D Love (Mongredien) n. 1

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 1

1. [1.] THE DIVINE LOVE

I

THERE IS BUT LITTLE COMPREHENSION IN THE WORLD AS TO WHAT LOVE IS, AND YET IT IS MAN'S VERY LIFE

This is evident from its being frequently asked, What is Love? The reason for this ignorance is that love is not apparent to the sight of the Understanding, and it is the Understanding that is the receptacle for the light of heaven; whatever enters into that light is seen interiorly, for a man is aware of what he is thinking, and so he speaks of this or that thing as being in the "light" of his Understanding, or of such and such a thing that he "sees" it to be so; moreover he prays that God will enlighten him and give him illustration. There is indeed a light that is spiritual, to which natural light corresponds; it is from that light that a man says in reference to his Understanding that he sees, and that a wise man also prays God to enlighten him and give him illustration, that is, to give him understanding. As, therefore, it is the Understanding, and not the love, that presents itself by means of thought so as to be seen, man is unable to have any idea of the love. But as love is the very soul or life of thought, therefore thought, if deprived of love, grows cold and lifeless, like a flower deprived of heat; for love kindles, enlivens and animates thought. Direct your attention to your own mind and consider whether you would be able to think apart from some affection that is of love, and you will discover within yourself that you cannot. From this it is evident that love is the life of the Understanding, and so of the thought; and being the life of the Understanding and so of the thought, it is also the life of the whole man; for it is the life of all sense and of all motion, thus it is the life of the organs by means of which sense and motion come into existence; that it is also the life of the other viscera will be seen below.

[2] [2.] Another reason for the ignorance as to what love is, is that the love in a man is a universal life; by a universal life is meant a life that is present in the smallest individual things, for it is on account of its being in these that it is called universal, just as what is general is so called on account of its parts. What is thus universal is only perceived as a one, and this, without a perception of each individual thing, is obscure. It may be compared to light so bright that it blinds. Such, too, is the universal Divine in the smallest individual things of the world; on which account this also is so obscure to man that it is not visible to the naked eye, but only to "the eye that is shut"; for everything in the world is the work of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and the wisdom in the smallest individual things of it is Divine light so bright that it blinds, as said above.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 2

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 2

2. [3.] II

THE LORD ALONE IS LOVE ITSELF, BECAUSE HE IS LIFE ITSELF, AND MEN AND ANGELS ARE RECIPIENTS ONLY

This has already been made clear before* by many things, to which only the following need be added. The Lord, because He is God of the universe, is uncreated and infinite whereas men and angels are created and finite. That which is uncreated and infinite is the very Divine in Itself. It is not possible for man to be formed of this, for he would then be the Divine in Itself; but he can be formed of things created and finite, in which the Divine can be and to which He can communicate His life, and this, by means of heat and light from Himself as a Sun, thus from His Divine Love; it is comparatively like germinations on the earth, which cannot be formed of the essence itself of the world's sun, but of the created things of which the soil consists, in which, by means of its heat and light, the sun can be, and to which it can communicate its life. From this it is evident that men and angels, in themselves, are not life, but only recipients of life.

[2] [4.] From the above it follows also that the conception of a human being by a father is not a conceiving of life, but only a conceiving of the first and purest form able to receive life. To this form, as a first thread or beginning, substances and matters adjoin themselves one after another in the womb, adapted into forms for receiving life in its order and in its degree, down to an ultimate form suited to the modes of the world's nature.
*In APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 3

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 3

3. [5.] III

LIFE, WHICH IS DIVINE LOVE, IS IN A FORM

The Divine Love which is Life Itself, is not love simply, but is the Divine proceeding forth, and the Divine proceeding forth is the Lord Himself. The Lord is indeed in the sun that is seen by angels in the heavens, from which goes forth love as heat, and wisdom as light; nevertheless, the love together with the wisdom is also Himself outside of the Sun; distance is only the appearance, for the Divine is not in space, but is "without spatial distance" (indistans), as said above.* The reason there appears to be distance, is that the Divine Love, such as it is in the Lord, cannot be received by an angel, for in itself being more ardent than the fire of the world's sun, angels would be consumed by it. On this account it is successively lessened in intensity by means of infinite circumvolutions, until, tempered and accommodated, it at length reaches the angels, who in addition are veiled by a thin cloud lest they should suffer injury from its ardour. This is the reason for what appears like distance between the Lord as a Sun and heaven where angels are; it is still the Lord Himself present in heaven, but suitably for His being received.

[2] [6.] The Lord's presence, moreover, is not like the presence of a man occupying space, but is a presence devoid of space; which is that He is in greatest things and in least things, thus He Himself is in greatest things and He Himself is in least things. I know it is only with difficulty that a man can grasp this idea, because it is only with difficulty that he can remove space from the ideas of his thought. It can be grasped by angels, however, into whose ideas spaces do not enter. In this respect spiritual thought differs from natural thought.

[3] [7.] Since therefore the Love going forth from the Lord as a Sun, is the Lord Himself, and since that Love is Life Itself, it follows that the Love Itself which is Life, is a Man, and so contains in an infinite form each and all things that are in man.

These things are also logical inferences from what has previously been said about the life of all from the Lord, and also about His Providence, His Omnipotence, His Omnipresence and His Omniscience.

[4] [8.] GOD IS VERY MAN.**
* In APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED, NOS. 1216-1228
** The MS. shows, before the Section IV that follows, two previous attempts at Section IV of several lines each, which are deleted. Between the second of these and the final writing of the section, there appears the above clause. The position of this clause and the writing show that it was not included in the deletion but a later insertion, probably the heading to a new section to be elaborated later. This clause forms the title to paragraph No. 11 in his published work ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING THE DIVINE LOVE AND THE DIVINE WISDOM."

D Love (Mongredien) n. 4

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 4

4. [9.] IV

THIS FORM IS THE FORM OF USES IN THEIR TOTAL COMPASS

This is because the form of love is a form of uses, the "subjects"* of love being uses: for love wishes to do goods, and goods are nothing else than uses; and since the Divine Love infinitely surpasses all other loves, its form is the form of uses in their total compass.

That the Lord is actually Himself present with angels in the heavens and with men on earth, and that He is in those with whom He is conjoined by love, and further, that He is in them notwithstanding His being infinite and uncreated, whereas angels and men are created and finite - this is beyond the comprehension of the natural man, so long as he cannot, through enlightenment from the Lord, be withdrawn from the natural idea in regard to space and thereby be [brought] into light in regard to spiritual essence. This, regarded in itself, is the Divine Itself proceeding forth, accommodated to every angel, whether in the highest heaven or the lowest, and also to every man, whether wise or simple. For the Divine that proceeds forth from the Lord, is Divine from first things to ultimates. Ultimate things are what are called flesh and bone. That these also were made Divine by the Lord, He taught His disciples,

That He had flesh and bones, which a spirit did not have (Luke xxiv. 39):

moreover, He entered through closed doors, and also became invisible, a clear proof that in Him the things that are man's ultimates had also been made Divine, and that consequently there is correspondence between the Divine and man's ultimates.

[2] [10.] But how the Divine proceeding forth, which is the One only Life Itself, can be in created and finite beings, will now be described. This Life does not apply itself to man, but only to the uses in him; the uses themselves, regarded in themselves, are spiritual, while their forms - the members, organs and viscera - are natural; but throughout, these are each a series of uses, so that in none of the members, organs or viscera, is there any part or smallest part of a part that is not a use in form. The Divine Life applies Itself to the uses themselves in the whole series, and thereby gives life to each form. It is from this that man has the life that is called his soul.

With men this truth certainly appears to be above their comprehension, but not with angels; all the same it is not so far above the human Understanding that it cannot be seen as through a lattice by those who wish to see it. It is not above my Understanding which is an enlightened rational one.
* The Latin word "Subjectum" is used by Swedenborg in a philosophic sense, as that in and by which another thing has actuality. Thus, the eye is the "Subject" in which and by means of which the mind's seeing of external things has effective existence.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 5

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 5

5. [11.] V

A SINGLE HUMAN BEING IS IN SUCH A FORM

This can be seen by those only who make a survey of all the things in man, not merely with the eye of an anatomist, but with the eye of reason as well. Whoever in his survey uses the eye of reason also will see that all things therein and each smallest individual unit of them are formed in accordance with a use and for that use: that each part and each part of a part has a function in the general body: and that the general use which is the general good, has regard to the smallest individual unit as if regarding itself therein while conversely the smallest individual unit has regard to the general good as if regarding itself there. By this means all things in the body from the head to the soles of the feet are a one; so much so that a man is quite unconscious of the fact that he consists of so many myriad parts having varied and diverse functions. In illustration of this, let the structure of the lungs and the trachea alone be surveyed with the eye of reason, and their uses considered.

[2] [12.] The Lungs. Their most general use is breathing, effected by admitting air through the larynx, trachea and bronchial tubes into the air-cells, causing the lungs to expand and contract alternately. By this action, too, the lungs bring about alternating motions throughout the organic body and all its members; for the heart and the lungs are the two fountains of all the general motions in the whole body, by means of which each and all things are guided into their own activities and vital functions.

The lungs also connect together the voluntary motor life that depends upon the cerebrum, and the natural motor life carried on under the control of the cerebellum.

Another of their uses is to dispose all the viscera of the body, specially its motor organs, the muscles, so that the Will may carry out any movement it desires, in harmony and without anywhere a break.

Another of their uses is, not only to accord with the various sounds employed in speaking and singing, but also to bring them forth as from a womb.

Another of their uses is to receive into themselves all the blood of the body from the right side of the heart to cleanse it from its viscous and phlegmy contents and expel them, to supply it with fresh elements, or food so to speak, from the inhaled air, and so send it back new, as it were, to the left chamber of the heart, thus converting venous blood into arterial. In this way the lungs, in respect of the blood, act as filtering-room, expulsion-room, restoring-room and preparing-room, besides acting as the air's cleansing-room.

In addition to these uses of the lungs there are many others, both general and particular, every air passage and every lobule being, more nearly or more remotely, a partner in all their offices, that is, in all their uses.

[3] [13.] The Trachea. Its uses are: (1) to furnish a channel for both the air and the breath of the lungs passing inwards and outwards, and to accommodate itself to their every different manner of breathing, both when inhaling and exhaling; (2) to examine and correct the air about to pass into the lungs, so that nothing hurtful shall enter, to moisten it as it passes out and so trap and expel any breath that has lost its usefulness, and in general to clear the lungs of any thick phlegm by expectorating it; (3) to serve as a pillar and foundation for the larynx and epiglottis, to adapt itself exactly to all their commands and tremulous vibrations, to dispose the walls of its channel for the air to strike upon, to make its membrane taut so that it may vibrate when the air strikes upon it, and so, without refining, to initiate sound, for the larynx and glottis to form, that is, modify into song or speech; the trachea, moreover, keeps the larynx continually moistened with a damp dew; (4) to act as assistant to the neighbouring esophagus and help it in its task of swallowing; (5) to communicate the alternate respiratory movements of the lungs to adjacent parts and through these to more distant parts and to the most distant: namely, to the esophagus, through this together with the diaphragm to the stomach, and so to the abdominal viscera; also to the ascending carotid artery and the descending jugular vein: also to the great sympathetic nerves, the intercostal and the vague, in this way keeping the motor life of the body renewed; (6) to cause its own sound tremulations and those of the larynx to pass into the adjacent parts and through these into the most remote parts above and below, stimulating and by a general modification refreshing and animating both the arterial blood mounting to the head and brain and the venous blood returning therefrom: and in this way keeping the sense-life of the body renewed.

[14.] Moreover from a study of the bones of the trachea, as well as of the larynx and epiglottis (which are not here being enumerated), a mind possessed of understanding and cultivated in the sciences can, under anatomy's direction and the eye's guidance, be instructed in and made acquainted with the way Nature modulates sounds and sets their limits by articulations. No secrets in acoustics, in music, or in harmony are so deeply hidden, no secrets so buried out of reach in the vibrations and tremulations of continuous bodies, or in the modifications of a contiguous volume or atmosphere, but that the spiritual has here gathered them out of Nature's innermost recesses, assembled them into one and bestowed them upon these two organs, and at the same time upon the ear.

[4] [15.] Similar arcana are contained in all the other viscera, both in the head and in the body, and more arcane still in those parts that are concealed interiorly and cannot be inspected by the eye; for the more interior anything is, the more perfect it is. In a word, the pre-eminent life, or excellence of life, in every one of the members, organs and viscera consists in there being no function proper to any one of them that is not a function of the whole, and so, in each one containing what is typical of the whole man.

[16.] This is the arcanum that results as a conclusion: Man embraces within himself all uses whatever existing in the spiritual and natural worlds; and each use, having within it what is typical of the whole, is as it were a man, but a man of such sort as is the use, that is, as is the function it fulfills in the general whole. Man derives this from his being a recipient of life from the Lord, for life from the Lord embraces within itself all uses to infinity, the Lord alone being Man having Life in Himself, from Whom is everything of life; and unless that form of uses were infinite in the Lord, it could not exist finited in any man.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 6

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 6

6. [17.] VI

MAN IN THE AGGREGATE IS IN SUCH A FORM

By "man" is meant in a very general sense the whole human race, in a general sense the men in one kingdom taken together, in a less general sense the men in one province of a kingdom, in a still less general sense the men in a single town, in a particular sense those in a single household, and in the singular, each human being. In the Lord's sight the whole human race is as one man, all those in one kingdom are also as one man, likewise all in a single province, all in a single town, and all in a single household. Not that the men themselves thus appear together, it is the uses with them that do so. Those men who are good uses, those, that is, who do uses from the Lord appear together as a man, complete in form and beautiful. These are they who do uses for the sake of the uses themselves, that is, who love uses because they are uses to the household, or to the town, or to the province, or to the kingdom, or to all mankind. On the other hand, those who do uses, not on account of the uses, but on account of themselves only or the world only, also appear in the Lord's sight as a man, but a man defective and ugly. From the above it may be evident that the Lord looks upon men in the world individually, according to the use they each perform, and collectively, according to the uses assembled together into the form of a man. By "uses" are meant the uses a man carries out in connection with the office he fills, or with his occupation, or with his work. Such uses are, in the Lord's sight, good works themselves.

[18.] Since in the Lord's sight all in a single kingdom appear together as one man in accordance with their love of uses, therefore all the English so appear, all the Dutch, all the Germans, all the Swedes and the Danes, as well as the French, the Spanish, the Poles, the Russians: but in each case the nation appears in a form that is according to its uses. In each of these kingdoms, all those who love the uses of their employment because they are uses, are seen together as an angel-man, whereas all those who love the uses of their employment solely on account of pleasures unconnected with the uses, are seen together as a devil-man. The traders in the angel-man are traders who love their trading, and who love wealth for the sake of the trading, and who at the same time look to God; whereas the traders in the devil-man are traders who love wealth and who only love their trading for the sake of getting wealth; with these traders, there exists avarice, root of all evils, but not with the former. For, loving wealth only and not some use to be served by it, or in other words, regarding wealth in the first place, and trading in the second, is being avaricious. Such people are certainly useful to the kingdom, but not till they die and their wealth passes into the community, into use among traders; the benefit their wealth then brings is a benefit to the kingdom, but not to their own souls.*

In a word, procuring wealth by means of trading for the sake of the wealth alone is Jewish trading; but doing so for the sake of the trading is Dutch trading. Possessing wealth is not harmful to these latter, but to the others it is.
* An annotation in the left hand margin of the MS. reads: He certainly benefits the public weal by accumulating wealth in it and enriching it, but he does not benefit his own soul.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 7

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 7

7. [19.] VII

HEAVEN IS IN SUCH A FORM

It was shown in ARCANA CAELESTIA that the entire heaven is distinguished as it were into provinces, answering to the uses of all the members, organs and viscera of the human body, and that it is known to angels in the heavens, in which province such and such societies are: what societies, for instance, are in the province of the eyes, what societies are in the province of the ears, of the nostrils, of the mouth and tongue, also what societies are in the province of the liver, of the pancreas, of the spleen, of the kidneys, of the ureters, and what societies are in the province of the organs of generation. All the societies in these provinces correspond exactly to the uses of the said members, organs and viscera in man. It is by reason of that correspondence that the entire heaven appears before the Lord as a single man, similarly each province of heaven, and each society in a province; it is for the same reason, also, that all angels and spirits are men, altogether like men in the world. The cause of this is that the Divine, proceeding forth from the Lord, which is life and form, is Man in the greatest things and in the least things, as has been frequently said before.

This correspondence in general and in particular, was treated of in ARCANA CAELESTIA, paragraphs

3021, 3624-3633, 3636-3643, 3741-3745, 3883-3896, 4039-4055, 4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533, 4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727, 10030.

That hell also may be in that form, every one there is compelled to do work, but because those in hell do not do work from a love of use, but from a need for food and clothing, therefore though they appear as a man, it is as a devil-man, concerning which see above.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 8

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 8

8. [20.] VIII

ALL THINGS IN THE WORLD, MOREOVER, TEND TOWARDS A LIKE FORM

By "all things in the world" are meant living things, those that walk or crawl on land as well as those that fly in the air and swim in the water; also vegetation is meant, trees as well as shrubs, flowers, plants and grasses. But atmospheres, waters and the material substances of the earth are only means for the generation and bringing forth of the living things.

That the Divine Love which is Life Itself and which is the Lord, is in the form of the forms of all uses, which form is Man, can be nowhere better seen than in the creation of the universe and then of the earth and of all things in them both. For, by creation there is nothing on the earth that is not made for use. The whole mineral kingdom is full of uses; there is not a particle of dust in it, nor any piece of soil formed of such particles, that is not of use. The whole vegetable kingdom is full of uses; there is not a tree, plant, flower, or grass, that is not of use; indeed, there is nothing in the tree, plant, flower or grass, that is not of use; each single thing is the form of its own use. The whole animal kingdom, also, is full of uses; there is not an animal, from the little worm to the lion, that is not of use, and that is not also the form of its use. It is the same with whatever is above the earth, right up to the sun. In a word, every point in the created universe and in created beings is a use; in fact, it is in a successively expanding series of uses from the use in first things to the use in ultimates, thus from one use to another in unbroken succession-clear proof that the Creator and Former, who is the Lord, is the infinite enfolding of all uses, in His essence Love, and in His form Man in whom that enfolding is.

Who that is willing to consider these things with merely ordinary intelligence, can be of such defective reason as to think they are the work of a dead sun, and therefore of dead Nature?

D Love (Mongredien) n. 9

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 9

9. [21.] IX

THERE ARE AS MANY AFFECTIONS AS THERE ARE USES

There are many things evidencing that Divine Love is Life Itself and that the love derived therefrom with man is his life; but one of these evidences is specially clear, namely, the fact that a man's spirit is nothing else than affection, and that consequently after death he becomes an affection, an angel of heaven if he is an affection for a good use, a spirit of hell if an affection for an evil use. This is why the entire heaven is distinguished into societies according to the genera and species of affections; and hell likewise, in an opposite order. Consequently, whether you speak of affections, or of societies in the spiritual world, it is the same.

[22.] By "affections" are meant continuations and derivations from love. Love may be [compared] to a fountain, and affections to streams flowing from it; it may also be compared to the heart, and affections to the blood-vessels derived from it and continuous with it. It is, moreover, recognized that blood-vessels carrying the blood from their heart re-enact the heart at every point, so that they are as it were extensions of it. Hence the circulations of the blood from the heart along the arteries, and from the arteries into the veins, and back again into the heart. Affections also are similar, for affections are derived from love and are continuous with it, they bring uses forth in forms, and in these they advance from the first things of the uses to their ultimates, from which they return again to the love from which they come; all which shows that affection and use are respectively love in its essence and love in its form. [2] It follows from this that the objects of affections, or their ends, are uses, and that consequently the uses are their "subjects,"* and the forms themselves in which uses have existence, are effects that are effigies of the affections, in which they advance from their first end to their last end, and from this back to the first again, and by means of which they carry out their labours, functions and activities.

Who cannot see from the above that an affection alone is not anything, it becomes something by being in a use: that the affection for a use is nothing but an idea, if it is not in a form: that neither is the affection for a use when it is in a form, more than a potentiality: and that the affection first becomes something when it is in act? This is the use itself that is meant, which in its essence is affection. Now because affections are the essences of uses, and uses are their "subjects," it follows that there are as many affections as there are uses.
* The Latin word "Subjectum" is used by Swedenborg in a philosophic sense, as that in and by which another thing has actuality. Thus, the eye is the "Subject" in which and by means of which the mind's seeing of external things has effective existence.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 10

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 10

10. [23.] X

THERE ARE GENERA AND SPECIES OF AFFECTIONS, AND VARIETIES OF THE SPECIES, WITHOUT END: THE SAME WITH USES

This can be established from the human body, from the human race and from the angelic heaven, furthermore from the animal and vegetable kingdoms. In each of these there is an indescribable number of genera, species and varieties of affections, or uses, for not a single thing exists identically the same as another: there is always a difference; and these differences are everywhere distinguished into genera and species, and both of these again into varieties, the varieties themselves being infinite, because they are from the Infinite. Anyone can see this to be the case from human faces, not one of which since the time of creation has been so like another as to be the same, nor can there be to all eternity. In the same way, too, in the human body, there is not any least part in it identically the same as any other, or identically the same as the equivalent part in another human being. It is the same with affections and their uses. That it is the same with affections, and in consequence with uses, man is profoundly ignorant, so profoundly ignorant of it that he asks, What is an affection? What is love? It can be illustrated, therefore from nowhere else but heaven, where all, by derivation from the Divine Love, which is Life Itself, are affections.

[24.] In heaven, Divine Love, which is Life Itself, is distinguished into two kingdoms, one in which love to the Lord reigns, the other in which love towards the neighbour does. Love to the Lord involves uses "as from their source" ("a quo"), love towards the neighbour involves them "as towards their object" ("ad quem"). Divine Love, which is Life Itself, is further distinguished into lesser kingdoms, which may be termed "provinces," and these again into societies, and the societies into families and households; such, in the heavens, are the differentiations of Divine Love into genera and species, and these again into their differences, which are meant by varieties. The reason affections, and similarly uses, are distinguished in this manner, is because every angel is an affection and is also a use.

[2] [25.] Since all things in hell are arranged oppositely to the things in heaven, this is also the case with love. Devilish love there, which is death itself, is also distinguished into two kingdoms, one in which love of self reigns, the other in which love of the world does. Love of self involves evil uses "from the point of view of their origin" ("a quo") which is self, love of the world evil uses "from the point of view of effect" ("ad quem"). These, because they are done from self, are also done for the sake of self, for every love returns by a circle, as it were, to that from which it comes. This devilish love is distinguished further into provinces, and these into societies and so on.

[26.] In the human body there are similar differentiations in the affections, and likewise in the uses, all things in man corresponding to all things in heaven, as said above. In the body the heart and the lungs correspond to the two kingdoms of heaven, the members, organs and viscera to the provinces of heaven, and the textures of the members, organs and viscera to the societies of heaven. As these, both in general and in particular, are uses, and as uses live from the life that is love, the life in them cannot be called anything else but an affection for use. As is the case with the human body, and also with heaven, so, too, is it with the whole human race, the latter being as it were a single man in the Lord's sight in the same way as heaven is, as stated above.

[27.] With regard to the living things on the globe, and to its vegetation, it is well known that they are distinguished in a similar way into genera and species and their varieties. [3] There are, moreover, in the animal kingdom two general divisions, one, beasts of the earth, the other, birds of the air. Also in the vegetable kingdom there are two general divisions, one fruit-bearing trees, the other seed bearing plants. It can be seen in both these cases also, that there are genera and species of affections and varieties of the species without end, similarly in the case of uses, since as before stated,* the souls of animals are natural affections, and the souls of plants are uses of affections.
* In APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED, NO. 1201.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 11

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 11

11. [28.] XI

THERE ARE DEGREES OF AFFECTIONS AND OF USES

Degrees are of two kinds, continuous and discrete. In every form, whether in the spiritual world or in the natural world, both kinds of degrees are to be found. Continuous degrees are known to all; but discrete degrees to few. And those who have no knowledge of discrete degrees are groping as in the dark, when they investigate the causes of things. Degrees of both kinds are described in HEAVEN AND HELL NO. 38.

[29.] Continuous degrees, which every one knows, are like the gradations from light to shade, from heat to cold, from rarity to density. Such a gradation exists in the light, the heat, the wisdom and the love within each society of heaven: those in the centre of the society are in a brighter light than those on its confines, the light decreasing in brightness as its distance from the centre increases, until it reaches the confines. It is the same with the wisdom: those in the middle or centre of a society are in wisdom's light, whereas those on its confines or periphery are in wisdom's shade and are the simple ones. It is the same with love in any of the societies; the affections of love that make the wisdom of those who are there, and the uses of those affections that make their life, decrease continuously from the middle or centre of the Society outward to its confines or periphery. These are continuous degrees.

[2] [30.] But discrete degrees are quite different. They do not vary over a plane surface towards the sides round about, but from the top to the bottom; accordingly they are called descending degrees. They are discrete in the same sense that an effecting cause and the effect it produces are discrete: and effects in their turn become effecting causes, and so on to the final effect of all. Again, these degrees are discrete in the same sense that a producing force and the power it produces are discrete: and the latter in its turn becomes a producing force, and so on to what is produced last of all. In a word, discrete degrees are steps in the forming of one thing from another, thus they are degrees from what is first or highest to what is last or lowest, where formation comes to its close. Things prior and posterior, therefore, are instances of discrete degrees, so are things higher and lower. All creating was effected through degrees of this kind, all production, too, is through them, likewise every case of composition in the natural universe; for if you open out any composite thing you will find that in it one thing is from another thing down to the outermost which is the "general form" (commune) of all.

[3] [31.] The three angelic heavens are distinct from one another by degrees of this kind, and consequently they are one above another. The interior things in a man, which are of his mind, are likewise distinct from one another by degrees of this kind. Similarly the light that is wisdom and the heat that is love are distinct in the heavens of angels and distinct in the interiors of men. Similarly with the light itself going forth from the Lord as a Sun, and also with the heat itself going forth from Him: consequently that light in the third heaven is so brilliant and in the second heaven so bright that it exceeds the midday light in the world a thousand times. It is the same with the wisdom there, light and wisdom in the spiritual world being everywhere in equivalent degrees of perfection. Similar to both these are the degrees of affections, and because it is so with affections, it is so also with uses, uses being the "subjects" of the affections.

Furthermore, it should be known that in every form, whether spiritual or natural, there are degrees of both kinds, discrete and continuous. If any form were without discrete degrees, there would be nothing interiorly in it to constitute a cause or a soul: without continuous degrees, it would have no extension and no visible presentation.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 12

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 12

12. [32.] XII

EVERY USE WITHOUT DISTINCTION DRAWS ITS LIFE FROM THE GENERAL BODY, AND FROM THIS THE NECESSARY, USEFUL AND DELIGHTFUL THINGS OF LIFE FLOW IN, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE QUALITY OF THE USE AND THE QUALITY OF AFFECTION FOR IT

This is an arcanum that has not hitherto been unveiled. Something of it indeed presents itself in the world, though not sufficiently clearly to enable it to be seen to be a fact. For in the world it is from the general body that every one gets the necessary, useful and delightful things of life, in accordance with the excellence and extent of the service he renders. It is out of the general body that some are recompensed, others enriched; it is as it were a lake from which flow recompenses and enrichments in abundance. These are determined and produced by the uses and pursuits that are of affection; still one cannot conclude from this that uses in themselves are of such a nature, for the reason that, in the world the wicked equally with the good, both when they do no uses or even do evil uses as well as when they do good uses, are sometimes recompensed or enriched. It is otherwise in the spiritual world where uses are opened to the view and where their source and their situation in the Spiritual Man, who is the Lord in the heavens, are revealed. In that world every one is recompensed in accordance with the excellence of his use, and at the same time in accordance with his affection for it. No idler is tolerated, nor any lazy vagabond, nor any sluggard taking praise for the efforts and labours of others; every one is required to be energetic, active, attentive and diligent in his duty or occupation; nor does he put praise and reward in the first place but in the second or third. It is in accordance with these things that the necessary, useful and delightful things of life flow in with them. [2] The reason they flow in from the general body is because they do not need to be procured for oneself as in the world; they come into existence in a moment, and are given free by the Lord. Moreover, because there is communication and extension round about of all thoughts and affections in the spiritual world-and in heaven the communication and extension of affections for use is according to their quality-and because all in heaven are affected by uses and delighted with them, therefore the necessary, useful and delightful things of life flow back and pour forth in abundance from the general body into each one's use, and, as benefit which he enjoys, into him who does the use.

[3] [33.] The necessary things of life that are given free by the Lord and come into existence in a moment are food, clothing and dwelling, these corresponding exactly to the use in which the angel is. The useful things of life are things subsidiary to those three, and a source of enjoyment to him, besides various decorative things for the table, for garments and for the house, beautiful things according to the angel's use, and magnificent things according to his affection for it. The delightful things of life are those in connection with married partner, with friends and with companions, who all love him and whom he loves; arising out of every affection for use, there is such mutual and reciprocal love.

[4] [34.] The reason there are such things in heaven is because there are such things in man, for heaven corresponds to all things in man ; moreover, a man who is in an affection for use on account of the use, or for the sake of the use, is a heaven in least form. In man there is no portion of his body nor any part of a portion, that does not draw from the general body its necessities, utilities and delights. With him the general body provides for each single part according to its use. Whatever is required by any one part for its functioning, is conveyed to it from neighbouring parts, and to these from their neighbouring parts, thus from the whole body; and in the same way that part gives forth of its own to the other parts according to their need. It is the same in the Divine Spiritual Man which is heaven, because it is the same in the Lord. It is clear from the above that each single use is representative of all the uses in the whole body, and consequently that there is in each single use what is typical of the whole, and thereby an image of man. It is due to this that an angel of heaven is a man in accordance with his use; or rather, if in this instance one may speak in a spiritual manner, it is due to this that a use is an angel-man.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 13

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 13

13. [35.] XIII

IN THE DEGREE THAT A MAN IS IN THE LOVE OF USE, HE IS IN THE LORD, IN THAT DEGREE ALSO HE LOVES HIM AND LOVES THE NEIGHBOUR, AND IN THAT DEGREE IS HE A MAN

A consideration of the love of uses teaches what is meant by loving the Lord and loving the neighbour, and in addition, what is meant by being in the Lord and being a man. "Loving the Lord" means to do uses from Him and for His sake. "Loving the neighbour" means to do uses to the Church, to one's Country, to human society and to one's fellow-citizen. "Being in the Lord" means to be a use, and "being a man" means to do uses from the Lord to the neighbour for His sake.

[36.] The reason loving the Lord means to do uses from Him and for His sake is that all the good uses a man does are from the Lord; good uses are "goods," and the latter, it is well known, are from the Lord; and loving them is to do them, for what a man loves, that he does. There is no other way in which the Lord can be loved, for uses, which are goods, are from the Lord and are therefore Divine, or rather, they are the Lord Himself with man. These are what the Lord can love; except by means of His own Divine things, He cannot be conjoined in love to any man, consequently He cannot enable a man to love Him, for a man cannot from himself love the Lord: the Lord Himself draws the man and conjoins him to Himself. On account of this, loving the Lord as a Person and not loving uses, is loving Him from oneself, and that is not loving. He who does uses, or goods, from the Lord, is also doing them for His sake. These things can be illustrated by the celestial love in which angels of the third heaven are. These angels are in love to the Lord more than angels of the other heavens; they do not understand loving the Lord to be anything else than doing goods that are uses, declaring that uses are the Lord with them. By "uses" they mean the uses and good services of one's office, administration or occupation, as well in the case of priests and officials, as of those engaged in trade and industry. Good services that do not come within the scope of their duties they do not call "uses" but alms, benefactions and favours (gratuita).

[2] [37.] The reason loving the neighbour means doing uses to the Church, to one's Country, to a society and to a fellow-citizen, is that these are the neighbour in both its wide and narrow senses; nor can these be loved in any other way than by doing the uses connected with one's occupation. Church, Country, society and citizen, thus the neighbour, is being loved by a priest if he is teaching and leading his hearers from a zeal for their salvation. Church, Country, society and citizen, thus the neighbour, is being loved by those in authority and by governors if they carry out their duties from a zeal for the general good: by judges, if from justice; by traders, if from uprightness: by workmen, if from honesty: by servants, if from faithfulness: and so on. When there is faithfulness, honesty, uprightness, justice and zeal with these, then there is a love of their use from the Lord; and from Him they have love towards their neighbour in both its wide and narrow senses. For who is there, faithful, honest, upright and just at heart, that does not love the Church, his Country and his fellow-citizen?

[38.] All this makes it clear that loving the Lord is the doing of uses "as from their source" ("a quo"), and that loving the neighbour is the doing of uses "as towards their object" ("ad quem"); and that "for the sake of him who benefits" ("propter quem") is for the sake of the neighbour, of the use, and of the Lord; and that thus the love returns to Him from Whom it comes; for every love "as the source" does, by way of love "as regards its object," return again to the love "as source," this return constituting its reciprocal. Thus love is continually going forth and returning again by mean of deeds that are uses, for loving is to do, because if love does not become deed it ceases to be love, the deed being the effecting of its purpose, and that in which it has its existence.

[3] [39.] The reason that in the degree that a man is in a love of use, he is in the Lord, is that in the same degree he is in the Church and also in heaven. The Church and heaven are from the Lord as one man, the forms of which, called organic forms, superior, inferior, interior, and exterior, are made up of all who love uses in doing them; and it is the uses themselves that compose that man, because it is a spiritual Man, consisting not of the persons but of the uses with them. Always in that Man are all who receive from the Lord a love of use, and they are those who do them for the sake of the neighbour, for the sake of the uses and for the sake of the Lord. And as that Man is the Divine proceeding forth from the Lord and as the Divine proceeding forth is the Lord in the Church and in heaven, it follows that they are all in the Lord.

[4] [40.] The reason that they are a man is that every use which is in any way of service to the general good or the community is a man, beautiful and complete in form according to the quality of the use and at the same time the quality of affection for it. This is because there is in each single part in the human body, by virtue of the use it serves, something typical of the whole (universum); for each part regards the "whole" there as its own on which it depends, while the "whole" regards each part as its own, by means of which it has its existence. It is owing to there being in each part what is typical of the whole that each single use in the body is a man, and this is so in the small parts as well as in the large; organic forms are equally men, in their parts as in their wholes; indeed, as all perfection increases towards interior things, the parts of those parts, being more interior, are men in a greater degree than are the parts compounded from them. For all the organic forms in man are compounded of more interior forms, and these again of forms still more interior, and so on to the inmost: by means of these, communication with all the affection and thought of man's mind is made possible. For a man's mind, in each separate part of it, extends into all things of his body; it is into all things of the body that its range of activity is, for it is the very form of life. Unless the mind had that field, there would not be a mind, nor a man. It is in consequence of the above that the choice and good pleasure of a man's Will instantly bring forth and determine actions, altogether as if the thought and Will were themselves in the things of the body, instead of being above them.

The idea that every least thing in man, by virtue of the use it serves, is a man, is one that does not find place in natural thought as easily as it does in spiritual; in spiritual thought a man is not a person but a use, for spiritual thought does not include any idea of person, any more than of matter, space and time; accordingly when in heaven any one sees another, he sees him, certainly, as a man, but he thinks of him as a use. Moreover, an angel's face is in accordance with the use in which he is, and his affection for it makes the life of his face.

From all the above, it can be seen that every good use is in form a man.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 14

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 14

14. [41.] XIV

THEY ARE NOT MEN, NOR ARE THEY IN THE LORD, WHO LOVE THEMSELVES ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND THE WORLD AS THEMSELVES

It is certainly possible for those who love themselves and the world to do good uses, and they do them. too; but with such people their affections for the uses are not good affections, being from themselves and for the sake of themselves, not from the Lord and for the sake of the neighbour. They declare indeed, and are convinced, that the uses they do are for the sake of the neighbour, understood in its wide and narrow senses, that is, for the sake of the Church, Country, society, or fellow-citizens; some of them even go so far as to say that the uses they do are for God's sake, because in conformity with His commandments in the Word, and are, moreover, from God, because they are good, and every good is from God; yet the uses they do are nevertheless for the sake of themselves, because they are from themselves; and are for the neighbour's sake in order that they may turn to their own advantage. Such people are recognized and distinguished from those who do uses from the Lord and for the sake of the neighbour, understood in its wide and narrow senses, by the regard they show for themselves and the world in every little thing and by their love of renown for the sake of various ends that are uses in respect of themselves; indeed, they are only affected by uses in proportion as they see therein themselves and what is their own. Furthermore, what they consider delightful are all the delights of the body and it is from the world they seek them. What such people are, may be illustrated by the following comparison: they themselves are the head, the world is the body, Church, Country, fellow-citizens are the soles of the feet and God is the shoe. For those, on the other hand, who love uses* out of love for the uses themselves the Lord is the head, Church, Country, citizens, which together are the neighbour, are the body down to the knees, the legs from the knees as far as the soles are the world, and they themselves are the soles beautifully shod. It is clear then that those who do uses from themselves, that is, out of love for themselves, are completely inverted, there being nothing of man in them.

[2] [42.] There are two sources of all loves and affections, one is the Sun of heaven, which is pure love, the other the sun of the world, which is pure fire. Those who have a love derived from the Sun of heaven are spiritual and living, and are elevated out of their proprium** by the Lord; whereas those who have a love derived from the sun of the world are natural and dead, and are of themselves engulfed in their proprium. It is on account of this that in every visible object they see Nature only, and if they acknowledge God they do so with the lips, not from the heart. It is such people that are meant in the Word by "worshippers of the sun, the moon and all the host of heaven."*** In the spiritual world, they do, certainly, appear like human beings, but in the light of heaven as monsters; and to themselves their life seems like life, but to angels, like death. Amongst them are many who in the world were reputed to be learned, and to my frequent astonishment, they believed themselves to be wise on account of attributing all things to Nature and to prudence, and in fact looked upon those who do not as simple.
* The MS. shows that Swedenborg had written "Those on the other hand, who do uses." This he deleted and substituted as above. The change from "those" to "for those" was certainly intentional; the change from "do" to "love" may have been intentional or may have been a slip.
** The Latin word proprium means "what is one's own." Swedenborg uses it in a special sense, involving "what is of the self."
*** 2 Kings xxiii, 5; Jeremiah viii. 2.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 15

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 15

15. [43.] XV

A MAN IS NOT OF SOUND MIND UNLESS USE IS HIS AFFECTION, OR UNLESS HE OCCUPIES HIMSELF WITH USE

Man has external thought and he has internal thought. A man is in external thought when in the society of others, whether he is then listening or speaking, or teaching, or engaged in some action; he is in external thought, too, when writing; he is in internal thought when he is at home and giving free scope to his interior affection. This thought is thought proper to his spirit in itself, the other is thought proper to his spirit in the body. Both remain with a man after death, his quality not becoming known until his external thought has been withdrawn from him, for when this is done, he thinks, speaks and acts from his own affection. The man who is of sound mind will then see and hear wonderful things; he will hear and see that many people who in the world used to speak wisely or preach skillfully, or teach learnedly, or write with knowledge and who acted, too, with prudence, begin, as soon as the external of their mind has been withdrawn, to think, speak and act in such a senseless fashion that no maniac in the world would do so more insanely, and what is remarkable, they then believe themselves wiser than others. [2] However, from time to time, lest they should go on in this senseless fashion, they are brought back into their externals, and so, into their civil and moral life in which they were while in the world. When, in the society of others there, or in heaven, it is given them to call to mind these frenzies, at such times they themselves see and admit that they had spoken crazily and acted foolishly; yet no sooner are they sent back into their interiors, that is, the things proper to their spirit, than they at once begin acting in the same senseless way as before.

[44.] The forms their frenzies take are many, but resolve themselves into these-wanting to tyrannize, or to thieve, or to commit adultery, or to blaspheme, or to maltreat, wanting also to despise, reject or deride what is upright, just and honest, as well as every truth and good of the Church and heaven; and what is more, it is this state of their spirit that they love, for the test was made with several as to whether they preferred thinking sanely or the reverse, and it was found they preferred thinking insanely. Furthermore, the reason for their being like this was disclosed; it is due to their having loved themselves and the world above everything, to their not having devoted their mind to uses except for the sake of position or gain, and to their having greatly preferred bodily delights to delights of the soul. In the world they were such as in themselves had not thought about anything sanely, except when taking other people into account.

[45.] There is only one remedy for their disorder, namely, to put them to work under a judge in hell; as long as they are there at work, they do not indulge in their frenzies, the tasks in which they are engaged keeping the mind as it were imprisoned and fettered, so that it does not stray away into the morbid imaginations of their passions. The tasks given them in hell, they perform for the sake of food and clothing and shelter, thus unwillingly from necessity, not freely from affection.

[3] [46.] All on the contrary who in the world have loved uses, and done them from love of them, think sanely in their spirit, and their spirit thinks sanely in their body, for in this way their interior thought is their exterior thought also, and through this latter their speech is from their interior thought, so also is their action. Affection for use has kept their mind in that affection and has not allowed it to stray away into vanities, or into lascivious and foul things, or into dishonesties and deceits, or into the wanton thoughts of various lusts. After death they become its likenesses: their minds are in themselves angelic, and consequently, with the removal of their exterior thought they become spiritual, and angels, and so, recipients of heavenly wisdom from the Lord.

All this then makes it clear that a man is not of sound mind unless use is his affection, or unless he occupies himself with use.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 16

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 16

16. [47.] XVI

EVERY HUMAN BEING IS AN AFFECTION, AND THERE ARE AS MANY DIFFERENT AFFECTIONS AS THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS BORN, OR THAT WILL BE BORN TO ETERNITY

This can be established especially from the case of angels in heaven and spirits in hell, all of whom are affections, spirits in hell being evil affections which are lusts, and angels in heaven being good affections. The reason every human being is an affection is that his life is love, and it is prolongations and derivations from the love that are called affections; because of this, affections are in themselves loves, too, but subordinate to the general love as their master or head. Accordingly, with life itself being love, it follows that each and all things of life are affections, consequently that man himself is an affection. [2] Most people in the world will be astonished at this. That they will be, it was given me to learn orally, from every one passing from the natural world into the spiritual; so far I have not come across one who knew that he was an affection; indeed, few knew what an affection is, and when I said that an affection is love in its prolonged and derived form, they asked what love is, saying they knew what thought is, inasmuch as they perceive that, but they did not know what an affection is, because no one has a perception of it as they have of thought. That love is part of the nature of things, they said they knew, from a betrothed maiden's love before marriage, from a mother's love for her children, and also to some extent from the father's love when kissing his newly-married wife or his child, though some said in place of these "his mistress". When I told them that thought is not anything itself, but is something by reason of an affection that is of a man's life's love, the thought arising from this, just as a thing formed arises from what forms it, and further that the reason the thought is perceived but not the affection, is because a thing formed is perceived but not that which forms it, just as the body is perceived by the bodily senses but not the soul-then, being amazed at [3] what I had told them, they were instructed in regard to it by several things of practical experience; as for instance that all things of their thought are from affection and in accordance with it; then, too, that they were unable either to think without affection or to think contrary to it; furthermore, that every one is such as his affection is, and consequently every one is examined in respect of his affection and no one in respect of his speech, for speech is the expression of the thought that is of external affection, and this is a desire to favour, or to please, or to be praised, or to be esteemed civil, moral or wise, and to desire these things for the sake of ends embraced by the internal affection, towards which ends these things are means. Nevertheless, unless a man is a consummate hypocrite, the affection itself is detected from the tone of his voice, for the words spoken are of thought and the sound in them is of affection. Accordingly they were told that as there is no speech apart from sound, neither can there be thought apart from affection; and that, in consequence, it is clear that affection is the all of thought, just as sound is the all of speech, speech being only the articulation of sound.

[4] By these things they were taught that a human being is nothing but an affection, and afterwards by this fact, that the whole heaven and the whole hell are distinguished, as a kingdom is, into provinces, and into societies according to the general and specific differences of affections, and most assuredly not according to differences of thoughts; and furthermore, that these differences are known only to the Lord.

Hence it follows that the varieties and differences of affections are infinite in number, and are as many as human beings born, or that will be born to eternity.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 17

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 17

17. [48.] XVII

THE ETERNAL LIFE A MAN HAS, IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS AFFECTION FOR USE

Just as affection is the essential man, and use is its effect and operation, and the field or training- ground as it were for its exercise, and just as there can be no affection unless it has a "subject," so, too, a man's life's affection cannot exist without having its use; and because the affection and the use make a one, so the quality of a man who is an affection, is recognized from his use; only with difficulty and imperfectly in the natural world, but in the spiritual world clearly and fully. This is so because that which is spiritual makes apparent the affection and its every detail, for that which is spiritual is in its essence Divine Love and Divine Wisdom and in its appearing it is heaven's heat and heaven's light. These latter cause the affections for uses to be apparent, just as the heat of the world's sun causes objects on earth to be apparent by their odours and flavours, and its light causes them to be apparent by their various colours and differences of light and shade. [2] The reason the eternal life that each one has, is in accordance with his affection for use, is that this is the essential man, and consequently such as the affection is, such is he.

[49.] There are, however, two general kinds of affection for use; there is a spiritual affection for use and there is a natural affection for use: they are alike in external form, but in internal form altogether unlike. On this account men in the world do not distinguish between them, but angels in heaven do, very well. [3] These two kinds of affection for use are entirely opposite to each other, a spiritual affection for use conferring heaven upon a man, whereas a natural affection for use without a spiritual affection for it confers hell. This is because a natural affection for use has regard solely to position and gain, thus it has regard to self and the world as ends; a spiritual affection for use, on the other hand, has regard to the glory of God and to the uses themselves, thus it has regard to the Lord and the neighbour as ends.

[50.] There are, it is true, men in the world who carry out their duties and obligations with much application, toil and ardour: governors, men in authority and officials fulfilling their duties with all diligence and industry: priests, leaders, ministers, preaching with ardour as if from zeal: authors writing books full of piety, doctrine and learning: and others, similarly; and, by their activities, they perform notable uses to the Church, their Country, society and fellow-citizens. Yet many of them, nevertheless, do their work from a natural affection only, that is, either for selfish ends, to be honoured and given high position, or for worldly ends, to get wealth and grow rich. With some, these ends fire their affection for doing uses to such an extent that they sometimes accomplish more outstanding uses than do those who are in a spiritual affection for use. [4] I have talked with many of those in this kind of affection for use, after their death when they had become spirits and had then demanded heaven on the score of merit, but because the uses they had performed were done from a natural affection only, that is, for selfish and worldly ends, not for the sake of God and the neighbour, they received a similar answer to that in Matthew:

"Many shall say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in Thy Name, and in Thy Name cast out devils, and in Thy Name done many wonderful works? But then will I profess unto them, I know you not; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity" (vii. 22, 23).

And in Luke:

"Then shall ye begin to say, We did eat and drink in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets. But He shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are: depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity" (xiii. 26, 27).

Furthermore, they were examined regarding their quality in the world, and it was found that their interiors had been filled with lusts and with evils consolidated therefrom. These had the appearance, with some, of being fiery from love of self, with some, of being livid from love of the world, and with some, of being blackish from rejecting spiritual things. And yet their exteriors had the appearance of being snow-white and rosy, from the uses they had done in external form. From all this, it was made clear that, although uses had been done by them, still within themselves they had not thought about anything else but a good name for the sake of securing honours and gains: that these were the things proper to their spirit, both in itself and in its life: and that their good behaviour was either to present the appearance of not being of such a nature, or merely as a means towards honours and gains as ends.

These things are concerning a natural affection for uses.

[5] [51.] A spiritual affection, on the other hand, is internal and at the same time external; and to the extent that it is external and natural, to that extent it is spiritual as well, for the spiritual flows into the natural and disposes it into correspondence, thus into a likeness of itself.

As however people in the world at the present time are quite ignorant as to what a spiritual affection for use is and in what respect it is distinguishable from a natural affection for it, both of them having a similar outward appearance, it shall be explained how a spiritual affection for use is acquired. It is not acquired by faith alone, faith, that is, separated from charity, for such a faith is only a faith to be thought about, without having in it any relation to action; and, being separated from charity, it is also separated from the affection that is the essential man; and therefore after death it is dissipated like a puff of air. A spiritual affection is, on the contrary, acquired by shunning evils because they are sins, and this is done by fighting against them. The evils to be shunned are all those found written in the Decalogue. As far as any one fights against these because they are sins, so far he becomes a spiritual affection, and so, the uses he does are done from spiritual life. By fighting against evils, those things are dissipated that have possession of his interiors, which, as said above, appear with some as fiery, with some as blackish, with some as livid; and so his spiritual mind is opened, and the Lord enters through it into his natural mind and disposes if for doing spiritual uses, these nevertheless having the same appearance as natural uses. It is to these, and to none others, that the Lord can grant to love Him above all things, and their neighbour as themselves. If any one, by fighting against evils because they are sins, acquires for himself in the world something of spiritual life, even though very little, he is saved, and his uses afterwards increase, like a mustard seed growing into a tree, according to the Lord's words in Matthew xiii. 32; Mark iv. 30-32; Luke xiii. 18, 19.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 18

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 18

18. [52.] XVIII

A MAN'S WILL IS HIS AFFECTION

This is because a man's Will is the receptacle for his love, and his Understanding is the receptacle for his wisdom; and that which is a receptacle for the love is also a receptacle for all the affections, these being only prolongations and derivations of the love, as said above. It is called "receptacle for the love" because there cannot be love with any one except in a recipient form that is substantial. Without such a form the love would not affect the man, nor be recurrent and thereby as it were permanent. The recipient form itself of love can, moreover, be described, but this is not the place for doing so. [2] This is why the Will is called the receptacle for the love.

The following will make clear that, just as the love with everything it comprises is the man, so also the Will is a man's all and is in every part of him and thus is the man himself.

[53.] A man says, in respect of everything to do with his love or his affection, indeed his life, that he wills*; he says, for instance, that he would like to do, would like to speak, wants to think, wants to feel. In all those things is his Will, and if it were not in them, he would not do, or speak, or think, or feel; in fact, unless it were present in each smallest component part of these, they would cease instantly; for his Will is in them in the same way that the soul or life is in the body and in each part of it. In place of "will" you can also say "love"; he loves to do, to speak, to think, to feel. People speak in the same way in connection with the external senses of the body; he wishes to see, wishes to hear, he wants to eat, drink or taste, he would like to smell, would like to go for a walk, to have a talk, to play a game, and so on. In each of these things, too, it is his Will acting, for if the Will were withdrawn, it would at once come to a stop; moreover, it is by the Will that they are suspended.

[3] [54.] That a man's Will is his love in form, is evident from this, that all the delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, grateful and blissful things that are of his love, are felt or perceived as such. That they are also of his Will is evident, for whatever is delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, grateful or blissful, that too is what the man wills ; he says of them, in fact, that he would like them. A man speaks in the same way in regard to what is good and what is true; for what he loves, he calls "good," and consequently makes it a matter of his Will; and whatever confirms the "good" that is of his love or Will, he calls "true," and this too, he loves, and desires to think it and to say it. Moreover, in regard to anything a man chooses, or tries to get, or longs for, or has a desire for, or strives after or intends, he says he wants it, because it is an object of his love. For it is because he loves it that he would like the thing he chooses: it is because he loves it, that he wants what he tries to get and longs for: it is because he loves it, that he wants what he has a desire for and strives after: and it is because he loves it that he wills what he intends, and that he intends it. From all this it can be seen that Will and love, or Will and affection, with a man are one, and that his Will because it is of his love, is also his life, and is the man himself. That a man's Will is also the life of his Understanding, and consequently of his thought, will be confirmed later on.

[4] [55.] The reason men do not know that the Will is the essential man is the same as the reason for their not knowing that love or affection is the essential man. Everyone, moreover, pays attention to the things he sees and feels, but not to the life, soul or essence which is the source of his seeing and feeling. This lies inwardly concealed within the sense activities, and a natural man does not reflect as deeply as that. A spiritual man, on the contrary, does, because it is not the sense-life that is the field for his wisdom, but what is essential within it, this also being in itself spiritual. It is due to this that many people declare thought to be the whole essence of a man, and to be the man himself, or in other words, that man is man because he thinks; whereas the fact is that the all of man's thought is affection. Take affection away from your thought and you would be an inanimate log. The man who is rational derivatively from what is spiritual, who is acquainted with what good and truth are, and consequently with what evil and falsity are, can tell, from what has been said, the nature of his own affections, and the nature of his own ruling affection; for the indications of them are just so many as the delights of his thinking, speaking, doing, seeing and hearing, and as his strivings, his desires and his intentions. Let him but pay attention to these and reflect.
* The Latin verb used here is volo, from which is derived the Latin word for "Will," voluntas, from these our English words volition, voluntary, are derived. The Latin volo also served for the commoner forms of speech, which in English are expressed by "would like," "wish," etc. In order that the argument may be clear, the English words in the remainder of this section that represent the Latin volo are printed in italics.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 19

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 19

19. [56.] XIX

IN THE WORD "TO LOVE" MEANS "TO DO USES"

The reason for this is that "to love" is "to will," and "to will" is "to do." That "to love" is "to will" has been established just above; but that "to will" is "to do," has now to be established.

Regarded in itself the Will is not love, but the receptacle of love, and such a receptacle that it not only receives love, but also takes on its states, and assumes forms in accordance with them. For everything of a man's life flows in, because a man is not life, but a recipient of it; and consequently, because love is life, he is a recipient of love. This may be illustrated by man's organs of sense; for the eye is a recipient of light, but it is not light, nevertheless it is formed for receiving all variations of light; the ear is a recipient of sound and of its modulation and articulation, but it is not sound; likewise with man's other external senses. It is similar with the internal organs of sense, these being varied and actuated by spiritual light and heat; consequently it is similar with the Will: this is the receiving-organ for spiritual heat, which in its essence is love. This receiving-organ is in every part of man, but it is in its primes in the brains. These primes, or beginnings, or heads, are the cortical and cineritious substances, as they are called, in the brains. Commencing from these substances, by means of fibres, as if by rays, it descends from everywhere in the brains into every part of the face and every part of the body, and there, in accordance with its form, an animate spiritual form which has been treated of elsewhere,* it coils and winds in circles. In this way is actuated each and everything in face and body, from initial things to ultimate things, and in the ultimate things are presented the effects. It is well known that everything is put in motion as the result of effort, and that when the effort ceases, the motion ceases. So every volition of a man's Will is a living effort in him, and it acts in the ultimates of the body by means of the fibres and nerves, these latter being in themselves nothing else but perpetuated efforts continued from their beginnings in the brains right down to the ultimates in the different parts of the body, where the efforts become acts. These things are mentioned to make known what the Will is, namely, that it is the receptacle for love, in a continual effort to act, which effort is stimulated and determined into act by the love that flows in and is received.

[57.] From the above now it follows, that "to love," because it is "to will," is "to do"; for whatever a man loves, that he wills, and what he wills, that, if possible, he does; and even when he does not do it owing to its being impossible, still it is in interior act, which is not manifest. For there can be no effort or Will with any one, unless it is also in ultimates; and being in ultimates, it is in interior act; this act, however, is unperceived by any one even by the man himself, because it has its existence in his spirit. It is on account of this that the Will and act are a one, and that Will is accounted as act; but not in the natural world, for, in the natural world, interior acts of the Will are not apparent; it is so in the spiritual world, however, where these are apparent. For, in the spiritual world, every one acts in accordance with his love; those who are in a heavenly love act sanely: those who are in an infernal love act insanely, or, if they refrain from acting in this way on account of some fear, still interiorly their Will is active, and is only being restrained by them from breaking out. Moreover this interior action only ceases when the Will for it ceases. And so, Will and act being a one, and Will being the effort of love, it follows that nothing else is meant by "loving" in the Word than "doing," consequently by "loving the Lord and loving the neighbour" is meant "doing uses to the neighbour from love derived from the Lord." That this is so, the Lord Himself teaches in John:

He that hath My precepts and doeth them, he it is that loveth Me . . . but he that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words (xiv. 21, 24).

Also in John:

Abide in My love.... If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love (xv. 9, 10).

And again:

Three times the Lord said to Peter, Lovest thou Me?, and three times Peter replies that he does love Him, and the Lord in reply said three times, Feed My lambs and My sheep (xxi. 15-17).

Moreover, there are two things that cannot be separated, namely Being (esse) and Existing (existere): "Being" is not anything unless it has existence, and it becomes something by existing. So also with "loving" and "doing", or "willing" and "acting," there being no such thing as loving and not doing, nor any such thing as willing and not acting; they have indeed no existence, for it is by "doing" and by "acting" that they have existence. Consequently, it is only when any one does and acts, that love and Will first exist.

It is in this way and in no other that the Lord and the neighbour are loved.
* APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED, NOS. 1199-1202

D Love (Mongredien) n. 20

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 20

20. [58.] XX

LOVE PRODUCES HEAT

This is because love is life itself, and the living force of all things in the universe. All efforts, forces, activities and motions in the universe have no other origin than the Divine Love which is the Lord, Who in the heavens before the angels is seen as a Sun. That love is one thing and heat another, is quite evident from the distinction between them in both angels and men. From love an angel wills and thinks, perceives and discerns, feels bliss and satisfaction inwardly in himself, and moreover loves; the same with a man; these things are in the mind. In the body, on the other hand, they each feel warmth, and this as something apart from the bliss and satisfaction. Clearly, then, heat is the effect of activity of life, or of love. That heat is the effect of love, can be established from many things: as, for instance, that a human being, from innermost things grows warm according to the loves of his life, even in mid-winter, the heat of this world's sun having nothing in common with that heat; as the ardour of his love increases, so he begins to grow warm, is kindled and is fired: and as it decreases, so he begins to get listless, grows cold, and becomes inactive; thus, it is altogether in accordance with the activity of his life's love. [2] It is similar, too, with the living creatures of the earth and the flying creatures of the air. Either of these may at times lie warmer in mid-winter than in mid-summer, their hearts beating, their blood hot, their fibre warm, every part, small and great, engaging in their vital functions. This heat also is not derived from the sun, but from the life of their soul, which is affection.

[59.] The reason love produces heat, is because it is the life of every force in the universe, which life cannot enter into the recipient substances that have been created, except with an active as intermediary; and heat is that intermediary. The Lord in creating the universe prepared for Himself all intermediaries from the first even to the last, by which at every stage to bring uses into existence. The universal proximate medium of conjunction is heat, in which the essence of love's activity can come into existence. [3] As a result of heat coming forth immediately from love, there is correspondence between love and heat, there being correspondence between every cause and its effect. It is on account of correspondence that the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is seen as fiery, and also that the Love proceeding from it is felt by angels as heat, just as the Lord's Divine Wisdom is seen in the heavens as light; and that, similarly:

The Lord's countenance during the Transfiguration "shone as the sun" (Matthew xvii. 2).

It is on account of that correspondence that the holiness of the Lord's love was represented by the altar fire, and by the fire in the lamp of the tabernacle lampstand: also, that the Lord appeared in a fire on Mt. Sinai and in a flame of fire by night over the tabernacle: and also that many nations used to light sacred fire and appoint virgins-vestal virgins they were called in Rome-to tend it. It is on account of that correspondence that by "fire" and "flame," occurring in many places in the Word, is meant "love"; moreover, it is due to an interior perception of that correspondence that we pray that sacred fire may kindle our hearts, meaning thereby holy love. It is on account of that same correspondence that in heaven celestial love appears at a distance like fire, for which reason, too, the Lord said:

The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in their Father's Kingdom (Matthew xiii. [43]).

Infernal love likewise appears in hell at a distance like fire, concerning which see the work HEAVEN AND HELL, NOS. 566 - 575.

D Love (Mongredien) n. 21

Divine Love (Mongredien) n. 21

21. [60.] XXI

THE DIVINE LOVE, WHICH IS LIFE ITSELF, WITH HEAT AS AN INTERMEDIARY, PRODUCES ANIMATE SPIRITUAL FORMS WITH EACH AND EVERY THING IN THEM

There are two forms in general that the Lord, Creator of the universe, has brought into being in the outermost things and innermost things of the world, from His Sun which is Divine Love and Life Itself, namely, the animal form and the vegetable form. By "animal forms" are meant animals of every kind, also men and angels, and by "vegetable forms" are meant vegetables of every kind, trees, plants and flowers. These two forms have been treated of before.* [2] But as the subject here is the Divine Love from which all things have been created, and from which since creation all things are being also unceasingly formed, something may be inserted here also about the first of these two forms, the animal form.

[61.] The Divine Love, which is Life Itself, proceeding from Him Who is its fountain, namely the Lord, bears in its bosom no other purpose than to create and form images and likenesses of Itself, which are human beings, and from human beings angels, and in addition to clothe with a corresponding body affections of every kind, which are animals. All these forms, the perfect as well as those that are not perfect, are forms of love, and are alike as far as their life in externals is concerned: this consists in desiring to make various movements, to walk about, to perform various actions, to see, hear, smell, taste and feel, to eat and drink, to congregate with their like and to propagate their kind; but the perfect differ from the imperfect in respect of their life in internals, which consists in desiring to think, will, speak, know, understand, be wise, and to find delight and blessedness in doing these things. Forms of this kind are men and angels: the others are the many varieties of animal life. In order that these faculties may each come into effect and into its use, they have been made out of created substances and matters, and have been marvelously organized.

[62.] That the Lord, who is Man, and thus His Divine Love which is Life Itself; has formed these things out of His Spiritual that goes forth from Him as a Sun, is clearly evident from the fact that living souls are also affections and that all of them, the imperfect as well as the perfect, are alike in externals. Is there anyone unable to see that such things have no other source, unless he is myopic, or only able to see in the dark, or has eyes without any sight in them? Only raise your reason a little above Nature at its lowest level, and discernment will come to you.

[63.] With regard to heat being the intermediary in formation, this is well known from the fluid that surrounds the embryo in the womb or the chick in the egg. The belief that it is the heat of the world's sun that effects production, results from the mind being blinded by the fallacies of the physical senses. The heat from that sun effects no more than an opening of the outermost things of the body, or its coatings, so that the internal heat may flow into them; for in that way life comes into full effect from first things to last things. It is on account of this that every year during spring and summer the living creatures of the earth and the flying creatures of the air enter upon or renew the functions, labours and delights of their prolification. In man's case it is different, possessing as he does on the one hand heat arising from an interior love excited by allurements of thought, and on the other hand garments keeping the cold from approaching the coatings which are the outermost parts of the body.
* APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED, NOS. 1196 - 1215.