9061. He shall let him go free for his eye. That this signifies that it can no longer serve the internal man, is evident from the signification of “letting go free,” as being to dismiss from service; and from the signification of “for his eye,” which he had destroyed in the manservant, as being on account of the truth of faith extinguished in the external or natural man; for “the eye” denotes the intellectual, and consequently the truth of faith (see n. 9058, 9059), “to destroy” denotes to extinguish (n. 9060), and a “manservant” denotes the external or natural man (n. 9058). How the case herein is cannot be known unless it is known how the case is with the internal man relatively to the external man. The internal man cannot live a spiritual life unless the external man is in agreement; and therefore a man cannot be regenerated unless the natural man also is regenerated. From this it follows that if the truth of faith in the natural or external man shall be extinguished, it cannot any longer serve the internal man.

[2] It is the same with the external sight relatively to the internal sight. If the external sight has been injured, it cannot any longer serve the internal sight; for if the external sight distorts objects, the internal cannot see by means of it except with distortion. The case is the same with all the other members which are subject to the will, as with the arms, the hands, the fingers, the feet. If these are distorted, the will cannot act through them except in a distorted way. It is the same in the case of the natural or external man relatively to the internal man: if the memory-truths in the external or natural man are perverted or extinguished, the internal man cannot see truth, thus cannot think and perceive except pervertedly or falsely. From all this it is evident why the natural man must be regenerated in order that the man may be regenerated. (See also what has been shown above on this subject, n. 3286, 3321, 3469, 3493, 3573, 3620, 3623, 3679, 4588, 4618, 4667, 5165, 5168, 5427, 5428, 5477, 6299, 6564, 8742-8747, 9043)

6311. In the light just referred to are as before said the hells, and in it also are some who are not so evil, that is, who have not been avaricious, adulterous, or voluptuous, but who have come into this light because they have not cultivated their rational. It was given me early one morning to see these spirits in a kind of twilight; they appeared in a public place, in crowds, carrying bags in which were crude materials, weighing them, and carrying them away. Some sirens were at that time not far off, and I heard them saying that they desired to be there, because they saw men with their eyes. For as sirens have been more adulterous than others, and also in opposition to all heavenly and spiritual things, they cannot see other spirits, except such as are in sensuous light, because they themselves are of the same character.