4921. 'And the midwife took' means the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'the midwife' as the natural, dealt with in 4588. The implications of this will be evident from the following considerations. In the spiritual world 'midwife' means something different from what the word means in the natural world, as may be recognized from the consideration that in the spiritual world there is no such thing as childbirth or consequently midwifery. From this it is evident that when a person reads the words used here, the angels present with him do not perceive a midwife but instead something completely different; indeed they perceive something spiritual. Consequently because angels concentrate their ideas on things to do with a spiritual childbirth, their perception of 'the midwife' is therefore that which assists and receives this offspring - that which assists and receives it being the natural, see what has been shown in 4588.

1624. The form of one of the large rainbows was shown to me, so that from it I could get to know what their smallest forms were like. It was a pure white light with a kind of border, in the middle of which was a dark object as if made of earth. This was surrounded by an extremely luminous halo, itself variegated and divided up by another luminescence that had yellow dots like tiny stars. Additional variegations were produced by flowers of different colours entering the luminous area. The colours of these flowers emanated not from a white light but from a flame-like one. All of these appearances were representative of celestial and spiritual things. All the colours that are seen in the next life represent that which is celestial or spiritual. The colours emanating from the flame-like light represent things that belong to love and the affection for good, whereas colours emanating from the white light represent those that belong to faith and the affection for truth. These are the sources of all colours in the next life, and they are therefore so resplendent that the colours of this world cannot compare with them. Colours also exist there which are never seen in this world.