The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love. Emanuel Swedenborg

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СКАЧАТЬ appear according to correspondences." But we passed by these things, and ascended by a long acclivity, and at length saw a city, which we entered; and in walking through the streets and places of public resort, we viewed the houses: they were so many palaces built of marble, having steps of alabaster in front, and at the sides of the steps pillars of jasper: we saw also temples of precious stone of a sapphire and lazure color. And the angel said to me, "Their houses are of stone, because stones signify natural truths, and precious stones spiritual truths; and all those who lived in the silver age had intelligence grounded in spiritual truths, and thence in natural truths: silver also has a similar signification." In taking a view of the city, we saw here and there consorts in pairs: and as they were husbands and wives, we expected that some of them would invite us to their houses; and while we were in this expectation, as we were passing by, we were invited by two into their house, and we ascended the steps and entered; and the angel, taking upon him the part of speaker, explained to them the occasion of our coming to this heaven; informing them that it was for the sake of instruction concerning marriages among the ancients, "of whom," says he, "you in this heaven are a part." They said, "We were from a people in Asia; and the chief pursuit of our age was the truths whereby we had intelligence. This was the occupation of our souls and minds; but our bodily senses were engaged in representations of truths in form; and the science of correspondences conjoined the sensual things of our bodies with the perceptions of our minds, and procured us intelligence." On hearing this, the angel asked them to give some account of their marriages: and the husband said, "There is a correspondence between spiritual marriage, which is that of truth with good, and natural marriage, which is that of a man with one wife; and as we have studied correspondences, we have seen that the church, with its truths and goods, cannot at all exist but with those who live in love truly conjugial with one wife: for the marriage of good and truth constitutes the church with man: therefore all we in this heaven say, that the husband is truth, and the wife the good thereof; and that good cannot love any truth but its own, neither can truth in return love any good but its own: if any other were loved, internal marriage, which constitutes the church, would perish, and there would remain only external marriage, to which idolatry, and not the church, corresponds; therefore marriage with one wife we call sacrimony; but if it should have place with more than one among us, we should call it sacrilege." As he said this, we were introduced into an ante-chamber, where there were several devices on the walls, and little images as it were of molten silver; and I inquired, "What are these?" They said, "They are pictures and forms representative of several qualities, characters, and delights, relating to conjugial love. These represent unity of souls, these conjunction of minds, these harmony of bosoms, these the delights thence arising." While we were viewing these things, we saw as it were a rainbow on the wall, consisting of three colors, purple (or red), blue and white; and we observed how the purple passed the blue, and tinged the white with an azure color, and that the latter color flowed back through the blue into the purple, and elevated the purple into a kind of flaming lustre: and the husband said to me, "Do you understand all this?" I replied, "Instruct me:" and he said, "The purple color, from its correspondence, signifies the conjugial love of the wife, the white the intelligence of the husband, the blue the beginning of conjugial love in the husband's perception from the wife, and the azure, with which the white was tinged, signifies conjugial love in this case in the husband; and this latter color flowing back through the blue into the purple, and elevating the purple into a kind of flaming lustre, signifies the conjugial love of the husband flowing back to the wife. Such things are represented on these walls, while from meditating on conjugial love, its mutual, successive, and simultaneous union, we view with eager attention the rainbows which are there painted." Hereupon I observed, "These things are more than mystical at this day; for they are appearances representative of the arcana of the conjugial love of one man with one wife." He replied, "They are so; yet to us in our heaven they are not arcana, and consequently neither are they mystical." As he said this, there appeared at a distance a chariot drawn by small white horses; on seeing which the angel said, "That chariot is a sign for us to take our leave;" and then, as we were descending the steps, our host gave us a bunch of white grapes hanging to the vine leaves: and lo! the leaves became silver; and we brought them down with us for a sign that we had conversed with the people of the silver age.

      77. THE THIRD MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day, my conducting and attendant angel came to me and said, "Make ready, and let us go to the heavenly inhabitants in the west, who are from the men that lived in the third period, or in the copper age. Their dwellings are from the south by the west towards the north; but they do not reach into the north." Having made myself ready, I attended him, and we entered their heaven on the southern quarter. There was a magnificent grove of palm trees and laurels. We passed through this, and immediately on the confines of the west we saw giants, double the size of ordinary men. They asked us, "Who let you in through the grove?" The angel said, "The God of heaven." They replied, "We are guards to the ancient western heaven; but pass on." We passed on, and from a rising ground we saw a mountain rising to the clouds, and between us and the mountain a number of villages, with gardens, groves, and plains intermixed. We passed through the villages and came to the mountain, which we ascended; and lo! its summit was not a point but a plain, on which was a spacious and extensive city. All the houses of the city were built of the wood of the pine-tree, and their roofs consisted of joists or rafters; and I asked, "Why are the houses here built of wood?" The angel replied, "Because wood signifies natural good; and the men of the third age of the earth were principled in this good; and as copper also signifies natural good, therefore the age in which they lived the ancients named from copper. Here are also sacred buildings constructed of the wood of the olive, and in the middle of them is the sanctuary, where is deposited in an ark the Word that was given to the inhabitants of Asia before the Israelitish Word; the historical books of which are called the WARS OF JEHOVAH, and the prophetic books, ENUNCIATIONS; both mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxi. verses 14, 15, and 27–30. This Word at this day is lost in the kingdoms of Asia, and is only preserved in Great Tartary." Then the angel led me to one of the sacred buildings, which we looked into, and saw in the middle of it the sanctuary, the whole in the brightest light; and the angel said, "This light is from that ancient Asiatic Word: for all divine truth in the heavens gives forth light." As we were leaving the sacred building, we were informed that it had been reported in the city that two strangers had arrived there; and that they were to be examined as to whence they came, and what was their business; and immediately one of the public officers came running towards us, and took us for examination before the judges: and on being asked whence we came, and what was our business, we replied, "We have passed the grove of palm-trees, and also the abodes of the giants, the guards of your heaven, and afterwards the region of villages; from which circumstances you may conclude, that we have not come here of ourselves, but by direction of the God of heaven. The business on which we are come is, to be instructed concerning your marriages, whether they are monogamical or polygamical." and they said, "What are polygamical marriages? Are not they adulterous?" And immediately the bench of judges deputed an intelligent person to instruct us in his own house on this point: and when we were come to his house, he set his wife by his side, and spoke as follows: "We are in possession of precepts concerning marriages, which have been handed down to us from the primeval or most ancient people, who were principled in love truly conjugial, and thereby excelled all others in the virtue and potency of that love while they were in the world, and who are now in a most blessed state in their heaven, which is in the east. We are their posterity, and they, as fathers, have given us, their sons, rules of life, among which is the following concerning marriages: 'Sons, if you are desirous to love God and your neighbour, and to become wise and happy to eternity, we counsel you to live married to one wife; if you depart from this precept, all heavenly love will depart from you, and therewith internal wisdom; and you will be banished.' This precept of our Fathers we have obeyed as sons, and have perceived its truth, which is, that so far as any one loves his conjugial partner alone, so far he becomes celestial and internal, and that so far as any one does not love his married partner alone, so far he becomes natural and external; and in this case he loves only himself and the images of his own mind, and is doating and foolish. From these considerations, all of us in this heaven live married to one wife; and this being the case, all the borders of our heaven are guarded against polygamists, adulterers, and whoremongers; if polygamists invade us, they are cast out into the darkness of the north; if adulterers, they are cast out into fires of the west; and if whoremongers, they СКАЧАТЬ