrine of the Lord 35
(1) By successive steps the Lord put off the human taken from the mother, and put on a Human from the Divine within Him, which is the Divine Human, and is the Son of God. That in the Lord were the Divine and the human, the Divine from Jehovah the Father, and the human from the virgin Mary, is known. Hence He was God and Man, having a Divine essence and a human nature; a Divine essence from the Father, and a human nature from the mother; and therefore was equal to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father as to the human. It is also known that this human nature from the mother was not transmuted into the Divine essence, nor commingled with it, for this is taught in the Doctrine of Faith which is called the Athanasian Creed. For a human nature cannot be transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it be commingled therewith.
(2) In accordance with the same creed is also our doctrine, that the Divine assumed the Human, that is, united itself to it, as a soul to its body, so that they were not two, but one Person. From this it follows that the Lord put off the human from the mother, which in itself was like that of another man, and thus material, and put on a Human from the Father, which in itself was like His Divine, and thus substantial, so that the Human too became Divine. This is why in the Word of the Prophets the Lord even as to the Human is called Jehovah, and God; and in the Word of the Evangelists, Lord, God, Messiah or Christ, and the Son of God in whom we must believe, and by whom we are to be saved.

Arcana Coelestia 5921
That with my mouth I am speaking unto you. That this signifies manifestation, is evident from the fact that the first testifying was that their eyes saw, the second was that the eyes of Benjamin saw, and now the third is that with his mouth he was speaking unto them, whereby all doubt was removed that he was Joseph; consequently he had fully manifested himself.

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.
8 min
June 05, 2022 The Third Round: The letter is a doorway just as the sense of self is
Apocalypse Explained
208 [3] Therefore he that approaches the Lord, acknowledges Him, and believes in Him, is said to open the door to the Lord, that he may enter in. In Revelation:
Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me (Revelation 3:20).
What this means will be told in what follows where this part of the chapter will be explained. Here something shall merely be said about doors or gates, in respect to man, since it is said, “I stand at the door and knock.” To man’s rational two ways lead, one from heaven, the other from the world. By the way from heaven good is introduced, by the way from the world truth is introduced. So far as the way from heaven is opened with man, so far he is affected by truth and becomes rational, that is, sees truth from the light of truth. But if the way from heaven is shut, man does not become rational; for he does not see truth, and yet it is truth from the light of truth that makes the rational; he can, indeed, reason about truth, and from reasoning or from memory can talk about it; but he is not able to see whether truth is truth.
To think well about the Lord and about the neighbor opens the way from heaven; while to think not well about the Lord and to think evil about the neighbor shuts that way.
As there are two ways that lead into man, so there are two doorways or gates through which entrance is effected. Through the gate or doorway that is opened from heaven the spiritual affection of truth from the Lord enters, because through that door (as was said above), good enters, and all spiritual affection of truth is from good; but by the gate or doorway that is open from the world all knowledge from the Word and from preaching from the Word enters, since by this way truth enters (as was also said above), for the knowledges from the Word and from preaching therefrom are truths. The spiritual affection of truth joined with such knowledges constitutes man’s rational, and enlightens it according to the quality of the truth conjoined to good, and according to the quality of the conjunction.

209. [2] It should be known that there are two principal things of the church, namely, the acknowledgment of the Lord’s Divine in His Human, and making the truths from the Word to be of one’s life;
moreover, no one can be in the one of these unless he is at the same time in the other; for all truths that are made to be of the life are from the Lord, and this is done with those who acknowledge the Divine in His Human.
For the Lord flows in with all, as well in the heavens as on the earth, from His Divine Human, and not from the Divine separately. Consequently those who in their thought separate the Divine of the Lord from His Human, and look to the Divine of the Father not as in the Human but as beside it or above it, thus separated from it, receive no influx from the Lord nor thus from heaven, for all who are in the heavens acknowledge the Lord’s Divine Human (see concerning this in the work on Heaven and Hell 2-12, 59-72, 78-86. From this it is clear that all truths that are made of the life are from the Lord with those who acknowledge the Divine in His Human, that is the Divine Human. Truths become of the life when man loves them, thus when he wills them and does them, for he who loves, wills and does; in a word, truths are made of the life when man from affection lives according to them. Such truths are from the Lord because the Lord flows into the love with man, and through the love into truths and thus makes them to be of the life.

Arcana Coelesita
5922 [7] Hence also it was that over the tabernacle there appeared a cloud by day and a fire by night, because the tabernacle represented the Divine Human of the Lord, consequently the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, thus the Word which is the Divine truth of the church (see n. 3210, 3439).
4] That “glory” is predicated of the Divine truth which is from the Divine Human of the Lord, and that it is attributed to the Lord as a king (for in the internal sense the “royalty” is Divine truth, n. 1728, 2015, 2069, 3009, 3670, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068), is evident in John:
But the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us, and we saw His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).
The “Word” is Divine truth, and as this proceeds from the Lord, it is the Lord Himself; and hence “glory” is predicated of Divine 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.
6 min
June 02, 2022 The Third Round: The Text is Multifaceted and Multilayered
Arcana Coelestia 5922(3)
…It shall now be told what “glory” is. “Glory” in the supreme sense is the Lord as to Divine truth, thus it is the Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord. But “glory” in the representative sense is the good of love toward the neighbor, or charity, which is the external good of the celestial kingdom and the internal good of the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, for this good in a genuine sense is the Divine truth in heaven.
(7) Hence also it was that over the tabernacle there appeared a cloud by day and a fire by night, because the tabernacle represented the Divine Human of the Lord, consequently the Divine truth which proceeds from Him, thus the Word which is the Divine truth of the church (see n. 3210, 3439). The like is signified by these words in Moses:
The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of Jehovah filled the habitation (Exodus 40:34).
Again:
The glory of Jehovah appeared in the tent of meeting before all the sons of Israel (Numbers 14:10).
And elsewhere:
The cloud covered the tent, and the glory of Jehovah appeared (Numbers 16:42).

Heaven and Hell 68.
Each Community in the Heavens Reflects a Single Individual. Several times I have been allowed to see that each community of heaven reflects a single individual and is in the likeness of a human being as well. There was one community that was infiltrated by a number of spirits who knew how to assume the guise of angels of light. They were hypocrites. As they were being set apart by some angels, I observed that the whole community first looked like something cloudy, then gradually took on a human form, though still a cloudy one, and finally appeared in the light as a person. The individuals who were in that person and made it up were the ones who participated in the benevolence of that community. The others, who were not in the person and did not make it up, were the hypocrites. These latter were cast out, while the former ones were retained. This is how the separation was accomplished.
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.
2 min
May 30, 2022 The Third Round: The Text is psychoactive – it can give us a direct experience in what we are reading about
Genesis 45
1. And Joseph could not restrain himself before all that were standing by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from with me. And there stood not anyone with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren.
2. And he gave forth his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were in consternation before him.
4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come ye near to me I pray. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5. And now be not grieved, neither let there be anger in your eyes, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to make to live.
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.
4 min
May 29, 2022 HHS06 116-140
Click Here to Print Reading
116. THE SUN IN HEAVEN.
In heaven neither the sun of the world, nor anything from that sun, is seen, because it is wholly natural. For nature has its beginning from that sun, and whatever is produced by means of it is called natural. But the spiritual, to which heaven belongs, is above nature and wholly distinct from what is natural; and there is no communication between the two except by correspondences. What the distinction between them is may be understood from what has been already said about degrees (see number 38), and what the communication is from what has been said in the two preceding chapters about correspondences.
[read more]
117. Although the sun of the world is not seen in heaven, nor anything from that sun, there is nevertheless a sun there, and light and heat, and all things that are in the world, with innumerable others, but not from a like origin; since the things in heaven are spiritual, and those in the world are natural. The sun of heaven is the Lord; the light there is the Divine truth and the heat the Divine good that go forth from the Lord as a sun. From this origin are all things that spring forth and are seen in the heavens. This light and heat and things existing therefrom in heaven will be treated of in the following chapters; in this chapter we will speak only of the sun there. In heaven the Lord is seen as a sun, for the reason that He is Divine love, from which all spiritual things, and by means of the sun of the world all natural things, have their existence. That love is what shines as a sun.
118. That the Lord is actually seen in heaven as a sun I have not only been told by angels, but it has occasionally been granted me to see it; and therefore what I have heard and seen respecting the Lord as a sun I shall be glad to tell in a few words. The Lord is seen as a sun, not in heaven, but high above the heavens; and not directly overhead or in the zenith, but before the faces of the angels at a middle height. He is seen at a considerable distance, in two places, one before the right eye and the other before the left eye. Before the right eye He is seen exactly like a sun, as it were, with a glow and size like that of the sun of the world. But before the left eye He is not seen as a sun, but as a moon, glowing white like the moon of our earth, and of like size, but more brilliant, and surrounded with many little moons, as it were, each of them of similar whiteness and splendor. The Lord is seen so differently in two places because every person sees the Lord in accordance with the quality of his reception of the Lord, thus He is seen in one way by those that receive Him with the good of love, and in another by those that receive Him with the good of faith. Those that receive Him with the good of love see Him as a sun, fiery and flaming, in accordance with their reception of Him; these are in His celestial kingdom; while those that receive Him with the good of faith see Him as a moon, white and brilliant in accordance with their reception of Him, and these are in His spiritual kingdom.[1] This is so because good of love corresponds to fire; therefore in the spiritual sense fire is love; and the good of faith corresponds to light, and in the spiritual sense light is faith.[2] And the Lord appears before the eyes because the interiors, which belong to the mind, see through the eyes, from good of love through the right eye, and from good of faith through the left eye;[3] since with angels and also with men all things at the right correspond to good from which truth is derived, and all at the left to truth that is from good.[4] Good of faith is in its essence truth from good.
[1] The Lord is seen in heaven as a sun, and is the sun of heaven (see numbers 1053, 3636, 3643, 4060).
The Lord is seen as a sun by those who are in His celestial kingdom, where love to Him reigns, and as a moon by those who are in His spiritual kingdom, where charity to the neighbor and faith reign (see numbers 1521, 1529-1531, 1837, 4696).
The Lord is seen as a sun at a middle height before the right eye, and an a moon before the left eye (see numbers 1053, 1521, 1529-1531, 3636, 3643, 4321, 5097, 7078, 7083, 7173, 7270, 8812, 10809).
The Lord is seen as a sun and as a moon (see numbers 1531, 7173).
The Lord’s Divine Itself is far above His Divine in heaven (see numbers 7270, 8760).
[2] “Fire” in the Word signifies love, both in a good sense and in a bad sense (see numbers 934, 4906, 5215).
Holy or heavenly fire signifies the Divine Love (see numbers 934, 6314, 6832).
Infernal fire signifies love of self and of the world and every lust of those loves (see numbers 1861, 5071, 6314, 6832, 7575, 10747).
Love is the fire of life and life itself is really from it (see numbers 4906, 5071, 6032, 6314). “Light” signifies the truth of faith (see numbers 3195, 3485, 3636, 3643, 3993, 4302, 4413, 4415, 9548, 9684).
[3] The sight of the left eye corresponds to truths of faith, and the sight of the right eye to their goods (see numbers 4410, 6923).
[4] The things on man’s right have relation to good from which is truth, and those on his left to truth from good (see numbers 9495, 9604).
119. This is why in the Word the Lord in respect to love is likened to the sun, and in respect to faith to the moon; also that the “sun” signifies love from the Lord to the Lord, and the “moon” signifies faith from the Lord in the Lord, as in the following passages:
The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days (Isaiah 30 verse 26).
And when I shall extinguish thee I will cover the heavens and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not make her light to shine. All luminaries of light in the heavens will I make dark over thee, and I will set darkness upon thy land (Ezekiel. 32 verses 7, 8).
I will darken the sun in his going forth, and the moon shall not make her light to shine (Isaiah 13 verse 10)
The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2 verses 2, 10, 31; 3 verse 16).
The sun became black as sackcloth and hair, and the moon became as blood, and the stars fell unto the earth (Revelation 6 verses 12, 13).
Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24 verse 29).
And elsewhere. In these passages the “sun” signifies love, and the “moon” faith, and the “stars” knowledges of good and truth.[1] These are said to be darkened, to lose their light, and to fall from heaven, when they are no more. That the Lord is seen as a sun in heaven is evident also from His appearance when transfigured before Peter, James, and John,
That His face did shine as the sun (Matthew 17 verse 2).
These disciples thus saw the Lord when they were withdrawn from the body, and were in the light of heaven. It was because of this correspondence that the ancient people, with whom was a representative church, turned the face to the sun in the east when they were in Divine worship; and for the same reason they gave to their temples an eastern aspect.
[1] “Stars” and “constellations” in the Word signify knowledges of good and truth (see numbers 2495, 2849, 4697).
120. How great the Divine love is and what it is can be seen by comparison with the sun of the world, that it is most ardent, if you will believe it, much more ardent than that sun. For this reason the Lord as a sun does not flow without mediums into the heavens, but the ardor of His love is gradually tempered on the way. These temperings appear as radiant belts about the sun; furthermore, the angels are veiled with a thin adapting cloud to prevent their being harmed by the influx.[1] For this reason the heavens are more or less near in accordance with reception. As the higher heavens are in good of love they are nearest to the Lord as the sun; and as the lower heavens are in good of faith they are farther away from Him. But those that are in no good, like those in hell, are farthest away, at different distances in accordance with their opposition to good.[2]
[1] What the Lord’s Divine love is, and how great it is, illustrated by comparison with the fire of this world’s sun (see numbers 6834, 6849, 8644).
The Lord’s Divine love is love toward the whole human race to save it (see numbers 1820, 1865, 2253, 6872).
The love that first goes forth from the fire of the Lord’s love does not enter heaven, but is seen as radiant belts about the sun (see number 7270).
The angels are veiled with a corresponding thin cloud, to prevent their being harmed by the glow of burning love (see number 6849).
[2] The Lord’s presence with the angels is in proportion to their reception of good of love and faith from Him (see numbers 904, 4198, 4320, 6280, 6832, 7042, 8819, 9680, 9682, 9683, 10106, 10811).
The Lord appears to each one in accordance with what he is (see numbers 1861, 3235, 4198, 4206).
The hells are at a distance from the heavens because they cannot bear the presence of Divine love from the Lord (see numbers 4299, 7519, 7738, 7989, 8137, 8265, 9327).
For this reason the hells are very far away from the heavens, and this is the “great gulf” (see numbers 9346, 10187).
121. When, however, the Lord appears in heaven, which often occurs, He does not appear encompassed with a sun, but in the form of an angel, yet distinguished from angels by the Divine shining through from His face, since He is not there in person, for in person the Lord is constantly encompassed by the sun, but He is present by look. For it is a common occurrence in heaven for persons to appear to be present in a place where their look is fixed or is terminated, even when this place is far away from where they really are. This presence is called the presence of internal sight, which will be treated of further on. I have also seen the Lord out of the sun in an angelic form, at a height a little below the sun; also near by in a like form, with shining face, and once in the midst of angels as a flame-like radiance.
122. To the angels the sun of the world appears like a dense darkness opposite to the sun of heaven, and the moon like a darkness opposite to the moon of heaven, and this constantly; and for the reason that the world’s fieriness corresponds to the love of self, and the light from it corresponds to what is false from that love; and the love of self is the direct opposite of the Divine love; and what is false from that love is the direct opposite of the Divine truth; and the opposite of the Divine love and the Divine truth is to the angels thick darkness. Therefore, in the Word, to worship the sun and moon of this world and bow down to them, signifies to love self and the falsities that spring from the love of self, and it is said that such would be cut off. (Deuteronomy 4 verse 19; 16 verses 3 to 5; Jer. 8 verses 1, 2; Ezek. 8 verses 15, 16, 18; Apoc. 16 verse 8; Matt. 13 verse 6).[1]
[1] The sun of the world is not seen by the angels, but in its place something dark behind, opposite to the sun of heaven or the Lord (see numbers 7078, 9755).
In the opposite sense the sun signifies the love of self (see number 2441); and in this sense “to worship the sun” signifies to worship what is contrary to heavenly love or to the Lord (see numbers 2441, 10584).
To those in the hells the sun of heaven is thick darkness (see number 2441).
123. As it is from the Divine love that is in and from Him that the Lord appears in heaven like a sun, so all in the heavens are turned constantly to Him those in the celestial kingdom to Him as a sun and those in the spiritual kingdom to Him as a moon. But those that are in hell turn themselves to an opposite darkness and dense darkness, that is, they turn backwards, away from the Lord; and for the reason that all in the hells are in love of self and the world, thus antagonistic to the Lord. Those who turn themselves to the dense darkness that is in the place where this world’s sun is are in the hells behind, and are called genii; while those that turn themselves to the darkness that is in the place of the moon are in the hells more in front, and are called spirits. This is why those in the hells are said to be in darkness, and those in the heavens in light, “darkness” signifying falsity from evil, and “light” truth from good. They so turn themselves because all in the other life look towards what rules in their interiors, thus to their loves; and with angels and spirits the interiors determine the face; and in the spiritual world quarters are not fixed, as in the natural world, but are determined by the face. In respect to his spirit man turns himself in like manner as a spirit does, backwards from the Lord if he is in love of self and the world, and towards the Lord if he is in love to the Lord and the neighbor. But of this man is ignorant, because he is in the natural world where quarters are determined by the rising and setting of the sun. But as this cannot be easily comprehended by men it will be elucidated hereafter when Quarters, Space, and Time in Heaven are treated of.
124. Because the Lord is the sun of heaven and everything that is from Him looks to Him, He is also the common center, the source of all direction and determination.[1] So, too, all things beneath are in His presence and under His auspices, both in the heavens and on the earths.
[1] The Lord is the common center to which all things of heaven turn (see numbers 3633, 3641).
125. From all this what has been said and shown in previous chapters about the Lord may now be seen in clearer light, namely:
That He is the God of heaven (numbers 2-6).
That it is His Divine that makes heaven (numbers 7-12).
That the Lord’s Divine in heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbor (numbers 13-19).
That there is a correspondence of all things of the world with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord (numbers 87-115).
Also that the sun and moon of the world are correspondences (see number 105).
126. LIGHT AND HEAT IN HEAVEN.
That there is light in the heavens those who think from nature alone cannot comprehend; and yet such is the light in the heavens that it exceeds by many degrees the noon-day light of the world. That light I have often seen, even during the evening and night. At first I wondered when I heard the angels say that the light of this world is little more than a shadow in comparison with the light of heaven; but having seen it I can testify that it is so. The brightness and splendor of the light of heaven are such as cannot be described. All things that I have seen in the heavens have been seen in that light, thus more clearly and distinctly than things in this world.
127. The light of heaven is not a natural light, like the light of the world, but a spiritual light, because it is from the Lord as a sun, and that sun is the Divine love (as has been shown in the foregoing chapter). That which goes forth from the Lord as a sun is called in the heavens Divine truth, but in its essence it is Divine good united to Divine truth. From this the angels have light and heat, light from Divine truth, and heat from Divine good. As the light of heaven, and the heat also, are from such a source, it is evident that they are spiritual and not natural.[1]
[1] All light in the heavens is from the Lord as a sun (see numbers 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 3643, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10809).
The Divine truth that goes forth from the Lord appears in heaven as light, and furnishes all the light of heaven (see numbers 3195, 3222, 3223, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684).
128. The Divine truth is light to the angels because the angels are spiritual and not natural. Spiritual beings see from their sun, and natural beings from theirs. It is from Divine truth that angels have understanding, and their understanding is their inner sight, which flows into and produces their outer sight; therefore in heaven whatever is seen from the Lord as the sun is seen in light.[1] This being the source of light in heaven the light is varied there in accordance with the reception of Divine truth from the Lord; or what is the same, in accordance with the intelligence and wisdom in which the angels are, thus differently in the celestial kingdom and in the spiritual kingdom, and differently in each society. In the celestial kingdom the light appears flaming because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a sun; but in the spiritual kingdom the light is shining white, because the angels there receive light from the Lord as a moon (see above, number 118). So, too, the light differs in different societies, and again in each society, those that are at the center being in greater light and those in the circumference in less light (see number 43). In a word, the angels have light in the same degree in which they are recipients of Divine truth, that is, are in intelligence and wisdom from the Lord;[2] and this is why the angels of heaven are called angels of light.
[1] The light of heaven illumines both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits (see numbers 2776, 3138).
[2] The light in heaven is in harmony with the intelligence and wisdom of the angels (see numbers 1524, 1529, 1530, 3339).
Differences of light in the heavens are as many as there are angelic societies; and as there are in the heavens endless varieties of good and truth, so are there of wisdom and intelligence (see numbers 684, 690, 3241, 3744, 3745, 4414, 5598, 7236, 7833, 7836).
129. As the Lord in the heavens is Divine truth, and the Divine truth there is light, so in the Word He is called Light, likewise all truth is from Him, as in the following passages:
Jesus said, I am the light of the world; he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8 verse 12).
As long as I am in the world I am the light of the world (John 9 verse 5).
Jesus said, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness overtake you. While ye have the light believe in the light, that ye may be sons of light. I have come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth in Me may not abide in darkness (John 12 verses 35, 36, 46).
Light has come into the world, but men have loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3 verse 19).
John says of the Lord:
This is the true light which lighteneth every man (John 1 verse 9).
The people that sit in darkness have seen a great light, and to them that were sitting in the shadow of death light is sprung up (Matt. 4 verse 16).
I will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles (Isa. 13 verse 6).
I have established Thee for a light of the Gentiles that Thou mayest be My salvation unto the end of the earth (Isa. 19 verse 6).
The nations of them that are saved shall walk in His light (Apoc. 21 verse 24).
Send out Thy light and Thy truth; let them lead me (Psalm 43 verse 3).
In these and other passages the Lord is called light from Divine truth, which is from Him; and the truth itself is likewise called light. As light in the heavens is from the Lord as a sun, so when He was transfigured before Peter, James, and John:
His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light (Matt. 17 verse 2).
And His garments became shining, exceeding white as snow, so as no fuller on earth can whiten them (Mark 9 verse 3; Matt. 17 verse 2).
The Lord’s garments had this appearance because they represented Divine truth which is from Him in the heavens, “garments” also in the Word signifying truths,[1] consequently it is said in David:
O Jehovah, Thou coverest Thyself with light as with a garment (Psalm 104 verse 2).
[1] In the Word “garments” signify truths, because truths clothe good (see numbers 1073, 2576, 5248, 5319, 5954, 9216, 9952, 10536).
The Lord’s garments when He was transfigured signified Divine truth going forth from His Divine love (see numbers 9212, 9216).
130. That light in the heavens is spiritual and that this light is Divine truth may be inferred also from the fact that men as well as angels have spiritual light, and have enlightenment from that light so far as they are in intelligence and wisdom from Divine truth. Man’s spiritual light is the light of his understanding, and the objects of that light are truths, which he arranges analytically into groups, forms into reason, and from them draws conclusions in series.[1] The natural man does not know that the light from which the understanding sees such things is a real light, for he neither sees it with his eyes nor perceives it by thought. And yet there are many who recognize this light, and distinguish it from the natural light in which those are who think naturally and not spiritually. Those think naturally who take account of the world only, and attribute all things to nature; while those think spiritually who take account of heaven and attribute all things to the Divine. It has often been granted me to perceive and also to see that there is a true light that enlightens the mind, wholly distinct from the light that is called natural light [lumen]. I have been raised up interiorly into that light by degrees; and as I was raised up my understanding became so enlightened as to enable me to perceive what I did not perceive before, and finally such things as I could not even comprehend by thought from natural light. Sometimes I felt indignant that I could not comprehend these things when they were so clearly and plainly perceived in the light of heaven.[2] Because there is a light that belongs to the understanding, the same things are said of it as of the eye, as that it sees and is in light when it perceives, and is in obscurity and shade when it does not perceive, and so on.
[1] Man is rational because his understanding is illumined by the light of heaven (see numbers 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569).
The understanding is enlightened because it is a recipient of truth (see numbers 6222, 6608, 10659).
The understanding is enlightened to the extent that man receives truth in good from the lord (see number 3619).
The understanding is such as are the truths from good by which it is formed (see number 10064).
The understanding has light from heaven, as the sight has light from the world (see numbers 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128).
The light of heaven from the Lord is always present with man, but it flows in only in the degree that man is in truth from good (see numbers 4060, 4214).
[2] When man is raised up from the sensual he comes into a milder light, and at length into heavenly light (see numbers 6313, 6315, 9407).
When man is raised up into intelligence there is an actual elevation into the light of heaven (see number 3190).
How great a light was perceived when I was withdrawn from worldly ideas (see numbers 1526, 6608).
131. As the light of heaven is Divine truth, that light is also Divine wisdom and intelligence; therefore to be raised up into the light of heaven means the same as to be raised up into intelligence and wisdom and enlightened. For this reason the angels have light in just the same degree as they have intelligence and wisdom. Because the light of heaven is Divine wisdom, in that light the character of everyone is recognized. The interiors of everyone lie open to view in his face just as they are, with not the least thing hidden. And interior angels love to have all things that pertain to them lying open, since they will nothing but good. It is otherwise with those beneath heaven, who do not will what is good, and for that reason fear greatly to be seen in the light of heaven. And wonderful to tell, while those in hell appear to one another as men, in the light of heaven they appear as monsters, with a horrid face and body, the exact form of their own evil.[1] In respect to his spirit man appears, when seen by angels, in a like way; if good as a man, beautiful in accord with his good; if evil as a monster, ugly in accord with his evil. From this it is clear that in the light of heaven all things are made manifest, and for the reason that the light of heaven is Divine truth.
[1] Those in the hells, in their own light, which is like the light from burning coals, appear to themselves as men but in the light of heaven they appear as monsters (see numbers 4531, 4533, 4674, 5057, 5058, 6605, 6626).
132. As Divine truth is light in the heavens, so all truths wherever they are, whether within an angel or outside of him, or whether within the heavens or outside of them, emit light. Nevertheless, truths outside of the heavens do not shine as truths within the heavens do. Truths outside of the heavens shine coldly, like something snowy, without heat, because they do not draw their essence from good, as truths within the heavens do; therefore that cold light vanishes as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, and if there is evil underneath it it is turned into darkness. This I have occasionally seen, with many other noteworthy things about the shining of truth, which must be omitted here.
133. Something shall now be said about the heat of heaven. That heat in its essence is love. It goes forth from the Lord as a sun, which is Divine love in the Lord and from the Lord, as has been shown in the preceding chapter. It is evident, therefore, that the heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is spiritual, because from the same source.[1] There are two things that go forth from the Lord as a sun, Divine truth and Divine good; Divine truth is manifested in the heavens as light, and Divine good as heat; and yet Divine truth and Divine good are so united that they are not two, but one. Nevertheless, with angels they are separate, for there are angels that receive more of Divine good than of Divine truth, and there are those that receive more of Divine truth than of Divine good. Those who receive more of Divine good are in the Lord’s celestial kingdom, and those who receive more of Divine truth are in His spiritual kingdom. Those that receive both in a like degree are the most perfect angels.
[1] There are two sources of heat and also two sources of light, the sun of the world and the sun of heaven (see numbers 3338, 5215, 7324).
Heat from the Lord as a sun is affection of love (see numbers 3636, 3643).
Therefore spiritual heat in its essence is love (see numbers 2146, 3338, 3339, 6314).
134. The heat of heaven, like the light of heaven, is everywhere different. It is different in the celestial kingdom from what it is in the spiritual kingdom, and it is different in each society therein. It differs both in degree and in quality. It is more intense and more pure in the Lord’s celestial kingdom, because the angels there receive more of Divine good; and it is less intense and pure in His spiritual kingdom, because the angels there receive more of Divine truth. Also in each society the heat differs in accordance with reception. There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean heat.[1] The heat in heaven is what is meant by holy and heavenly fire, and the heat of hell by profane and infernal fire. Both mean love – heavenly fire meaning love to the Lord and love to the neighbor and every affection of those loves, and infernal fire meaning love of self and love of the world and every lust of those loves. That love is heat from a spiritual source is shown from one’s growing warm with love; for in accordance with the strength and nature of his love a man is inflamed and grows warm; and the heat of his love is made manifest when it is opposed. From this also it is customary to speak of being inflamed, growing hot, burning, boiling, being on fire, both in regard to the affections of the love of good and the lusts of the love of evil.
[1] There is heat in the hells, but it is unclean (see numbers 1773, 2757, 3340).
The odor from it is like the odor from dung and excrement in the world and in the worst hells like the odor of dead bodies (see numbers 814, 815, 817, 819, 820, 943, 944, 5394).
135. Love going forth from the Lord as a sun is felt in heaven as heat, because the interiors of the angels are in a state of love from the Divine good that is from the Lord; and in consequence their exteriors which grow warm therefrom are in a state of heat. For this reason heat and love so correspond to each other in heaven that everyone there is in heat such as his love is, according to what has been said just above. This world’s heat does not enter heaven at all, because it is too gross, and is natural, and not spiritual; but with men it is otherwise, because they are in both the spiritual world and the natural world. As to their spirits they grow warm in exact accordance with their loves; but as to the body they grow warm both from the heat of their spirit and from the heat of the world. The former flows into the latter, because they correspond. The nature of the correspondence of the two kinds of heat can be seen from animal life, in that the love of animals-the chief of which is the love of propagating offspring of their kind-bursts forth and becomes active in accordance with the presence and influence of heat from the sun of the world, which is the heat of the spring and the summer seasons. Those who believe that the world’s heat flows in and excites these loves are greatly mistaken, for there can be no influx from the natural into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual into the natural. This influx is of Divine order, but the other would be contrary to Divine order.[1]
[1] There is spiritual influx, but not physical, that is, there is influx from the spiritual world into the natural, but not from the natural world into the spiritual (see numbers 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6322, 9109, 9110, 9111).
136. Angels, like men, have understanding and will. The light of heaven constitutes the life of their understanding, because that light is Divine truth and Divine wisdom therefrom; and the heat of heaven constitutes the life of their will, because that heat is Divine good and Divine love therefrom. The veriest life of the angels is from heat, and from light only so far as heat is in it. That life is from heat is shown by the fact that when heat is taken away life perishes. The same is true of faith without love or of truth without good; since the truth that is called truth of faith is light, and the good that is called good of love is heat. [1] This is more clearly shown by the heat and light of the world, to which the heat and light of heaven correspond. By the world’s heat when conjoined with light, as in spring and summer, all things on the earth are quickened and grow, but by light separate from heat nothing is quickened or grows, but everything lies torpid and dies. They are not conjoined in winter, when heat is absent though light remains. From this correspondence heaven is called paradise, since truth is there joined with good, or faith with love, as light is with heat in springtime on the earth. All this makes more clear the truth set forth in its own chapter (numbers 13-19), that the Divine of the Lord in Heaven is love to Him and charity towards the neighbor.
[1] Truths apart from good are not in themselves truths because they have no life; for truths have all their life from good (see number 9603).
Thus truths apart from good are like a body without a soul (see numbers 3180, 9154).
Truths apart from good are not accepted by the Lord (see number 4368).
What truth apart from good, that is, what faith apart from love is, and what truth from good or faith from love is (numbers 1949-1951, 1964, 5830, 5951).
It amounts to the same thing whether you say truth or faith, or whether you say good or love, since truth is of faith and good is of love (see numbers 2839, 4352, 4353, 4997, 7178, 7623, 7624, 10367).
137. It is said in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that hath been made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory (1 verses 1 to 14).
Evidently the Lord is here meant by “the Word,” for it is said that “the Word became flesh.” But what is specifically meant by “the Word” is not known and shall therefore be explained. Here “the Word” means the Divine truth which is in the Lord and from the Lord;1 and this is why it is also called “the Light,” which is the Divine truth, as has been already shown in this chapter. That it was by means of Divine truth that all things were created and made shall now be explained. [2] In heaven Divine truth has all power, and apart from it there is no power whatever.[2] From the Divine truth angels are called powers, and are powers to the extent that they are recipients or receptacles of it. By means of it they prevail over the hells and over all that oppose them. A thousand enemies there cannot stand against a single ray of the light of heaven, which is Divine truth. As angels are angels by their reception of Divine truth it follows that the entire heaven is from no other source, since heaven consists of angels. [3] That there is such power in Divine truth those cannot believe that have no other idea of truth than that it is thought or speech, which has in it no power except as others do it from obedience. But Divine truth has power in itself, and such power that by means of it heaven was created and the world with all things therein. That there is such power in Divine truth may be shown by two comparisons-by the power of truth and good in man, and by the power of light and heat from the sun in the world. By the power of good and truth in man, in that everything that a man does he does from his understanding and will-from his will by means of good and from his understanding by means of truth; for all things in the will have relation to good and all things in the understanding have relation to truth.[3] Therefore it is from good and truth that man moves his whole body, and a thousand things therein rush with one accord to do their will and pleasure. This makes clear that the whole body is formed for subservience to good and truth, consequently is formed by good and truth. [4] By the power of heat and light from the sun in the world, in that all things that grow in the world, as trees, cereals, flowers, grasses, fruits, and seeds, come into existence wholly by means of the heat and light of the sun; which shows what power of producing there is in them. What, then, must be the power in Divine light, which is Divine truth, and in Divine heat, which is Divine good? Because heaven has its existence from these, so does the world have its existence therefrom, since the world has its existence by means of heaven, as has been already shown. From all this the meaning of these words can be seen that “all things were made through the Word, and without the Word was not anything made that has been made;” also that “the world was made through Him,” that is, through Divine truth from the Lord.[4] For the same reason, in the Book of Creation, light is first spoken of, and then the things that are from light (Genesis 1 verses 3, 4). For this reason also all things in the universe, both in heaven and in the world, have relation to good and truth and to their conjunction, in order to be any thing.
[1] In the Sacred Scripture word signifies various things, namely, speech, thought of the mind, any thing that really exists, also something, and in the highest sense Divine truth, and the Lord (see number 9987).
“Word” signifies Divine truth (see numbers 2803, 2894, 4692, 5075, 5272, 9383, 9987).
“Word” signifies the Lord (see numbers 2533, 2859).
[2] Divine truth going forth from the Lord has all power (see numbers 6948, 8200).
Truth from good has all power in heaven (see numbers 3091, 3563, 6344, 6423, 8304, 9643, 10019, 10182).
Angels are called powers, and are powers by the reception of Divine truth from the Lord (see number 9639).
Angels are recipients of Divine truth from the Lord and therefore in the Word are sometimes called gods (see numbers 4295, 4402, 7873, 8192, 8301).
[3] The understanding is a recipient of truth, and the will a recipient of good (see numbers 3623, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930).
Therefore all things in the understanding have relation to truths, whether they are really truths or are believed by man to be truths, and all things in the will in like manner have relation to goods (see numbers 803, 10122).
[4] Divine truth going forth from the Lord is the only real thing (see numbers 6880, 7004, 8200).
By means of Divine truth all things were created and made (see numbers 2803, 2884, 5272, 7678).
139. It must be understood that the Divine good and the Divine truth that are from the Lord as a sun in the heavens are not in the Lord, but are from the Lord. In the Lord there is only Divine love, which is the Being [Esse] from which the Divine good and the Divine truth spring. Outgo [existere] from being [esse] is meant by going forth [procedere]. This, too, can be made clear by comparison with the world’s sun. The heat and light that are in the world are not in the sun, but are from the sun. In the sun there is fire only, and it is from this that heat and light spring and go forth.
140. Since the Lord as a sun is Divine love, and Divine love is Divine good itself, the Divine that goes forth from the Lord, which is His Divine in heaven, is called, for the sake of distinction, Divine truth, although it is in fact Divine good united to Divine truth. This Divine truth is what is called the Holy that goes forth from Him.
[/read]
30 min
May 27, 2022 The Third Round: When we are ready to truly appropriate goods and truths then Joseph, as the Lord in the Word, is revealed
Arcana Coelestia
5897 [11] In regard to remains, or the goods and truths stored up in man’s interiors by the Lord, the case is this. When a man is in good and truth from affection, thus from freedom, then good and truth are implanted. And when this takes place, the angels from heaven approach nearer and conjoin themselves with the man. It is this conjunction which causes the goods with truths to come forth in the man’s interiors. But when a man is in things external, as when he is in worldly and bodily things, then the angels are removed, and when they are removed, then nothing at all of these goods and truths appears.
Nevertheless as conjunction has once been effected, the man is in the capacity for conjunction with the angels, thus with the good and truth appertaining to them; but this conjunction does not take place oftener and further than is well-pleasing to the Lord, who disposes these things according to every use of the man’s life.
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.
4 min
May 22, 2022 The Third Round: The spiritual process of sublimation that transforms the sons of Jacob into the sons of Israel
Arcana Coelestia
5867. GENESIS 45
1. And Joseph could not restrain himself before all that were standing by him; and he cried, Cause every man to go out from with me. And there stood not anyone with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren
2. And he gave forth his voice in weeping; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.
3. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were in consternation before him.
4. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come ye near to me I pray. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt.
5. And now be not grieved, neither let there be anger in your eyes, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to make to live.
6. For this two years the famine is in the midst of the land; and there are yet five years wherein is no plowing and harvest.
7. And God sent me before you to put for you remains in the land, and to make you live for a great escape.
8. And now not you have sent me hither, but God; and He set me for a father to Pharaoh, and for lord to all his house, and I rule in all the land of Egypt.
9. Haste ye and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus hath said thy son Joseph, God hath set me for lord to all Egypt; come down unto me, tarry not:
10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons’ sons, and thy flocks, and thy herds, and all that thou hast:
11. And I will sustain thee there; for there are yet five years of famine; lest thou be rooted out, thou, and thy household, and all that thou hast.
12. And behold your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, that with my mouth I am speaking unto you.
13. And ye shall tell my father all my glory in Egypt, and all that ye have seen; and haste ye and bring down my father hither.
14. And he fell upon his brother Benjamin’s necks and wept; and Benjamin wept upon his necks.
15. And he kissed all his brethren, and wept upon them; and afterward his brethren talked with him.
16. And the voice was heard in Pharaoh’s house, saying, Joseph’s brethren have come; and it was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants.
17. And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Say unto thy brethren, This do ye; lade your beasts, and go, come ye into the land of Canaan;
18. And take your father, and your households, and come unto me; and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
19. And now commanded, this do ye: take you out of the land of Egypt carts for your babes, and for your women, and bring your father, and come.
20. And let not your eye be sparing upon your stuff; because the good of the whole land of Egypt, this is for you.
21. And the sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them carts, according to the mouth of Pharaoh, and gave them provision for the way.
22. And to all of them he gave to each changes of garments; and to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, and five changes of garments.
23. And to his father he sent after this manner: ten asses carrying of the good of Egypt, and ten she-asses carrying grain and bread and nourishment for his father for the way.
24. And he sent his brethren away, and they departed; and he said unto them, Contend not in the way.
25. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Canaan unto Jacob their father.
26. And they told him, saying, Joseph is yet alive, and he is ruler in all the land of Egypt. And his heart failed, because he believed them not.
27. And they spake unto him all the words of Joseph, which he spake unto them; and he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, and the spirit of Jacob their father revived:
28. And Israel said, It is much; Joseph my son is yet alive; I will go and see him before I die.
The Contents.
In the preceding chapter the subject treated of was the internal man, which is “Joseph”—that it initiated into conjunction with itself the external natural, or the ten sons of Jacob, through the intermediate which is “Benjamin.” In this present chapter the subject treated of is the internal man—that it conjoined itself with the external natural; but inasmuch as there is no conjunction therewith except through spiritual good from the natural, which is “Israel,” therefore it first prepares to adjoin to itself this good.
5871…The case herein is this. When a conjunction is being effected of the truths which are in the external or natural man with the good which is in the internal, that is, when the truths of faith are being conjoined with the good of charity, then all those memory-knowledges which are not in agreement, and especially those which are adverse, are rejected from the midst to the sides, thus from the light which is in the midst to the shade which is at the sides; and then they are partly not seen and partly regarded as of no account. But from the memory-knowledges which are in agreement and harmonious, which remain, there is effected a kind of extraction, and so to speak a sort of sublimation, whence arises an interior sense of things, a sense which is not perceived by man while he is in the body except by somewhat of gladness, as the mind is gladdened by the morning of the day. Thus is effected the conjunction of the truth which is of faith with the good which is of charity.
Heaven and Hell 43. All who are in one society are distinguished one from another in like manner. Those who are more perfect, that is, who excel in good, thus in love, wisdom and intelligence are in the middle. Those who are less pre-eminent are round about at a distance in accordance with the decrease of their perfection. The arrangement is like light diminishing from the middle to the circumference. Those who are in the middle are also in the greatest light, and those towards the circumference in less and less.
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.
6 min
May 20, 2022 The Third Round: The Lord works from primes through ultimates as illustrated in our experience with the literal text as it unfolds to reveal Him within to us
Arcana Coelestia
5876. Verses 3-5. And Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph; doth my father yet live? And his brethren could not answer him; for they were in consternation before him. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come ye near to me I pray. And they came near. And he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. And now be not grieved, neither let there be anger in your eyes, that ye sold me hither; for God did send me before you to make to live. “And Joseph said unto his brethren,” signifies that the internal celestial gave the faculty of perception to truths in the natural; “I am Joseph,” signifies manifestation; “doth my father yet live,” signifies the presence of spiritual good from the natural; “and his brethren could not answer him,” signifies that truths in the natural were not yet in a state to speak; “for they were in consternation before him,” signifies commotion among them; “and Joseph said unto his brethren,” signifies the perception of the new natural; “Come ye near to me I pray,” signifies interior communication; “and they came near,” signifies the effect; “and he said, I am Joseph your brother,” signifies manifestation by means of influx; “whom ye sold into Egypt,” signifies the internal which they had alienated; “and now be not grieved,” signifies anxiety of the heart or of the will; “neither let there be anger in your eyes,” signifies sadness of the spirit or of the understanding; “that ye sold me hither,” signifies that they had alienated to the lowest things; “for God did send me before you to make to live,” signifies spiritual life thence imparted to them of Providence.
5874…That memory-knowledges are the ultimates with man, namely, in his memory and thought, is not apparent, for it seems to him as if they make the whole of intelligence and of wisdom. But it is not so. They are only vessels containing the things of intelligence and of wisdom, and indeed the ultimate vessels, for they conjoin themselves with the sensuous things of the body. That they are ultimates is plain to him who reflects upon his thought, when he inquires into any truth, in that memory-knowledges are then present, but are not apparent; for the thought then extracts what they contain (and this from very many scattered here and there and even deeply hidden), and thus forms conclusions; and the more interiorly the thought penetrates, so much the farther does it remove itself from them. This may be manifest from the fact that when man comes into the other life and becomes a spirit, he indeed has with him memory-knowledges, but he is not allowed to use them, for several reasons (n. 2476, 2477, 2479); and yet he thinks and speaks concerning truth and good much more distinctly and perfectly than in the world. Hence it may be seen that memory-knowledges are serviceable to man for forming the understanding, but when the understanding has been formed, they then constitute an ultimate plane in which the man no longer thinks, but above it.
Apocalypse Explained
1086 [5] And as all higher things place themselves in what is lowest in simultaneous order, it follows that in the ultimates of the Word, which constitute the sense of its letter, are all things of the Divine truth and of the Divine good, even from their firsts. And as all things of the Divine truth and the Divine good are together in their ultimate, which is the sense of the letter of the Word, there evidently is the power of Divine truth, yea, the omnipotence of the Lord in saving man. For when the Lord operates He operates not from first things through mediates into ultimates, but from first things through ultimates and thus into mediates. This is why the Lord is called in the Word the First and the Last; and this is why the Lord assumed the Human, which in the world was the Divine truth or the Word, and glorified it even to the ultimates, which are the bones and the flesh, in order that He might operate from first things through ultimates, and not as before from man, but from Himself.
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.
5 min

About Logopraxis

From the publisher's feed

Seeking to make the Lord God Jesus Christ visible in our midst... "Where two or three are gathered together in My name there am I in the midst of them." (Matt. 18:20)

Share Logopraxis

Sign up to save your podcasts

Logopraxis

Logopraxis episodes

About Logopraxis