5051. In a peaceful dream I once saw some trees planted in a wooden receptacle, one of which was tall, another shorter, and two were small. The shorter tree gave me very great delight, and all the while a very lovely feeling of peacefulness, beyond my ability to describe, was filling my mind. When I woke up from my sleep I talked to those among whom my dream had originated. They were angelic spirits, see 1977, 1979. Who told me what was meant by that sight - conjugial love. The tall tree meant a husband, the shorter his wife, and the two small ones their children. Those angelic spirits went on to say that the very lovely feeling of peacefulness which filled my mind served to indicate the loveliness of the peace enjoyed by those in the next life who have led lives of genuine conjugial love. They added that people like these are the ones who belong to the province of the thighs immediately above the knees, and that those whose state is yet more lovely belong to the province of the loins. I was also shown that this province communicates through the feet with the soles and heels. The existence of this communication is also evident from the large nerve in the thigh which sends out its branches not only through the loins to the generative parts, which are the organs of conjugial love, but also through the feet to the soles and heels. Those angelic spirits also disclosed to me at this time the meaning in the Word of the acetabulum and the nerve in the thigh which was put out of joint when Jacob wrestled with the angel, Genesis 32:25, 31-32, dealt with in 4280, 4281, 4314-4317.

[2] After this I saw a large dog, like the one which very ancient authors call Cerberus. It had horrible, gaping jaws. I was told that a dog such as this means the guard which is set to prevent a person crossing over from heavenly conjugial love to a love of adultery, which is a hellish love. For heavenly conjugial love consists in one living, content in the Lord, together with one's partner whom one loves very tenderly, and with one's children. In the world this brings a person a deeper pleasure, and in the next life heavenly joy. But if people cross over from that love to its opposite, and this opposite love seems to them to hold heavenly delight within it, though in fact it is a hellish delight, a dog resembling Cerberus presents itself as if on guard to prevent any communication of opposite delights.

4280. In that lower sense the words 'he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh' mean where conjugial love is joined to natural good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the hollow of the thigh' as the place where conjugial love is linked to it, see above in 4277. The reason why the place where it is linked to natural good is meant is that it is the place where the thigh is joined to the feet. 'The feet' in the internal sense means natural good, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986.

[2] As regards 'the thigh' meaning conjugial love and 'the feet' natural good, that is one of those realities known in the past which have grown old and died. The Ancient Church, which existed in an age of representatives and meaningful signs, was extremely well acquainted with these meanings, such knowledge of them constituting their intelligence and wisdom. Indeed it constituted the intelligence and wisdom not only of those who belonged to the Church but also of those outside the Church, as becomes clear from the oldest books written by gentiles and from the stories in them which are nowadays called myths - for meaningful signs and representatives spread from the Ancient Church to those gentiles. With these also 'the thighs and loins' meant that which belonged to marriage, and 'the feet' things that were natural. The origin of this meaning of 'the thighs and the feet' lies in the correspondences of all the members, organs, and viscera of the human being with the Grand Man, which - that is to say, such correspondences - are being dealt with now at the ends of chapters. The correspondences with the thigh and the feet will be discussed again further on, where actual experience will be used to corroborate that their meaning is as indicated above.

[3] These things are bound to seem like enigmas at the present day because, as has been stated, that knowledge has grown very old indeed and died. Yet how far that knowledge excels other types of knowledge becomes clear from the consideration that the internal sense of the Word cannot possibly be known without that knowledge, as well as for the reason that the angels present with man perceive the Word according to that sense. It becomes clear also from the consideration that by means of that knowledge man is provided with communication with heaven. And what is unbelievable, the internal man himself does not think in any other way; for when the external man understands the Word according to the letter the internal man does so according to the internal sense, though while living in the body a person is not at all conscious of doing so. This becomes particularly clear from the fact that when anyone enters the next life and becomes an angel he has no need to learn the internal sense but knows it instinctively, so to speak.

[4] What conjugial love is which is meant by 'the thighs' and also by 'the loins', see 995, 1123, 2727-2759; and conjugial love is the basic love of all loves, 686, 3021. Consequently people who have genuine conjugial love in them also have celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and spiritual love, which is charity towards the neighbour. For this reason the expression 'conjugial love' is used to mean not only that love itself but also all celestial and spiritual love. These kinds of love are said to be joined to natural good when the internal man is joined to the external, that is, the spiritual man to the natural - that joining together of them being meant by 'the hollow of the thigh'. The fact that with Jacob and his descendants in general no such conjunction existed will be evident from what follows, for this is the subject dealt with here in the internal historical sense.