DLW 322, 326 - The Human Form Is a Form of Uses

DLW 322

That the universe of the spiritual world
resembles in an image the human being
can be plainly seen from the fact
that all the phenomena just enumerated . . .
vividly appear and take form around an angel
and around angelic societies as effects
seemingly produced or created by them -
effects that remain around them and do not go away.
Their being effects
seemingly produced or created by them
follows from the fact that when an angel leaves,
or when a society transfers elsewhere,
the phenomena no longer appear.
Moreover, when other angels come in their stead,
the appearance of all their surroundings changes.
Parks change in respect to
the trees and fruits they contain.
Flower gardens change in respect to
the kinds of roses and seeds found in them.
Fields change as well
in respect to their herbs and grasses,
and the species of animals and birds change, too.

These phenomena take form and change . . .
because they all exist in accordance with
the affections and consequent thoughts of the angels.
For they are correspondent forms.
And because forms that correspond
accord with that to which they correspond,
therefore they are a representative image of it.

This image is not apparent
when any of these phenomena are viewed
in terms of their forms,
but it is seen when they are viewed
in terms of their uses.

DLW 326

It can now be seen from this
that regarded from the perspective of their uses,
all constituents of the created universe
resemble in an image the human being,
and this attests to the fact that God is human.
For the phenomena we enumerated above
do not spring up around
a person or angel from the angel,
but from the Lord through the angel.
They arise, in fact,
from an influx of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom
into the angel, who is their recipient vessel,
and are produced before his eyes
as a creation of the universe.
Therefore they know in their world
that God is human,
and that the universe,
regarded in terms of its uses,
is an image of Him.

 

DLW 308 - The Ends in Creation Are Useful Ends

DLW 308

Who does not clearly see
that the ends in creation are useful ends
when he considers
that nothing can come into being
from God the Creator
and so be created by Him
except what is useful,
and that to be useful,
it must exist for the sake of others?
Moreover, that usefulness to oneself
is also usefulness to others,
for to be of use to oneself
is to be in a state to be of use to others?

Anyone who considers this
can also consider
that any useful endeavor
that is truly useful
cannot spring from mankind,
but exists in mankind from Him
from whom all that comes into being
is of use,
thus from the Lord.

 

DLW 297, 298, 301 - Love, Wisdom, Useful Endeavor

DLW 297

Everyone who thinks with some enlightenment
can see that love has as its end and intends
some useful endeavor,
and that it produces the useful endeavor
through wisdom;
for love cannot produce any useful endeavor of itself,
but only by means of wisdom.
Indeed, what is love
unless there is something that is loved?
This something is useful endeavor.
And because useful endeavor
is that which is loved,
and it is produced through wisdom,
it follows that useful endeavor
is the containing medium of love and wisdom.

. . . It can be seen from this
that the aforementioned three elements -
the Divine element of love,
the Divine element of wisdom,
and the Divine element of useful endeavor -
are in the Lord,
and that in essence they are the Lord.

DLW 298

. . . God as a person is the supreme form
embracing all useful endeavors,
from which
all other useful endeavors in the created universe
take their origin,
and consequently
that regarded in terms of its useful endeavors,
the created universe is an image of Him.

We call useful endeavors those phenomena which,
being from the human God, or the Lord,
are from creation in order.
However, we do not call useful endeavors
those which spring from people's native character,
for their native character is hell,
and its endeavors are contrary to order.

DLW 301

It is furthermore clearly apparent from angelic ideas,
which are independent of space,
that nothing in the created universe has life
except the human God alone, or the Lord,
that nothing moves
except as the result of life from Him,
and that nothing has existence
except through the sun from Him -
consequently that it is a truth
that in God we live, move, and have our being. ^1
__________

'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.'
As some of your own poets have said,
'For we are also His offspring.'

(Acts of the Apostles 17:28)

 

DLW 285, 286 - Thinking About God the Creator

DLW 285 [3]

God,
who appears far above the spiritual world as the sun,
to whom cannot be attributed
any appearance of space,
must not be thought of in terms of space.
One can then comprehend the fact
that He created the universe,
not out of nothing,
but out of Himself.
One can further comprehend that His human body
cannot be thought of as great or small,
or as having any stature,
because this, too, involves space;
consequently that in the first and last of things,
and in the greatest and least of them,
He is the same;
and furthermore that His Humanity
is inmostly within every created thing,
but independently of space.

DLW 286

The assertion that God could not have created
the universe and all its constituents
without His being human
may be quite clearly comprehended
by any intelligent person from this consideration,
that he cannot deny to himself
that God encompasses in Him love and wisdom,
mercy and clemency, and absolute good and truth,
because these originate from Him.
And because he cannot deny this,
he also cannot deny that God is human.
For none of these qualities
can exist apart from a human being,
since the human being is the underlying vessel
of which they are predicated,
and to divorce them from that vessel
is to say they have no reality.

Think of wisdom
and envision it apart from any person.
Does it have any reality?
Can you conceive of it
as something ethereal or as something flame-like?
You cannot,
unless perhaps you conceive of it in such entities,
and if you do,
it must be wisdom in a form
like that possessed by the human being.
It must be altogether in his form.
Not one element can be missing
for wisdom to exist in it.

In a word, the form of wisdom is human;
and because the form of wisdom is human,
so, too, is the form of love, of mercy, of clemency,
of goodness and of truth,
since these go hand in hand with wisdom.

 

DLW 284 - DLW So Far

DLW 284

In Part One of this work our subject was God,
and we said that He is Divine love and wisdom,
that He is life,
and that He is the substance and form
which is the one and only absolute being.

In Part Two we discussed
the spiritual sun and its world,
and the natural sun and its world;
and we said that God created the universe
with all of its constituents
by means of the two suns.

In Part Three we dealt with the degrees
in which each and all created things exist.

Here in Part Four we will now take up
God's creation of the universe.

We are considering all these matters
because angels have lamented before the Lord
that when they look into the world
they see nothing but darkness,
and that they find in people no knowledge of God,
heaven and the creation of nature
on which to rest their wisdom.

 

DLW 282 - The Creator

PART FOUR
DLW 282

The Lord from eternity,
who is Jehovah,
created the universe and everything in it
from Himself and not from nothing.
People throughout the world know,
and every wise person
from an interior perception acknowledges,
that there is one God
who is the Creator of the universe.
People also know from the Word that God,
the Creator of the universe,
is called Jehovah,
so named from the verb to be,
because He alone just is. ¹
That the Lord from eternity is that Jehovah -
this we demonstrated in
The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem
Regarding the Lord
by citing many proofs from the Word.

Jehovah is called the Lord from eternity
because it was Jehovah who assumed a humanity
in order to save people from hell.
Moreover at that time He commanded His disciples
to call Him Lord. ²
Consequently in the New Testament
Jehovah is called the Lord,
as can be seen
from considering the following statement.

[In the Old Testament:]

You shall love Jehovah your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul...
(Deuteronomy 6:5)

And in the New Testament:

You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart, and with all your soul...
(Matthew 22:37)

The same substitution is found in other passages
taken from the Old Testament
and quoted in the Gospels.
__________

Footnotes:

1. See Exodus 3:13-15. Cf. John 8:58. (Below)
The name Jehovah in Hebrew (יָהוֶה)
is derived from the verb הֹוָה (=היה) meaning be,
and it resembles the third person form יָהיָה
meaning he is.
The Hebrew verb form is imperfect in aspect,
so that it encompasses also the meanings
he will be and he has been.
Cf. the phrase who is and who was
and who is to come in Revelation 1:4, 8, 11:17.

Moses said to God,
"Behold, when I come to the children of Israel,
and tell them,
'The God of your fathers has sent me to you;'
and they ask me, 'What is His name?'
What should I tell them?"

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM,"
and He said,
"You shall tell the children of Israel this:
'I AM has sent me to you.'"

God said moreover to Moses,
"You shall tell the children of Israel this,
'Yahweh, the God of your fathers,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.'
This is My name forever,
and this is My memorial to all generations.
(Exodus 3:13-15)

Jesus said to them,
"Most certainly, I tell you,
before Abraham came into existence, I AM."
(John 8:58)


2. You call me, 'Teacher' and 'Lord.'
You say so correctly, for so I am.
(John 13:13)

 

DLW 279 - Our Actions; DLW 280 - Our Words

DLW 279

. . . the angels who are with a person
perceive individually the particular qualities
which are present from the mind in an action.
Spiritual angels perceive those qualities
which are present in it from the intellect,
while celestial angels perceive those qualities
which are present in it from the will.

. . . It should nevertheless be known
that those elements of the mind
which are applicable
to a subject presented for consideration
or under consideration
are at the center,
while the rest are positioned round about
according to their relevance.

Angels say that they perceive a person's character
from a single act,
though in a varying likeness of his love
according to its determinations
into affections and so into thoughts.

In a word,
every action or every work of a spiritual person is,
in the sight of angels,
like a flavorful, useful, and beautiful fruit,
which when opened and eaten
yields flavor, utility, and delight.

DLW 280

The same is the case with a person's speech.
From the sound of his speech
angels discern a person's love,
from the articulation of the sound his wisdom,
and from the sense of the words his knowledge.
Moreover they say that these three elements
are discerned in every single word,
because a word is a kind of containing vessel,
having in it sound, articulation, and meaning.

I have been told by angels of the third heaven
that they perceive
from each of a speaker's words in sequence
his general state of mind
and at the same time some of his particular states.

Every single expression in the Word contains
some spiritual element relating to Divine wisdom
and some celestial element relating to Divine love,
and these are perceived by angels
when a person reads the Word with reverence . . ..

 

DLW 271 - Opposites; DLW 273 - The Devil and Satan

DLW 271

Evils and falsities stand in complete opposition
to goods and truths,
because evils and falsities are diabolical and hellish,
while goods and truths are Divine and heavenly.
Everyone on hearing it
acknowledges that evil and good are opposites,
and likewise the falsity accompanying evil
and the truth accompanying good.
But because people who are caught up in evil
have no other sensation
and so no other perception
than that evil is good -
for evil delights their senses,
especially the senses of sight and hearing,
and consequently delights their thoughts
and so perceptions as well -
therefore, even though they acknowledge
that evil and good are opposites,
still when they are caught up in evil,
they are moved by the delight of it to say
that evil is good, and good evil.

No one can see good when he is caught up in evil,
but a person prompted by good can see evil.
Evil lies below as though in a cave.
Good sits above as though on a mountain.

DLW 273 [2-4]

. . . in hell the love of ruling from the love of self
is the dominant love.
This love is there called the devil,
and the affections for falsity arising from that love
with their accompanying thoughts are called his crew.
It is the same in every society of hell,
with diversities like the diversities found
in species of the same genus.

In the same form, too, is the natural mind
which is caught up in evils and their resulting falsities.
Consequently the natural person
who is of such a character
comes also after death into a society of hell like him,
and he then acts in concert with it
in each and every thing that he does.
For he comes into his own form,
that is, into the states of his own mind.

Subordinate to the first love called the devil
is another love as well, called Satan.
This is a love of possessing the goods of others
by any evil art whatever.
Clever malicious practices and cunning devices
are its crew.

People who are in this latter hell
are in general called satanic spirits,
while people in the first hell
are in general called devils;
and those who do not act there
in a clandestine manner do not deny their name.
It is in consequence of this
that the hells collectively are called
the devil and Satan.

The natural mind which is a hell
stands in complete opposition to the spiritual mind,
which is a heaven.

 

DLW 264-265, 270 - When We Abuse Rationality and Freedom

DLW 264

The origin of evil
comes from abuse of the faculties
which are peculiar to mankind
and are called rationality and freedom.
By rationality we mean
the faculty of understanding truths and thus falsities,
and of understanding goods and thus evils;
and by freedom we mean
the faculty of thinking, willing and doing these freely.

It can be seen from preceding discussions,
and it will be further seen from subsequent ones,
that a person possesses these two faculties
from creation and so from birth;
that they come from the Lord;
that they are not taken away;
that they produce the appearance
that a person thinks, speaks, wills and acts
as though of himself;
that the Lord dwells in every person in these faculties;
that owing to that conjunction
a person lives to eternity;
that a person can be reformed and regenerated
in consequence of these faculties
and not apart from them;
and that it is these faculties
which distinguish the human being from animals.

DLW 265

That the origin of evil
comes from abuse of these faculties
will be explained according to the following outline:

(1) An evil person possesses these two faculties
just as much as a good one.

(2) An evil person abuses these faculties
to defend evils and falsities,
whereas a good person uses them
to defend goods and truths.

(3) Confirmed evils and falsities remain in a person
and become matters of his love and so of his life.

(4) Qualities that have become
matters of one's love and life
are passed on hereditarily to offspring.

(5) All evils, both those inborn
and those additionally acquired,
have their seat in the natural mind.

DLW 270 [2]

. . . the natural mind of itself
acts in opposition to the spiritual mind.

 

DLW 263 - The Natural Mind and the Spiritual Mind

DLW 263 [2-4]

When the natural mind
is prompted by the delights of its love
and the gratifications of its thought,
which in themselves are evil and false,
then the reaction of the natural mind
removes those elements
which belong to the spiritual mind
and bars the door to them
to keep them from entering,
causing the action to come from such things
as accord with its reaction.
The result is an action and reaction
of the natural mind
which is opposed to the action and reaction
of the spiritual mind.
This in turn causes a closing of the spiritual mind,
like the twisting of a spiral into the opposite direction.

On the other hand, if the spiritual mind is opened,
then the action and reaction
of the natural mind are reversed.
For the spiritual mind acts from above or from within
and at the same time
through those elements in the natural mind
which have been disposed from within
or from without to obey it,
and it twists into the opposite direction the spiral
in which the natural mind acts and reacts.
That is because the natural mind is from birth
in a state of opposition to matters
belonging to the spiritual mind,
a state it acquires by heredity from parents,
as people know.

Of such a nature is the change of state called
reformation and regeneration.
The state of the natural mind before reformation
may be likened to a spiral
twisting or curving downward,
while after reformation
it may be likened to a spiral
twisting or curving upward.
Consequently a person before reformation
looks downward to hell,
but after reformation upward to heaven.

DLW 253 - The Essence of Faith and Charity: DLW 258 - Becoming Rational

DLW 253 [3]

. . . faith in its essence is truth,
and truth is manifold;
and charity is all the work that a person does
from the Lord in his occupation -
work that a person then does from the Lord
when he refrains from evils as being sins.

The case is entirely as stated before,
that the end is everything in the cause,
and that the end through the cause
is everything in the effect.
The end is charity or good,
the cause is faith or truth,
and the effects are good works or useful services.
From this it is apparent
that no more charity can be introduced into works
than that measure of charity
which has been conjoined with truths
that are called truths of faith.
Through these truths
charity enters into works
and gives them their quality.

DLW 258

Every person is born into
the faculty of understanding truths,
and this even to the inmost degree
in which angels of the third heaven dwell.
For the human intellect,
rising up by a continuous ascent
around the two higher degrees,
receives the light of the wisdom of those degrees . . ..
Therefore a person can become rational
in the measure of his elevation.
If he is elevated to the third degree,
he becomes rational from the third degree.
If he is elevated to the second degree,
he becomes rational from the second degree.
And if he is not elevated,
he is rational in the first degree.
We say that he becomes rational from those degrees,
because the natural degree
is the common vessel receptive of their light.

If a person does not become rational
to the highest level of which he is capable,
it is because the love which resides in his will
cannot be elevated in the same way
as the wisdom which resides in his intellect.
The love which resides in his will
can be elevated only
by his refraining from evils as being sins,
and afterward by his doing goods of charity,
or useful services,
which the person then does from the Lord.
Consequently, if the love residing in his will
is not elevated at the same time,
then no matter how far the wisdom
residing in his intellect may ascend,
still it sinks back down again to his love.
Therefore if a person's love
is not elevated at the same time
into the spiritual degree,
he still is rational only in the lowest degree.

It can be seen from this
that a person's rationality is in appearance
as though of three degrees -
a rationality from the celestial degree,
a rationality from the spiritual degree,
and a rationality from the natural degree.
It can be seen, too,
that whether a person's rationality is elevated or not,
still it remains in the person as a faculty
that can be elevated.

DLW 242, 243 - Receiving Spiritual Light and Spiritual Warmth

DLW 242

Spiritual light flows in
through the three degrees in a person,
but not spiritual warmth
except to the extent
that the person refrains from evils as being sins
and looks to the Lord.
From what we have demonstrated previously,
it follows that the sun in heaven
is the first emanation
of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom,
and that from it emanate light and warmth -
light from His wisdom, and warmth from His love;
that light is the vehicle of wisdom,
and warmth the vehicle of love;
and that to the extent a person comes into wisdom,
to the same extent he comes into that Divine light,
and to the extent he comes into love,
to the same extent
he comes into that Divine warmth.

From what we have demonstrated previously
it follows also that there are three degrees
of light and three degrees of warmth,
or three degrees of wisdom
and three degrees of love,
and that these degrees
have been formed in people
in order that people may be recipients
of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom,
thus of the Lord.

The point to be now demonstrated here
is that spiritual light flows in
through the three degrees in a person,
but not spiritual warmth except to the extent
that the person refrains from evils as being sins
and looks to the Lord.
Or in other words,
that a person is capable of receiving wisdom
even to the third degree,
but not love except to the extent
that the person refrains from evils
as being sins and looks to the Lord.
Or to put it in still other words,
that a person's intellect may be elevated into wisdom,
but not his will
except to the extent
he refrains from evils as being sins.

DLW 243

I have often seen simple spirits
who knew only that there is a God
and that the Lord was born a man,
and scarcely anything else,
and I have perceived that they fully understood
the secrets of angelic wisdom,
almost as angels do.
And not only they,
but also many of the devil's crew.
Yet they understood these things
when they heard them,
and not when they thought to themselves.
For when they heard them,
a light entered in from above,
but when they thought to themselves,
then no other light could enter
than such as corresponded to their warmth or love.
Consequently, after they heard these secrets
and comprehended them,
upon turning their attention away
they retained nothing.
Indeed, those who were of the devil's crew
then rejected these things and utterly denied them.
The reason was that the fire of their love and its light,
being an illusory fire and light,
induced in them a darkness
by which the heavenly light entering in from above
was extinguished.

DLW 236, 237, 241 - The Opening of the Three Degrees of End, Cause, Effect

DLW 236

These three degrees of height
exist in every person from birth
and can be progressively opened,
and as they are opened,
the person is in the Lord and the Lord in him.

DLW 237

We call these three degrees of height
natural, spiritual, and celestial . . ..

When a person is born,
he comes first into the natural degree,
and this grows in him by a continuous progression
according to his accumulations of knowledge
and the understanding he acquires
by means of them,
until it reaches the highest point of understanding
called rationality.

But still this does not result
in the opening of the second degree,
which we call spiritual.
This degree is opened by a love of useful endeavors
in accord with one's intellectual attainments -
only by a spiritual love of useful endeavors,
a love which is love for the neighbor.
This degree may likewise grow
by a continuous progression of the degree
until it reaches its highest point,
and it grows
by the accumulation of concepts of truth and good,
or of spiritual truths.

But even so, these still do not bring about
the opening of the third degree,
which we call celestial.
Rather this degree is opened by
a celestial love of useful endeavors,
a love which is love toward the Lord;
and love toward the Lord is nothing other
than to commit the precepts of the Word to life,
the sum of which is to refrain from evils
because they are hellish and diabolical,
and to do good things
because they are heavenly and Divine.

These three degrees
are thus progressively opened in a person.

DLW 241

Everyone who consults his reason
when it is in a state of light
can see that a person's love is in all things his end,
for what he loves he thinks about, resolves, and does.
Consequently he has it as his end.
A person can also see in the light of his reason
that wisdom is the cause,
for he, or rather his love,
which is his end,
seeks out in the intellect
the means by which to achieve its end,
thus consulting his wisdom,
and these means form the cause
by which the end is achieved.
It is evident without explanation
that useful endeavor is the effect.

One person's love, however,
is not the same as another's.
Consequently neither is one person's wisdom
the same as another's;
nor, therefore, his useful endeavor.
And because these three are homogeneous,
. . . it follows that
whatever the character of the love is in a person,
such is the character of the wisdom in him,
and such is the character of his useful endeavor.

We say wisdom,
but we mean whatever is a matter of his intellect.

 

DLW 230, 232 - Three Degrees of Height

DLW 230

There are three infinite and uncreated
degrees of height in the Lord,
and three finite and created degrees in people.
There are in the Lord
three infinite and uncreated degrees of height
for the reason that the Lord
is love itself and wisdom itself . . .
and because the Lord is love itself and wisdom itself,
therefore He is also useful endeavor itself.
For love has as its end a useful result,
which it produces through wisdom.
Indeed, love and wisdom without a useful result
have no terminus or end point,
or no resting place in which to make their abode.
Consequently they cannot be said
to have being or expression
without having a useful result
in which to be and express themselves.

DLW 232

We call these three degrees in the case of angels
celestial, spiritual, and natural,
and to them the celestial degree is one of love,
the spiritual degree one of wisdom,
and the natural degree one of useful endeavors.

We so name these degrees for the reason
that the heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms,
one kingdom being called celestial
and the other spiritual,
to which is attached a third kingdom
in which people dwell in the world,
which is a natural kingdom.

Moreover, the angels of which
the celestial kingdom consists are governed by love,
and the angels of which
the spiritual kingdom consists
are governed by wisdom,
while people in the world
are governed by useful endeavors.
So it is, therefore,
that these kingdoms are conjoined.

 

DLW 222, 224 - Discrete & Continuous Degrees are In All Created Things

DLW 222

Degrees of both kinds Exist
in the greatest and least of all created things.

DLW 224

The reason there is not
the least element of love and wisdom,
not the least element of affection and thought,
and not the least element of any idea in the thought
which does not have in it degrees of both kinds
arises from the fact
that love and wisdom are substance and form,
and so likewise affection and thought.
And because there is no form
which does not have it in these degrees,
as we said above,
it follows that the same degrees exist in them.
For to separate
love and wisdom or affection and thought
from substance possessing form
is to reduce them to nothing,
because they do not exist apart from
the subjects of which they are predicated.
Rather they are states of these subjects
perceived by a person in their variation,
states which render them discernible.

DLW 221 - Every Person Embodies

DLW 221 [3]

For every person is an embodiment
of the good and truth in him.
It is this alone that makes a person human.
In the Lord's case, however,
by assuming a natural humanity
He became the embodiment
of Divine good and truth itself,
or to say the same thing,
the embodiment of Divine love and wisdom itself,
both in the firsts of creation and in the lasts of it.
Consequently, in the angelic heavens
He appears as the sun
with a more intense radiance
and with greater splendor
since His advent into the world
than before His advent.


 

DLW 218 - Endeavor, Force and Motion; DLW 220 - Useful Services

DLW 218

Endeavor, force and motion operate in conjunction
only in accordance with discrete degrees,
which are conjoined
not through a continuous connection of them,
since they are discrete,
but through correspondences.
For endeavor is not force,
and force is not motion.
Rather force is produced by endeavor -
force being endeavor awakened -
and motion is produced by force.
Consequently no power exists in endeavor alone,
nor in force alone,
but in motion, which is their product.

DLW 220

Since the whole organism or body directs its powers
principally into the arms and hands,
which are its extremities,
therefore arms and hands in the Word
symbolize power,
and the right hand a superior power.

Since the evolution and emergence of degrees
into a state of power is as stated,
therefore the angels who are present with a person
and in correspondence with all his constituents
know merely from any action done through the hands
what the person is like in regard to his intellect and will,
and so in regard to his charity and faith,
thus in regard to the inner life
which is the life of his mind,
and in regard to the outward life
which results from that in the body.

Such a recognition gained by angels
simply from the action of the body through the hands
has often astonished me,
but I have nevertheless had it shown me
a number of times through personal experience.
I have also been told that it is for this reason
that inaugurations into the ministry
are performed by the laying on of hands,
and that to touch with the hand
symbolically means to communicate,
in addition to many other like things.

I have concluded from this
that everything pertaining to charity and faith
exists in works,
and that charity and faith without works
are like halos around the sun
which fade or are dispelled by a cloud.
That is why the Word so often mentions works
and tells us to do them,
saying that a person's salvation depends on them.
Moreover, the person who does them is called wise,
while the person who does not do them
is called foolish.

One should know, however,
that by works here are meant
useful services which are actually done.
For it is in these and in accordance with these
that everything pertaining to charity and faith exists.
Charity and faith
have this correspondence with useful services,
because although their correspondence
is a spiritual one,
it is effected by means of
substances and materials which are its vessels.

DLW 213, 214, 215, 216 - Succession of Degrees, and They All Matter

DLW 213

As regards love and wisdom,
love is the end,
wisdom the cause or means,
and useful endeavor the effect,
and useful endeavor
embraces, contains, and is the foundation
of love and wisdom.
Moreover, useful endeavor
so embraces and so contains them
that all the qualities of the love
and all the qualities of the wisdom
are actually present in it,
useful endeavor being the concurrence of these.

DLW 214

Affection, thought and action
also exist in a succession of like degrees,
because every affection has some relation to love,
every thought some relation to wisdom,
and every action some relation to useful endeavor.

Charity, faith and good work
exist in a succession of like degrees;
for charity is a matter of affection,
faith a matter of thought,
and good work a matter of action.

Will, understanding and practice
similarly exist in a succession of like degrees;
for will is a matter of love and so of affection,
understanding a matter of wisdom and so of faith,
and practice a matter of useful endeavor
and so of work.

As all the qualities of wisdom and love
are present in useful endeavor,
therefore, so all the qualities of thought and affection
are present in action,
all the qualities of faith and charity in good work,
and so on.
But all of these must be homogeneous,
that is to say, accordant.

DLW 215

A fact made known to me is
that from simply seeing a person's deed or work,
angels perceive and see
every quality of the will and thought of the doer -
angels of the third heaven
perceiving and seeing from his will
the end prompting the action,
and angels of the second heaven
perceiving and seeing the cause
through which the end thus acts.

It is because of this
that works and deeds
are so often commanded in the Word,
and that it says a person is known by them.
(Matthew 7:16, 20, 12:33; Luke 6:44)

 

DLW 205-206 - Sequential Order, Concurrent Order of Discrete Degrees (in the Angels and the Word)

DLW 205

In sequential order
the first degree constitutes the highest element,
and the third the lowest;
but in concurrent order
the first degree constitutes the inmost element,
and the third the outmost.
Discrete degrees exist
in sequential order and in concurrent order.
The sequential order of these degrees
extends from highest to lowest,
or from top to bottom.
In such an order are the angelic heavens.
The third heaven in this order is the highest,
the second heaven is intermediate,
and the first heaven is the lowest.
That is their situation in relation to each other.

In a like sequential order in the heavens
are the states of love and wisdom in angels,
and likewise their states of warmth and light,
and also those of the spiritual atmospheres.
In a like order are all perfections
of the forms and forces there.

When degrees of height or discrete degrees
are in sequential order,
they may then be likened to a column or tower
divided into three levels
through which one may ascend or descend,
whose uppermost story
contains things most perfect and beautiful,
the intermediate story
things less perfect and beautiful,
and the lowest story
things still less perfect and beautiful.

Concurrent order, on the other hand,
which consists of like degrees,
has a different appearance.
In it the highest constituents of sequential order -
which, as we said,
are the most perfect and beautiful -
are at the core,
its lower constituents in an interjacent* area
(*lying or being between or among others)
surrounding that,
and its lowest constituents on the periphery.
They are like concentric layers in a solid object
consisting of three such degrees,
whose core or center contains the finest elements,
round about which are elements less fine,
and in the outmost parts which form the surface,
elements composed of these, and thus cruder.

DLW 206

Since the highest element in sequential order
becomes the inmost in concurrent order,
and the lowest becomes the outmost,
therefore something higher in the Word
symbolizes something more interior,
and something lower
symbolizes something more exterior.
An upward direction and a downward direction
have the same symbolism,
and so, too, do height and depth.

 

DLW 203 - When a Person Becomes an Angel; DLW 204 - Simple Elements and Composite Elements

DLW 203

Since the interior regions in a person,
which are those of his will and intellect,
are like the heavens in their degrees -
because a person is,
in respect to the interior elements
which are those of his mind,
a heaven in miniature form -
therefore the perfections of these
are also like those of the heavens.
These perfections, however,
are not apparent to any person
as long as he lives in the world,
for he is then in the lowest degree;
and from the lowest degree
one cannot discern the higher degrees.
But after death they are discerned,
for the person then comes into the degree
which corresponds to his love and wisdom.
For he then becomes an angel,
thinking and saying things inexpressible
to his natural self.
Indeed, he then experiences an elevation
of all his mental faculties
not in a simple progression,
but in a threefold progression.
This latter progression has in it degrees of height,
while the first has in it degrees of breadth.

No others, however,
ascend and are elevated into these degrees
but people who in the world
have been governed by truths
and have applied them to life.

DLW 204 - Simple and Composite Elements

It seems as though prior elements are less perfect
than subsequent ones,
or simple elements less perfect than composite ones;
but the prior elements
from which subsequent ones originate,
or the simple elements
from which composite ones originate,
are nevertheless more perfect.
The reason is that prior or simple elements
are more naked and less covered over
with substances and materials devoid of life.
They are also, so to speak, more Divine,
and consequently nearer to
the spiritual sun where the Lord is.
For perfection itself resides in the Lord,
and thus in the sun which is the first emanation
of His Divine love and wisdom.
Therefore it exists as well
in those subsequent elements
which most immediately follow,
and so on in order down to the lowest elements,
which are less and less perfect
the further removed they are.

If prior and simple elements did not have in them
such surpassing perfection,
no person, and no animal either,
could be produced from sperm
and afterward continue to survive;
nor could the seeds of trees and bushes
sprout and reproduce their kind.
For the more prior any prior element is,
and the more simple any simple element is,
the more perfect it is,
and therefore the more immune to harm.

 

DLW 189 - Degrees of Height, Degrees of Breadth

DLW 189

Degrees of height are homogeneous,
with one following after another in succession,
like end, cause and effect.
Since degrees of breadth or continuous degrees
are like those in a progression of light to dark,
of heat to cold, of hard to soft, of dense to rare,
of thick to thin, and so on,
and these degrees are known from
sense experience and visual observation,
whereas degrees of height or discrete degrees are not,
therefore we must deal chiefly
with the latter in this part of the work;
for without a concept of these latter degrees,
one cannot see causes.

 

DLW 184, 188 - Continuous and Discrete Degrees

DLW 184 [1, 2]

Degrees are of two kinds -
degrees of height and degrees of breadth.

Continuous degrees is the term we use
for diminutions or decreases in a progression
from coarser to finer,
or from denser to rarer;
or rather they are as the increments or increases
in a progression from finer to coarser,
or from rarer to denser,
precisely as is the case in the progression
of light to dark or of heat to cold.

Discrete degrees, on the other hand,
are completely different.
They are like prior, subsequent and last elements,
or like end, cause and effect.
We call these discrete degrees,
because the prior element exists in itself,
the subsequent element in itself,
and the last element in itself,
but yet taken together they form a single entity.

DLW 188

. . . nothing of any cause in its true nature
can be learned
without a concept of both kinds of degrees.
Therefore we mean to deal with them
throughout this part of the work.
For the purpose of this volume is to uncover causes
and from their standpoint view effects,
and thus dispel the darkness
which envelops the person of the church
in regard to God, to the Lord,
and to those Divine matters in general
which are called spiritual.

 

DLW 179 - Degrees

DLW 179

There are degrees of love and wisdom,
and therefore degrees of heat and light,
and so, too, degrees of atmospheres.
Unless one is aware of the existence of degrees,
and of what they are and their nature,
the following observations cannot be comprehended,
since there are degrees in every created thing,
thus in every form.
Therefore in this third part of Divine Love and Wisdom
we must take up degrees.

That there are degrees of love and wisdom
can be plainly seen from the love and wisdom
of the angels of the three heavens.
Angels of the third heaven excel
angels of the second heaven in their love and wisdom,
and these in turn excel angels of the lowest heaven,
and this to such an extent
that they cannot dwell together.
The degrees of their love and wisdom
distinguish them and separate them.

So it is that angels of the lower heavens
cannot ascend to angels of the higher heavens,
and if it is granted them to ascend,
they do not then see those higher angels,
nor anything of their surroundings.
The reason they do not see them
is that the love and wisdom of those higher angels
is in a higher degree,
which transcends their perception.
For every angel is an embodiment
of his love and wisdom,
and love together with wisdom
is in its form the human being,
because God,
who is love itself and wisdom itself,
is a human God.

I have been granted several times to see
angels of the lowest heaven ascend
to angels of the third heaven,
and when they had worked their way up there,
I heard them complain that they did not see anyone,
even though they were surrounded
by those higher angels.
They were afterward then informed
that the higher angels were invisible to them
because they were incapable of perceiving
those angels' love and wisdom,
and that it is an angel's love and wisdom
that cause him to be seen as a person.

 

DLW 176 - Spiritual Atmospheres

DLW 176

The existence of atmospheres in the spiritual world
just as in the natural world
can be seen from the fact that angels and spirits
likewise breathe, and likewise speak and also hear,
as people do in the natural world,
and breathing requires as a means the presence
of a lowest atmosphere which is called air,
and so, too, do speech and hearing.

The same can also be seen from the fact
that angels and spirits likewise see
as people do in the natural world,
and sight is not possible except by means of
an atmosphere purer than air.

It can also be seen from the fact
that angels and spirits likewise
think and have affections
as people do in the natural world,
and thought and affection are not possible
except by means of still purer atmospheres.

And finally it can be seen from the fact
that all the constituents of angels' and spirits' bodies,
both the external ones and the internal ones,
are held in connection by atmospheres,
the outward constituents by the atmosphere of air,
and the internal ones by the atmospheres of the ether.
It is plain that without
the surrounding pressure and action
of these atmospheres,
the inner and outer forms of the body
would fly apart and be dispersed.

Since angels are spiritual,
and each and all of the constituents of their bodies
are held in their connection, form and arrangement
by atmospheres,
it follows that those atmospheres are spiritual;
and they are spiritual
because they arise from the spiritual sun,
which is the first emanation
of the Lord's Divine love and wisdom.

DLW 167, 170, 172 - End, Cause, and Effect

DLW 167

The end in creation finds expression in the lasts of it,
which is for everything to return to the Creator
and conjunction take place.
We must first say something about ends.
There are in everything
three ingredients which follow in order,
called the first end,
the intermediate end,
and the last end,
and called also end, cause, and effect.

These three ingredients must
exist concurrently in everything for it to be anything . . .

The fact of this can be comprehended
if one considers that an end without an effect
or cut off from the effect
is not anything having expression,
so that it is nothing but a word.
For to be an end in actuality,
an end must end in something,
and it ends in the effect,
in which for the first time it is called an end
because it is the end.

It appears as though
an instrumental or efficient cause occurs by itself,
but this is an appearance
arising from the fact that it exists in the effect.
But if it is cut off from the effect,
it instantly disappears.

It is apparent from this
that these three ingredients -
end, cause and effect -
must exist in everything for it to be anything.

DLW 170

. . . the Lord is present in every work created by Him.
For everything was created ultimately
for the sake of mankind.
Consequently the uses of all that He created
ascend by degrees
from the lowest created forms to mankind,
and through mankind to God the Creator
from whom they originate . . ..

DLW 172

The existence of these three
- end, cause and effect -
in each and all things that have been created
can also be seen from the fact
that all effects, which are called last ends,
become anew first ends in unbroken succession
extending from their origin,
which is the Lord the Creator,
to their last,
which is the conjunction of mankind with Him.

 

DLW 163-164 - Two Distinct Worlds, Two Distinct Suns

DLW 163-164

The universe is divided in general into two worlds,
one spiritual and one natural.
Inhabiting the spiritual world are angels and spirits.
Inhabiting the natural world are people.

These two worlds
are totally alike in their outward aspect -
so alike that they cannot be distinguished -
but in their inward aspect they are entirely unalike.
The people who inhabit the spiritual world -
who, as we said, are called angels and spirits -
are themselves spiritual,
and because they are spiritual,
they think spiritually and speak spiritually.
In contrast,
people who inhabit the natural world are natural,
and therefore they think naturally and speak naturally;
and spiritual thought and speech
have nothing in common
with natural thought and speech.

It is apparent from this that these two worlds,
one spiritual and one natural,
are entirely distinct from each other,
so distinct that they cannot in any way blend together.

Now because these two worlds are so distinct,
it is necessary that there be two suns,
one from which everything spiritual originates,
and the other from which everything natural originates.
And because everything spiritual from its origin is alive,
and everything natural from its origin is lifeless,
and their origins are the suns,
it follows that the one sun is alive
and that the other sun is lifeless,
and that the lifeless sun was itself
created by the Lord by means of the alive sun.

 

DLW 162 - Thinking On the Side of Nature

DLW 162

People who have confirmed themselves
on the side of nature
have induced in themselves a state of mind so set
that they are no longer willing
to raise their minds above nature.
Consequently their minds are closed upwardly
and opened downwardly,
so that they become sensually natural people
who are spiritually lifeless.
Moreover, because they then think only in accord
with ideas they have gained from their bodily senses,
or by means of them from the world,
they also at heart deny God.

Because any conjunction with heaven is then broken,
a conjunction with hell is formed,
leaving them only the faculties of thinking and willing -
the faculty of thinking in accord with rationality,
and the faculty of willing in freedom -
two faculties which every person has from the Lord
and which are not taken away.

These two faculties exist in devils and angels alike,
but devils devote them to
thinking insanely and doing evil,
whereas angels devote them to
thinking wisely and doing good.

 

DLW 154 - The Sun in the Spiritual World Is the Means of Creation

DLW 154

The Lord created the universe and everything in it
by means of the sun in the spiritual world
because that sun is the first emanation
of His Divine love and wisdom,
and everything originates
from Divine love and wisdom . . ..

We find in everything created,
in the grandest and in the most infinitesimal,
three elements - end, cause and effect.
There is nothing created
that does not have in it these three elements.

In the grand scheme or in the universe
these three occur in sequence as follows.
In the sun which is the first emanation
of Divine love and wisdom
is found the end or purpose in all things.
In the spiritual world are found the causes of all things.
And in the natural world are found
the effects of all things.

. . . Now because there is nothing created
that does not have in it these three elements,
it follows that the Lord created
the universe and everything in it
by the sun which has in it
the end or purpose in all things.