386. 1. Two universal atmospheres emanate from the Lord to preserve the universe in its created state, one of which is an atmosphere of procreating, and the other an atmosphere of protecting what has been procreated. We call the Divinity emanating from the Lord an atmosphere, because it goes out from Him, surrounds Him, fills both worlds - the spiritual and the natural - and brings about the effects of the ends which the Lord ordained at creation and which He subsequently provides.
Everything that flows out from an object, surrounds it and envelops it, is called an atmosphere. As, for example, the atmosphere of light and heat from the sun around it; the atmosphere of life from a person around him; the atmosphere of aroma from a shrub around it; the atmosphere of attraction from a magnet around it; and so on.
[2] But the universal atmospheres which we are discussing here are from the Lord around Him; and they emanate from the sun of the spiritual world, at whose center He is. From the Lord through that sun emanates an atmosphere of warmth and light, or to say the same thing, an atmosphere of love and wisdom, to bring about ends which are of use. However, that atmosphere is designated by various names according to the uses it serves. The Divine atmosphere in regard to the preservation of the universe in its created state by successive generations, is called an atmosphere of procreating; and the Divine atmosphere in regard to the preservation of those generations in their beginnings and afterwards in their advances, is called an atmosphere of protecting what has been procreated.
In addition to these two, there are a number of other Divine atmospheres, which are named according to the uses they serve, having thus various names, as may be seen above in no. 222. Effectuations of useful ends by means of these atmospheres are Divine providence.
