346, 6. There are two forms in which activation by inflow occurs, the plant form and the animal form. It is common knowledge that our earth brings forth only two basic forms, since there are two kingdoms of nature called the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. All the members of each kingdom have many things in common. In the animal kingdom, for example, all its members have organs of sense as well as organs of motion, members, and viscera that are animated by their brains, hearts, and lungs. As for the plant kingdom, all its members put down roots into the ground and form stems, branches, leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds. If we look at the way both the animal and the plant kingdoms are brought forth in these forms, the beginning is by a spiritual inflow and a working from heaven's sun, where the Lord is, and not from any inflow and working of nature from its sun. This serves only to stabilize them, as already noted [339-340].

All the greater and lesser animals start from something spiritual on the lowest level, the one called "earthly." Only we humans come from all the levels, from the three that are called heavenly, spiritual, and earthly. Since each vertical or distinct step declines gradually from perfection to imperfection the way light declines into darkness, so do animals. The perfect ones are elephants, camels, horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, and the other members of flocks and herds. The less perfect are the winged ones, and the imperfect are fish and shellfish. Since they are the lowest of this level, it is as though they were in darkness, while the others are in light.

Still, since these all get their life only from the lowest spiritual level, the one called earthly, the only direction they can look is toward the earth and their food and, for propagation, their kindred. For all of them, their soul is an earthly desire and urge.

The same holds true for members of the plant kingdom. There are complete, less complete, and incomplete ones. The complete ones are fruit trees, the less complete are vines and shrubs, and the incomplete are grains. However, plants derive a usefulness from the spiritual reality that is their source, and animals derive passionate and impulsive natures from the spiritual reality that is their source, as already noted [313-316].