2887. Present with man all the time there are evil spirits and there are angels. By means of the spirits he communicates with the hells, and by means of the angels with the heavens. If those spirits and angels were taken away from him he would instantly lose the ability to will and to think, and so would not have any life. This may seem paradoxical, but is perfectly true. But the subject of spirits and angels present with man is in the Lord's Divine mercy to be discussed elsewhere.

4192. 'Gather stones; and they took stones and made a heap' means truths arising out of good. This is clear from the meaning of 'stones' as truths, dealt with just above in 4190, and from the meaning of 'a heap' as good. The reason why 'a heap' means good is that in former times before they used to construct altars people made heaps and ate on them as a witness to their being joined together in love. But later on, when the representatives of the ancients were regarded as being holy, instead of heaps they built altars, which also consisted of stones but arranged more methodically, Joshua 22:28, 34. This is why 'a heap' has a similar meaning to an altar, namely the good of love, the stones of it meaning the truths of faith.