DIVINE LOVE AND DIVINE WISDOM APPEAR IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD AS A SUN

DLW 83. There are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural. The spiritual world does not draw anything from the natural, nor the natural world from the spiritual. The two are totally distinct, and communicate only by correspondences, the nature of which has been abundantly shown elsewhere. To illustrate this by an example: heat in the natural world corresponds to the good of charity in the spiritual world, and light in the natural world corresponds to the truth of faith in the spiritual world; and who does not see that heat and the good of charity, and that light and the truth of faith, are wholly distinct? At first sight they appear as distinct as two entirely different things. They so appear when one inquires what the good of charity has in common with heat, or the truth of faith with light; when in fact, spiritual heat is that good, and spiritual light is that truth. Although these things are in themselves so distinct, they make one by correspondence. They make one in this way: when man reads, in the Word, of heat and light, the spirits and angels who are with the man perceive charity instead of heat, and faith instead of light. This example is adduced, in order that it may be known that the two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, are so distinct as to have nothing in common with each other; yet are so created as to have communication, yea, conjunction by means of correspondences.

DLW 84. Since these two worlds are so distinct, it can be seen very clearly that the spiritual world is under another sun than the natural world. For in the spiritual world, just as in the natural, there is heat and light; but the heat there, as well as the light, is spiritual; and spiritual heat is the good of charity, and spiritual light is the truth of faith. Now since heat and light can originate only in a sun, it is evident that the spiritual world has a different sun from the natural world; and further, that the sun of the spiritual world in its essence is such that spiritual heat and light can come forth from it; whereas the sun of the natural world in its essence is such that natural heat can come forth from it. Everything spiritual has relation to good and truth, and can spring from no other source than Divine Love and Divine Wisdom; for all good is of love and all truth is of wisdom; that they have no other origin any discerning man can see.

DLW 85. That there is any other sun than that of the natural world has hitherto been unknown. The reason is, that the spiritual of man has so far passed over into his natural, that he does not know what the spiritual is, and thus does not know that there is a spiritual world, the abode of spirits and angels, other than and different from the natural world. Since the spiritual world has lain so deeply hidden from the knowledge of those who are in the natural world, it has pleased the Lord to open the sight of any spirit, that I might see the things which are in that world, just as I see those in the natural world, and might afterwards describe that world; which has been done in the work on Heaven and Hell, in one chapter of which the sun of the spiritual world is treated of. For that sun has been seen by me; and it appeared of the same size as the sun of the natural world; also fiery like it, but more glowing. It has also been made known to me that the whole angelic heaven is under that sun; and that angels of the third heaven see it constantly, angels of the second heaven very often, and angels of the first or outmost heaven sometimes. That all their heat and all their light, as well as all things that are manifest in that world, are from that sun will be seen in what follows.

DLW 86. That sun is not the Lord Himself, but is from the Lord. It is the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom proceeding from Him that appear as a sun in that world. And because Love and Wisdom in the Lord are one (as shown in Part I.), that sun is said to be Divine Love; for Divine Wisdom is of Divine Love, consequently is Love.

DLW 87. Since love and fire mutually correspond, that sun appears before the eyes of the angels as fiery; for angels cannot see love with their eyes, but they see in the place of love what corresponds to it. For angels, equally with men, have an internal and an external; it is their internal that thinks and is wise, and that wills and loves; it is their external that feels, sees, speaks and acts. All their externals are correspondences of internals; but the correspondences are spiritual, not natural. Moreover, Divine love is felt as fire by spiritual beings. For this reason "fire," when mentioned in the Word, signifies love. In the Israelitish Church, "holy fire" signified love; and this is why, in prayers to God, it is customary to ask that "heavenly fire," that is Divine Love, "may kindle the heart."

DLW 88. With such a difference between the spiritual and the natural (n. 83), nothing from the sun of the natural world, that is, nothing of its heat and light, nor anything pertaining to any earthly object, can pass over into the spiritual world. To the spiritual world the light of the natural world is thick darkness, and its heat is death. Nevertheless, the heat of the world can be vivified by the influx of heavenly heat, and the light of the world can be illumined by the influx of heavenly light. Influx is effected by correspondences; and it cannot be effected by continuity.

Divine Love and Wisdom

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Author:  E. Swedenborg (1688-1772).

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