Part 2 (2/2)

behind the grove was a circular plain, where there were feeding he and she-lambs, which were representative forms of the state of innocence and peace of the inhabitants of the mountain. We pa.s.sed over this plain, and lo! we saw tabernacles, to the number of several thousands in front on each side in every direction as far as the eye could reach. And the angel said, ”We are now in the camp, where are the armies of the Lord Jehovah; for so they call themselves and their habitations. These most ancient people, while they were in the world, dwelt in tabernacles; therefore now also they dwell in the same. But let us bend our way to the south, where the wiser of them live, that we may meet some one to converse with.” In going along I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at a door of a certain tent; but as we approached, the boys and girls appeared like men and women of a middle stature. The angel then said, ”All the inhabitants of this mountain appear at a distance like infants, because they are in a state of innocence; and infancy is the appearance of innocence.” The men on seeing us hastened towards us and said, ”Whence are you; and how came you here? Your faces are not like those of our mountain.” But the angel in reply told them how, by permission, we had had access through the forest, and what was the cause of our coming. On hearing this, one of the three men invited and introduced us into his tabernacle. The man was dressed in a blue robe and a tunic of white wool: and his wife had on a purple gown, with a stomacher under it of fine linen wrought in needle-work. And as my thought was influenced by a desire of knowing the state of marriages among the most ancient people, I looked by turns on the husband and the wife, and observed as it were a unity of their souls in their faces; and I said, ”You are one:” and the man answered, ”We are one; her life is in me, and mine in her; we are two bodies, but one soul: the union between us is like that of the two viscera in the breast, which are called the heart and the lungs; she is my heart and I am her lungs; but as by the heart we here mean love, and by the lungs wisdom, she is the love of my wisdom, and I am the wisdom of her love; therefore her love from without veils my wisdom, and my wisdom from within enters into her love: hence, as you said, there is an appearance of the unity of our souls in our faces.” I then asked, ”If such a union exists, is it possible for you to look at any other woman than your own?” He replied, ”It is possible but as my wife is united to my soul, we both look together, and in this case nothing of l.u.s.t can enter; for while I behold the wives of others, I behold them by my own wife, whom alone I love: and as my own wife has a perception of all my inclinations, she, as an intermediate, directs my thoughts and removes every thing discordant, and therewith impresses cold and horror at every thing unchaste; therefore it is as impossible for us to look unchastely at the wife of any other of our society, as it is to look from the shades of Tartarus to the light of our heaven therefore neither have we any idea of thought, and still less any expression of speech, to denote the allurements of libidinous love.” He could not p.r.o.nounce the word wh.o.r.edom, because the chast.i.ty of their heaven forbade it. Hereupon my conducting angel said to me, ”You hear now that the speech of the angels of this heaven is the speech of wisdom, because they speak from causes.” After this, as I looked around, I saw their tabernacle as it were overlaid with gold; and I asked, ”Whence is this?” He replied, ”It is in consequence of a flaming light, which, like gold, glitters, irradiates, and glances on the curtains of our tabernacle while we are conversing about conjugial love; for the heat from our sun, which in its essence is love, on such occasions bares itself, and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its golden color; and this happens because conjugial love in its origin is the sport of wisdom and love; for the man was born to be wisdom, and the woman to be the love of the man's wisdom: hence spring the delights of that sport, in and derived from conjugial love between us and our wives.

We have seen clearly for thousands of years in our heaven, that those delights, as to quant.i.ty, degree, and intensity, are excellent and eminent according to our wors.h.i.+p of the Lord Jehovah, from whom flows that heavenly union or marriage, which is the union and marriage of love and wisdom.” As he said this, I saw a great light upon the hill in the middle of the tabernacles; and I inquired, ”Whence is that light?” And he said, ”It is from the sanctuary of the tabernacle of our wors.h.i.+p.” I asked whether I might approach it; to which he a.s.sented. I approached therefore, and saw the tabernacle without and within, answering exactly to the description of the tabernacle which was built for the sons of Israel in the wilderness; the form of which was shewed to Moses on Mount Sinai, Exod. xxv. 40; chap. xxvi. 30. I then asked, ”What is within in that sanctuary, from which so great a light proceeds?” He replied, ”It is a tablet with this inscription, THE COVENANT BETWEEN JEHOVAH AND THE HEAVENS:” he said no more. And as by this time we were ready to depart, I asked, ”Did any of you, during your abode in the natural world, live with more than one wife?” He replied, ”I know not one; for we could not think of more. We have been told by those who had thought of more, that instantly the heavenly blessedness of their souls withdrew from their inmost principles to the extreme parts of their bodies, even to the nails, and together therewith the honorable badges of manhood; when this was perceived they were banished the land.” On saying this, the man ran to his tabernacle, and returned with a pomegranate, in which there was abundance of seeds of gold: and he gave it me, and I brought it away with me, as a sign that we had been with those who had lived in the golden age. And then, after a salutation of peace, we took our leave, and returned home.

76. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day the same angel came to me, and said, ”Do you wish me to lead and attend you to the people who lived in the SILVER AGE OR PERIOD, that we may hear from them concerning the marriages of their time?” And he added, ”Access to these also can only be obtained by the Lord's favor and protection.” I was in the spirit as before, and accompanied my conductor. We first came to a hill on the confines between the east and the south; and while we were ascending it, he shewed me a great extent of country: we saw at a distance an eminence like a mountain, between which and the hill on which we stood was a valley, and behind the valley a plain, and from the plain a rising ground of easy ascent. We descended the hill intending to pa.s.s through the valley, and we saw here and there on each side pieces of wood and stone, carved into the figures of men, and of various beasts, birds, and fishes; and I asked the angel what they meant, and whether they were idols? He replied, ”By no means: they are representative forms of various moral virtues and spiritual truths. The people of that age were acquainted with the science of correspondences; and as every man, beast, bird, and fish, corresponds to some quality, therefore each particular carved figure represents partially some virtue or truth, and several together represent virtue itself, or truth, in a common extended form. These are what in Egypt were called hieroglyphics.” We proceeded through the valley, and as we entered the plain, lo! we saw horses and chariots; horses variously harnessed and caparisoned, and chariots of different forms; some carved in the shape of eagles, some like whales, and some like stags with horns, and like unicorns; and likewise beyond them some carts, and stables round about at the sides; and as we approached, both horses and chariots disappeared, and instead thereof we saw men (_homines_), in pairs, walking, talking, and reasoning. And the angel said to me, ”The different species of horses, chariots, and stables, seen at a distance, are appearances of the rational intelligence of the men of that period; for a horse, by correspondence, signifies the understanding of truth, a chariot, its doctrine, and stables, instructions: you know that in this world all things appear according to correspondences.” But we pa.s.sed by these things, and ascended by a long acclivity, and at length saw a city, which we entered; and in walking through the streets and places of public resort, we viewed the houses: they were so many palaces built of marble, having steps of alabaster in front, and at the sides of the steps pillars of jasper: we saw also temples of precious stone of a sapphire and lazure color. And the angel said to me, ”Their houses are of stone, because stones signify natural truths, and precious stones spiritual truths; and all those who lived in the silver age had intelligence grounded in spiritual truths, and thence in natural truths: silver also has a similar signification.” In taking a view of the city, we saw here and there consorts in pairs: and as they were husbands and wives, we expected that some of them would invite us to their houses; and while we were in this expectation, as we were pa.s.sing by, we were invited by two into their house, and we ascended the steps and entered; and the angel, taking upon him the part of speaker, explained to them the occasion of our coming to this heaven; informing them that it was for the sake of instruction concerning marriages among the ancients, ”of whom,” says he, ”you in this heaven are a part.” They said, ”We were from a people in Asia; and the chief pursuit of our age was the truths whereby we had intelligence. This was the occupation of our souls and minds; but our bodily senses were engaged in representations of truths in form; and the science of correspondences conjoined the sensual things of our bodies with the perceptions of our minds, and procured us intelligence.” On hearing this, the angel asked them to give some account of their marriages: and the husband said, ”There is a correspondence between spiritual marriage, which is that of truth with good, and natural marriage, which is that of a man with one wife; and as we have studied correspondences, we have seen that the church, with its truths and goods, cannot at all exist but with those who live in love truly conjugial with one wife: for the marriage of good and truth const.i.tutes the church with man: therefore all we in this heaven say, that the husband is truth, and the wife the good thereof; and that good cannot love any truth but its own, neither can truth in return love any good but its own: if any other were loved, internal marriage, which const.i.tutes the church, would perish, and there would remain only external marriage, to which idolatry, and not the church, corresponds; therefore marriage with one wife we call sacrimony; but if it should have place with more than one among us, we should call it sacrilege.” As he said this, we were introduced into an ante-chamber, where there were several devices on the walls, and little images as it were of molten silver; and I inquired, ”What are these?” They said, ”They are pictures and forms representative of several qualities, characters, and delights, relating to conjugial love. These represent unity of souls, these conjunction of minds, these harmony of bosoms, these the delights thence arising.” While we were viewing these things, we saw as it were a rainbow on the wall, consisting of three colors, purple (or red), blue and white; and we observed how the purple pa.s.sed the blue, and tinged the white with an azure color, and that the latter color flowed back through the blue into the purple, and elevated the purple into a kind of flaming l.u.s.tre: and the husband said to me, ”Do you understand all this?” I replied, ”Instruct me:” and he said, ”The purple color, from its correspondence, signifies the conjugial love of the wife, the white the intelligence of the husband, the blue the beginning of conjugial love in the husband's perception from the wife, and the azure, with which the white was tinged, signifies conjugial love in this case in the husband; and this latter color flowing back through the blue into the purple, and elevating the purple into a kind of flaming l.u.s.tre, signifies the conjugial love of the husband flowing back to the wife.

Such things are represented on these walls, while from meditating on conjugial love, its mutual, successive, and simultaneous union, we view with eager attention the rainbows which are there painted.” Hereupon I observed, ”These things are more than mystical at this day; for they are appearances representative of the arcana of the conjugial love of one man with one wife.” He replied, ”They are so; yet to us in our heaven they are not arcana, and consequently neither are they mystical.” As he said this, there appeared at a distance a chariot drawn by small white horses; on seeing which the angel said, ”That chariot is a sign for us to take our leave;” and then, as we were descending the steps, our host gave us a bunch of white grapes hanging to the vine leaves: and lo! the leaves became silver; and we brought them down with us for a sign that we had conversed with the people of the silver age.

77. THE THIRD MEMORABLE RELATION. The next day, my conducting and attendant angel came to me and said, ”Make ready, and let us go to the heavenly inhabitants in the west, who are from the men that lived in the third period, or in the copper age. Their dwellings are from the south by the west towards the north; but they do not reach into the north.”

Having made myself ready, I attended him, and we entered their heaven on the southern quarter. There was a magnificent grove of palm trees and laurels. We pa.s.sed through this, and immediately on the confines of the west we saw giants, double the size of ordinary men. They asked us, ”Who let you in through the grove?” The angel said, ”The G.o.d of heaven.” They replied, ”We are guards to the ancient western heaven; but pa.s.s on.” We pa.s.sed on, and from a rising ground we saw a mountain rising to the clouds, and between us and the mountain a number of villages, with gardens, groves, and plains intermixed. We pa.s.sed through the villages and came to the mountain, which we ascended; and lo! its summit was not a point but a plain, on which was a s.p.a.cious and extensive city. All the houses of the city were built of the wood of the pine-tree, and their roofs consisted of joists or rafters; and I asked, ”Why are the houses here built of wood?” The angel replied, ”Because wood signifies natural good; and the men of the third age of the earth were principled in this good; and as copper also signifies natural good, therefore the age in which they lived the ancients named from copper. Here are also sacred buildings constructed of the wood of the olive, and in the middle of them is the sanctuary, where is deposited in an ark the Word that was given to the inhabitants of Asia before the Israelitish Word; the historical books of which are called the WARS OF JEHOVAH, and the prophetic books, ENUNCIATIONS; both mentioned by Moses, Numb. xxi.

verses 14, 15, and 27-30. This Word at this day is lost in the kingdoms of Asia, and is only preserved in Great Tartary.” Then the angel led me to one of the sacred buildings, which we looked into, and saw in the middle of it the sanctuary, the whole in the brightest light; and the angel said, ”This light is from that ancient Asiatic Word: for all divine truth in the heavens gives forth light.” As we were leaving the sacred building, we were informed that it had been reported in the city that two strangers had arrived there; and that they were to be examined as to whence they came, and what was their business; and immediately one of the public officers came running towards us, and took us for examination before the judges: and on being asked whence we came, and what was our business, we replied, ”We have pa.s.sed the grove of palm-trees, and also the abodes of the giants, the guards of your heaven, and afterwards the region of villages; from which circ.u.mstances you may conclude, that we have not come here of ourselves, but by direction of the G.o.d of heaven. The business on which we are come is, to be instructed concerning your marriages, whether they are monogamical or polygamical.” and they said, ”What are polygamical marriages? Are not they adulterous?” And immediately the bench of judges deputed an intelligent person to instruct us in his own house on this point: and when we were come to his house, he set his wife by his side, and spoke as follows: ”We are in possession of precepts concerning marriages, which have been handed down to us from the primeval or most ancient people, who were principled in love truly conjugial, and thereby excelled all others in the virtue and potency of that love while they were in the world, and who are now in a most blessed state in their heaven, which is in the east. We are their posterity, and they, as fathers, have given us, their sons, rules of life, among which is the following concerning marriages: 'Sons, if you are desirous to love G.o.d and your neighbour, and to become wise and happy to eternity, we counsel you to live married to one wife; if you depart from this precept, all heavenly love will depart from you, and therewith internal wisdom; and you will be banished.' This precept of our Fathers we have obeyed as sons, and have perceived its truth, which is, that so far as any one loves his conjugial partner alone, so far he becomes celestial and internal, and that so far as any one does not love his married partner alone, so far he becomes natural and external; and in this case he loves only himself and the images of his own mind, and is doating and foolish.

From these considerations, all of us in this heaven live married to one wife; and this being the case, all the borders of our heaven are guarded against polygamists, adulterers, and wh.o.r.emongers; if polygamists invade us, they are cast out into the darkness of the north; if adulterers, they are cast out into fires of the west; and if wh.o.r.emongers, they are cast out into the delusive lights of the south.” On hearing this, I asked, ”What he meant by the darkness of the north, the fires of the west, and the delusive lights of the south?” He answered, ”The darkness of the north is dulness of mind and ignorance of truths; the fires of the west are the loves of evil; and the delusive lights of the south are the falsifications of truth, which are spiritual wh.o.r.edoms.” After this, he said, ”Follow me to our repository of curiosities:” so we followed him, and he shewed us the writings of the most ancient people, which were on the tables of wood and stone, and afterwards on smooth blocks of wood; the writings of the second age were on sheets of parchment; of these he brought me a sheet, on which were copied the rules of the people of the first age from their tables of stone, among which also was the precept concerning marriages. Having seen these and other ancient curiosities, the angel said, ”It is now time for us to take our leave;”

and immediately our host went into the garden, and plucked some twigs off a tree, and bound them into a little bunch, and gave them to us, saying, ”These twigs are from a tree, which is native of or peculiar to our heaven, and whose juice has a balsamic fragrance.” We brought the bunch down with us, and descended by the eastern way, which was not guarded; and lo! the twigs were changed into s.h.i.+ning bra.s.s, and the upper ends of them into gold, as a sign that we had been with the people of the third age, which is named from copper or bra.s.s.

78. THE FOURTH MEMORABLE RELATIONS. After two days the angel again addressed me, saying, ”Let us complete the period of the ages; the last still remains, which is named from IRON. The people of this age dwell in the north on the side of the west, in the inner parts or breadth-ways: they are all from the old inhabitants of Asia, who were in possession of the ancient Word, and thence derived their wors.h.i.+p; consequently they were before the time of our Lord's coming into the world. This is evident from the writings of the ancients, in which those times are so named. These same periods are meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar, whose head was of gold, the breast and arms of silver, the belly and thighs of bra.s.s, the legs of iron, and the feet of iron and of clay, Dan. ii. 32, 33.” These particulars the angel related to me in the way, which was contracted and antic.i.p.ated by changes of state induced in our minds according to the genius or disposition of the inhabitants whom we pa.s.sed; for s.p.a.ces and consequent distances in the spiritual world are appearances according to the state of their minds.

When we raised our eyes, lo! we were in a forest consisting of beeches, chestnut-trees and oaks: and on looking around us, there appeared bears to the left, and leopards to the right: and when I wondered at this, the angel said, ”They are neither bears nor leopards, but men, who guard these inhabitants of the north; by their nostrils they have a scent of the sphere of life of those who pa.s.s by, and they rush violently on all who are spiritual, because the inhabitants are natural. Those who only read the Word, and imbibe thence nothing of doctrine, appear at a distance like bears; and those who confirm false principles thence derived, appear like leopards.” On seeing us, they turned away, and we proceeded. Beyond the forest there appeared thickets, and afterwards fields of gra.s.s divided into areas, bordered with box: this was succeeded by a declivity which led to a valley, wherein were several cities. We pa.s.sed some of them, and entered into one of a considerable size: its streets were irregular, and so were the houses, which were built of brick, with beams between, and plastered. In the places of public resort were consecrated buildings of hewn lime-stone; the under-structure of which was below the ground, and the super-structure above. We went down into one of them by three steps, and saw on the walls idols of various forms, and a crowd on their knees paying adoration to them: in the middle of the building was a company, above whom might be seen the head of the tutelary G.o.d of that city. As we went out, the angel said to me, ”Those idols, with the ancients who lived in the silver age, as above described, were images representative of spiritual truths and moral virtues; and when the science of correspondence was forgotten and extinct, they first became objects of wors.h.i.+p, and afterwards were adored as deities: hence came idolatry.”

When we were come out of the consecrated building, we made our observations on the men and their dress. Their faces were like steel, of a grayish color, and they were dressed like comedians, with napkins about their loins hanging from a tunic b.u.t.toned close at the breast; and on their heads they wore curled caps like sailors. But the angel said, ”Enough of this; let us seek some instruction concerning the marriages of the people of this age.” We then entered into the house of one of the grandees, who wore on his head a high cap. He received us kindly, and said, ”Come in and let us converse together.” We entered into the vestibule, and there seated ourselves; and I asked him about the marriages of his city and country. He said, ”We do not here live with one wife, but some with two or three, and some with more, because we are delighted with variety, obedience, and honor, as marks of dignity; and these we receive from our wives according to their number. With one wife there would be no delight arising from variety; but disgust from sameness: neither would there be any flattering courteousness arising from obedience, but a troublesome disquietude from equality; neither would there be any satisfaction arising from dominion and the honor thence derived, but vexation from wrangling about superiority. And what is a woman? Is she not born subject to man's will; to serve, and not to domineer? Wherefore in this place every husband in his own house enjoys as it were royal dignity; and as this is suited to our love, it const.i.tutes also the blessedness of our life.” But I asked, ”In such case, what becomes of conjugial love, which from two souls makes one, and joins minds together, and renders a man (_h.o.m.o_) blessed? This love cannot be divided; for if it be it becomes a heat which effervesces and pa.s.ses away.” To this he replied, ”I do not understand what you say; what else renders a man (_h.o.m.o_) blessed, but the emulation of wives contending for the honor of the first place in the husband's favor?” As he said this, a man entered into the women's apartment and opened the two doors; whence there issued a libidinous effluvium, which had a stench like mire; this arose from polygamical love, which is connubial, and at the same time adulterous; so I rose and shut the doors.

Afterwards I said, ”How can you subsist upon this earth, when you are void of any love truly conjugial, and also when you wors.h.i.+p idols?” He replied, ”As to connubial love, we are so jealous of our wives, that we do not suffer any one to enter further within our houses than the vestibule; and where there is jealousy, there must also be love. In respect to idols, we do not wors.h.i.+p them; but we are not able to think of the G.o.d of the universe, except by means of such forms presented to our eyes; for we cannot elevate our thoughts above the sensual things of the body, nor think of G.o.d above the objects of bodily vision.” I then asked him again, ”Are not your idols of different forms? How then can they excite the idea of one G.o.d?” He replied, ”This is a mystery to us; somewhat of the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d lies concealed in each form.” I then said, ”You are merely sensual corporeal spirits; you have neither the love of G.o.d nor the love of a married partner grounded in any spiritual principle; and these loves together form a man (_h.o.m.o_) and from sensual make him celestial.” As I said this, there appeared through the gate as it were lightning: and on my asking what it meant, he said, ”Such lightning is a sign to us that there will come the ancient one from the east, who teaches us concerning G.o.d, that He is one, the alone omnipotent, who is the first and the last; he also admonishes us not to wors.h.i.+p idols, but only to look at them as images representative of the virtues proceeding from the one G.o.d, which also together form his wors.h.i.+p. This ancient one is our angel, whom we revere and obey. He comes to us, and raises us, when we are falling into obscure wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d from mere fancies respecting images.” On hearing this, we left the house and went out of the city; and in the way, from what we had seen in the heavens, we drew some conclusions respecting the circuit and the progression of conjugial love; of the circuit that it had pa.s.sed from the east to the south, from the south to the west, and from the west to the north; and of the progression, that it had decreased according to its circulation, namely, that in the east it was celestial, in the south spiritual, in the west natural, and in the north sensual; and also that it had decreased in a similar degree with the love and the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d: from which considerations we further concluded, that this love in the first age was like gold, in the second like silver, in the third like bra.s.s, and in the fourth like iron, and that at length it ceased.

On this occasion the angel, my guide and companion, said, ”Nevertheless I entertain a hope that this love will be revived by the G.o.d of heaven, who is the Lord, because it is capable of being so revived.”

79. THE FIFTH MEMORABLE RELATION, The angel that had been my guide and companion to the ancients who had lived in the four ages, the golden, the silver, the copper, and the iron, again presented himself to me, and said, ”Are you desirous of seeing the age which succeeded those ancient ones, and to know what its quality formerly was, and still is? Follow me, and you shall see. They are those concerning whom Daniel thus prophesied: '_A kingdom shall arise after those four in which iron shall be mixed with miry clay: they shall mingle themselves together by the seed of man: but they shall not cohere one with the other, as iron is not mixed with clay_, Dan. ii. 41-43:'” and he said, ”By the seed of man, whereby iron shall be mixed with clay, and still they shall not cohere, is meant the truth of the Word falsified.” After he had said this, I followed him, and in the way, he related to me these particulars. ”They dwell in the borders between the south and the west, but at a great distance beyond those who lived in the four former ages, and also at a greater depth.” We then proceeded through the south to the region bordering on the west, and pa.s.sed though a formidable forest; for in it there were lakes, out of which crocodiles raised their heads, and opened at us their wide jaws beset with teeth; and between the lakes were terrible dogs, some of which were three-headed like Cerberus, some two-headed, all looking at us as we pa.s.sed with a horrible hungry snarl and fierce eyes. We entered the western tract of this region, and saw dragons and leopards, such as are described in the Revelation, chap.

xii. 3; chap. xiii. 2. Then the angel said to me, ”All these wild beasts which you have seen, are not wild beasts but correspondences, and thereby representative forms of the l.u.s.ts of the inhabitants whom we shall visit. The l.u.s.ts themselves are represented by those horrible dogs; their deceit and cunning by crocodiles; their falsities and depraved inclinations to the things which relate to wors.h.i.+p, by dragons and leopards: nevertheless the inhabitants represented do not live close behind the forest, but behind a great wilderness which lies intermediate, that they may be fully withheld and separated from the inhabitants of the foregoing ages, being of an entirely different genius and quality from them: they have indeed heads above their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and b.r.e.a.s.t.s above their loins, and loins above their feet, like the primeval men; but in their heads there is not any thing of gold, nor in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s any thing of silver, nor in their loins any thing of bra.s.s, no, nor in their feet any thing of pure iron; but in their heads is iron mixed with clay, in their b.r.e.a.s.t.s is each mixed with bra.s.s, in their loins is also each mixed with silver, and in their feet is each mixed with gold: by this inversion they are changed from men (_homines_) into graven images of men, in which inwardly nothing coheres; for what was highest, is made lowest, thus what was the head is become the heel, and _vice versa_. They appear to us from heaven like stage-players, who lie upon their elbows with the body inverted, and put themselves in a walking motion; or like beasts, which lie on their backs, and lift the feet upwards, and from the head, which they plunge in the earth, look towards heaven.” We pa.s.sed through the forest, and entered the wilderness, which was not less terrible: it consisted of heaps of stones, and ditches between them, out of which crept hydras and vipers, and there flew forth venomous flying serpents. This whole wilderness was on a continual declivity: we descended by a long steep descent, and at length came into the valley inhabited by the people of that region and age. There were here and there cottages, which appeared at length to meet, and to be joined together in the form of a city: this we entered, and lo! the houses were built of the scorched branches of trees, cemented together with mud and covered with black slates. The streets were irregular; all of them at the entrance narrow, but wider as they extended, and at the end s.p.a.cious, where there were places of public resort: here there were as many places of public resort as there were streets. As we entered the city, it became dark, because the sky did not appear; we therefore looked up and light was given us, and we saw: and then I asked those we met, ”Are you able to see because the sky does not appear above you?” They replied ”What a question is this! we see clearly; we walk in full light.” On hearing this, the angel said to me, ”Darkness to them is light, and light darkness, as is the case with birds of night; as they look downwards and not upwards.” We entered into some of the cottages, and saw in each a man with his woman, and we asked them, ”Do all live here in their respective houses with one wife only?”

And they replied with a hissing, ”What do you mean by one wife only? Why do not you ask, whether we live with one harlot? What is a wife but a harlot? By our laws it is not allowable to commit fornication with more than one woman; but still we do not hold it dishonorable or unbecoming to do so with more; yet out of our own houses we glory in the one among another: thus we rejoice in the license we take, and the pleasure attending it, more than polygamists. Why is a plurality of wives denied us, when yet it has been granted, and at this day is granted in the whole world about us? What is life with one woman only, but captivity and imprisonment? We however in this place have broken the bolt of this prison, and have rescued ourselves from slavery, and made ourselves free, and who is angry with a prisoner for a.s.serting his freedom when it is in his power?” to this we replied, ”You speak, friend, as if without any sense of religion. What rational person does not know that adulteries are profane and infernal, and that marriages are holy and heavenly. Do not adulteries take place with devils in h.e.l.l, and marriages with angels in heaven? Did you never read the sixth commandment [Footnote: According to the division of the commandments adopted by the Church of England, it is the _seventh_ that is here referred to.] of the decalogue? and in Paul, that adulterers can by no means enter heaven?” Hereupon our host laughed heartily, and regarded me as a simpleton, and almost as out of my senses. But just then there came running a messenger from the chief of the city, and said, ”Bring the two strangers into the town-hall; and if they refuse to come, drag them there: we have seen them in a shade of light; they have entered privately; they are spies.” Hereupon the angel said to me, ”The reason why we were seen in a shade, is, because the light of heaven in which we have been, is to them a shade, and the shade of h.e.l.l is to them light; and this is because they regard nothing as sin, not even adultery: hence they see what is false altogether as what is true; and what is false is lucid in h.e.l.l before satans, and what is true darkens their eyes like the shade of night.” We said to the messenger, ”We will not be pressed, still less will we be dragged into the town-hall; but we will go with you of our own accord.” So we went: and lo! there was a great crowd a.s.sembled, out of which came some lawyers, and whispered to us, saying, ”Take heed to yourselves how you speak any thing against religion, the form of our government, and good manners:” and we replied, ”We will not speak against them, but for them and from them.” Then we asked, ”What are your religious notions respecting marriages?” At this the crowd murmured, and said, ”What have you to do here with marriages? Marriages are marriages.” Again we asked, ”What are your religious notions respecting wh.o.r.edoms?” At this also they murmured, saying, ”What have you to do here with wh.o.r.edoms? Wh.o.r.edoms are wh.o.r.edoms: let him that is guiltless cast the first stone.” And we asked thirdly, ”Does your religion teach that marriages are holy and heavenly, and that adulteries are profane and infernal?” Hereupon several in the crowd laughed aloud, jested, and bantered, saying, ”Inquire of our priests, and not of us, as to what concerns religion. We acquiesce entirely in what they declare; because no point of religion is an object of decision in the understanding. Have you never heard that the understanding is without any sense or discernment in mysteries, which const.i.tute the whole of religion? And what have actions to do with religion? Is not the soul made blessed by the muttering of words from a devout heart concerning expiation, satisfaction, and imputation, and not by works?” But at this instant there came some of the wise ones of the city, so called, and said, ”Retire hence; the crowd grows angry; a storm is gathering: let us talk in private on this subject; there is a retired walk behind the town-hall; come with us there.” We followed them; and they asked us whence we came, and what was our business there? And we said, ”to be instructed concerning marriages, whether they are holy with you, as they were with the ancients who lived in the golden, silver, and copper ages; or whether they are not holy.” And they replied, ”What do you mean by holiness? Are not marriages works of the flesh and of the night?” And we answered, ”Are they not also works of the spirit? and what the flesh does from the spirit, is not that spiritual? and all that the spirit does, it does from the marriage of good and truth. Is not this marriage spiritual, which enters the natural marriage of husband and wife?” To this the wise ones, so called, made answer, ”There is too much subtlety and sublimity in what you say on this subject; you ascend far above rational principles to spiritual: and who, beginning at such an elevation, can descend thence, and thus form any decision?” To this they added with a smile of ridicule, ”Perhaps you have the wings of an eagle, and can fly in the highest region of heaven, and make these discoveries: this we cannot do.” We then asked them to tell us, from the alt.i.tude or region in which the winged ideas of their minds fly, whether they knew, or were able to know, that the love of one man with one wife is conjugial love, into which are collected all the beat.i.tudes, satisfactions, delights, pleasantnesses, and pleasures of heaven; and that this love is from the Lord according to the reception of good and truth from him; thus according to the state of the church? On hearing this, they turned away, and said, ”These men are out of their senses; they enter the ether with their judgement, and scatter about vain conjectures like nuts and almonds.” After this they turned to us, saying, ”We will give a direct answer to your windy conjectures and dreams;” and they said, ”What has conjugial love in common with religion and inspiration from G.o.d? Is not this love with every one according to the state of his potency? Is it not the same with those who are out of the church as with those who are in it, with Gentiles as with Christians, yea, with the impious as with the pious? Has not every one the strength of this love either hereditarily, or from bodily health, or from temperance of life, or from warmth of climate? By medicines also it may be strengthened and stimulated. Is not the case similar with the brute creation, especially with birds which unite in pairs? Moreover, is not this love carnal? and what has a carnal principle in common with the spiritual state of the church? Does this love, as to its ultimate effect with a wife, differ at all from love as to its effect with a harlot? Is not the l.u.s.t similar, and the delight similar? Wherefore it is injurious to deduce the origin of conjugial love from the holy things of the church.” On hearing this, we said to them, ”You reason from the stimulus of lasciviousness, and not from conjugial love; you are altogether ignorant what conjugial love is, because it is cold with you; from what you have said we are convinced that you are of the age which has its name from and consists of iron and clay, which do not cohere, according to the prophecy in Daniel, chap. ii. 43; for you make conjugial love and adulterous love the same thing; and do these two cohere any more than iron and clay? You are believed and called wise, and yet you have not the smallest pretensions to that character.” On hearing this, they were inflamed with rage and made a loud cry, and called the crowd together to cast us out; but at that instant, by virtue of power given us by the Lord, we stretched out our hands, and lo! the flying serpents, vipers, and hydras, and also the dragons from the wilderness, presented themselves, and entered and filled the city; at which the inhabitants being terrified fled away. The angel then said to me, ”Into this region new comers from the earth daily enter, and the former inhabitants are by turns separated and cast down into the gulphs of the west, which appear at a distance like lakes of fire and brimstone. All in those gulphs are spiritual and natural adulterers.”

80. THE SIXTH MEMORABLE RELATION. As the angel said this, I looked to the western boundary, and lo! there appeared as it were lakes of fire and brimstone; and I asked him, why the h.e.l.ls in that quarter had such an appearance? He replied, ”They appear as lakes in consequence of the falsifications of truth; because water in the spiritual sense signifies truth; and there is an appearance as it were of fire round about them, and in them, in consequence of the love of evil, and as it were of brimstone in consequence of the love of what is false. Those three things, the lake, the fire, and the brimstone, are appearances, because they are correspondences of the evil loves of the inhabitants. All in that quarter are shut up in eternal work-houses, where they labor for food, for clothing, and for a bed to lie on; and when they do evil, they are grievously and miserably punished.” I further asked the angel, why he said that in that quarter are spiritual and natural adulterers, and why he had not rather said, that they were evil doers and impious? He replied, ”Because all those who make light of adulteries, that is, who commit them from a confirmed persuasion that they are not sins, and thus are in the purpose of committing them from a belief of their being harmless, are in their hearts evil doers and impious; for the conjugial human principle ever goes hand in hand with religion; and every step and movement made under the influence of religion, and leading to it, is also a step and movement made under the influence of the conjugial principle, and leading to it, which is peculiar and proper to the Christian.” On asking what that conjugial principle was, he said, ”It is the desire of living with one wife; and every Christian has this desire according to his religion.” I was afterwards gr

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