Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. Emanuel Swedenborg
world, from which are many things in human speech, although their source is unknown to men.
{Footnote 1} In the spiritual world all constantly turn themselves to their loves; and the quarters there have their beginning in the face and are determined by it (n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702). The face is formed to a correspondence with the interiors (n. 4791–4805, 5695). Therefore the interiors shine forth from the face (n. 3527, 4066, 4796). With angels the face makes one with the interiors (n. 4796, 4797, 4799, 5695, 8250). The influx of the interiors into the face and its muscles (n. 3631, 4800).
144. This turning to the Lord is among the wonderful things in heaven. There may be many together in one place, some turning the face and body one way and some another, and yet all see the Lord before them, and have everyone has the south at his right, the north at his left, and the west behind him. Another wonderful thing is that, although the angels look only to the east they have also a look towards the other three quarters; but the look to these is from their interior sight, which pertains to their thought. And it is yet another wonderful thing that in heaven no one is ever permitted to stand behind another and look at the back of his head, for this would disturb the influx of good and truth from the Lord.
145. The Lord is seen by the angels, and the angels are seen by the Lord in another way. Angels see the Lord through their eyes; but the Lord sees the angels in the forehead, and this for the reason that the forehead corresponds to love, and it is through love that the Lord flows into their will, while it is through the understanding, to which the eyes correspond, that He causes Himself to be seen.{1}
{Footnote 1} The forehead corresponds to heavenly love; therefore in the Word the "forehead" signifies that love (n. 9936). The eye corresponds to the understanding, because the understanding is internal sight (n. 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569). For this reason "to lift up the eyes" and "to see" signifies to understand, perceive, and observe (n. 2789, 2829, 3198, 3202, 4083, 4086, 4339, 5684).
146. The quarters in the heavens that give form to the Lord's celestial kingdom differ from the quarters in the heavens that give form to His spiritual kingdom, for the reason that He is seen by the angels in His celestial kingdom as a sun, but by the angels in His spiritual kingdom as a moon; and where the Lord is seen is the east. The distance there between the position of the sun and that of the moon is thirty degrees, and there is a like difference in the position of the quarters. That heaven is divided into two kingdoms, called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom, may be seen in its own chapter (n. 20–28); and that the Lord is seen in the celestial kingdom as a sun, and in the spiritual kingdom as a moon (n. 118). But it does not follow that the quarters of heaven become confused on this account, for neither can the spiritual angels ascend among the celestial angels, nor the celestial descend among the spiritual, as may be seen above (n. 35).
147. This makes clear the nature of the Lord's presence in the heavens, that He is every where and with everyone in the good and truth that go forth from Him; consequently He is with angels in what is His own, as has been said above (n. 12). The perception of the Lord's presence is in their interiors; and it is from these that their eyes see, and it is by this continuity that they see the Lord outside of themselves. This shows what is meant by the Lord's being in them and they in Him, according to His own words:
Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4).
He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in
Me and I in him (John 6:56).
"The Lord's flesh" signifies Divine good and "His blood" Divine truth.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the Word "the Lord's flesh" signifies His Divine Human, and the Divine good of His love (n. 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283). And "the Lord's blood" signifies Divine truth and the holy of faith (n. 4735, 4978, 6978, 7317, 7326, 7846, 7850, 7877, 9127, 9393, 10026, 10033, 10152, 10210).
148. All in the heavens have their own places of abode in accordance with the quarters. Those who are in the good of love dwell towards the east and west, those who are in clear perception of it towards the east, and those who are in obscure perception of it towards the west. Those who are in wisdom from the good of love dwell towards the south and north-those who are in the clear light of wisdom towards the south, and those who are in obscure light of it towards the north. The angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom and those of His celestial kingdom dwell in a like order, but differently as their good of love and light of truth from good differ; for in the celestial kingdom the love is love to the Lord, and the light of truth therefrom is wisdom; while in the spiritual kingdom there is love towards the neighbor, which is called charity, and the light of truth therefrom is intelligence, which is also called faith (see above, n. 23). The quarters differ also in the two kingdoms by thirty degrees, as has been said just above (n. 146).
149. In like order the angels in each society in heaven dwell in relation to one another-towards the east there those who are in greater degree of love and charity, towards the west those who are in less degree; towards the south those who are in greater light of wisdom and intelligence, and towards the north those who are in less. This arrangement prevails because each society represents heaven, and is a heaven in a smaller form (see above, n. 51–58). The same arrangement prevails in their assemblies. They are brought into this order by virtue of the form of heaven, from which everyone knows his own place. The Lord also provides that there be in each society those of every kind, for the reason that in form heaven is every where like itself; and yet the arrangement of the whole heaven differs from the arrangement of a society as what is general from its parts, since the societies towards the east surpass those towards the west, and those towards the south surpass those towards the north.
150. Because of this the quarters in the heavens signify such things as pertain to those that dwell in them—the east signifying love and its good clearly perceived, the west the same obscurely perceived, the south wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the north the same in obscure light. And because of this signification of the quarters in heaven they have a like signification in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word,{1} since the internal or spiritual sense of the Word is in entire accord with what is in heaven.
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