176. XVII. THESE DUTIES ALSO, ACCORDING TO MUTUAL AID, CONJOIN THE TWO INTO A ONE, AND AT THE SAME TIME CONSTITUTE ONE HOUSE. It is well known in the world that the duties of the husband in some way conjoin themselves with the duties of the wife, and that the duties of the wife adjoin themselves to the duties of the husband, and that these conjunctions and adjunctions are a mutual aid, and according thereto: but the primary duties, which confederate, consociate, and gather into one the souls and lives of two married partners, relate to the common care of educating their children; in relation to which care, the duties of the husband and of the wife are distinct, and yet join themselves together. They are distinct; for the care of suckling and nursing the infants of each sex, and also the care of instructing the girls till they become marriageable, is properly the duty of the wife; whereas the care of instructing the boys, from childhood to youth, and from youth till they become capable of governing themselves, is properly the duty of the husband: nevertheless the duties, of both the husband and the wife, are blended by means of counsel and support, and several other mutual aids. That these duties, both conjoined and distinct, or both common and peculiar, combine the minds of conjugial partners into one; and that this is effected by the love called storge, is well known. It is also well known, that these duties, regarded in their distinction and conjunction, constitute one house.

178. XIX. THOSE WHO ARE PRINCIPLED IN LOVE TRULY CONJUGIAL, ARE SENSIBLE OF THEIR BEING A UNITED MAN, AND AS IT WERE ONE FLESH. That this is the case, must be confirmed not from the testimony of any inhabitant of the earth, but from the testimony of the inhabitants of heaven; for there is no love truly conjugial at this day with men on earth; and moreover, men on earth are encompassed with a gross body, which deadens and absorbs the sensation that two married partners are a united man, and as it were one flesh; and besides, those in the world who love their married partners only exteriorly, and not interiorly, do not wish to hear of such a thing: they think also on the subject lasciviously under the influence of the flesh. It is otherwise with the angels of heaven, who are principled in spiritual and celestial conjugial love, and are not encompassed with so gross a body as men on earth. From those among them who have lived for ages with their conjugial partners in heaven, I have heard it testified, that they are sensible of their being so united, the husband with the wife, and the wife with the husband, and each in the other mutually and interchangeably, as also in the flesh, although they are separate. The reason why this phenomenon is so rare on earth, they have declared to be this; because the union of the souls and minds of married partners on earth is made sensible in their flesh; for the soul constitutes the inmost principles not only of the head, but also of the body: in like manner the mind, which is intermediate between the soul and the body, and which, although it appears to be in the head, is yet also actually in the whole body: and they have declared, that this is the reason why the acts, which the soul and mind intend, flow forth instantly from the body; and that hence also it is, that they themselves, after the rejection of the body in the former world, are perfect men. Now, since the soul and the mind join themselves closely to the flesh of the body, in order that they may operate and produce their effects, it follows that the union of soul and mind with a married partner is made sensible also in the body as one flesh. As the angels made these declarations, I heard it asserted by the spirits who were present, that such subjects belong to angelic wisdom, being above ordinary apprehension; but these spirits were rational-natural, and not rational-spiritual.

180. XXI. THE STATES OF THIS LOVE ARE INNOCENCE, PEACE, TRANQUILLITY, INMOST FRIENDSHIP, FULL CONFIDENCE, AND A MUTUAL DESIRE OF MIND AND HEART TO DO EVERY GOOD TO EACH OTHER; AND THE STATES DERIVED FROM THESE ARE BLESSEDNESS, SATISFACTION, DELIGHT AND PLEASURE; AND FROM THE ETERNAL ENJOYMENT OF THESE IS DERIVED HEAVENLY FELICITY. All these things are in conjugial love, and thence are derived from it, because its origin is from the marriage of good and truth, and this marriage is from the Lord; and because love is of such a nature, that it desires to communicate with another, whom it loves from the heart, yea, confer joys upon him, and thence to derive its own joys. This therefore is the case in an infinitely high degree with the divine love, which is in the Lord, in regard to man, whom he created a receptacle of both love and wisdom proceeding from himself; and as he created man (homo) for the reception of those principles, the man (vir) for the reception of wisdom, and the woman for the reception of the love of the man's wisdom, therefore from inmost principles he infused into men (homines) conjugial love into which love he might insinuate all things blessed, satisfactory, delightful, and pleasant, which proceed solely from his divine love through his divine wisdom, together with life, and flow into their recipients; consequently, which flow into those who are principled in love truly conjugial; for these alone are recipients. Mention is made of innocence, peace, tranquillity, inmost friendship, full confidence, and the mutual desire of doing every good to each other; for innocence and peace relate to the soul, tranquillity to the mind, inmost friendship to the breast, full confidence to the heart, and the mutual desire of doing every good to each other, to the body as derived from the former principles.

181. XXII. THESE THINGS CAN ONLY EXIST IN THE MARRIAGE OF ONE MAN WITH ONE WIFE. This is a conclusion from all that has been said above, and also from all that remains to be said; therefore there is no need of any particular comment for its confirmation.

182. To the above I will add TWO MEMORABLE RELATIONS. FIRST. After some weeks, I heard a voice from heaven, saying, "Lo! there is again an assembly on Parnassus: come hither, and we will shew you the way." I accordingly came; and as I drew near, I saw a certain person on Helicon with a trumpet, with which he announced and proclaimed the assembly. And I saw the inhabitants of Athens and its suburbs ascending as before; and in the midst of them three novitiates from the world. They were of a Christian community; one a priest, another a politician, and the third a philosopher. These they entertained on the way with conversation on various subjects, especially concerning the wise ancients, whom they named. They inquired whether they should see them, and were answered in the affirmative, and were told, that if they were desirous, they might pay their respects to them, as they were courteous and affable. The novitiates then inquired after Demosthenes, Diogenes, and Epicurus; and were answered, "Demosthenes is not here, but with Plato; Diogenes, with his scholars, resides under Helicon, because of his little attention to worldly things, and his being engaged in heavenly contemplations; Epicurus dwells in a border to the west, and has no intercourse with us; because we distinguish between good and evil affections, and say, that good affections are one with wisdom, and evil affections are contrary to it." When they had ascended the hill Parnassus, some guards there brought water in crystal cups from a fountain in the mount, and said, "This is water from the fountain which, according to ancient fable, was broken open by the hoof of the horse Pegasus, and was afterwards consecrated to nine virgins: but by the winged horse Pegasus they meant the understanding of truth, by which comes wisdom; by the hoofs of his feet they understood experiences whereby comes natural intelligence; and by the nine virgins they understood knowledges and sciences of every kind. These things are now called fables; but they were correspondences, agreeable to the primeval method of speaking." Then those who attended the three strangers said, "Be not surprised; the guards are told thus to speak; but we know that to drink water from the fountain, means to be instructed concerning truths, and by truths concerning goods, and thereby to grow wise." After this, they entered the Palladium, and with them the three novitiates, the priest, the politician, and the philosopher; and immediately the laureled sophi who were seated at the tables, asked, "WHAT NEWS FROM THE EARTH?" They replied, "This is news; that a certain person declares that he converses with angels, and has his sight opened into the spiritual world, equally as into the natural world; and he brings thence much new information, and, among other particulars, asserts, that a man lives a man after death, as he lived before in the world; that he sees, hears, speaks, as before in the world; that he is clothed and decked with ornaments, as before in the world; that he hungers and thirsts, eats and drinks, as before in the world; that he enjoys conjugial delights, as before in the world; that he sleeps and wakes, as before in the world; that in the spiritual world there are land and water, mountains and hills, plains and valleys, fountains and rivers, paradises and groves; also that there are palaces and houses, cities and villages, as in the natural world; and further, that there are writings and books, employments and trades; also precious stones, gold and silver; in a word, that there are all such things there as there are on earth, and that those things in the heavens are infinitely more perfect; with this difference only, that all things in the spiritual world are from a spiritual origin, and therefore are spiritual, because they are from the sun of that world, which is pure love; whereas all things in the natural world are from a natural origin, and therefore are natural and material, because they are from the sun of that world, which is pure fire; in short, that a man after death is perfectly a man, yea more perfectly than before in the world; for before in the world he was in a material body, but in the spiritual world he is in a spiritual body." Hereupon the ancient sages asked, "What do the people on the earth think of such information?" The three strangers replied, "We know that it is true, because we are here, and have viewed and examined everything; wherefore we will tell you what has been said and reasoned about it on earth." Then the PRIEST said, "Those of our order, when they first heard such relations, called them visions, then fictions; afterwards they insisted that the man had seen spectres, and lastly they hesitated, and said, 'Believe them who will; we have hitherto taught that a man will not be in a body after death until the day of the last judgement.'" Then the sages asked, "Are there no intelligent persons among those of your order, who can prove and evince the truth, that a man lives a man after death?" The priest said, "There are indeed some who prove it, but not to the conviction of others. Those who prove it say, that it is contrary to sound reason to believe, that a man does not live a man till the day of the last judgement, and that in the mean while he is a soul without a body. What is the soul, or where is it in the interim? Is it a vapor, or some wind floating in the atmosphere, or some thing hidden in the bowels of the earth? Have the souls of Adam and Eve, and of all their posterity, now for six thousand years, or sixty ages, been flying about in the universe, or been shut up in the bowels of the earth, waiting for the last judgement? What can be more anxious and miserable than such an expectation? May not their lot in such a case be compared with that of prisoners bound hand and foot, and lying in a dungeon? If such be a man's lot after death, would it not be better to be born an ass than a man? Is it not also contrary to reason to believe, that the soul can be re-clothed with its body? Is not the body eaten up by worms, mice, and fish? And can a bony skeleton that has been parched in the sun, or mouldered into dust, be introduced into a new body? And how could the cadaverous and putrid materials be collected, and reunited to the souls? When such questions as these are urged, those of our order do not offer any answers grounded in reason, but adhere to their creed, saying, 'We keep reason under obedience to faith.' With respect to collecting all the parts of the human body from the grave at the last day, they say, 'This is a work of omnipotence;' and when they name omnipotence and faith, reason is banished; and I am free to assert, that in such case sound reason is not appreciated, and by some is regarded as a spectre; yea, they can say to sound reason, 'Thou art unsound.'" On hearing these things, the Grecian sages said, "Surely such paradoxes vanish and disperse of themselves, as being full of contradiction; and yet in the world at this day they cannot be dispersed by sound reason. What can be believed more paradoxical than what is told respecting the last judgement; that the universe will then be destroyed, and that the stars of heaven will then fall down upon the earth, which is less than the stars; and that then the bodies of men, whether they be mouldering carcases, or mummies eaten by men, or reduced to mere dust, will meet and be united again with their souls? We, during our abode in the world, from the inductions of reason, believed the immortality of the souls of men; and we also assigned regions for the blessed, which we call the elysian fields; and we believed that the soul was a human image or appearance, but of a fine and delicate nature, because spiritual." After this, the assembly turned to the other stranger, who in the world had been a POLITICIAN. He confessed that he did not believe in a life after death, and that respecting the new information which he had heard about it, he thought it all fable and fiction. "In my meditations on the subject," said he, "I used to say to myself, 'How can souls be bodies?—does not the whole man lie dead in the grave?—is not the eye there; how can he see?—is not the ear there, how can he hear?—whence must he have a mouth wherewith to speak? Supposing anything of a man to live after death, must it not resemble a spectre? and how can a spectre eat and drink, or how can it enjoy conjugial delights? whence can it have clothes, houses, meats, &c.? Besides, spectres, which are mere aerial images, appear as if they really existed; and yet they do not. These and similar sentiments I used to entertain in the world concerning the life of men after death; but now, since I have seen all things, and touched them with my hands, I am convinced by my very senses that I am a man as I was in the world; so that I know no other than that I live now as I lived formerly; with only this difference, that my reason now is sounder. At times I have been ashamed of my former thoughts." The PHILOSOPHER gave much the same account of himself as the politician had done; only differing in this respect, that he considered the new relations which he had heard concerning a life after death, as having reference to opinions and hypotheses which he had collected from the ancients and moderns. When the three strangers had done speaking, the sophi were all in amazement; and those who were of the Socratic school, said, that from the news they had heard from the earth, it was quite evident, that the interiors of human minds had been successively closed; and that in the world at this time a belief in what is false shines as truth, and an infatuated ingenuity as wisdom; and that the light of wisdom, since their times, has descended from the interiors of the brain into the mouth beneath the nose, where it appears to the eyes as a shining of the lip, while the speech of the mouth thence proceeding appears as wisdom. Hereupon one of the young scholars said, "How stupid are the minds of the inhabitants of the earth at this day! I wish we had here the disciples of Heraclitus, who weep at every thing, and of Democritus, who laugh at every thing; for then we should hear much lamentation and much laughter." When the assembly broke up, they gave the three novitiates the insignia of their authority, which were copper plates, on which were engraved some hieroglyphic characters; with which they took their leave and departed.

183. THE SECOND MEMORABLE RELATION. I saw in the eastern quarter a grove of palm-trees and laurels, set in winding rows, which I approached and entered; and walking in the winding paths I saw at the end a garden, which formed the centre of the grove. There was a little bridge dividing the grove from the garden, and at the bridge two gates, one on the side next the grove, and the other on the side next the garden. And as I drew near, the keeper opened the gates, and I asked him the name of the garden. He said, "ADRAMANDONI; which is the delight of conjugial love." I entered, and lo! there were olive-trees; and among them ran pendulous vines, and underneath and among them were shrubs in flower. In the midst of the garden was a grassy circus, on which were seated husbands and wives, and youths and maidens, in pairs; and in the midst of the circus, on an elevated piece of ground, there was a little fountain, which, from the strength of its spring, threw its water to a considerable height. On approaching the circus I saw two angels clad in purple and scarlet, in conversation with those who were seated on the grass. They were conversing respecting the origin of conjugial love, and respecting its delights; and this being the object of their discourse, the attention was eager, and the reception full; and hence there was an exaltation in the speech of the angels as from the fire of love. I collected the following summary of what was said. They began with the difficulty of investigating and perceiving the origin of conjugial love; because its origin is divinely celestial, it being divine love, divine wisdom, and divine use, which three proceed as a one from the Lord, and hence flow as a one into the souls of men, and through their souls into their minds, and there into the interior affections and thoughts, and through these into the desires next to the body, and from these through the breast into the genital region, where all principles derived from their first origin exist together, and, in union with successive principles, constitute conjugial love. After this the angels said, "Let us communicate together by questions and answers; since the perception of a thing, imbibed by hearing only, flows in indeed, but does not remain unless the bearer also thinks of it from himself, and asks questions concerning it." Then some of that conjugial assembly said to the angels, "We have heard that the origin of conjugial love is divinely celestial; because it is by virtue of influx from the Lord into the souls of men; and, as it is from the Lord, that it is love, wisdom, and use, which are three essentials, together constituting one divine essence, and that nothing but what is of the divine essence can proceed from him, and flow into the inmost principle of man (homo), which is called his soul; and that these three essentials are changed into analogous and corresponding principles in their descent into the body. We ask therefore now in the first place, What is meant by the third proceeding divine essential, which is called use?" The angels replied, "Love and wisdom, without use, are only abstract ideas of thought; which also after some continuance in the mind pass away like the winds; but in use they are collected together, and therein become one principle, which is called real. Love cannot rest unless it is as work; for love is the essential active principle of life; neither can wisdom exist and subsist unless when it is at work from and with love; and to work is use; therefore we define use to be the doing good from love by wisdom; use being essential good. As these three essentials, love, wisdom, and use, flow into the souls of men, it may appear from what ground it is said, that all good is from God; for every thing done from love by wisdom, is called good; and use also is something done. What is love without wisdom but a mere infatuation? and what is love with wisdom without use, but a puff of the mind? Whereas love and wisdom with use not only constitute man (homo), but also are man; yea, what possibly you will be surprised at, they propagate man; for in the seed of a man (vir) is his soul in a perfect human form, covered with substances from the purest principles of nature; whereof a body is formed in the womb of the mother. This is the supreme and ultimate use of the divine love by the divine wisdom." Finally the angels said, "We will hence come to this conclusion, that all fructification, propagation, and prolification, is originally derived from the influx of love, wisdom, and use from the Lord, from an immediate influx into the souls of men, from a mediate influx into the souls of animals, and from an influx still more mediate into the inmost principles of vegetables; and all these effects are wrought in ultimates from first principles. That fructifications, propagations, and prolifications, are continuations of creation, is evident; for creation cannot be from any other source, than from divine love by divine wisdom in divine use; wherefore all things in the universe are procreated and formed from use, in use, and for use." Afterwards those who were seated on the grassy couches, asked the angels "Whence are the innumerable and ineffable delights of conjugial love?" The angels replied, "They are from the uses of love and wisdom, as may be plain from this consideration, that so far as any one loves to grow wise, for the sake of genuine use, so far he is in the vein and potency of conjugial love; and so far as he is in these two, so far he is in the delights thereof. Use effects this; because love and wisdom are delighted with each other, and as it were sport together like little children; and as they grow up, they enter into genial conjunction, which is effected by a kind of betrothing, nuptial solemnity, marriage, and propagation, and this with continual variety to eternity. These operations take place between love and wisdom inwardly in use. Those delights in their first principles are imperceptible; but they become more and more perceptible as they descend thence by degrees and enter the body. They enter by degrees from the soul into the interiors of a man's mind, from these into its exteriors, from these into the bosom, and from the bosom into the genital region. Those celestial nuptial sports in the soul are not at all perceived by man; but they thence insinuate themselves into the interiors of the mind under a species of peace and innocence, and into the exteriors of the mind under a species of blessedness, satisfaction, and delight; in the bosom under a species of the delights of inmost friendship; and in the genital region, from continual influx even from the soul with the essential sense of conjugial love, as the delight of delights. These nuptial sports of love and wisdom in use in the soul, in proceeding towards the bosom, become permanent, and present themselves sensible therein under an infinite variety of delights; and from the wonderful communication of the bosom with the genital region, the delights therein become the delights of conjugial love, which are superior to all other delights in heaven and in the world; because the use of conjugial love is the most excellent of all uses, the procreation of the human race being thence derived, and from the human race the angelic heaven." To this the angels added, that those who are not principled in the love of wisdom for the sake of use from the Lord, do not know anything concerning the variety of the innumerable delights of love truly conjugial; for with those who do not love to grow wise from genuine truths, but love to be insane from false principles, and by this insanity perform evil uses from some particular love, the way to the soul is closed: hence the heavenly nuptial sports of love and wisdom in the soul, being more and more intercepted, cease, and together with them conjugial love ceases with its vein, its potency, and its delights. On hearing these statements the audience said, "We now perceive that conjugial love is according to the love of growing wise for the sake of uses from the Lord." The angels replied that it was so. And instantly upon the heads of some of the audience there appeared wreaths of flowers; and on their asking, "Why is this?" the angels said, "Because they have understood more profoundly:" and immediately they departed from the garden, and the latter in the midst of them.

184. What is meant by states of life, and their changes, is very well known to the learned and the wise, but unknown to the unlearned and the simple; wherefore it may be expedient to premise somewhat on the subject. The state of a man's life is its quality; and as there are in every man two faculties which constitute his life, and which are called the understanding and the will, the state of a man's life is its quality as to the understanding and the will. Hence it is evident, that changes of the state of life mean changes of quality as to the things appertaining to the understanding and the will. That every man is continually changing as to those two principles, but with a distinction of variations before marriage and after it, is the point proposed to be proved in this section; which shall be done in the following propositions:—I. The state of a man's (homo) life from infancy even to the end of his life, and afterwards to eternity, is continually changing. II. In like manner a man's internal form which is that of his spirit, is continually changing. III. These changes differ in the case of men and of women; since men from creation are forms of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and women are forms of the love of those principles as existing with men. IV. With men there is an elevation of the mind into superior light, and with women an elevation of the mind into superior heat: and that the woman is made sensible of the delights of her heat in the man's light. V. With both men and women, the states of life before marriage are different from what they are afterwards. VI. With married partners the states of life after marriage are changed and succeed each other according to the conjunctions of their minds by conjugial love. VII. Marriage also induces other forms in the souls and minds of married partners. VIII. The woman is actually formed into a wife according to the description in the book of creation. IX. This formation is effected on the part of the wife by secret means; and this is meant by the woman's being created while the man slept. X. This formation on the part of the wife is affected by the conjunction of her own will with the internal will of the man. XI. The end herein is, that the will of both became one, and that thus both may become one man (homo). XII. This formation on the part of the wife is affected by an appropriation of the affections of the husband. XIII. This formation on the part of the wife is effected by a reception of the propagations of the soul of the husband, with the delight arising from her desire to be the love of her husband's wisdom. XIV. Thus a maiden is formed into a wife, and a youth into a husband. XV. In the marriage of one man with one wife, between whom there exists love truly conjugial, the wife becomes more and more a wife and the husband more and more a husband. XVI. Thus also their forms are successively perfected and ennobled from within. XVII. Children born of parents who are principled in love truly conjugial, derive from them the conjugial principle of good and truth; whence they have an inclination and faculty, if sons, to perceive the things relating to wisdom, and if daughters, to love those things which wisdom teaches. XVIII. The reason of this is because the soul of the offspring is from the father and its clothing from the mother. We proceed to the explanation of each article.

185. I. THE STATE OF A MAN'S (homo) LIFE, FROM INFANCY EVEN TO THE END OF HIS LIFE, AND AFTERWARDS TO ETERNITY, IS CONTINUALLY CHANGING. The common states of a man's life are called infancy, childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. That every man, whose life is continued in the world, successively passes from one state into another, thus from the first to the last, is well known. The transitions into those ages only become evident by the intervening spaces of time: that nevertheless they are progressive from one moment to another, thus continual, is obvious to reason; for the case is similar with a man as with a tree, which grows and increases every instant of time, even the most minute, from the casting of the seed into the earth. These momentaneous progressions are also changes of state; for the subsequent adds something to the antecedent, which perfects the state. The changes which take place in a man's internals, are more perfectly continuous than those which take place in his externals; because a man's internals, by which we mean the things appertaining to his mind or spirit, are elevated into a superior degree above his externals; and in those principles which are in a superior degree, a thousand effects take place in the same instant in which one effect is wrought in externals. The changes which take place in internals, are changes of the state of the will as to affections, and of the state of the understanding as to thoughts. The successive changes of state of the latter and of the former are specifically meant in the proposition. The changes of these two lives or faculties are perpetual with every man from infancy even to the end of his life, and afterwards to eternity; because there is no end to knowledge, still less to intelligence, and least of all to wisdom; for there is infinity and eternity in the extent of these principles, by virtue of the Infinite and Eternal One, from whom they are derived. Hence comes the philosophical tenet of the ancients, that everything is divisible in infinitum; to which may be added, that it is multiplicable in like manner. The angels assert, that by wisdom from the Lord they are being perfected to eternity; which also means to infinity; because eternity is the infinity of time.

186. II. IN LIKE MANNER A MAN'S (homo) INTERNAL FORM WHICH IS THAT OF HIS SPIRIT, IS CONTINUALLY CHANGING. The reason why this form is continually changing as the state of the man's life is changed, is, because there is nothing that exists but in a form, and state induces that form; wherefore it is the same whether we say that the state of a man's life is changed, or that its form is changed. All a man's affections and thoughts are in forms, and thence from forms; for forms are their subjects. If affections and thoughts were not in subjects, which are formed, they might exist also in skulls without a brain; which would be the same thing as to suppose sight without an eye, hearing without an ear, and taste without a tongue. It is well known that there are subjects of these senses, and that these subjects are forms. The state of life, and thence the form, with a man, is continually changing; because it is a truth which the wise have taught and still teach, that there does not exist a sameness, or absolute identity of two things, still less of several; as there are not two human faces the same, and still less several: the case is similar in things successive, in that no subsequent state of life is the same as a preceding one; whence it follows, that there is a perpetual change of the state of life with every man, consequently also a perpetual change of form, especially of his internals. But as these considerations do not teach anything respecting marriages, but only prepare the way for knowledges concerning them, and since also they are mere philosophical inquiries of the understanding, which, with some persons, are difficult of apprehension, we will pass them without further discussion.

188. IV. WITH MEN THERE IS AN ELEVATION OF THE MIND INTO SUPERIOR LIGHT, AND WITH WOMEN AN ELEVATION OF THE MIND INTO SUPERIOR HEAT; AND THE WOMAN IS MADE SENSIBLE OF THE DELIGHTS OF HER HEAT IN THE MAN'S LIGHT. By the light into which men are elevated, we mean intelligence and wisdom; because spiritual light, which proceeds from the sun of the spiritual world, which sun in its essence is love, acts in equality or unity with those two principles; and by the heat into which women are elevated, we mean conjugial love because spiritual heat, which proceeds from the sun of that world, in its essence is love, and with women it is love conjoining itself with intelligence and wisdom in men; which love in its complex is called conjugial love, and by determination becomes that love. It is called elevation into superior light and heat, because it is elevation into the light and heat which the angels of the superior heavens enjoy: it is also an actual elevation, as from a thick mist into pure air, and from an inferior region of the air into a superior, and from thence into ether; therefore elevation into superior light with men is elevation into superior intelligence, and thence into wisdom; in which also there are ascending degrees of elevation; but elevation into superior heat with women is an elevation into chaster and purer conjugial love, and continually towards the conjugial principle, which from creation lies concealed in their inmost principles. These elevations, considered in themselves, are openings of the mind; for the human mind is distinguished into regions, as the world is distinguished into regions as to the atmosphere; the lowest of which is the watery, the next above is the aerial, and still higher is the ethereal, above which there is also the highest: into similar regions the mind of man is elevated as it is opened, with men by wisdom, and with women by love truly conjugial.

189. We have said, that the woman is made sensible of the delights of her heat in the man's light; by which we mean that the woman is made sensible of the delights of her love in the man's wisdom, because wisdom is the receptacle; and wherever love finds such a receptacle corresponding to itself, it is in the enjoyment of its delights: but we do not mean, that heat with its light is delighted out of forms, but within them; and spiritual heat is delighted with spiritual light in their forms to a greater degree, because those forms by virtue of wisdom and love are vital, and thereby susceptible. This may be illustrated by what are called the sports of heat with light in the vegetable kingdom: out of the vegetable there is only a simple conjunction of heat and light, but within it there is a kind of sport of the one with the other; because there they are in forms or receptacles; for they pass through astonishing meandering ducts, and in the inmost principles therein they tend to use in bearing fruit, and also breathe forth their satisfactions far and wide into the atmosphere, which they fill with fragrance. The delight of spiritual heat with spiritual light is more vividly perceivable in human forms, in which spiritual heat is conjugial love, and spiritual light is wisdom.

190. V. WITH BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, THE STATES OF LIFE BEFORE MARRIAGE ARE DIFFERENT FROM WHAT THEY ARE AFTERWARDS. Before marriage, each sex passes through two states, one previous and the other subsequent to the inclination for marriage. The changes of both these states, and the consequent formations of minds, proceed in successive order according to their continual increase; but we have not leisure now to describe these changes, which are various and different in their several subjects. The inclination to marriage, previous to marriage, are only imaginary in the mind, and become more and more sensible in the body; but the states thereof after marriage are states of conjunction and also of prolification, which, it is evident, differ from the forgoing states as effects differ from intentions.

191. VI. WITH MARRIED PARTNERS THE STATES OF LIFE AFTER MARRIAGE ARE CHANGED AND SUCCEED EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO THE CONJUNCTIONS OF THEIR MINDS BY CONJUGIAL LOVE. The reason why changes of the state and the successions thereof after marriage, with both the man and the wife, are according to conjugial love with each, and thus are either conjunctive or disjunctive of their minds, is, because conjugial love is not only various but also different with conjugial pairs: various, with those who love each other interiorly; for with such it has its intermissions, notwithstanding its being inwardly in its heat regular and permanent; but it is different with those who love each other only exteriorly; for with such its intermissions do not proceed from similar causes, but from alternate cold and heat. The true ground of these differences is, that with the latter the body is the principal agent, the ardour of which spreads itself around, and forcibly draws into communion with it the inferior principles of the mind; whereas, with the former, who love each other interiorly, the mind is the principal agent, and brings the body into communion with it. It appears as if love ascended from the body into the soul; because as soon as the body catches the allurement, it enters through the eyes, as through doors, into the mind, and thus through the sight, as through an outer court, into the thoughts, and instantly into the love: nevertheless it descends from the mind, and acts upon the inferior principles according to their orderly arrangement; therefore the lascivious mind acts lasciviously, and the chaste mind chastely; and the latter arranges the body, whereas the former is arranged by the body.

192. VII. MARRIAGE ALSO INDUCES OTHER FORMS IN THE SOULS AND MINDS OF MARRIED PARTNERS. That marriage has this effect cannot be observed in the natural world; because in this world souls and minds are encompassed with a material body, through which the mind rarely shines: the men (homines) also of modern times, more than the ancients, are taught from their infancy to assume feigned countenances, whereby they deeply conceal the affections of their minds; and this is the reason why the forms of minds are not known and distinguished according to their different quality, as existing before marriage and after it: nevertheless that the forms of souls and minds differ after marriage from what they were before, is very manifest from their appearance in the spiritual world; for they are then spirits and angels, who are minds and souls in a human form, stripped of their outward coverings, which had been composed of watery and earthy elements, and of aerial vapors thence arising; and when these are cast off, the forms of the minds are plainly seen, such as they had been inwardly in their bodies; and then it is clearly perceived, that there is a difference in regard to those forms with those who live in marriage, and with those who do not. In general, married partners have an interior beauty of countenance, the man deriving from the wife the ruddy bloom of her love, and the wife from the man the fair splendor of his wisdom; for two married partners in the spiritual world are united as to their souls; and moreover there appears in each a human fulness. This is the case in heaven, because there are no marriages (conjugia) in any other place; beneath heaven there are only nuptial connections (connubia), which are alternately tied and loosed.