SS 102 - an ancient Word

SS 102
. . . there was among the ancients
a Word
written entirely by correspondences,
but that it had been lost,
and they said that it is still preserved,
and is in use in that heaven where those ancient people dwell
who had possessed it in this world. . . .
The inhabitants of all these kingdoms were in representative worship,
and consequently in the knowledge of correspondences.
The wisdom of that time was derived from this knowledge,
and by its means they had an interior perception,
and a communication with the heavens.
Those who had an interior acquaintance
with the correspondences of that Word
were called wise and intelligent, and later, diviners and magi.
But as that Word was full of correspondences
which only in a remote way signified celestial and spiritual things,
and consequently began to be falsified by many,
of the Lord's Divine Providence it disappeared in course of time,
and at length was utterly lost,
and another Word,
written by correspondences less remote than the other,
was given by means of prophets among the sons of Israel.
Yet many names of places in the land of Canaan
and in the surrounding countries
were retained in this Word
with significations like those they had in the Ancient Word.
It was for this reason that Abram was commanded to go into that land,
and that his descendants, from Jacob, were brought into it.