Chapter II: Part 2

{Footnote 1} Things interior and things exterior are not
continuous but distinct and discrete according to degrees, and
each degree has its bounds (n. 3691, 5114, 5145, 8603, 10099).
One thing is formed from another, and the things so formed are
not continuously purer and grosser (n. 6326, 6465). Until the
difference between what is interior and what is exterior
according to such degrees is perceived, neither the internal
and external man nor the interior and exterior heavens can be
clearly understood (n. 5146, 6465, 10099, 10181).

39. Finally, a certain arcanum respecting the angels of the three heavens, which has not hitherto come into any one's mind, because degrees have not been understood, may be related. In every angel and also in every man there is an inmost or highest degree, or an inmost or highest something, into which the Divine of the Lord primarily or proximately flows, and from which it disposes the other interiors in him that follow in accordance with the degrees of order. This inmost or highest degree may be called the entrance of the Lord to the angel or man, and His veriest dwelling-place in them. It is by virtue of this inmost or highest that a man is a man, and is distinguished from irrational animals, for these do not have it. From this it is that man, unlike the animals, is capable, in respect to all his interiors which pertain to his mind and disposition, of being raised up by the Lord to Himself, of believing in the Lord, of being moved by love to the Lord, and thereby beholding Him, and of receiving intelligence and wisdom, and speaking from reason. Also, it is by virtue of this that he lives to eternity. But what is arranged and provided by the Lord in this inmost does not distinctly flow into the perception of any angel, because it is above his thought and transcends his wisdom.

40. These now are the general truths respecting the three heavens; but in what follows each heaven will be particularly treated of.

41. VI. THE HEAVENS CONSIST OF INNUMERABLE SOCIETIES.

The angels of each heaven are not together in one place, but are divided into larger and smaller societies in accordance with the differences of good of love and of faith in which they are, those who are in like good forming a single society. Goods in the heavens are in infinite variety, and each angel is as it were his own good.{1}

{Footnote 1} There is infinite variety, and never any thing the
same with any other (n. 7236, 9002). So in the heavens there is
infinite variety (n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236). Varieties in
the heavens, which are infinite, are varieties of good (n.
3744, 4005, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002). These varieties exist
through truths, which are manifold from which is each one's
good (n. 3470, 3804, 4149, 6917, 7236). It is because of this
that all the societies in the heavens, and all angels in a
society, are distinct from each other (n. 690, 3241, 3519,
3804, 3986, 4067, 4149, 4263, 7236, 7833, 836). Nevertheless
they all make one through love from the Lord (n. 457, 3986).

42. Moreover, the angelic societies in the heavens are at a distance from each other as their goods differ in general and in particular. For in the spiritual world the only ground of distance is difference in the state of interiors, thus in the heavens difference in the states of love, those who differ much being far apart, and those who differ but little being but little apart, and likeness causing them to be together.{1}

{Footnote 1} All the societies of heaven have a constant
position in accordance with the differences of their state of
life, thus in accordance with the differences of love and faith
(n. 1274, 3638, 3639). Wonderful things in the other life, that
is, in the spiritual world, respecting distance, situation,
place space and time (n. 1273-1277).

43. All who are in the same society are arranged in like manner in respect to each other; those who are more perfect, that is, who excel in good, thus in love, wisdom, and intelligence, being in the middle; those who are less pre-eminent being round about at a distance in accordance with the decrease of their perfection. The arrangement is like light diminishing from the middle to the circumference, those who are in the middle being in the greatest light, and those towards the circumference in less and less.

44. Like are drawn spontaneously as it were to their like; for with their like they are as if with their own and at home, but with others they are as if with strangers and abroad; also when with their like they are in their freedom, and consequently in every delight of life.

45. All this makes clear that all in the heavens are affiliated by good, and are distinguished according to the quality of the good. Nevertheless it is not the angels who thus affiliate themselves, but the Lord, from whom the good is. The Lord leads them, conjoins and separates them, and preserves them in freedom proportionate to their good. Thus He holds everyone in the life of his love and faith, of his intelligence and wisdom, and the resulting happiness.{1}

{Footnote 1} All freedom pertains to love and affection, since
what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987,
8990, 9555, 9591). Because freedom pertains to love everyone's
life and delight is therefrom (n. 2873). Nothing appears as
one's own, except what is from his freedom (n. 2880). The
veriest freedom is to be led by the Lord, because one is thus
led by the love of good and truth (n. 892, 905, 2872, 2886,
2890-2892, 9096, 9586-9591).

46. Again, all who are in like good, even though they have never seen each other before, know each other, just as men in the world do their kinsmen, near relations, and friends; and for the reason that in the other life there are none but spiritual kinships, relationships, and friendships, thus such as spring from love and faith.{1} This it has sometimes been granted me to see, when I have been in the spirit, and thus withdrawn from the body, and in the society of angels. Some of those I then saw seemed as if I had known them from childhood, but others as if not known at all. Those whom I seemed to have known from childhood were such as were in a state similar to that of my spirit; but those who seemed unknown were in a dissimilar state.

{Footnote 1} All nearness, relationship, connections, and as it
were ties of blood, in heaven are from good and in accordance
with its agreements and differences (n. 685, 917, 1394, 2739,
3612, 3815, 4121).

47. All who form the same angelic society resemble each other in countenance in a general way, but not in particulars. How these general resemblances are related to differences in particulars can in some measure be seen from like things in the world. It is well known that with every race there is a certain general resemblance of face and eyes, by which it is known and distinguished from all other races. This is still more true of different families. In the heavens this is much more fully the case, because there all the interior affections appear in and shine forth from the face, for there the face is the external and representative form of those affections. No one there can have any other face than that of his own affection. It was also shown how this general likeness is varied in particulars with individuals in the same society. A face like an angel's appeared to me, and this was varied in accordance with such affections for good and truth as are in those who belong to a single society. These changes went on for a long time, and I noticed that the same face in general continued as a ground work, all besides being what was derived and produced from that. Thus by means of this face the affections of the whole society were exhibited, whereby the faces of those in it are varied. For, as has been said above, the faces of angels are the forms of their interiors, thus of the affections that belong to their love and faith.

48. From this it also comes to pass that an angel who excels in wisdom instantly sees the quality of another from his face. In heaven no one can conceal his interiors by his expression, or feign, or really deceive and mislead by craft or hypocrisy. There are hypocrites who are experts in disguising their interiors and fashioning their exteriors into the form of that good in which those are who belong to a society, and who thus make themselves appear angels of light; and these sometimes insinuate themselves into a society; but they cannot stay there long, for they begin to suffer inward pain and torture, to grow livid in the face, and to become as it were lifeless. These changes arise from the contrariety of the life that flows in and affects them. Therefore they quickly cast themselves down into hell where their like are, and no longer want to ascend. These are such as are meant by the man found among the invited guests at the feast not clothed with a wedding garment, who was cast out into outer darkness (Matt. 22:11, seq.).

49. All the societies of heaven have communication with one another, though not by open interaction; for few go out of their own society into another, since going out of their own society is like going away from themselves or from their own life, and passing into another life which is less congenial. But all the societies communicate by an extension of the sphere that goes forth from the life of each. This sphere of the life is the sphere of the affections of love and faith. This sphere extends itself far and wide into the surrounding societies, and farther and wider in proportion as the affections are the more interior and perfect.{1} In the measure of that extension do the angels have intelligence and wisdom. Those that are in the inmost heaven and in the middle of it have extension into the entire heavens; thus there is a sharing of all in heaven with each one, and of each one with all.{2} But this extension will be considered more fully hereafter, where the form of heaven in accord with which the angelic societies are arranged, and also the wisdom and intelligence of angels, will be treated of, for in accordance with that form all extension of affections and thoughts proceeds.

{Footnote 1} A spiritual sphere, which is the sphere of life
flows out from every man, spirit, and angel, and encompasses
them (n. 4464, 5179, 7454, 5630). It flows forth from the life
of their affection and thought (n. 2459, 4464, 6206). These
spheres extend themselves far into angelic societies in
accordance with the quality and quantity of their good (n.
6598-6612, 8063, 5794, 5797).

{Footnote 2} In the heavens a sharing of all goods is possible
because heavenly love shares with another everything that is
its own (n. 549, 550, 1390, 1391, 1399, 10130, 10723).

50. It has been said above that in the heavens there are larger and smaller societies. The larger consist of myriads of angels, the smaller of some thousands, and the least of some hundreds. There are also some that dwell apart, house by house as it were, and family by family. Although these live in this scattered way, they are arranged in order like those who live in societies, the wiser in the middle and the more simple in the borders. Such are more closely under the Divine auspices of the Lord, and are the best of the angels.

51. VII. EACH SOCIETY IS A HEAVEN IN A SMALLER FORM, AND EACH ANGEL IN THE SMALLEST FORM.

Each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form, because it is the good of love and of faith that makes heaven, and this good is in each society of heaven and in each angel of a society. It does not matter that this good everywhere differs and varies, it is still the good of heaven; and there is no difference except that heaven has one quality here and another there. So when any one is raised up into any society of heaven he is said to come into heaven; and those who are there are said to be in heaven, and each one in his own. This is known to all in the other life; consequently those standing outside of or beneath heaven, when they see at a distance companies of angels, say that heaven is in this or that place. It is comparatively like civil and military officers and attendants in a royal palace or castle, who, although dwelling apart in their own quarters or chambers above and below, are yet in the same palace or castle, each in his own position in the royal service. This makes evident the meaning of the Lord's words, that:

In His Father's house are many abiding places (John 14:2);

also what is meant by the dwelling-places of heaven, and the heavens of heavens, in the prophets.

52. That each society is a heaven in a smaller form can be seen from this also, that each society there has a heavenly form like that of heaven as a whole. In the whole heavens those who are superior to the rest are in the middle, with the less excellent round about in a decreasing order even to the borders (as stated in a preceding chapter, n. 43). It can be seen also from this, that the Lord directs all in the whole heaven as if they were a single angel; and the same is true of all in each society; and as a consequence an entire angelic society sometimes appears in angelic form like a single angel, as I have been permitted by the Lord to see. Moreover, when the Lord appears in the midst of the angels He does not appear as one surrounded by many, but the appearance is as a one, in an angelic form. This is why the Lord is called "an angel" in the Word, and why an entire society is so called. "Michael," "Gabriel," and "Raphael" are no other than angelic societies so named from their function.{1}

{Footnote 1} In the Word the Lord is called an angel (n. 6280,
6831, 8192, 9303). A whole angelic society is called an angel,
and Michael and Raphael are angelic societies, so called from
their functions (n. 8192). The societies of heaven and the
angels have no names, but are distinguished by the quality of
their good, and by the idea of it (n. 1705, 1754).

53. As an entire society is a heaven in a smaller form, so an angel is a heaven in the smallest form. For heaven is not outside of the angel, but is within him, since the interior things which belong to his mind are arranged into the form of heaven, thus for the reception of all things of heaven that are outside of him. These also he receives according to the quality of the good that is in him from the Lord. It is from this that an angel is a heaven.

54. It can in no sense be said that heaven is outside of any one; it is within him. For it is in accordance with the heaven that is within him that each angel receives the heaven that is outside of him. This makes clear how greatly misled is he who believes that to come into heaven is simply to be taken up among angels, without regard to what one's interior life may be, thus that heaven is granted to each one by mercy apart from means;{1} when, in fact, unless heaven is within one, nothing of the heaven that is outside can flow in and be received. There are many spirits who have this idea. Because of this belief they have been taken up into heaven; but when they came there, because their interior life was contrary to the angelic life, their intellectual faculties began to be blinded until they became like fools; and they began to be tortured in their voluntary faculties until they became like madmen. In a word, if those that have lived wickedly come into heaven they gasp for breath and writhe about, like fishes out of water in the air, or like animals in ether in an airpump when the air has been exhausted. From this it can be seen that heaven is not outside of a man, but within him.{2}

{Footnote 1} Heaven is not granted from mercy apart from means,
but in accordance with the life; yet everything of the life by
which man is led to heaven by the Lord belongs to mercy; this
is what is meant by mercy (n. 5057, 10659). If heaven were
granted from mercy apart from means it would be granted to all
(n. 2401). About some evil spirits cast down from heaven who
believed that heaven was granted to everyone from mercy apart
from means (n. 4226).

{Footnote 2} Heaven is in man (n. 3884).

55. As everyone receives the heaven that is outside of him in accordance with the quality of the heaven that is within him, so in like manner does everyone receive the Lord, since it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven. And for this reason when the Lord becomes manifestly present in any society His appearance there is in accord with the quality of the good in which the society is, thus not the same in one society as in another. This diversity is not in the Lord; it is in the angels who behold Him from their own good, and thus in accordance with their good. And they are affected by His appearance in accordance with the quality of their love, those who love Him inmostly being inmostly affected, and those who love Him less being less affected; while the evil who are outside of heaven are tortured by His presence. When the Lord is seen in any society He is seen as an angel, but is distinguished from others by the Divine that shines through.

56. Again, heaven is where the Lord is acknowledged, believed in, and loved. Variety in worship of the Lord from the variety of good in different societies is not harmful, but beneficial, for the perfection of heaven is therefrom. This can scarcely be made clear to the comprehension without employing terms that are in common use in the learned world, and showing by means of these how unity, that it may be perfect, must be formed from variety. Every whole exists from various parts, since a whole without constituents is not anything; it has no form, and therefore no quality. But when a whole exists from various parts, and the various parts are in a perfect form, in which each attaches itself like a congenial friend to another in series, then the quality is perfect. So heaven is a whole from various parts arranged in a most perfect form, for the heavenly form is the most perfect of all forms. That this is the ground of all perfection is evident from the nature of all beauty, agreeableness and delight, by which the senses and the mind are affected; for these qualities spring and flow from no other source than the concert and harmony of many concordant and congenial parts, either coexisting in order or following in order, and never from a whole without many parts. From this is the saying that variety gives delight; and the nature of variety, as is known, is what determines the delight. From all this it can be seen as in a mirror how perfection comes from variety even in heaven. For from the things that exist in the natural world the things of the spiritual world can be seen as in a mirror.{1}

{Footnote 1} Every whole is from the harmony and concert of
many parts. Otherwise it has no quality (n. 457). From this the
entire heaven is a whole (n. 457). And for the reason that all
there have regard to one end, which is the Lord (n. 9828).

57. What has been said of heaven may be said also of the church, for the church is the Lord's heaven on earth. There are also many churches, each one of which is called a church, and so far as the good of love and faith reigns therein is a church. Here, too, the Lord out of various parts forms a unity, that is, one church out of many churches.{1} And the like may be said of the man of the church in particular that is said of the church in general, namely, that the church is within man and not outside of him; and that every man is a church in whom the Lord is present in the good of love and of faith.{2} Again, the same may be said of a man that has the church in him as of an angel that has heaven in him, namely, that he is a church in the smallest form, as an angel is a heaven in the smallest form; and furthermore that a man that has the church in him, equally with an angel, is a heaven. For man was created that he might come into heaven and become an angel; consequently he that has good from the Lord is a man-angel.{3} What man has in common with an angel and what he has in contrast with angels may be mentioned. It is granted to man, equally with the angel, to have his interiors conformed to the image of heaven, and to become, so far as he is in the good of love and faith, an image of heaven. But it is granted to man and not to angels to have his exteriors conform to the image of the world; and so far as he is in good to have the world in him subordinated to heaven and made to serve heaven.{4} And then the Lord is present in him both in the world and in heaven just as if he were in his heaven. For the Lord is in His Divine order in both worlds, since God is order.{5}

{Footnote 1} If good were the characteristic and essential of
the church, and not truth apart from good, the church would be
one (n. 1255, 1316, 2952, 3267, 3445, 3451. 3452). From good
all churches make one church before the Lord (n. 7396, 9276).

{Footnote 2} The church is in man, and not outside of him, and
the church in general is made up of men that have the church in
them (n. 3884 [6637]).

{Footnote 3} A man who is a church is a heaven in the smallest
form after the image of the greatest, because his interiors,
which belong to his mind, are arranged after the form of
heaven, and consequently for reception of all things of heaven
(n. 911, 1900, 1928, 3624-3631, 3634, 3884, 4041, 4279, 4523,
4524, 4625, 6013, 6057 9279, 9632).

{Footnote 4} Man has an internal and an external; hid internal
is formed by creation after the image of heaven, and his
external after the image of the world; and for this reason man
was called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523, 4524,
5115, 5368, 6013, 6057, 9279, 9706, 10156, 10472). Therefore
man was created to have the world in him serve heaven, and this
takes place with the good; but it is the reverse with the evil,
in whom heaven serves the world (n. 9278, 9283).

{Footnote 5} The Lord is order, since the Divine good and truth
that go forth from the Lord make order (n. 1728, 1919, 2011,
2258, 5110, 5703, 8988, 10336, 10619). Divine truths are laws
of order (n. 2447, 7995). So far as a man lives according to
order, that is, so far as he lives in good in accordance with
Divine truths, he is a man, and the church and heaven are in
him (n. 4839, 6605, 8513, [8547]).

58. Finally it should be said that he who has heaven in himself has it not only in the largest or most general things pertaining to him but also in every least or particular thing, and that these least things repeat in an image the greatest. This comes from the fact that everyone is his own love, and is such as his ruling love is. That which reigns flows into the particulars and arranges them, and every where induces a likeness of itself.{1} In the heavens love to the Lord is the ruling love, for there the Lord is loved above all things. Hence the Lord there is the All-in-all, flowing into all and each, arranging them, clothing them with a likeness of Himself, and making it to be heaven wherever He is. This is what makes an angel to be a heaven in the smallest form, a society to be a heaven in a larger form, and all the societies taken together a heaven in the largest form. That the Divine of the Lord is what makes heaven, and that He is the All-in-all, may be seen above (n. 7-12).

{Footnote 1} The ruling or dominant love with everyone is in
each thing and all things of his life, thus in each thing and
all things of his thought and will (n. 6159, 7648, 8067, 8853).
Man is such as is the ruling quality of his life (n. 987, 1040,
1568, 3570, 6571, 6935, 6938, 8853-8858, 10076, 10109, 10110,
10284). When love and faith rule they are in all the
particulars of man's life, although he does not know it (n.
8854, 8864, 8865).

59. VIII. ALL HEAVEN IN THE AGGREGATE REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.

That heaven in its whole complex reflects a single man is an arcanum hitherto unknown in the world, but fully recognized in the heavens. To know this and the specific and particular things relating to it is the chief thing in the intelligence of the angels there, and on it many things depend which without it as their general principle would not enter distinctly and clearly into the ideas of their minds. Knowing that all the heavens with their societies reflect a single man they call heaven the Greatest Man and the Divine Man;{1}--Divine because it is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven (see above, n. 7-12).

{Footnote 1} Heaven in the whole complex appears in form like a
man, and for this reason heaven is called the Greatest Man (n.
2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3745, 4625).

60. That into such a form and image celestial and spiritual things are arranged and joined cannot be seen by those who have no right idea of spiritual and heavenly things. Such think that the earthy and material things of which man's outmost nature is composed are what makes the man; and that apart from these man is not a man. But let them know that it is not from these that man is a man, but from his ability to understand what is true and to will what is good. Such understanding and willing are the spiritual and celestial things of which man is made. Moreover, it is known that everyone's quality is determined by the quality of his understanding and will; and it can also be known that his earthly body is formed to serve the understanding and the will in the world, and to skillfully accomplish their uses in the outmost sphere of nature. For this reason the body by itself can do nothing, but is moved always in entire subservience to the bidding of the understanding and will, even to the extent that whatever a man thinks he speaks with his tongue and lips, and whatever he wills he does with his body and limbs, and thus the understanding and the will are what act, while the body by itself does nothing. Evidently, then, the things of the understanding and will are what make man; and as these act into the minutest particulars of the body, as what is internal into what is external, they must be in a like form, and on this account man is called an internal or spiritual man. Heaven is such a man in its greatest and most perfect form.

61. Such being the angelic idea of man, the angels give no thought to what a man does with his body, but only to the will from which the body acts. This they call the man himself, and the understanding they call the man so far as it acts in unison with the will.{1}

{Footnote 1} The will of man is the very being [esse] of his
life, and his understanding is the outgo [existere] of his life
therefrom (n. 3619, 5002, 9282). The chief life of man is the
life of his will, and from that the life of the understanding
proceeds (n. 585, 590, 3619, 7342, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109,
10110). Man is man by virtue of his will and his understanding
therefrom (n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110).

62. The angels, it is true, do not see heaven in its whole complex in the human form, for heaven as a whole does not come within view of any angel; but remote societies, consisting of many thousands of angels, they sometimes see as a one in the human form; and from a society, as from a part, they draw their conclusion as to the general, which is heaven. For in the most perfect form generals are like the parts, and parts are like the generals, with simply such a difference as there is between like things of greater or less magnitude; consequently, the angels say that since the Divine from what is inmost or highest sees all things, so in the Lord's sight heaven as a whole must be in the human form.

63. Heaven being such, it is ruled by the Lord as a single man is ruled, thus as a one. For although man, as we know, consists of an innumerable variety of parts, not only as a whole but also in each part-as a whole, of members, organs, and viscera; and in each part, of series of fibers, nerves, and blood-vessels, thus of members within members, and of parts within parts-nevertheless, when he acts he acts as a single man. Such likewise is heaven under the auspices and direction of the Lord.

64. So many different things in man act as a one, because there is no least thing in him that does not do something for the general welfare and perform some use. The general performs a use for its parts, and the parts for the general, for the general is composed of the parts and the parts constitute the general; therefore they provide for each other, have regard for each other, and are joined together in such a form that each thing and all things have reference to the general and its good; thus it is that they act as one. [2] In the heavens there are like affiliations. Those there are conjoined according to uses in a like form; and consequently those who do not perform uses for the common good are cast out of heaven as something heterogeneous. To perform use is to will well to others for the sake of the common good; but to will well to others not for the sake of the common good but for the sake of self is not to perform use. These latter are such as love themselves supremely, while the former are such as love the Lord supremely. Thence it is that those who are in heaven act as a one; and this they do from the Lord, not from themselves, for they look to Him as the Only One, the source of all things, and they regard His kingdom as the general, the good of which is to be sought. This is what is meant by the Lord's words,

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

"To seek His righteousness" means to seek His good.{1} [3] Those who in the world love their country's good more than their own, and their neighbor's good as their own, are they who in the other life love and seek the Lord's kingdom; for there the Lord's kingdom takes the place of country; and those who love doing good to others, not with self as an end but with good as an end, love the neighbor; for in heaven good is the neighbor.{2} All such are in the Greatest Man, that is, heaven.

{Footnote 1} In the Wood "righteousness" is predicated of good,
and "judgment" of truth; therefore "to do righteousness and
judgment" is to do what is good and true (n. 2235, 9857).

{Footnote 2} In the highest sense the Lord is the neighbor;
consequently to love the Lord is to love that which is from
Him, that is to love good and truth because the Lord is in
everything that is from Him (n. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6711 6819,
6823, 8123). Therefore all good that is from the Lord is the
neighbor, and to will and do that good is to love the neighbor
(n. 5028, 10336).

65. As the whole heaven reflects a single man, and is a Divine spiritual man in the largest form, even in figure, so heaven like a man is arranged into members and parts, and these are similarly named. Moreover, angels know in what member this or that society is. This society, they say, is in a certain part or province of the head, that in a certain part or province of the breast, that in a certain part or province of the loins, and so on. In general, the highest or third heaven forms the head down to the neck; the middle or second heaven forms the breast down to the loins and knees; the lowest or first heaven forms the feet down to the soles, and also the arms down to the fingers. For the arms and hands belong to the lowest parts of man, although at the sides. From this again it is plain why there are three heavens.

66. The spirits that are beneath heaven are greatly astonished when they hear that heaven is not only above but below, for they have a like faith and opinion as men in the world, that heaven is nowhere but above, for they do not know that the arrangement of the heavens is like the arrangement of the members, organs, and viscera in man, some of which are above and some below; or like the arrangement of the parts in each of the members, organs, and viscera, some of which are within and some without. Hence their confused notions about heaven.

67. These things about heaven as the Greatest Man are set forth, because what follows in regard to heaven cannot be at all comprehended until these things are known, neither can there be any clear idea of the form of heaven, of the conjunction of the Lord with heaven, of the conjunction of heaven with man, of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural, or any idea at all of correspondence-subjects to be treated of in their proper order in what now follows. To throw some light on these subjects, therefore, the above has been premised.

68. IX. EACH SOCIETY IN HEAVEN REFLECTS A SINGLE MAN.

I have frequently been permitted to see that each society of heaven reflects a single man, and is in the likeness of a man. There was a society into which several had insinuated themselves who knew how to counterfeit angels of light. These were hypocrites. When these were being separated from the angels I saw that the entire society appeared at first like a single indistinct body, then by degrees in a human form, but still indistinctly, and at last clearly as a man. Those that were in that man and made up the man were such as were in the good of that society; the others who were not in the man and did not make up the man were hypocrites; these were cast out and the former were retained; and thus a separation was effected. Hypocrites are such as talk well and also do well, but have regard to themselves in everything. They talk as angels do about the Lord, heaven, love, and heavenly life, and also act rightly, so that they may appear to be what they profess to be. But their thinking is different; they believe nothing; and they wish good to none but themselves. Their doing good is for the sake of self, or if for the sake of others it is only for the appearance, and thus still for the sake of self.

69. I have also been permitted to see that an entire angelic society, where the Lord is visibly present, appears as a one in the human form. There appeared on high towards the east something like a cloud, from glowing white becoming red, and with little stars round about, which was descending; and as it gradually descended it became brighter, and at last appeared in a perfect human form. The little stars round about the cloud were angels, who so appeared by virtue of light from the Lord.

70. It must be understood that although all in a heavenly society when seen together as one appear in the likeness of a man; yet no one society is just such a man as another. Societies differ from one another like the faces of different individuals of the same family, for the reason given above (n. 47), that is, they differ in accordance with the varieties of good in which they are and which determines their form. The societies of the inmost or highest heaven, and in the center there, are those that appear in the most perfect and beautiful human form.

71. It is worthy of mention that the greater the number in any society in heaven and the more these make a one, the more perfect is its human form, for variety arranged in a heavenly form is what constitutes perfection, as has been shown above (n. 56), and number gives variety. Moreover, every society of heaven increases in number daily, and as it increases it becomes more perfect. Thus not only the society becomes more perfect, but also heaven in general, because it is made up of societies. As heaven gains in perfection by increase of numbers, it is evident how mistaken those are who believe that heaven may be closed by becoming full; for the opposite is true, that it will never be closed, but is perfected by greater and greater fullness. Therefore, the angels desire nothing so much as to have new angel guests come to them.

72. Each society, when it appears as one whole is in the form of a man, for the reason that heaven as a whole has that form (as has been shown in the preceding chapter); moreover, in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the parts to the whole, and of lesser forms to the greatest. The lesser forms and parts of heaven are the societies of which it consists, which are also heavens in lesser form (see 51-58). This likeness is perpetual because in the heavens the goods of all are from a single love, that is, from a single origin. The single love, which is the origin of the good of all in heaven, is love to the Lord from the Lord. It is from this that the entire heaven in general, each society less generally, and each angel in particular, is a likeness of the Lord, as has been shown above (n. 58).

73. X. THEREFORE EVERY ANGEL IS IN A COMPLETE HUMAN FORM.

In the two preceding chapters it has been shown that heaven in its whole complex, and likewise each society in heaven, reflects a single man. From the sequence of reasons there set forth it follows that this is equally true of each angel. As heaven is a man in largest form, and a society of heaven in a less form, so is an angel in least. For in the most perfect form, such as the form of heaven is, there is a likeness of the whole in the part and of the part in the whole. This is so for the reason that heaven is a common sharing, for it shares all it has with each one, and each one receives all he has from that sharing. Because an angel is thus a recipient he is a heaven in least form, as shown above in its chapter; and a man also, so far as he receives heaven, is a recipient, a heaven, and an angel (see above, n. 57). This is thus described in the Apocalypse:

He measured the wall of the holy Jerusalem, a hundred and
forty and four cubits, the measure of a man, which is that
of an angel (21:17).

"Jerusalem" means here the Lord's church, and in a more eminent sense, heaven;{1} the "wall" means truth, which is a defence against the assault of falsities and evils;{2} "a hundred and forty and four" means all goods and truths in the complex;{3} "measure" means what a thing is,{4} a "man" means one in whom are goods and truths in general and in particular, thus in whom is heaven. And as it is from this that an angel is a man, it is said "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel." This is the spiritual meaning of these words. Without that meaning how could it be seen that "the wall of the Holy Jerusalem" is "the measure of a man, which is that of an angel?"{5}

{Footnote 1} "Jerusalem" means the church (n. 402, 3654, 9166).

{Footnote 2} The "wall" means truth defending against the
assault of falsities and evils (n. 6419).

{Footnote 3} "Twelve" means all truths and goods in the complex
(n. 577, 2089, 2129, 2130, 3272, 3858, 3913). Likewise
"seventy-two," and "a hundred and forty-four," since this comes
from twelve multiplied into itself (n. 7973). All numbers in
the Word signify things (n. 482, 487, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963,
1988, 2075, 2252, 3252, 4264, 4495, 5265). Multiplied numbers
have a like signification as the simple numbers from which they
arise by multiplication (n. 5291, 5335, 5708, 7973).

{Footnote 4} "Measure" in the Word signifies the quality of a
thing in respect to truth and good (n. 3104, 9603).

{Footnote 5} In regard to the spiritual or internal sense of
the Word see the explanation of The White Horse in the
Apocalypse, and the Appendix to The Heavenly Doctrine.

74. Let us now turn to experience. That angels are human forms, or men, has been seen by me a thousand times. I have talked with them as man with man, sometimes with one, sometimes with many together; and I have seen nothing whatever in their form different from the human form; and have occasionally been surprised to find them such. And that this might not be said to be a delusion or a vision of fancy, I have been permitted to see angels when fully awake or in possession of all my bodily senses, and in a state of clear perception. And I have often told them that men in the Christian world are in such blind ignorance in regard to angels and spirits as to believe them to be minds without form, even pure thoughts, of which they have no idea except as something ethereal in which there is some vitality. And as they thus ascribe to angels nothing human except a thinking faculty, they believe that having no eyes they do not see, having no ears they do not hear, and having no mouth or tongue they do not speak. [2] To this the angels replied that they are aware that such a belief is held by many in the world, and is prevalent among the learned, and to their surprise, even among the clergy. The reason, they said, is that the learned, who were the leaders and who first concocted such an idea of angels and spirits, conceived of them from the sense-conceptions of the external man; and those who think from these, and not from interior light and from the general idea implanted in everyone, must needs fabricate such notions, since the sense-conceptions of the external man take in only what belongs to nature, and nothing above nature, thus nothing whatever of the spiritual world.{1} From these leaders as guides this falsity of thought about angels extended to others who did not think from themselves but adopted the thoughts of their leaders; and those who first take their thoughts from others and make that thought their belief, and then view it with their own understanding, cannot easily recede from it, and are therefore in most cases satisfied with confirming it. [3] The angels said, furthermore, that the simple in faith and heart have no such idea about angels, but think of them as the men of heaven, and for the reason that they have not extinguished by learning what is implanted in them from heaven, and have no conception of anything apart from form. This is why angels in churches, whether sculptured or painted, are always depicted as men. In respect to this insight from heaven they said that it is the Divine flowing into such as are in the good of faith and life.

{Footnote 1} Unless man is raised above the sense-conceptions
of the external man he has very little wisdom (n. 5089). The
wise man thinks above these sense-conceptions (n. 5089, 5094).
When man is raised above these, he comes into clearer light,
and finally into heavenly light (n. 6183, 6313, 6315, 9407,
9730, 9922). Elevation and withdrawal from these was known to
the ancients (n. 6313).

75. From all my experience, which is now of many years, I am able to say and affirm that angels are wholly men in form, having faces, eyes, ears, bodies, arms, hands, and feet; that they see and hear one another, and talk together, and in a word lack nothing whatever that belongs to men except that they are not clothed in material bodies. I have seen them in their own light, which exceeds by many degrees the noonday light of the world, and in that light all their features could be seen more distinctly and clearly than the faces of men are seen on the earth. It has also been granted me to see an angel of the inmost heaven. He had a more radiant and resplendent face than the angels of the lower heavens. I observed him attentively, and he had a human form in all completeness.

76. But it must be remembered that a man cannot see angels with his bodily eyes, but only with the eyes of the spirit within him,{1} because his spirit is in the spiritual world, and all things of the body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being like. Moreover, as the bodily organ of sight, which is the eye, is too gross, as everyone knows, to see even the smaller things of nature except through magnifying glasses, still less can it see what is above the sphere of nature, as all things in the spiritual world are. Nevertheless these things can be seen by man when he has been withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit has been opened; and this can be effected instantly whenever it is the pleasure of the Lord that man should see these things; and in that case man does not know but what he is seeing them with his bodily eyes. Thus were angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the prophets; and thus, too, the Lord was seen by the disciples after the resurrection; and in the same way angels have been seen by me. Because the prophets saw in this way they were called "seers," and were said "to have their eyes opened" (1 Sam. 9:8; Num. 24:3); and enabling them to see thus was called "opening their eyes," as with Elisha's servant, of whom we read:

Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee open his eyes
that he may see; and Jehovah opened the eyes of the young
man and he saw, and behold the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

{Footnote 1} In respect to his interiors man is a spirit (n.
1594). And that spirit is the man himself, and it is from that
spirit that the body lived (n. 447, 4622, 6054).

77. Good spirits, with whom I have spoken about this matter, have been deeply grieved at such ignorance in the church about the condition of heaven and of spirits and angels; and in their displeasure they charged me to declare positively that they are not formless minds nor ethereal breaths, but are men in very form, and see, hear, and feel equally with those who are in this world.{1}

{Footnote 1} Inasmuch as each angel is a recipient of Divine
order from the Lord, he is in a human form, perfect and
beautiful in the measure of his reception (n. 322, 1880, 1881,
3633, 3804, 4622, 4735, 4797, 4985, 5199, 5530, 6054, 9879,
10177, 10594). It is by means of Divine truth that order
exists; and Divine good is the essential of order (n. 2451,
3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555).

78. XI. IT IS FROM THE LORD'S DIVINE HUMAN THAT HEAVEN AS A WHOLE AND IN PART REFLECTS MAN.

That it is from the Lord's Divine Human that heaven as a whole and in part reflects man, follows as a conclusion from all that has been stated and shown in the preceding chapters, namely: (i) That the God of heaven is the Lord. (ii) It is the Divine of the Lord that makes heaven. (iii) Heaven consists of innumerable societies; and each society is a heaven in a smaller form, and each angel in the smallest form. (iv) All heaven in the aggregate reflects a single man. (v) Each society in the heavens reflects a single man. (vi) Therefore every angel is in a complete human form. All this leads to the conclusion that as it is the Divine that makes heaven, heaven must be human in form. That this Divine is the Lord's Divine Human can be seen still more clearly, because in a compendium, in what has been collected, brought together and collated from the Arcana Coelestia and placed as a supplement at the end of this chapter. That the Lord's Human is Divine, and that it is not true that His Human is not Divine, as those with in the church believe, may also be seen in the same extracts, also in the chapter on The Lord, in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, at the end.

79. That this is true has been proved to me by much experience, about which something shall now be said. No angel in the heavens ever perceives the Divine as being in any other than a human form; and what is remarkable, those in the higher heavens are unable to think of the Divine in any other way. The necessity of thinking in this way comes from the Divine itself that flows in, and also from the form of heaven in harmony with which their thoughts spread forth. For every thought of an angel spreads forth into heaven; and the angels have intelligence and wisdom in the measure of that extension. It is in consequence of this that all in heaven acknowledge the Lord, because only in Him does the Divine Human exist. Not only have I been told all this by angels, but when elevated into the inner sphere of heaven I have been able to perceive it. From this it is evident that the wiser the angels are the more clearly they perceive this truth; and it is from this that the Lord is seen by them; for the Lord is seen in a Divine angelic form, which is the human form, by those who acknowledge and believe in a visible Divine Being, but not by those who believe in an invisible Divine. For the former can see their Divine Being, but the latter cannot.