243. And white garments, that thou mayest be clothed, signifies genuine truths and intelligence therefrom. This is evident from the signification of "white garments," as being genuine truths, for garments signify truths (See above, n. 195), and "white" signifies what is genuine, and is predicated of truths (See above, n. 196); also from the signification of "to clothe," as being to acquire intelligence for oneself therefrom, for by means of genuine truths all intelligence is acquired; for the human understanding is formed to receive truths, therefore it becomes such as the truths are out of which it is formed. It is supposed that understanding is also the ability to reason from thought and to speak from falsities, and to confirm falsities by many arguments; but this is not understanding, it is only a faculty granted to man with the memory to which it is adjoined, and of which it is an activity. Yet by means of this faculty the understanding is born and formed, so far as man receives truths from affection; but genuine truths it is not possible for any man to receive from affection except only from the Lord, since they are from Him; consequently, to receive understanding, or to become intelligent, is not given to any man, except only from the Lord, but it is given to everyone who applies himself to receive (according to what was said above, n. 239. This, therefore, is signified by "I counsel thee to buy of Me white garments, that thou mayest be clothed."

1977. To make me fully aware of the way that dreams flow in I was put to sleep and dreamt of a boat approaching that was laden with delicacies and savories of every kind. These were stowed away in the boat, out of sight. On deck stood two armed guards, as well as a third man who was the captain. The boat was passing by into a kind of arched dock; and with this I woke up and thought about the dream. At that point the angelic spirits in front and above me over to the right addressed me. They declared that they were the source of this dream. So that I would know for sure that they were the source of it I was brought into a state where I was so to speak both asleep and awake at one and the same time. In a similar way they introduced different things that were pleasing and delightful, for example, an unknown tiny creature which was transformed into an object with blackish and shining rays which shot into my left eye at a fantastic speed. They also presented human beings, and also small children variously adorned, and other things besides whose delightfulness was indescribable. I spoke to those angelic spirits about these things also. This took place not just once but on a number of occasions, and each time they taught me by word of mouth.

[2] Those in whom such dreams originate are angelic spirits at the entrance to the paradise gardens. They are commissioned also to keep watch over certain people who are asleep, to prevent them being molested during that time by evil spirits. They perform their task with very great delight, so much so that they vie with one another to be there, and they love to fill man with joys and delights such as they see within his affection and disposition. Those who have become angelic spirits are drawn from those who during their lifetime took delight in and loved in every way to make other people's lives delightful. When a person's hearing has been opened far enough he hears as from afar a sweet rhythmic sound like singing coming from these spirits. They declared that they did not know from where such things as these, and representatives so beautiful and delightful, came to them all in a moment; but they were told that they came from heaven. They belong to the province of the cerebellum, for the cerebellum, as I have learned, remains awake even during periods of sleep when the cerebrum is sleeping. This was the source of the dreams, together with the perception of what these meant, which members of the Most Ancient Church had. And from those people were derived most of the representatives and meaningful signs of the Ancients, beneath which things deeply hidden were manifested, 1122.