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Spiritual Linguistics
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Quoting from Swedenborg:

When the problem about the soul had been debated in the high-school and solved, I saw them leaving in due order. The headmaster came first, after him the elders with in their midst the five juniors who had given answers, and then the rest. When they had emerged, they began to go apart to the sides around the building, where there were walks surrounded by shrubs. When gathered there they split up into small groups, each being a party of juniors talking about matters to do with wisdom, and in each group there was one wise man who had been in the gallery.

When I saw all this from my inn, I passed into the spirit, and in that I went out to meet them, approaching the headmaster who just before had set the problem about the soul. On seeing me he said, 'Who are you? I was surprised when I watched you on your way here and saw you at one time becoming visible to me, at another dropping out of sight; now I saw you, now you suddenly vanished. You must surely not be in the same state of life as the people in our country.'

I replied to this with a smile, 'I am no actor, or Vertumnus,* but I am by turns sometimes in light and sometimes in shade to your eyes. So here I am both a stranger and a native.'

[2] At this the headmaster looked at me and said, 'What you say is unusual and strange. Tell me who you are.' 'I am,' I said, 'in the world in which you once were and which you have left, what is called the natural world. I am also in the world to which you have come and where you now are, what is called the spiritual world. Consequently I am in the natural state and at the same time in the spiritual state; in the natural state when with people on earth, in the spiritual state when with you. When I am in the natural state, I am invisible to you, but when in the spiritual state visible. I have been granted by the Lord the ability to be like this. You as an enlightened man are well aware that a person who belongs to the natural world cannot see one who belongs to the spiritual world, and vice versa. Therefore when I plunge my spirit into the body, you do not see me, but when I release it from the body, you do. You also taught in the school that you are all souls, and souls can see souls, because they are human forms. You know that you could not see yourselves, that is, your souls, when they were in your bodies in the natural world. But this happens because of the difference between the spiritual and the natural.'

[3] When he heard me mention the difference between the spiritual and the natural, he said, 'What difference is that? Is it not like that between what is purer and what is less pure? So what is the spiritual but a purer kind of natural?'

'It is not that sort of distinction,' I replied, 'but rather the sort of distinction there is between what is prior and what is posterior, which can have no finite relationship. For the prior is in the posterior, as the cause is in its effect; and the posterior derives from the prior, as the effect derives from its cause. That is why one is not visible to the other.'

[4] To this the headmaster said, 'I have pondered this distinction and chewed it over, but up to now in vain. I only wish I could grasp it.' 'You will,' I said, 'not only grasp the distinction between the spiritual and the natural, but actually see it.' Then I went on, 'You are in the spiritual state when you are with your people, but in the natural state with me. For you talk with your people in the spiritual language, which is shared by every spirit and angel, but you talk with me in my native language. For every spirit or angel who talks with a man speaks his own language, French with a Frenchman, English with an Englishman, Greek with a Greek, Arabic with an Arab, and so on. So in order to be aware of the distinction between the spiritual and the natural as it applies to languages, do this: go inside to your people, say something there, and memorise the words. Then come back keeping them in mind, and pronounce them in my presence.'

He did so, and came back to me with those words on his tongue, and uttered them, and did not understand any.** They were completely strange and foreign words, not to be found in any language of the natural world. Repeating the experiment several times showed clearly that all in the spiritual world have a spiritual language, which has nothing in common with any language of the natural world. Everyone automatically comes into possession of that language after his death. At the same time he discovered that the actual sound of the spiritual language is so different from that of natural language, that even a loud spiritual sound is inaudible to a natural person, and so is a natural sound to a spiritual person.

[5] Later I asked the headmaster and the bystanders to go inside to their own people, and write a sentence on a piece of paper, and then to bring the paper out and read it to me. They did so, and came back with the paper in their hands, but when they went to read it, they could not understand it at all, since the script was merely composed of a few letters of the alphabet with curly lines over them, and every single letter stood for some particular meaning. Since each letter of the alphabet there conveys a meaning, it is obvious why the Lord is called 'alpha and omega.' When they went in again and again, wrote and came back, they discovered that the script entailed and comprehended countless things, which no natural script can ever express. They were told that this was because the thoughts of the spiritual man were incomprehensible and inexpressible to the natural man, and they cannot be transferred or copied into another script or another language.

[6] Then, since the bystanders were unwilling to grasp that spiritual thought is so far beyond natural thought that it is relatively inexpressible, I said to them, 'Carry out an experiment. Go inside to your spiritual community, think of an idea, keep it in mind, and come back and expound it in my presence.'

They went inside and thought, and, keeping the thought in mind, came out; but when they went to expound what they had thought, they were unable to do so. For they could not find any idea of natural thought capable of matching an idea of spiritual thought; neither could they find any words to express those ideas, for what is an idea in thought becomes words in speech.

[7] Thereupon they went back inside, came back and convinced themselves that spiritual ideas were far above natural ones, inexpressible, unutterable and incomprehensible to the natural man. Because spiritual ideas so far excelled natural ones, they said that spiritual ideas or thoughts, as compared to natural ones, were ideas of ideas and thoughts of thoughts, and could therefore express qualities of qualities and affections of affections. It followed that spiritual thoughts were the beginnings and origins of natural thoughts. They also showed that spiritual wisdom is the wisdom of wisdom, and so incapable of being perceived by any wise men in the natural world. Then they were told from the third heaven that there is a still more inward or higher wisdom, called celestial, which stands in the same relationship to spiritual wisdom as this does to natural wisdom. These forms of wisdom flow in, one after the other, depending upon which heaven is concerned, from the Lord's Divine wisdom, which is infinite.

280. The fourth experience.

I once saw a long way off some walks between avenues of trees, and young men gathered together there in large groups; each of these was a meeting where people were discussing matters relating to wisdom. This took place in the spiritual world. I approached, and on coming near saw one whom the others reverenced as their leader, because he surpassed the rest in wisdom.

On seeing me he said: 'I was surprised when I watched you on your way here and saw you at one time becoming visible to me, at another dropping out of sight; now I saw you, now you vanished. You must surely not be in the same state of life as the people in our country.'

I replied to this with a smile: 'I am no actor, or Vertumnus*, but I am by turns sometimes in light and sometimes in shade to your eyes. So here I am both a stranger and native.'

At this the wise man gazed at me and said: 'What you say is unusual and strange. Tell me who you are.'

'I am,' I said, 'in the world where you once were and which you have now left, what is called the natural world. I am also in the world where you now are, what is called the spiritual world. Consequently I am in the natural state and at the same time in the spiritual state, the natural state when with people on earth, the spiritual state when with you. When I am in the natural state, I am invisible to you; when in the spiritual state, I am visible. I have been granted by the Lord the ability to be like this. You as an enlightened man are well aware that a person who belongs to the natural world cannot see one who belongs to the spiritual world, and vice versa. Therefore when I plunge my spirit into the body, you do not see me, but when I release it from the body, you do. This is the result of the distinction between the spiritual and the natural.'

[2] When he heard me mention the distinction between the spiritual and the natural, he said: 'What distinction is that? Is it not like that between what is purer and less pure? So what is the spiritual but a purer kind of the natural?'

'It is not that sort of distinction,' I replied, 'The natural can never become refined enough to approach the spiritual, so that it becomes spiritual. It is the sort of distinction there is between prior and posterior, which have no finite relationship. For the prior is in the posterior, as the cause is in its effect; and the posterior derives from the prior, as the effect derives from its cause. That is why one is not visible to the Other.'

To this the wise man said: 'I have pondered this distinction, but up to now in vain. I only wish I could grasp it.' 'You will,' I said, 'not only grasp the distinction between the spiritual and the natural, you will actually see it.' Then I went on: 'You are in the spiritual state among your people here, but in the natural state with me. For you talk with your people in the spiritual language, which is shared by every spirit and angel, but you talk with me in my native language. Every spirit or angel who talks with a man speaks his own language, French with a Frenchman, Greek with a Greek, Arabic with an Arab, and so on.

[3] 'So in order to be aware of the distinction between the spiritual and the natural as they appear linguistically, do this: go inside to your people, say something there, and memorise the words; then come back keeping them in mind, and pronounce them in my presence.'

He did so and came back to me with those words on his tongue, and uttered them; they were words completely strange and foreign, not to be found in any language of the natural world. Repeating the experiment several times showed clearly that all in the spiritual world have a spiritual language, which has nothing in common with any natural language. Everyone comes of his own accord into possession of that language after his death. I once also discovered by experience that the actual sound of the spiritual language is so different from that of a natural language, that even a loud spiritual sound is inaudible to a natural person, and so is a natural sound to a spiritual person.

[4] Later I asked him and the by-standers to go inside to their own people, and write a sentence on a piece of paper, and then to bring the paper out and read it to me. They did so, and came back with the paper in their hands, but when they went to read it, they could not, since the script was merely composed of some letters of the alphabet with curly lines over them, each one of which conveyed as its meaning a particular matter. Since each letter of the alphabet there conveys a meaning, it is obvious why the Lord is called 'alpha and omega'. When they again and again went in, wrote and came back, they learned that the script entailed and comprehended countless things which no natural script can ever express. They were told that this is because the thoughts of the spiritual man are incomprehensible and inexpressible to the natural man, and they cannot be transferred to another script and another language.

[5] Then, since the by-standers were unwilling to grasp that spiritual thought is so far beyond natural thought, that it is relatively inexpressible, I said to them: 'Carry out an experiment. Go inside to your spiritual community, think of an idea, keep it in mind, and come back and expound it in my presence.'

They went inside, thought and, keeping the thought in mind, came out; and when they went to expound what they had thought, they were unable to do so. For they could not find any idea of natural thought capable of matching an idea of purely spiritual thought, so they could not find any words to express it, for the ideas of thought become words in speech. Thereupon they went back inside, came back, and convinced themselves that spiritual ideas were far above natural ones, inexpressible, unutterable and incomprehensible to the natural man. Because the spiritual ideas excelled the natural ones so much, they said that spiritual ideas or thoughts, compared to natural ones, were ideas of ideas, and thoughts of thoughts, and could therefore express qualities of qualities and affections of affections. It followed that spiritual thoughts were the beginnings and origins of natural thoughts. This also showed that spiritual wisdom is the wisdom of wisdom, and so incapable of expression by anyone, however wise, in the natural world.

[6] Then they were told from the higher heaven that there is a still more inward or higher wisdom, called celestial, which stands in the same relationship to spiritual wisdom as this does to natural wisdom. These forms of wisdom flow in regularly, depending upon which heaven is concerned, from the Lord's Divine wisdom, which is infinite.

At this point the man conversing with me said: 'I see this, because I have perceived that a single natural idea is a container for many spiritual ideas; and also that a single spiritual idea is a container for many celestial ideas. This leads too to this conclusion, that what is divided becomes not more and more simple, but more and more complex, because it approaches closer and closer to the infinite, in which everything is at infinity.'

[7] At the conclusion of this conversation I said to the by-standers: 'You see from these three experimental proofs the nature of the distinction between the spiritual and the natural. Likewise, why the natural man is invisible to the spiritual, and the spiritual man to the natural, although either of them has a complete human form. Because of this form it seems to each as if one could see the other. But it is the interiors, which are mental, which constitute that form, and the mind of spirits and angels is composed of spiritual elements, whereas the mind of men, so long as they live in the world, is composed of natural elements.'

After this a voice was heard from the higher heaven saying to one of the by-standers, 'Come up here.' He went up, and on his return he said that the angels had not previously known the differences between the spiritual and the natural, because they had never before been given the opportunity of making the comparison with a person who was simultaneously in both worlds; and these differences can only become known by making a comparison and examining the relationship.

[8] Before we parted we had another conversation on this subject, and I said that these distinctions arise solely, 'because you in the spiritual world are substantial, not material, and substantial things are the starting points of material things. What is matter but a gathering together of substances? So you are at the level of beginnings and therefore singulars, we, however, are at the level of derivatives and compounds. You are at the level of particulars, we, however, at that of general ideas. Just as general ideas cannot enter into particulars, so natural things, which are material, cannot enter into spiritual things, which are substantial. It is just as a ship's rope cannot enter or be pulled though the eye of a sewing needle, or just as a nerve cannot be introduced into one of the fibres which compose it. This then is the reason why the natural man cannot think the thoughts of the spiritual man, and therefore neither can he express them. So Paul calls what he heard from the third heaven "beyond description."

[9] 'A further point is that thinking spiritually means thinking without using time and space; thinking naturally involves time and space. For every idea of natural thought, but not of spiritual thought, has something of time and space clinging to it. This is because the spiritual world is not in space and time, as is the natural world, though it has the appearance of both of them. Thoughts and perceptions also differ in this respect. For this reason you can think of God's essence and omnipresence from eternity, that is, of God before the creation of the world, because you think about God's essence with no idea of time, and about His omnipresence with no idea of space. Thus you grasp ideas which are far beyond the natural ideas of men.'

[10] I went on to relate how I had once thought about God's essence and omnipresence from eternity, that is, about God before the creation of the world, and because I could not yet banish space and time from the ideas I thought about, I became worried, since the idea of nature entered my mind in place of God. But I was told: 'Banish the ideas of space and time and you will see.' Then I was granted the power to banish them, and I did see. From that time on I have been able to think about God from eternity, without thinking of nature from eternity, because God is non-temporally in all time and non-spatially in all space, but nature is temporally in all time and spatially in all space. Nature with its time and space must inevitably have a beginning, but not so God, who is not in time and space. Therefore nature is from God, not from eternity, but exists in time together with its properties of time and space.

1637. Among the marvels that occur in the next life is the fact that spirits speak to man in his own mother tongue. They speak it with the fluency and skill of one born in the same country and brought up using the same tongue. This is so whether they come from Europe, or from Asia, or from some other part of the world, including those who lived thousands of years before that tongue had come into being. Indeed when speaking to man the spirits know no other than that the language they are using is their own and that of their own country. The same is also the case with the foreign languages which a person has learned. But beyond these, spirits are not able to utter one sound of another language unless they are directly enabled to do so by the Lord. Even little children who have died before learning to talk in any language speak in the same way.

[2] The reason for this is that the language with which spirits are familiar is not a language composed of words but a language composed of ideas comprising thought. This language is the universal of all languages; and when spirits are present with someone on earth the ideas comprising their thought fall into words which belong to that person's vocabulary. This takes place in such a corresponding and fitting manner that the spirits know no other than that those words are their own and that they are speaking in their own language, when in fact they are speaking in the person's language. I have spoken on several occasions to spirits about these matters. All souls, the moment they enter the next life, receive this gift of being able to understand what all people in any part of the world are saying, just as if they had been born among those people, for they perceive whatever a person is thinking. In addition to this they receive other abilities which are more perfect still. This explains why after death of the body souls are able to talk to and mix with all people, no matter what region these came from or what language they spoke.

255. That the nature of the conjunction of angels and spirits with man may be understood, I am permitted to mention some notable things by which it may be illustrated and verified. When angels and spirits turn themselves to man they do not know otherwise than that the man's language is their own and that they have no other language, for then they are there in the man's language, and not in their own, which they do not remember. But as soon as they turn themselves away from the man they are in their own angelic and spiritual language, and know nothing about the man's language. I have had a like experience when in company with angels and in a state like theirs. I then talked with them in their language and knew nothing of my own, not remembering it. But as soon as I ceased to be in their company I was in my own language. [2] Another notable fact is that when angels and spirits turn themselves to a man they are able to talk with him at any distance. They have talked with me from a distance as audibly as when they were near. But when they turn themselves away from a man and talk with each other the man hears nothing at all of what they are saying, even if it be close to his ear. From this it was made clear that all conjunction in the spiritual world is determined by the way they turn. [3] Another notable fact is that many spirits together can talk with a man, and the man with them. For they send one of their number to the man with whom they wish to speak, and the spirit sent turns himself to the man and the rest of them turn to their spirit and thus concentrate their thoughts, which the spirit utters. The spirit then does not know otherwise than that he is speaking from himself, and they do not know otherwise than that they are speaking. Thus also is the conjunction of many with one effected by turning towards him.# But of these emissary spirits, who are also called subjects, and of communication by means of them, more will be said in subsequent pages.

# The spirits sent from societies of spirits to other societies are called subjects (n. 4403, 5856).

Communications in the spiritual world are effected by such emissary spirits (n. 4403, 5856, 5983).

A spirit when he is sent forth, and serves as a subject, thinks from those by whom he is sent forth, and not from himself (n. 5985-5987).

386. Verse 2. Here likewise, they are called "stooped" and "bowed down," and it is said that "their soul goes into captivity," or "into servitude," for they are slaves.

According to the letter here and elsewhere, the subject seems to be nothing else but their idols, or idolatry. But through the description of their idols everything is reflected which they idolize. Idols are all the things they worship and love, whether outside of people, or within them, that turn them away from the love of God. These are beyond number, for there are kinds and species of them.

Here, the works of the Law are reflected. These they worship, and consider they are saved by doing them, etc. It is the prophetical style to depict such things by many comparisons, which are symbolic portrayals. For the angels of God the Messiah understand earthly matters, and everything that confronts the senses [of the body], spiritually. Therefore, prophetical speech is a kind of heavenly Language,

but one which is not understood by any but those who are truly spiritual and heavenly, that is, who let themselves be led by God the Messiah. This Language is inexpressible as it is produced by the angels among themselves; but because men must be taught from heaven, the speech comes down into expressions like these, which are not understandable except to heavenly guardian spirits taught by God the Messiah. Otherwise, what would it mean that "Bel is bowed down, Nebo is stooped," etc. etc.? Other spirits, however, do not understand this language, savoring only what is portrayed in an earthly manner, which sometimes takes place in insane ways.

About this heavenly speech that lies concealed within prophetical discourse, I spoke today with certain spirits of earthly character, and it was compared with the angelic Language, which they hardly understood. In itself it is a language that must be learned like any other language. For by their symbolism, entirely different and, indeed, more inward and higher things are to be understood than earthly minds grasp, etc. etc.

237. Angelic language has nothing in common with human languages except certain words that are the sounds of a specific affection. Yet this is true not of the words themselves but of their sounds; on which subject something will be said in what follows. That angelic language has nothing in common with human languages is evident from the fact that angels are unable to utter a single word of human language. This was tried but they could not do it, because they can utter nothing except what is in entire agreement with their affections; whatever is not in agreement is repugnant to their very life, for life belongs to affection, and their speech is from that. I have been told that the first language of men on our earth was in agreement with angelic language because they had it from heaven; and that the Hebrew language agrees with it in some respects.

29. Verse 8. And I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, signifies Who is the Self-existing and the Only from firsts to ultimates, from Whom all things are; thus Who is Love Itself and the Only Love, Wisdom Itself and the Only Wisdom, Life Itself and the Only Life in Himself, and thus the Creator Himself and the Only Creator, Saviour and Enlightener from Himself, and thence the All in all of heaven and the church. These and many more things besides are contained in the above words, by which the Lord is described. That they are spoken of the Lord, and, indeed, of His Human, is very evident, for it follows that John heard a voice, saying:

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last; and He turned to see the voice that spake with him, and saw the Son of man in the midst of seven lampstands (Rev. 1:10-13).

Who, also, a little further on, says:

I am the First and the Last, I am He that liveth and was dead (Rev. 2:8).

But that all the particulars above enumerated are contained in these words cannot be confirmed briefly, for to confirm them fully would require many sheets; still they are in part confirmed in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom, recently published in Amsterdam, which see. The Lord calls Himself " the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," because "Alpha and Omega" refer to His Divine love, and "Beginning and End," to His Divine wisdom; for there is, in every particular of the Word, a marriage of love and wisdom, or of good and truth; on which subject, see The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture (n. 80-90).

[2] The Lord is called "the Alpha and the Omega," because Alpha is the first letter and Omega the last in the Greek Alphabet, and therefore they signify all in the aggregate. The reason is, that every letter of the alphabet, in the spiritual world, signifies something; and a vowel, because it is serviceable for sound, something of affection or love. From this origin, spiritual and angelic speech, and, also, the Scriptures, are derived; but this is an arcanum hitherto unknown. For there is a universal language in which all angels and spirits are; and this has nothing in common with any language of men in the world. Every man comes into this language after death; for it is implanted in every man from creation, therefore they all can understand each other in the whole spiritual world. It has been granted me frequently to hear that language, and also to speak it; and I have compared it with the languages in the world, and have found that it does not, even in the smallest particular, make one with any natural language on the earth. It differs from these in its first principle, which is, that each letter of every word has a sense and signification peculiar to itself, as well in speaking as in writing. Therefore it is that the Lord is called the Alpha and the Omega, which signifies that He is the All in all of heaven and the church; and as these two letters are vowels, they have relation to love, as was said above. Concerning this language, and the writing of it, flowing from the spiritual thought of the angels, something may be seen in The Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Wisdom (n. 295).

19. (i) THE ONE GOD IS NAMED JEHOVAH FROM HIS BEING, THAT IS, FROM THE FACT THAT HE ALONE IS, [WAS] AND WILL BE, AND BECAUSE HE IS THE FIRST AND THE LAST, THE BEGINNING AND THE END, ALPHA AND OMEGA.

It is well known that Jehovah means 'I am' and 'Being'. It is clear from the Book of Creation, called Genesis, that God was so called from most ancient times; for there He is called God in the first chapter, but in the second and subsequent ones Jehovah God. Later on when the descendants of Abraham, starting with Jacob, forgot the name of God owing to their long stay in Egypt, it was recalled to their memory. About this we read:

Moses said to God, What is your name? God said, I am who I am; thus

shall you say to the Children of Israel, I am has sent me to you; and you shall say, Jehovah the God of your fathers has sent me to you. This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial from generation to generation. Exod. 3:[13,] 14, 15.

Since God alone is I am or Being, that is, Jehovah, therefore there cannot be anything in the created universe which does not owe its being to Him; how this happens will be seen below. The same is meant also by these words:

I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End, Alpha and Omega. Isa. 44:6; Rev. 1:8, 11; 22:13.

This means that He is the one single source from beginning to end, from which everything comes.

[2] God is called Alpha and Omega*, the Beginning and the End, because alpha is the first and omega the last letter in the Greek alphabet, and they thus mean everything taken together. The reason is that every letter of the alphabet in the spiritual world stands for some thing. Vowels, which allow words to be pronounced, stand for something to do with affection or love. This is the origin of the speech of spirits or angels, and also of their writing-systems. But this is a mystery not previously known: there is a universal language used by all angels and spirits, which has nothing in common with any human language in the world. Everyone comes into possession of this language after death, for it is inborn in everyone from his creation. Therefore everyone throughout the spiritual world can understand everyone else. I have often been permitted to hear that language, and I have compared it with languages in the world, and found that it does not agree in the slightest detail with any natural language on earth. It differs from them in its basic principle, which is that each letter of every word stands for some thing. That can now be seen to be the reason why God is called Alpha and Omega, the one single source from beginning to end, from which everything comes. On this language and its writing-system, which is derived from the spiritual thought of angels, see CONJUGIAL LOVE (326-329), and also further in this book [280, 365.3, 386].

3482. Although the language used in the Word appears to mankind to be simple, and in some places crude, it is angelic language itself, though in its lowest form. For when angelic language, which is spiritual, falls into human expressions it cannot fall into any other type of language than this. Individual things are representative, and individual expressions carry a meaning. Since they were in direct communication with spirits and angels the ancients possessed no other kind of language. Their language was full of representatives, and a spiritual sense was present in each expression. Also, the books of the ancients were written in the same fashion, for talking and writing in that fashion was the aim of their wisdom. How far mankind has since then retreated from heaven becomes clear from this as well. At present it does not even know that the Word includes anything apart from that which is seen in the letter, not even that there is a spiritual sense in it. Whatever is said to lie beyond the literal sense is termed mystical, which solely on these grounds is rejected. This also explains why at the present day communication with heaven has been interrupted, so much so that few believe in the existence of any heaven at all. Indeed, amazing to say, far fewer of the learned and scholarly than of the simple believe in it.

246. THE SPEECH OF ANGELS WITH MAN

Angels who talk with man do not talk in their own language, but in the man's own language and also in other languages with which he is well acquainted, but not in languages unknown to him. This is so because when angels speak with a man they turn themselves to him and conjoin themselves with him; and this conjunction of angel with man causes both to be in like thought; and as man's thought clings to his memory, and this is the source of his speech, each of them has the same language. Moreover, when an angel or a spirit comes to a man, and by turning to him is conjoined to him, he so enters into the entire memory of the man that he hardly knows otherwise than that he is aware, from himself of whatever the man knows, including his languages. [2] I have talked with angels about this, and have said that they probably supposed that they were addressing me in my mother tongue, because it is so perceived, when yet it was not they who spoke but I; and that this may be confirmed from the fact that angels cannot utter a single word of human language (see n. 237). Furthermore, human language is natural and they are spiritual, and spiritual beings cannot utter anything in the natural way. To this they replied that they are aware that their conjunction with the man with whom they are speaking is with his spiritual thought, but because his spiritual thought flows into his natural thought, and his natural thought clings to his memory, the language of the man and all his knowledge appear to them to be their own; and that this is so for this reason, that because it is the Lord's pleasure that there should be such a conjunction and, as it were, implantation of heaven with man, yet the state of man at this day is so different that this conjunction is no longer with angels, but with spirits who are not in heaven. [3] When I talked about this with spirits also they were unwilling to believe that it is the man who speaks, insisting that they spoke

in man, also that man's knowledge is their knowledge and not the man's knowledge, consequently that everything that man knows is from them. I tried to convince them by many proofs that this is not true, but in vain. Who are meant by spirits and who are meant by angels will be told in pages following when the world of spirits is to be considered.

6090. SPIRITUAL LANGUAGE OR SPEECH.

That spiritual language, or speech, has nothing at all in common with human languages, was manifest to me from the words of that language, which cannot be in the least understood by any man; and yet, nevertheless, every man comes into that language, after death, of his own accord; so that it is implanted in his spiritual man, but not in the natural. This may be evident from these two words - they say, vita vella, which signifies, Let him be afar off and depart quickly; and from the word, scapuleja, which signifies, to cast out of doors. I have not yet been taught whence the words of that language originate. They take up the words, not from the sound of affection, but from the significations of the vowels and consonants: the ideas of thought fall into such unfoldings of the lips. - Their writing differs from the speech.

2137. THAT FROM THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS ALL LANGUAGES DERIVE THEIR ORIGIN.

((((Spirits, whenever they speak, with whatever persons, speak the language of such as if it were their own [vernacula], nor do they know other than that they were born in their land, and educated in that language. It is, as it were, their own tongue [vernacula], nor do they know differently, unless reflection is given them. Thus such as had lived in Europe and other parts of the earth, and had died some thousands of years before, spoke with me in my language, with which they were as well acquainted as I myself. They were not aware that it was my vernacular, therefore belonged to another region, before they were told; yea, if it is the Lord's good pleasure, they can speak a language much more correctly and fluently than one born in that region and educated in the language. This was also a matter of my personal experience.

4778. [4811] CONCERNING LIGHT IN THE OTHER LIFE. LETTERS PRINTED WITH TYPE WERE SEEN.

It was shown in what light appear those things which are in the other life. I once saw, in a chamber, some persons doing something, and in such a light that the noonday light of the sun would not half equal it. [4812] It was also granted to see printed letters, which I read, and this, in such light, as our noonday would not furnish. I saw and read the least particulars of a letter, and this, in order that I might know in what light are the things which are in the other life; and also that they have written letters, and also, as it were, letters printed with type; and that, in the other life, they also know how to read. But I did not understand the language in which it was written It was said, that, since this is so, the language in which it is written, which is from the variety of sound according to affections thus a rational language is a peculiar one; and that the most ancient language, to which the Hebrew approaches, was of such a character. If this should be true!

332. [324] WONDERFUL THINGS [CONCERNING THE LANGUAGE OF SPIRITS].

Spirits and angels do not know otherwise than that they speak the same language they did in the world, write as they did in the world, and think as they did in the world, when yet they speak the spiritual language, in which there is no expression similar to any in the world; and they write by letters and characters; but it differs so much from writings in the world, that there is nothing whatever that is similar, except the letters and some points. Yea, they think altogether otherwise than in the world, so differently, that no thought is similar; but still they do not know otherwise than that all things are similar.

That it is so I have often experienced by this, that spirits and angels when they are with me, are in my natural state; and it was said to them that in their spiritual state they should speak words and sentences, and retain the words with me in the natural state; and then there was not a single word alike, nor did they understand one of their words. They like-wise wrote a sentence in the spiritual state, and when it had been written it was shown in the natural state; there was nothing similar but the letters and points. Likewise when they thought in the spiritual state, they could not bring forth any idea of thought in the natural state.

As for example, they say Rocky [scopulosum] and to wish life [vitam velle]. Scopulosum in the spiritual language signifies that he casts out of doors, and vitam velle, that it is afar off. When they retain these expressions in the natural state, they do not understand them, nor any expression in the natural state when they come into the spiritual state. When they write scopulosum, they write ---, and when they write vitam velle, they write ---, and they suppose that they have written it fully. They write the sense of the words by alphabetic letters, each one of which signifies a thing ---. They write also by many signs, so that the greater the angelic wisdom is, the more things of wisdom they understand in the writing; the Word is thus written.

6199. Another spirit too imagined that he was myself. He was so sure of it that he believed, when he talked to me in my native tongue, that he was using his own; for he said that that language was his. But he was shown that the language proper to spirits is entirely different and that it is the universal language of all languages. He was shown that ideas flow from that language into my own native tongue, so that spirits do not speak independently but within me, and that this serves to show that they not only enter what is man s but also suppose it to be their own.

1221. The judgment of spirits

There are spirits who constitute the urinary province. The cruder among them examine every soul they come across, eager to thrash and punish them. But their judgment is such that whatever seems disagreeable to them or that they see as reproachable, they condemn and seek to punish without considering the circumstances.

For they go no deeper than the surface, not caring what the circumstances are. Even if the soul is not to blame, but only appears to be due to the company he is in, as can sometimes happen, they persist in attributing it to him. For this reason, nothing is committed to their judgment, unless unbeknownst to them the person is inwardly to blame.

So unless the Lord governed all people, and every detail, no one of mortals would escape this kind of judgment. They are above Gehenna, extending not far from the face and on its level, toward Gehenna, but above it. This, then, can be called the judgment of Gehenna [Matt. 23:33, see 852].

Their character can be evident from a comparison of their fantasies and life with the operation of the kidneys, ureters, and bladder. 1748, 8 March.

It is not easy to describe angelic language, because one has to use words that signal bodily and earthly things, consequently bodily and earthly mental images, [variously] according to each individual's state of mind.

Angelic language is such that if angels were to dictate words, and then they were written, they would understand nothing but the sense of the words apart from any earthly and bodily mental image, while spirits and earthly humans would understand the same in an earthly and bodily way, as mental images corresponding [to the angelic ones] on the inward level.

I was surprised that I could neither think nor speak with the angels except...

1221 1/2. About angelic Language

I was surprised that I could not think and speak with the angels except through spirits, beyond only being able to know to some extent that it was angelic. And from my innermost feeling, I could sometimes suppose that I was thinking angelically, yet this was not the case.

9905. 'And you shall put into the breastplate of judgement the Urim and Thummim' means the radiance of Divine Truth from the Lord in last and lowest things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the breastplate of judgement' as Divine Truth shining forth from the Lord's Divine Good, dealt with in 9857; and from the meaning of 'the Urim and Thummim' as the light and radiance from there. The reason why light and radiance are meant by 'the Urim and Thummim' is that through the stones in the breastplate varying radiations of the light of heaven were emitted, these being determined by the answers given through them. This also explains why they assumed different colours. For the Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good manifests itself to the angels as light; it is the source of all the light of heaven. The colours from it, which are modifications of that light among the angels, are variations of intelligence and wisdom among them; for all wisdom and intelligence is a product of that Divine Truth or light. From this it may be recognized that radiations of that light in various colours are the medium through which Divine Truths coming as answers present themselves in the heavens. A similar function was served by the Urim and Thummim when God was asked something. But it should be remembered that whenever a radiance was seen in them the answer was declared at the same time by an audible voice. This declaration was made through angels, to whom what they declared had been revealed by the Lord through such a radiance; for as has been stated, this is how Divine Truths coming as answers present themselves in heaven.

[2] The light of heaven is Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good, see 1053, 1521-1533, 1619-1632, 2776, 3094, 3138, 3167, 3190, 3195, 3222, 3223, 3337, 3339, 3341, 3636, 3643, 3862, 3993, 4060, 4180, 4302, 4408, 4414, 4415, 4419, 4527, 4598, 5400, 6032, 6313, 6315, 6608, 6907, 7174, 8644, 8707, 8861, 9399, 9407, 9570, 9571 (end).

Colours appear in heaven, being modifications of that light among the angels, and so variations of intelligence and wisdom among them, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4742, 4922, 9466, 9467, 9865.

[3] The meaning of the words 'Urim' and 'Thummim' also goes to show that all this is so; for 'Urim' means a shining fire, and 'Thummim' the radiance from it. A shining fire is the Divine Truth emanating from the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love, and the radiance is that Truth on last and lowest levels, thus in effects. It should be recognized however that 'Thummim' in the Hebrew language means wholeness; it is in the angelic language that it means radiance. The expression 'in the angelic language' is used because when angels talk to one another they are thinking of the very essence of some matter as perceived deep within themselves, thus they speak in terms of its essential nature. What they express flows from those insights into appropriate sounds audible to the angels alone. The appropriate sound for the radiance of Divine Truth is Thummim. This then is the source of the term. Angels have a similar understanding of the word thum, meaning that which is whole or wholeness, whenever someone reads it in the Hebrew language. This explains why in the internal sense of the Word 'that which is whole' is used to mean Divine Truth on the level of effects, which is a life led in keeping with Divine commandments, as is made clear in a large number of places in the Word, such as Joshua 24:14; Judges 9:16, 19; Psalms 25:21; 37:37; 84:11; 101:2; 119:1. [4] This also explains why the Urim and Thummim are called the judgement of the children of Israel, as well as the breastplate of judgement, and also the judgement of the Urim; for 'judgement' means Divine Truth in doctrine and life, see above in 9857. From all this it may now become clear that by means of the Urim and Thummim, that is, by means of the radiance produced by the light of heaven, the breastplate revealed Divine Truths in the natural sphere, thus on last and lowest levels. A like radiance also presents itself in the minds of those who are guided by truths springing from good. This radiance declares to them, so to speak provides the answers, when with heartfelt desire they seek to know what is true and love it as that which is good. That this kind of radiance is the means by which Divine Truth from heaven is revealed in the natural man of those who are enlightened by the Word is something which the world has no idea of, because the world does not know of any light from heaven that shines in the human understanding. But I have been allowed to realize and actually see that all this is so.

[5] In addition it should be recognized that this radiance appears on last and lowest levels because all forms of light from the Divine reach right down to the furthest ends; and since they reach down that far they also shine in them and from them. This now explains why the breastplate was placed over the ephod and above the girdle of it; for the ephod represented Divine Truth on last and lowest levels, 9824, while its girdle represented a common bond that existed to hold all things in connection, 9828, 9837. This is why verse 28 of the present chapter says, And they shall tie the breastplate from its rings to the rings of the ephod, so that it is above the girdle of the ephod and the breastplate will not come away from upon the ephod. The reason why the names of the sons of Israel were in addition engraved [on the stones] was that the twelve tribes also represented all aspects of Divine Good and Truth in the heavens, consequently heaven and all the communities there, though that representation varied according to the order in which they are mentioned in the Word, see 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 4603, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7973, 7996, 7997.

2631. THAT THE HEBREW LANGUAGE IS OF SUCH A NATURE THAT THERE IS NOTHING ARTIFICIAL [THEREIN], AS IN THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS.

That the Hebrew language is of such a nature as to comprehend ideas, yea, the words such that in everyone there are many ideas, so that they are general [communes] ideas rather than words of another language, may be apparent from many things, as also that in it [ibi] there have been no vowels, so that the sense of the letter was known from the interior sense, but not the interior sense from the sense of the letter, which the rather happens when the vowels are adjoined; wherefore he who perceives the sense of the letter from the interior sense better understands what is written in the Hebrew language without vowels than with them. Therefore names also [voces nominum] are not distinguished by capital initials [initalibus majoribus]; therefore also there is no distinction by means of commas, and the like as in languages in which the sense of the letter is regarded [attenditur]. Besides also the mode of speaking in the Word is natural, not artificial, as may be plainly apparent from many things; to wit, that nearly everywhere they speak as if the person himself spoke: it is not said that he thus spoke, but [it is] as if he were speaking, and so forth [ita in aliis]. - 1748, July 17.

2414. About the Hebrew Language

I have learned from angels that the Hebrew Language is of such a nature that one must pay attention to the sense of the letter, and not so much to the letter. This is confirmed by many considerations, for which reason also it was written in the beginning without points. When thus read, without points, then only the sense was heeded, and from this vocalic intonations developed, as anyone with expertise in that language would know. If one reads it in the Word without points, then unless one is following the sense, one can never know what meaning is in those words, especially in the prophets. The vowels and the like that have been attached thrust the meaning down to the letter.

Now if several read the same prophetical books without points, they would develop many senses from them, and if they had attached vowels, each according to his own meaning, then the letters would have been marked differently by each one, and wherever they could not so mark them according to their meaning, they would have sought for anomalies in the words so as to be able still to fashion the word according to their own sense. For the language is of that nature that many anomalies do occur.

So it seems to have been allowed later, in view of the prevalent state of human minds, to attach points lest the readers distort the meaning each according to their own fantasy, that is, while living in the body. So it seems that the points were afterwards allowed to be attached, lest readers corrupt the meaning in various ways, each according to their own whim. Whether the points were Divinely inspired can be found out to an extent from the prophetical writings, where the meaning is understood by no one except the Lord, and those to whom it pleases the Lord to reveal it. 1748, 27 June.

5287. 'A man with intelligence and wisdom' means with regard to inflowing truth and good. This is clear from the meaning of 'a man with intelligence' as truth, and of 'a man with wisdom' as accompanying good. It should be recognized that 'a man with intelligence and wisdom' is not used in the internal sense to mean any actual man such as this but to mean, without reference to any actual person, that which makes someone intelligent and wise - to mean truth and good therefore. In the next life, especially in the heavens, all thought and consequently all language consists of images that do not involve any actual persons, so that thought and language there are universal and, compared with other forms of them, are free of limitations. For insofar as thought and language limit themselves to specific persons, especially to their personal characteristics, and insofar as they limit themselves to names and also to words, that thought and language become less universal; for these then limit themselves to something specific and do not stray from it. Insofar however as they do not focus on such things but on realities quite apart from them, they no longer limit themselves to something specific but spread out beyond themselves, with the result that a superior and therefore more universal picture is obtained.

[2] One may see the truth of this quite clearly in the way a person thinks. Insofar as his thought fixes its attention on the actual words a speaker uses, its attention is not fixed on their remaining. Also, insofar as his attention is fixed on particular ideas imprinted in his memory and remains concentrated on these, he has no perception of the essential nature of things. More than this, insofar as self-regard is present in everything he thinks he cramps his thought and denies himself an overall picture of anything. This explains why, insofar as anyone loves himself more than others, he is lacking in wisdom From all this one may now see why in the internal sense matters which have no reference to actual persons are meant by those descriptions which in the sense of the letter do limit themselves to such persons. See also 5225.

Various places in the Word draw a distinction between wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge Wisdom is used to mean that which that which springs from good, intelligence to mean that which springs from truth, and knowledge to mean to both of these as they exist in a person's natural, as in Moses,

I have filled Bezalel with the spirit of God, so far as wisdom, and intelligence, and knowledge, and all workmanship are concerned. Exod. 31:2, 3; 35:30, 31.

And in the same author,

5075. After these words. That this signifies after the things which precede, is evident from the signification of "words," in the original language, as being things; here therefore "after these words" means after these things, thus after the things which precede. That "words," in the original language signify things also, is because "words," in the internal sense signify truths of doctrine; and therefore all Divine truth in general is called the "Word," and the Lord Himself, from whom comes all Divine truth, is in the supreme sense the "Word" (n. 1288). And because nothing that exists in the universe is anything, that is, is a real thing, unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth, therefore "words" in the Hebrew language mean things also. That nothing in the universe is anything, that is, a real thing, unless it is from Divine good by Divine truth, that is, by the "Word," is plain in John:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1, 3).

[2] The interior significations of expressions for the most part originate in the interior man, which is among spirits and angels; for every man as to his spirit, or as to that very man which lives after the decease of the body, is in company with angels and spirits, although the external man is not aware of this; and because he is in company with them, he is also with them in the universal language, and thus in the origins of words. Hence there are imparted to words many significations which in the external form appear out of agreement, although in the internal form they are entirely in agreement-as here, that "words" signify things. It is the same in a host of cases, as that the understanding is called the inward "sight," light being attributed to it; that attention and obedience are called "hearing" and "hearkening;" that the perception of a thing is called "smelling;" and so forth.

2401. The spirits with a person on earth know all things in the

person, and possess them as their own

This is clear from innumerable instances, but the spirits do not know it, thinking the things are their own and that they have them from their own memory. So that I might learn this even better, I read the Hebrew language to some who had never understood a word of that language, but also first to some little children. They knew the language as well as I did: what I had learned, they knew as if they had learned it themselves, whereupon, given reflection, they ac-knowledged that it was so. 1748, 24 June.

4387. 'And Esau returned on that day on his own way, to Seir' means the state at that time of Divine Natural Good to which the goods of truth had been linked. This is clear from the meaning of 'day' as state, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462 - hence 'he returned on that day' means the state which it assumed at that point; from the representation of 'Esau' as Divine Natural Good, dealt with above in 4340; from the meaning of 'way' as truth, dealt with in 627, 2333, in this case the good of truth, which is truth in will and action, 4337, 4353; and from the meaning of 'Seir' as the joining of truth to good, dealt with above in 4384. These different meanings when drawn together to give one overall sense show that the words used here mean the state at that time of Divine Natural Good to which the goods of truth had been linked.

[2] It is not at all apparent from the historical sense of these words that such ideas are meant by them. All the same, it is just these ideas that those words hold within them in the spiritual or internal sense. For heaven, which is within man - that is, the angels who reside with him - do not have the slightest interest in details to do with the history of the world. Neither do they know who or what Esau was, who or what Seir was. Nor do they have any thought of the day when Esau returned or of the way to Seir; instead they gather ideas of the spiritual things which correspond to those historical facts, instantly deriving such a spiritual meaning from them For correspondences work in the following way: They are very much like a person talking in a foreign language to someone else who instantly understands what is meant as if in his own language, the sounds and pronunciation of the words actually used being no hindrance to him. So it is with the internal sense of the Word, which sense is in perfect agreement with the universal language which angels use, that is, with the spiritual speech which is expressive of their thought. Their speech is spiritual because their thought is a product of the light of heaven which shines from the Lord

1876. The names of men, kingdoms, or cities that occur in the Word, as with the expressions of human speech, disappear at the very threshold of their progress upwards; for those names are earthly, bodily, and material, being things of which souls entering the next life gradually divest themselves and of which those entering heaven do so altogether. Angels do not retain the least idea of any person, nor therefore of his name. What Abram is, what Isaac is, or Jacob, they do not know any longer. Instead they form an idea for themselves from the things that are represented and meant by those characters in the Word. Names and expressions are like dust or like scales that fall off when they enter heaven. From this it becomes clear that names in the Word mean nothing other than real things. On these matters I have spoken many times to angels, who have informed me fully regarding the truth. The speech that spirits employ among themselves does not consist of verbal expressions but of ideas, like those comprising human thought without words, and is therefore the universal language of all languages. But when they speak to man their speech falls into the expressions of human language, as stated in 1635, 1637, 1639.

[2] When discussing this matter with spirits I have been given to say that when they are conversing among themselves they are not able to utter one single word of human language, still less utter any name. Astonished by this some went away and tried to do so, but on returning they said that they had been unable to pronounce them because those words were so grossly material that they belonged below their own sphere, for such words were produced by an audible emission of air articulated by organs of the body, or else by means of an influx into the same organs by an internal route leading to the organ of hearing. From this it also became perfectly clear that no part of any expression which occurs in the Word was able to pass over to spirits. Still less could it pass over to angelic spirits, whose speech is even more universal, 1642. And least of all could it pass over to angels, 1643, with whom nothing remains of even the first ideas that spirits possess; instead angels have spiritual truths and celestial goods. Such truths and goods are varied in an indescribable manner in their least forms - which are continuous and knit together in a harmonious sequence - together with the first springs of representatives whose very great delightfulness and beauty flow from the happiness belonging to mutual love, and whose happiness flows from all their delight and beauty, because the Lord's life is inspired into them

1650. After this, they spoke still more uninterruptedly, so that the words were hardly noticeable. For it was like one panoramic mental image, although words were fashioned from it by me, but in such a way that they were not paid any notice. It was just like when a person, without any reflection upon the words, is only attending to the meaning, then the words seem not to exist. In this case, even though it was similar, still there was this difference, that it seemed to me as if the words disappeared and the speaking then went on by means of mental images alone. Yet it was more understandable than if words had been heard.

This language consisting of even more continuous mental images, being like one panoramic one, also moved the whole face, but started from the eyes, and then spread round about them. So this language was more inward than the previous one [1649]. They spoke also about this kind of language being in use with the people of their planet, that is, that they spoke thus with the better ones.

1123. About the speech of this earth-it is hardly understandable

to the spirits of the planet Jupiter

Mankind's language is understood, to be sure, by every spirit wherever born, even by those from the planet Jupiter. But because they are heavenly beings and [communicate by] thinking, they therefore have a kind of mental pictorial language that they do not even express by words, but only by more or less panoramic.

372. (1) All things of the mind have relation to the will and understanding, and all things of the body to the heart and lungs. By the mind nothing else is meant than the will and understanding, which in their complex are all things that affect man and all that he thinks, thus all things of man's affection and thought. The things that affect man are of his will, and the things that he thinks are of his understanding. That all things of man's thought are of his understanding is known, since he thinks from the understanding; but it is not so well known that all things of man's affection are of his will, this is not so well known because when man is thinking he pays no attention to the affection, but only to what he is thinking; just as when he hears a person speaking, he pays no attention to the tone of the voice but only to the language. Yet affection is related to thought as the tone of the voice is to the language; consequently the affection of the one speaking is known by the tone, and his thought by the language. Affection is of the will, because all affection is of love, and the will is the receptacle of love, as was shown above. He that is not aware that affection is of the will confounds affection with understanding, for he declares it to be one with thought, yet they are not one but act as one. That they are confounded is evident from the common expression, I think I will do this, meaning, I will to do it. But that they are two is also evident from a common expression, I wish to think about this matter; and when one thinks about it, the affection of the will is present in the thought of the understanding, like the tone in speech, as was said before. That all parts of the body have relation to the heart and lungs is known, but that there is a correspondence of the heart and lungs with the will and understanding is not known. This subject will therefore be treated in what follows.

4931. How great is the wickedness of those who come thither can scarcely be described, as it is inexpressible. It especially takes place by the abuse of correspondences and representatives - arts that are unknown in the world. In some cases, they present themselves naked, and so appear above as innocents, and, under the guise of innocence, perpetrate ill deeds. Some learn, in addition, the spiritual language, whereby they conjoin themselves with certain angels, and thus perpetrate ill deeds; but they do not have such a spiritual language as they have who are in heaven, but an artificial one; and they speak by it, not in spiritual but in natural ideas - which is altogether forbidden. Some devise for themselves another language, and so associate themselves that what they speak amongst themselves is not perceived by others; but others act differently, in thousands and thousands of ways. In a word, the wickedness there is indescribable.

4870. In some languages in the world, are some such natural [i. e. spontaneously-formed] words also given; and the most ancient language was no other than such speech of spirits - a speech perfectly natural. Man's interior ideas themselves are also in that language, although man is ignorant thereof - which is apparent from the fact that man, after death, when amongst spirits, speaks that language without instruction.

5253. 'And there is no one who can interpret it' means ignorance about what it held within it. This is clear from the meaning of 'interpreting' as what something held within it, dealt with in 5093, 5105, 5107, 5141 - ignorance about what it held within it therefore being meant by 'no one who can interpret it'. In the internal sense 'no one' does not mean no one or nobody, but simply absence or non-existence. Here therefore that which is 'not' is meant, thus something that is unknown to people or of which they are ignorant. The explanation for this is that one does not see in the internal sense any particular person, or indeed anything that has to do specifically with any person, see 5225; and by the expression 'no one' or nobody' no more than some general aspect of a person is implied.

[2] There are in general three elements which depart from the literal sense of the Word when it becomes the internal sense; these are the temporal, the spatial, and the personal. The reason for this is that neither time nor space exists in the spiritual world. These two elements belong properly to the natural order, which also accounts for its being said that those who die depart from the realm of time, leaving temporal concerns behind them. And the reason why in the spiritual world they do not see anything that has to do specifically with some person is that any focusing, when they speak, on some particular person narrows down and limits the idea they have in mind; such a focusing prevents any broadening or removal of limits to their idea. Their use, when they speak, of broadened and unlimited ideas renders their language universal, a language that includes and enables them to express countless and also wondrous ideas. This is what the language used by angels is like, especially that used by celestial angels, which, compared with that employed by others, knows no limitations. This being so, the whole of their speech reaches into what is infinite and into what is eternal, consequently into the Divine of the Lord.

261. This writing in characters of a heavenly form is in use in the inmost heaven, the angels of which surpass all others in wisdom. By means of these characters, they express the affections, from which thoughts flow and follow in order, in accordance with the subject treated of. Consequently these writings, which I have also been permitted to see, involve arcana which thought cannot exhaust. But such writings do not exist in the lower heavens. The writings there resemble the writings in the world, having like characters, and yet they are not intelligible to man, because they are in angelic language; and angelic language is such that it has nothing in common with human languages (n. 237). For by the vowels they express affections, by the consonants the ideas of thought from the affections, and by the words from these the sense of the matter (see above, n. 236, 241). Moreover, in this writing, which I have also seen, more is involved in a few words than a man can express in several pages. In this way they have the Word written in the lower heavens, and in the inmost heaven by heavenly characters.

4342. CONCERNING THE INTERIOR MEMORY AND THE SPEECH THENCE PROCEEDING.

I conversed with spirits on the subject of their language or speech being the universal of all languages. When they converse with each other, they are unable to utter the name of any man whatever, or a word of any human language, but when they converse with me they think it is from themselves, but it is from my corporeal or material memory, whereby their ideas flow into names and words. Affirming that they could do it, they made the attempt among themselves to pronounce the name of Abraham, but were unable, as their speech is not [a speech] of words, but of ideas; which are formed into the origins of words. It thence appeared - and I spoke with them on the subject that absolutely nothing of vocal speech, much less the name of any man, kingdom, or region, could pass to spirits, but that it perishes with man, and that the sense only remains, which is such that while it is obscure to man, it becomes distinct with spirits, and is branched out into [particular] ideas. When spirits think of any person, city, or the like, of which they have had an idea derived from their experience in the world, they barely bring up the idea before them, that is, whatever they have heard or seen or conceived of a man, a kingdom, a city, which idea is sometimes simultaneous, sometimes ramified into many, and from thence flows their speech and a full perception. Thus also I have often spoken with spirits, namely in their own speech, and they perceived everything distinctly, and more things indeed in a moment than could be uttered in an hour, because it embraces in its bosom as much as the internal sight and thought, and by this can be presented almost simultaneously what would require a long time to utter and many pages to contain, as anyone may be satisfied who will attend to it. - 1749, August 6.

4405. CONCERNING MARRIAGES AND ADULTERIES.

There were certain spirits who infested me with a peculiar cunning by a very gentle, and, as it were, waving influx, and quickly averted all my thoughts. Their influx was peculiar, and such as I had not previously experienced. After many such wiles and machinations, and after representations had been presented to them, that they might be led to desist from such things, but in vain, I at length spoke with one of them, perceiving that when he lived in the world he had been the leader of a certain army. I spoke with him concerning marriage and adulteries, observing that he had accounted adulteries as nothing in the life of his body. I spoke with him in the language of spirits, illustrated by representative ideas; for the language of spirits is such that, in expressing anything, they also present it, as it were visible, but in modes which cannot be described. Affections, cupidities, and similar things are presented to the life by variations of light, and these too modified with an almost endless variety. This speech is perceived very rapidly, so that more can be expressed [by it] in a moment, than by human speech in hours. The discourse was concerning adulteries, that they are abominable, although they appear before those who are such in the light of their life, as pleasant; but that they are abominable was shown by this, that marriages are the seminaries of the human race, and thence of the heavenly kingdom, thus of all the men in the earth, and of souls, of spirits, and of angels in the heavens, and [that] therefore they were to be held sacred, and never to be violated; that thence also in the Word, and among the precepts of the Decalogue, adulteries were so severely prohibited; that civil laws also throughout the world utterly prohibit them as things to be abhorred; that all such when they only approach to the heavenly societies perceive an insufferable stench from themselves, and are precipitated as if into hell, because [adulteries] are contrary to heavenly things, and because heaven and mutual love which makes heaven, are founded in conjugial love, and the kingdom itself of the Lord is a marriage, and all conjugial love descends from it, because from the Lord, and intimately conjoins minds, penetrates and affects them; as also, that the light of his life, which was adulterous and appeared to him so delightful, if it only approached heaven, would be turned into dire and infernal darkness, so that he would then think his life, from which he would perceive such a light with horror, to be altogether infernal. It was given me to say these things to him; whereupon he answered, that he never felt anything of this kind in the world. He would have objected ratiocinations, but it was said to him, that he could object a thousand ratiocinations favoring the delight of his life, until he became so entirely blinded as to believe [adulteries] lawful, for which reason it was not even permitted him to act by ratiocinations, because this [sanctity of marriage] is most true, and the [things asserted] are heavenly and eternal verities, thoroughly attested from experience as was said to him. It was at length shown that adulteries destroy conjugial love, which is the fundamental of all the loves of man. Being thus convicted he was indignant, nor was he able to say anything, but that he had never heard and thought thus in the life of the body. Pr: Eugenius. It was said moreover, because he wished to act by ratiocinations, that the truths which had been spoken to him should first be refuted [by him] and shown not to be truths, and that he ought not to speak from the delight of his life, and that afterwards, when he was convinced that adulteries are vile and that he was in another life, he then might look to ratiocinations and from his state judge of their true quality.

241. The angels of the Lord's celestial kingdom speak in a way resembling the speech of the angels of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, but it is from more interior thought. Celestial angels are in the good of love to the Lord, and therefore speak from wisdom; while spiritual angels are in the good of charity towards the neighbour, which in its essence is truth (n. 225), and therefore speak from intelligence, for wisdom is from good, and intelligence is from truth. For this reason the speech of celestial angels is like a gentle stream, soft, and as it were continuous; but the speech of spiritual angels is slightly vibratory and divided. The speech of celestial angels has much of the tones of the vowels u and a; while the speech of spiritual angels has much of the tones of e and i; for the vowels stand for tone, and in the tone there is affection, the tone of the speech of angels corresponding to their affection, as has been said above (n. 236) while the vocal articulations, which are words, correspond to the ideas of thought which are derived from affection. As vowels are not essential to a language, but serve by means of tones to elevate the words to the various affections according to each one's state, so in the Hebrew tongue the vowels are not expressed, and are also variously pronounced. From this a man's quality as to his affection and love is known to the angels. The speech of celestial angels is quite lacking in hard consonants, and it rarely passes from one consonant to another without the interposition of a word beginning with a vowel. This is why in the Word the particle "and" is so often interposed, as can be confirmed by those who read the Word in the Hebrew language, in which that word is soft, beginning and ending with a vowel sound. Again, in the Word, in Hebrew, it can in some measure be known from the words used whether they belong to the celestial class or the spiritual class, that is, whether they involve good or truth. Those involving good partake largely of the sounds of u and o, and also somewhat of a, while those involving truth partake of the sounds of e and i. Because it is especially in tones that affections show themselves, so in human speech, when great subjects are discussed, such as heaven (coelum) and God (Deus), those words are preferred that contain the vowels u and a. Musical tones also, whenever such themes are to be expressed, rise to the same fullness; but not when less exalted themes are considered. By such means musical art is able to express affections of various kinds.

236. In the entire heaven all have one language, and, from whatever society they come whether near or remote, they all understand one another. Language there is not learned but is implanted by nature with every one, for it flows from their very affection and thought. The tones of their speech correspond to their affection, and the vocal articulations which are words correspond to the ideas of thought that spring from the affection; and because of this correspondence the speech itself is spiritual, for it is affection sounding and thought speaking. [2] Any one who gives any thought to it can know that all thought is from affection which pertains to love, and that the ideas of thought are the various forms into which the general affection is distributed. For no thought or idea is possible apart from affection-their soul and life being from it. This enables angels to know, merely from another's speech, what he is-from the tone what his affection is, and from the vocal articulations of sound or words what his mind is. The wiser angels know from a single series of words, what the ruling affection is, for to that affection they chiefly attend. [3] It is known that each individual has a variety of affections, one when in joy, another when in grief another when in pity and compassion, another when in sincerity and truth, another when in love and charity, another when in zeal or in rage, another when in simulation and deceit, another when in quest of honour and glory, and so on, but the ruling affection or love is in all of these. Therefore, the wiser angels, because they perceive this, know from the speech the whole state of another. This it has been granted me to know from much experience. [4] I have heard angels disclosing the character of another's life merely from hearing him speak. They also said that from some of the ideas of another's thought they could know all things of his life, because from those ideas they know his ruling love, in which are all things in their order. They know also that man's book of life is nothing else.

319. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity because everyone is his own love, and love belongs to the will; also because every man is his own good or his own evil, for everything is called good, and likewise evil, that belongs to the love. Since a man is his own love he is also the form of his love, and may be called the organ of his life's love. It was stated above (n. 279) that the affections of a man's love and his consequent thoughts are changes and variations of the state and form of the organic substances of his mind, and what these changes and variations are and their nature will now be explained. Some idea of these may be obtained from the heart and lungs, where there are alternate expansions and compressions, or dilations and contractions, called in the heart systole and diastole, and in the lungs respirations; these are reciprocal extensions and retractions, or expansions and contractions of their lobes; such are the changes and variations of the state of the heart and lungs. There are similar changes and variations in the other viscera of the body and also in their parts, by which the blood and the animal juices are received and passed on.

[2] There are also similar changes and variations in the organic forms of the mind, which are the subjects of man's affections and thoughts, as was shown above; with this difference, that their expansions and compressions, or reciprocal actions, are respectively in such greater perfection that they cannot be expressed in words of natural language, but only in words of spiritual language which indicate by their sound that these changes and variations are vortex-like inward and outward gyrations, after the manner of perpetually circling spirals wonderfully combined into forms receptive of life.

[3] The nature of those purely organic substances and forms in the wicked and in the good will now be stated. In the good those spiral forms are moved forward but in the wicked backward, and those that are moved forward are turned towards the Lord and receive influx from Him; while those that are moved backward are turned towards hell and receive influx from hell. It should be known that in the degree that they are turned backward, they are open behind and closed in front; and, on the other hand, in the degree that they are turned forward, they are open in front and closed behind.

[4] Hence it may be evident what kind of a form or organ a wicked man is, and what kind of a form or organ a good man is, and that they are turned in opposite directions; and as the turning once established cannot be reversed it is clear that such as a man is when he dies such he remains to eternity. It is the love of man's will that makes this turning, or which converts and inverts; for, as was said above, every man is his own love. Hence it is that after death everyone goes the way of his love: he who is in a good love goes to heaven, and he who is in an evil love goes to hell; nor does man rest but in that society where his ruling love is; and what is wonderful, everyone knows the way, as though he scented it with his nostrils.

26. The Word

I have examined the way spiritual angels frame the words of their speech, and I discovered that they frame them and utter them according to and in consequence of ideas having to do with the things they symbolize. For example, when they say or pronounce "horse and carriage," they then use an expression that carries the symbolic meanings of these things, such as using a word for horse that comes from ideas having to do with the intellect, and a word for carriage that comes from ideas having to do with doctrine from the Word. And so on with the rest of their expressions. Thus they speak according to the correspondence about the things they see, even as people do. In short, they give names to things in accordance with their correspondence.

[2] It has consequently now been revealed to these angels that they use correspondences in the words of their speech. This they did not know before, but they discovered it when they were in a natural state with me, by examining in that state the ideas they had of things in a spiritual state. In a word, the expressions of their speech or language are all formed in accordance with correspondences.

[3] I asked the angels how they would write "horses harnessed to a carriage." They said they would write simply l, and that this letter would express it. I then asked how they would write "understanding of doctrine." They said they would do so likewise by writing l, only then they would have a higher thought of it. This, too, made it apparent that the expressions of their language involve correspondences. But few of them had paid any attention to this, just as few in this world give any thought to spiritual light when the light of the intellect is referred to, or when enlightenment and seeing the light are mentioned, or as few give any thought to spiritual fire and heat when heavenly fire is alluded to as the fire that burns in the heart, not knowing that fire and its heat correspond to love in the heart, that is, in the will, and that light corresponds to truth in the intellect.

5102. CONCERNING THE SPEECH OF SPIRITS, AND OF THE ANGELS IN THE HEAVENS.

There are three kinds of speech, the celestial, the spiritual and the natural, and one inflows into another and forms it. The Natural is the speech of men, and into it inflows Spiritual speech - which is with man, but man is ignorant of it [so long as he is in the world]; thus, it inflows through the man's interiors, which are in heaven. In such speech are the lowest spirits, [who are] with man when he is communing with himself, and when man speaks with spirits, as happens to some. Spiritual speech is of the quality which belongs to spirits and the angels in the second heaven, or in the Spiritual Kingdom. It is such a speech as is man's interior thought - of the quality of which he himself is ignorant, [and which exists] independently of the words of human speech; for man thinks apart from words; - and from it he comprehends a thousand things in a moment. This thought becomes his speech in the other life, and indeed everybody's. Hence it is that all spirits can be associated, as regards speech, and that everyone has it. It is sonorous, and as it were verbal; but the words are what are called intellectual ideas. It is speaking thought, like the interior thought which is excited by the act of hearing, when it passes into the expression of the eye. It should be known, moreover, that, when spirits are in their speech, they do not know anything about natural speech, and when they are in natural speech they do not know anything about spiritual speech, and scarcely that there is such a thing; for they are not able to pass from the one to the other at pleasure, but it occurs by removal from man. This speech, also, can be written. I have seen papers and letters written in this language, which I was able to read, but not in the least to understand, unless I was in the spirit separate from the body. The letters were similar [to those of natural language]. This Spiritual speech corresponds to the respiration of the lungs. This speech passes, from spirits out of their affections, it is true; but they are spiritual [affections], which correspond to the respiration. Thus, it flows spontaneously, and is, consequently, instinctive and universal.

There are wonderful things which could be related about it. But Celestial speech is of the affections which are of love, and correspond to the cardiacal functions, as spiritual speech does to the respiratory; but this speech is incomprehensible; and, still, it is the universal of all. It, also, is in man, [in] his inmosts, when these are opened to the Lord by means of love. They [in whom these inmosts are open], perceive the leasts of all the things of the Word, even to the little horns* - as was shown; also all and everyone of the affections of the Word. They are in the inmost sense, which treats of the Lord. They perceive, [when] with man, all things of his affection and love, whether he speaks, or sighs, or beats his breast, or weeps, or rejoices: they perceive the ends. Their ideas, therefore, in the thought and speech, are not from the understanding separate from the will, but conjoined with it; so that it is as if they were from the will itself. But, as was said, their speech is incomprehensible [to the spiritual] as to interior affections, but still intelligible as to the words thence derived; for the will speaks by means of the understanding. The intellectual affects spiritual [angels]; but their voluntary does not do so.

5114. Hence it is, also, that, in the Hebrew language, and in the Most Ancient language in general, there were words proper to the Celestial class, others proper to the Spiritual class, and some common to both. This is also observable, to a certain extent, in some other languages.

5579. Moreover, it was told me out of heaven that their writing there, in the celestial kingdom, was wholly different from the writing in the spiritual kingdom. In the spiritual kingdom, it occurs through words written in a like diction to that which is written in the world, but their words there belong to their natural* or universal language, in which all spirits and angels are versed. I often saw such words in the Roman characters; but, when I was in the natural** sphere I understood nothing at all of it. There were the words, but they were not understood; but they are understood by any spirit you please, whoever he may be. It was according to their natural* language which before. But the writing of the celestials is entirely different. It consists of various inflections in various forms; and every curvature and inflection signifies something. And thus they express, in one such form, more things than can be expressed by very, very many words in the spiritual tongue; while, yet, it is only some exterior things [that they express]. Thus, celestial angels know perfectly how to write and read; and this without any previous instruction.

3719. 'And said, How awesome is this place' means the holiness of the state. This is clear from the meaning of 'fear' as a holy change, dealt with immediately above in 3718 (because the word for 'awesome' in the original language is derived from the same word as fear is derived from, holiness is therefore meant by it. And because in the internal sense 'fear' means that which is holy, as stated immediately above, the same word in the original language also means veneration and respect, which likewise is holy fear); and from the meaning of 'place' as state, dealt with just above in 3716.

295. The state of souls after death in regard to memory

Spirits believe, as do souls after the death of the body, that they utilize all of the kind of memory they had in the life of the body. But by a revealing experience today, like some earlier ones, I have learned - and spoken with souls and spirits about the same matter, who were obliged to admit it - that they have no memory of personal matters, but a more inward memory that pertains to character, on which all and the least things are inscribed that they had ever thought in the life of the body and that they had done. One might say that knowledge more or less occupies the surface, and everything related to feelings constitutes the core.

1) To souls and spirits who were able to speak from their character making use of the knowledge within me, it could by no means appear otherwise than that they had retained all remembrance

of their bodily life. They put on that knowledge as if it were theirs, so that they could not know otherwise than that my memory was theirs. This happened in one way with those I had known in life, in another with those I had not known. This is obvious from the single fact, to which I bear witness, that all spirits when they came to me were able to speak in my vernacular tongue, no matter where they had been born, not knowing but that it was their language and that they had been born into it. About their own language they knew nothing whatever.

2) Their character takes the place of memory, so that they loathe, or love, truths or goodness, as if by some keen scent. For as soon as anything comes along that is not agreeable to their character, they bend it off toward things that soothe their character. They do this so skillfully and amazingly that they do not know but that they are acting from the memory.

Moreover, they can even converse among themselves on a variety of subjects from things in a person [they are with] - which is also amazing, although I did not hear [the discussion] - and then likewise, not know otherwise, than that they are speaking from their own former memory. Certain acquaintances were surprised at this, but still could not but acknowledge the truth of it.

But it must be understood that all things, even the very least, are so governed by God the Messiah that they cannot take out of anyone's memory any but those things that can serve a use. Thus it is wonderful the way all things and each detail are governed.

3) Nor should there be any doubt but that each and every detail inscribed on [the memory] during the life of the body can also be brought forth and shown to them, as I have experienced myself most lucidly. The smallest details are brought out, and even in their own point of time, and I could not in any way prevent it. To recount the particular experiences would be a needlessly lengthy undertaking. 1747, the 4th day of December.

14. And they that hear the words of the prophecy, signifies that they live according to the doctrine of heaven. This is evident from the signification of "hearing," as being to perceive and obey (see Arcana Coelestia, n. 2542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 10061); thus also to live according to that doctrine; for those who perceive and obey the doctrine of heaven live according to it; and from the signification of "the words of the prophecy," as being the truths that pertain to the doctrine of heaven; for "words" are truths (n. 4692, 5075); and "prophecy" is doctrine (n. 2534, 7269); here it is the doctrine of heaven, since it is prophecy belonging to the Word, and the Word is from heaven. To "hear" is to obey and to live, because with celestial angels the things that are heard enter into the life; but as this is a thing unknown, I would like to explain it briefly.

There are two senses given to man which serve as means of receiving the things whereby the rational is formed, and also the things by which man is reformed; these are the sense of sight and the sense of hearing; the other senses are for other uses. The things that enter by the sense of sight enter into man's understanding and enlighten it, for which reason by "sight" is signified the understanding enlightened, for the understanding corresponds to the sight of the eye, as the light of heaven corresponds to the light of the world. The things, however, that enter by the sense of hearing enter both into the understanding and into the will, and for this reason by "the hearing" is signified perception and obedience. Consequently, in human language, to "hear" anyone, and to "give ear to" anyone, also to "listen to," and "hearken to," are common expressions; and by "hearing anyone" is meant to perceive, and by "giving ear to," as also by "listening to" is meant to obey; while "hearkening to" means either perceiving or obeying. These expressions flowed down into human language out of the spiritual world, where man's spirit is. Their origin in the spiritual world shall also be explained.

[2] Those there who are in the province of the ear are obediences from perception. (That all who are in the spiritual world are in some province that is named from the members, organs, or viscera of man, because they correspond thereto, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 87-102.) Moreover, the province of the ear is in the axis of heaven; into it, therefore, or into those who are there, the whole spiritual world flows in, with the perception that "thus must it be done;" for this is the reigning perception in heaven; from this it is that those who are in that province are obediences from perception. That the things that enter by hearing enter immediately through the understanding into the will, may be further illustrated by the way in which angels of the celestial kingdom, who are most wise, are instructed. These angels receive all their wisdom by hearing, and not by sight; for whatsoever they hear about Divine things, they receive in the will from veneration and love, and make it of their life; and because they receive these things not first in the memory, but immediately in the life, they do not speak about matters of faith, but when these are mentioned by others, they answer, "Yea, yea," or "Nay, nay," according to the Lord's words in Matthew 5:37. From this it is evident that hearing is given to man chiefly for the reception of wisdom, and sight for the reception of intelligence. Wisdom is to perceive, to will, and to do; and intelligence is to know and to perceive. (That the celestial angels imbibe wisdom by hearing, not by sight, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 270, 271; and more concerning those angels, n. 20-28.)

2833. CONCERNING THE HEBREW LANGUAGE.

There are many words in the Hebrew language which contain a complex of many ideas in one, from opposite to opposite, so that the sense cannot be understood but from series, and this from the interior, otherwise than is the case in other languages, because they were in representatives, so that in one general idea might be many things, and so they did not come to interiors, because they were of such a character. - 1748, August 15.

1305.

Mental images among spirits are not like our words, as we can deduce from the fact that those of spirits come down into the words of every language. Therefore, if the ideas or speech of some spirit happened to flow into different people who spoke different languages, then even though he spoke in only one way, each would hear him talking in their own language or idiom.

So ideas of this kind are a different matter among spirits. They notice at once if profane mental images are mixed with holy ones. They strike their minds immediately, and they are aware of the profanation, differently than people on earth. 1748, 11 March.

9306. 'Take notice of his face' means holy fear. This is clear from the meaning of 'taking notice of the face', when it has reference to the Lord, whom 'the angel' is used to mean to here, as fearing that He may be angry on account of evils, or provoked on account of transgressions, as below; and fearing these things is holy fear. Regarding this fear, see 2826, 3718, 3719, 5459, 5534, 7280, 7788, 8816, 8925. The words 'taking notice of his face' are used because 'the face' means the interior things that constitute a person's life, thus his thought and affection, and in particular his faith and love. The reason for this is that the face has been fashioned so that it can produce an image of a person's interiors. It has been so fashioned to the end that those things which belong to the internal man may appear within the external, thus to the end that those things which belong to the spiritual world can be visualized in the natural world and so have an effect on one's neighbour. It is well known that the face presents visually, or as if in a mirror, what a person thinks and loves. This is so with honest people's faces, and especially with angels' faces, see 1999, 2434, 3527, 3573, 4066, 4326, 4796-4799, 5102, 5695, 6604, 8248-8250. For this reason 'face' in the original language is a general term that is used to describe the feelings a person has which reveal themselves, such as those of indulgence, favour, goodwill, helpfulness, or kindness, and also lack of pity, anger, or vengeance. So it is that in that language when this word is coupled with another it means beside, with, in front of, on account of, or else against, thus whatever is within, from, for, or against the person himself. For as has been stated, 'the face' is a person's true self, or that present within a person which reveals itself.

[2] All this enables one to know what is meant by the face of Jehovah, or 'the face of the angel', who in this instance is the Lord in respect of His Divine Human - namely the Divine Good of Divine Love, and the Divine Truth emanating from that Divine Good, since these reside within Jehovah or the Lord, come from Him, indeed are Himself, see 222, 223, 5585. From this it is evident what 'the face of Jehovah' means in the Blessing,

Jehovah make His face shine upon you and be merciful to you. Jehovah lift up His face upon you and give you peace. Num. 6:25, 26.

In David,

God be merciful to us and bless us and make His face shine upon us. Ps. 67:1.

The like may be seen in Ps. 80:3, 7, 19; 119:134, 135; Dan. 9:17; and in other places.

[3] So it is that the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the angel of Jehovah's face' in Isaiah,

I will cause the mercies of Jehovah to be remembered. He has rewarded* them according to His mercies, and according to the abundance of His mercies; and He became their Saviour. And the angel of His face saved them; in His love and in His pity He redeemed them. Isa. 63:7-9.

The reason why the Lord's Divine Human is called 'the angel of Jehovah's face' is that the Divine Human is the Divine Himself facially, that is, in outward form, as also the Lord teaches in John,

If you know Me you know My Father also, and from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said, Show us the Father. Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and yet you do not know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. John 14:7-11.

[4] 'Jehovah's (or the Lord's) face' also means anger, vengeance, punishment, and ill. It does so because simple people, in accepting the general idea that all things come from God, believe that even ill, especially the misery of punishment, comes from Him. For this reason - in keeping with that general idea, and also with appearances - anger, vengeance, punishment, or ill is attributed to Jehovah the Lord, when in fact the Lord is not the source of them but man. Regarding this, see 1861, 2447, 5798, 6071, 6832, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7877, 7926, 8197, 8227, 8228, 8282, 8483, 8632, 8875, 9128. This kind of meaning appears here in 'take notice of his face, lest you provoke him, for he will not bear your transgression', and also in Leviticus,

Whoever eats any blood, I will set My face against the soul eating blood and will cut him off from among his people. Lev. 17:10.

In Jeremiah,

I have set My face against the city for ill and not for good. Jer. 21:10.

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