588. Which can neither see nor hear nor walk, signifies in which and from which there is nothing of the understanding of truth or the perception of good, and thus nothing of spiritual life. This is evident from the signification of "to see," as being to understand truth (See above, n. 11, 260, 529); also from the signification of "to hear," as being to perceive and obey (See also above, n. 14, 249), and as being to have understanding to perceive, n. 529; also from the signification of "to walk," as being to live spiritually, and in reference to the Lord that it is life itself (See above, n. 97). From this it is clear that "not to see, to hear, or to walk," signifies that there is no understanding of truth, no perception of good, and thence no spiritual life; these are not in idols or from them, for "idols" signify the falsities of doctrine, of religion, and of worship, and such things are not in falsities, but in truths that are from good; in truths and from them is all understanding, all perception from the will of good, and consequently spiritual life. It is said "consequently," because spiritual life consists in the understanding of truth and in perception from the will of good; for truths are in the light of heaven, and this so much that the truths themselves give light in heaven, and this because the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord makes all light in the spiritual world, and that light gives all intelligence and wisdom to angels.

Now as truths themselves are of the light it follows that falsities are of no light, for they extinguish light, consequently falsities are called in the Word "darkness" (See above, n. 526); and as they are darkness, they are the shadow of spiritual death. But it is to be known that the falsities of evil constitute such darkness, not falsities that are not from evil. "To hear" signifies perception from the will of good, and thence obedience, because speech enters the ear at the same time with the sound, and the truths uttered enter the understanding and thence the thought, while sounds enter the will and thence the affection. That in the spiritual world sounds present and produce the affection which is of the will, and the words of the sound the thought which is of the understanding, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 236, 241, and above n. 323. From this it can be seen why "to hear" and "to hearken" also signify to obey, and the "ear" and "hearing" obedience.

13. XIII. How far indirect revelation made by means of the Word is superior to direct revelation by means of spirits.

It is believed that a person could be more enlightened and wiser, if he had direct revelation by talking with spirits and angels, but the reverse is true. Enlightenment by means of the Word follows an internal path, but enlightenment by means of direct revelation follows an external path. The internal path is through the will into the intellect, the external path is through the hearing into the intellect. A person is enlightened by the Lord by means of the Word to the extent that his will is governed by good. But by hearing he can be taught and so to speak enlightened, even though his will is governed by evil. What enters the intellect of a person who is governed by evil is not inside him, but outside, being only in the memory and not expressed in the way he lives. What is outside him and not expressed in the way he lives little by little disappears, if not earlier, at any rate after death. For a will governed by evil either rejects or chokes it, or falsifies and profanes it. For the will controls the way a person lives, and continually acts upon the intellect, and it looks upon what the intellect has from memory as extraneous.

On the other hand the intellect does not act upon the will, but only indicates how the will ought to act. If therefore someone knew from heaven all that the angels can ever know, or if he knew everything there is in the Word, and everything in all the teachings of the church, and in addition what the church fathers wrote and the councils laid down, and yet his will was governed by evil, he would still after death be regarded as knowing nothing, because he does not wish what he knows. Since evil hates truth, the person himself then rejects those things, and in their place adopts falsities which agree with the evil in his will.

[2] Moreover, no spirit or angel is given permission to teach anyone on this earth about Divine truths; but it is the Lord Himself who teaches each person by means of the Word. How much he is taught depends upon how far he receives in his will good from the Lord, and he receives the more, the more he shuns evils as sins. Also each person is in the company of spirits as regards his affections and the thoughts they inspire. In this company he is as one with them, so that spirits speaking with people draw on his affections to speak and are guided by them. A person cannot speak with other spirits, unless the communities to which he belongs are first removed. This happens only by reforming his will.

Since a person is in the company of spirits who share his religion, the spirits who speak with him confirm all the religious principles he has adopted. So the spirits of the Enthusiast sect confirm all the details of Enthusiast belief the person has adopted; Quaker spirits all the details of Quaker belief, Moravian spirits all the details of Moravian belief, and so on. This leads to confirmations of falsity which can never be eradicated. These facts make it plain that indirect revelation by means of the Word is superior to direct revelation by means of spirits. As regards myself, I was not allowed to learn anything from the lips of a spirit or angel, but only from the lips of the Lord.