10199. Incense of spices. That this signifies grateful hearing and reception, is evident from the signification of “incense,” as being the hearing and reception by the Lord of all things of worship from love and charity (see n. 10177); and from the signification of “spices,” as being things that are grateful. It is from their odor that spices denote what is grateful, for “odor” signifies perceptivity; consequently a sweet odor signifies a grateful perceptivity, and an offensive odor an ungrateful perceptivity. For all things which are perceived by man through the organs of sense signify spiritual things, which bear relation to the good of love and to the truths of faith, as do smell, taste, sight, hearing, and touch; hence “smell” signifies the perceptivity of interior truth from the good of love; “taste” signifies the perception and affection of knowing and of being wise; “sight,” the understanding of the truths of faith; “hearing,” perceptivity from the good of faith, and from obedience; and “touch” in general, communication, transfer, and reception.

[2] The reason of this is that all external sensations derive their origin from internal sensations which are of the understanding and will, thus in man from the truths of faith and from the good of love, for these constitute the understanding and the will of man. But the internal sensations, which are proper to the understanding and will with man, have not that sense which the external sensations have, but are turned into such when they flow in; for all things made sensible to man by the external organs of sense, flow in from internal things, because all influx is from internal things into external, but not the reverse. For there is no such thing as physical influx, that is, influx from the natural world into the spiritual, but only from the spiritual world into the natural. The interiors of man which belong to his understanding and will are in the spiritual world, and his externals which belong to the senses of the body are in the natural world. From this also it can be seen what correspondence is, and what is its nature.

[3] (That smell in general corresponds to perception in respect to the quality of a thing, see n. 1514, 1517-1519, 3577, 4624-4634, 10054; taste, to the perception and affection of knowing and of growing wise, n. 3502, 4791-4805; sight, to the understanding of the truths of faith, n. 3863, 4403-4421, 4567, 5114, 5400, 6805; hearing, to the perception of the good of faith, and to obedience, n. 3869, 4652-4660, 7216, 8361, 9311, 9926; and that touch denotes communication, transfer, and reception, n. 10130)

[4] From all this it is evident that “spices” signify such things as are gratefully perceived, such as are those which are from love and charity; specifically, interior truths, because these are from this source, as is evident from the following passages in the Word, in Isaiah:

Instead of spice shall be rottenness; and instead of a girdle rending, and instead of braided work baldness (Isaiah 3:24); where the subject treated of is the daughters of Zion, by whom is signified the celestial church, which church is in interior truths from the good of love to the Lord; “spice” here denotes interior truth; “rottenness,” the privation thereof; a “girdle” denotes conjunction; a “rending” denotes the dispersion of connection and order; “braided work” denotes memory-truth, which is exterior truth, or the truth of the external man; and “baldness” denotes the deprivation of it. (That a “girdle” denotes conjunction and a bond, that all things may be kept in connection, so as to look to one end, see n. 9828; that “braided work” denotes memory-truth, n. 2831; and “baldness,” the deprivation of it, n. 9960)

[5] In Ezekiel:

An eagle great with wings came unto Lebanon, and brought down therefrom a small branch of cedar into the land of Canaan; in a city of those who deal in spices he set the head thereof (Ezekiel 17:3-4).

The subject here treated of in the internal sense is the beginning of a spiritual church and its growth, and afterward its perversion and end; by “an eagle great with wings” is signified the interior truth of this church (n. 3901, 8764); “wings” denote exterior truths (n. 8764, 9514); “Lebanon” denotes this church; the “cedar” there denotes the truth of the spiritual church; the “city of those who deal in spices” denotes where there is the doctrine of interior truth (that “cities” in the Word signify doctrines, see n. 402, 2449, 3216, 4492, 4493); it is from interior truths that it is called the “city of those who deal in spices.”

[6] Again:

The traders of Sheba and Raamah, by the chief of spice, and by every precious stone and gold, gave their tradings (Ezekiel 27:22).

The subject here treated of is Tyre, by which is signified the church in respect to the knowledges of good and truth; “traders” denote those who have these knowledges and communicate them; “Sheba and Raamah” denote those who are in the knowledges of things celestial and spiritual; “the chief of spice” denotes that which is grateful from interior truths; “precious stones” denote these truths themselves; and “gold” denotes their good. (That “Tyre” denotes the church in respect to the interior knowledges of good and truth, and in the abstract sense these knowledges themselves, see n. 1201; and that “traders” denote those who have these knowledges and communicate them, n. 2967, 4453; “Sheba and Raamah,” those who are in the knowledges of things celestial and spiritual, n. 1171, 3240; a “precious stone,” interior truth, n. 9863, 9865, 9873, 9874; and “gold,” its good, see the places cited in n. 9874, 9881)

[7] From this it is evident what was represented by the Queen of Sheba coming to Jerusalem to Solomon, “with camels carrying spices, and gold, and precious stone” (1 Kings 10:1-2); and by the wise men of the east offering to the child Jesus “gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matthew 2:11). As “spices” signified interior truths, thus such as are grateful, therefore the incense was made aromatic, and also the oil of anointing (of which in what follows in this chapter).

[8] By interior truths are meant those which have been made to be of the man’s life and affection, thus which are with him inwardly; but not the truths that are merely in the memory, and not made to be of the life. These truths are called external truths relatively, because they have not been inscribed on the life, but only on the memory; for they reside in the external man, and not in the internal man. The truths of faith which have been inscribed on the life are in the will, and those things which are in the will are in the internal man, for by means of the truths of faith the internal man is opened, and communication is effected with the heavens. From this it is evident that interior truths with man are those which are from the good of love and of charity. Whether you say the will, or the love, it is the same, for that which is of man’s will is of his love; and therefore truths inscribed on the life, which are called interior truths, are those which have been inscribed on the love, thus on the will, from which they afterward proceed when they come into speech and act.

[9] For heaven (in which is the internal man that has been opened) does not flow immediately into truths, but mediately through the good of love; and heaven cannot enter with man when the internal man is closed, because there is not any good of love there to receive it; and therefore with those with whom the internal man has not been opened by means of truths from the good of love and of charity, hell flows in with falsities from evil, however much the truths of faith, even interior ones, may reside in the external man only, that is, in the memory. From all this it can now be seen what is meant by interior truths which are grateful and are signified by “spices,” namely, those which are from the good of love and of charity.

8764. And I bare you on eagles’ wings. That this signifies and that thus by means of truths they were raised to heavenly light, is evident from the signification of “bearing anyone on eagles’ wings,” as being to be raised on high even into heavenly light; for by “bearing” is signified to be raised, by “wings” are signified spiritual truths, and by “an eagle,” the rational as to truth. (That “an eagle” has this signification, see n. 3901, for eagles fly on high.) For by the visible heaven the ancients understood the angelic heaven. Moreover the simple believed that there was the home of the angels, and also that on high, because nearer the sun and stars, was heavenly light itself. Hence it is that “to be borne on eagles’ wings” denotes to be borne on high into that light. That raising thither is effected by means of the truths of faith, is because the truth of faith is what raises man even to heaven, where its good is. That the rational as to truth is “an eagle,” is because the rational of man is his heaven, and the natural is relatively like the earth, for the rational constitutes the internal man, and the natural the external man.

[2] That “wings” denote spiritual truths, is because “birds” in general signify intellectual things and thoughts (n. 40, 745, 776, 3219, 5149, 7441); consequently “wings” denote spiritual truths, because all the intellectual is from these truths. The intellectual derived from falsities, however discerning and acute it appears, is not the intellectual; for the intellectual sees from the light of heaven, and the light of heaven is spiritual truth, that is, the truth of faith. Wherefore where there is no truth of faith, there is no light, but thick darkness, and an intellectual in thick darkness is no intellectual. “Wings” also denote the powers which belong to spiritual truth from its good; for the wings with birds are like the hands or arms with man, and by the “arms” and “hands” are signified powers (n. 878, 3387, 4931-4937, 5327, 5328, 5544, 6292, 6947, 7518, 7673, 8050, 8153, 8281, 8305). (That there is power in spiritual truth from good, see n. 3563, 4931, 5623, 6344, 6423.)

[3] That “wings” denote spiritual truths, or truths of faith which have power from good, is manifest from other passages in the Word. Wherefore when “wings” are attributed to the Divine, by them is signified the Divine truth which has omnipotence; as where they are attributed to the cherubs, by which is signified the Providence of the Lord, as in Ezekiel:

Every cherub had four faces, and every one of them had four wings; their wings were erect, the one toward the other; every one had wings that covered their bodies. I heard the sound of their wings like the sound of great waters, like the voice of Shaddai; when they went, a voice of tumult like the voice of a camp; when they stood, they let down their wings. I heard the voice of their wings kissing one another, and the voice of the wheels beside them. The voice of the wings of the cherubs was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of God Shaddai. The likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings (Ezekiel 1:6, 23-24; 3:13; 10:5, 21).

[4] That here “wings” denote truth Divine is evident from each particular of the description, as well as from the fact that the wings were erect the one toward the other, that they covered their bodies, and that the sound of them was heard like the sound of great waters, like the voice of wheels, and like the voice of Shaddai, and also that the likeness of the hands of a man was under their wings. That the wings were “erect the one toward the other” represented the consociation of all in the Divine; that they “covered their bodies” signified that the Divine truth was a covering to the Divine good from which it proceeds. For the Divine good is a flame, and the Divine truth is the light therefrom, encompassing and thus covering the flame. The flame itself does not appear in heaven, but only the light in which the flame is, and which is thus perceived as heat, which is love. That “a sound was heard like the sound of great waters” signifies the quality of Divine truth in heaven; in like manner “its voice like the voice of wheels, and like the voice of Shaddai;” for “sound” and “voice” are attributed to Divine truth. It is therefore said, “the voice of great waters,” because “waters” denote truths (see n. 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, 5668, 8137, 8138, 8568), as also “the voice of the wheels,” because “wheels” denote the truths of doctrinal things, for the reason that “chariots” denote doctrines of truth (n. 5321, 5945, 8146, 8148, 8215); and also “the voice of God Shaddai,” because “God Shaddai” denotes truth chiding in temptations and afterward consoling (n. 1992, 4572, 5628). “The likeness of the hands of a man under the wings” signified the omnipotence which belongs to Divine truth, because “hands” denote power, and in the supreme sense omnipotence, when they are attributed to the Lord.

[5] From all this it can be seen what was represented by the wings of the cherubs that were over the mercy-seat that was upon the ark of the covenant, and by their being expanded upward, and covering the mercy-seat (Exodus 25:20); also what the cherubs represented on the curtains of the tabernacle and on the veil, and likewise in the temple of Solomon; in like manner what they represented round about the new house described in Ezekiel 41:18-20; also what was signified by “the four animals round about the throne,” each of which “had for itself six wings round about” (Revelation 4:6, 8); and what by “the seraphim standing above the throne,” each one of which “had six wings” (Isaiah 6:1-2).

[6] That in the internal sense “wings” denote spiritual truths, or the truths of faith, is evident in Ezekiel:

Thus said the Lord Jehovih, A great eagle, great in wings, long in pinions, full of feathers which had broidery, came upon Lebanon, and took a little twig of the cedar, and carried it into a land of traffic; thereafter it took of the seed of the land, and set it in a field of sowing; it took it unto great waters, it sprouted and became a luxuriant vine. And there was another eagle, great in wings and full of feathers, to which behold the vine applied its roots, and sent forth its shoots unto it, in a good field by many waters; it was planted to make branch, and to bear fruit, that it might be for a vine of magnificence (Ezekiel 17:3-8).

This prophetic utterance describes the setting up again of a spiritual church by the Lord. The “eagle” there spoken of denotes faith; “great in wings and long in pinions” denotes the truths of faith; “broidery” denotes memory-knowledge; growth therefrom is described by “the little twig of the cedar from Lebanon,” by “a land of traffic,” “the seed of the land in a field of sowing, beside great waters;” the church itself thence arising is “the vine.” (That “a vine” denotes the spiritual church, see n. 1069, 5113; and that it denotes the external church, n. 6375; but “the vine of magnificence” which was from the other eagle, denotes the internal church, n. 6376; for the external of the church is described by one eagle, and its internal by the other.) Afterward is described by the prophet in the same chapter how that church which was set up with the ancients was perverted with the Jews.

[7] In like manner by “wings” is signified the truth of faith in David:

If ye will lie among the ranks, the wings of a dove will be overlaid with silver, and her pinions with yellow gold (Psalms 68:13).

“The wings of a dove” denote the truths of faith (that “a dove” denotes faith, see n. 870); they are said to be “overlaid with silver,” because “silver” denotes truth from good (n. 1551, 2954, 5658, 6914, 7999).

[8] That “wings” denote truth Divine, is also evident from the following passages:

They that await Jehovah are renewed in strength, they go up with wing like eagles (Isaiah 40:31).

God rode upon a cherub, and did fly, He was carried upon the wings of the wind (Psalms 18:10; 104:3);

treating of the Divine truth and its power. Again:

Jehovah shall cover thee under His wing, and under His wings shalt thou confide; truth is a shield and a buckler (Psalms 91:4).

“To be covered with the wing of Jehovah,” and “to confide under His wings,” denote the protection and confidence that belong to faith. The like is meant by being “under the shadow of God’s wings” (Psalms 17:8); “confiding in the shadow of His wings” (Psalms 36:7; 57:1; 61:4); and “singing in the shadow of His wings” (Psalms 63:7).

[9] As most expressions have also an opposite sense, so likewise have “wings,” in which sense “wings” signify falsities, as in John:

Out of the smoke of the pit of the abyss came forth locusts, and the voice of their wings was as the voice of many horses rushing to war (Revelation 9:2-3, 9); where “wings” denote falsities fighting against truth, for a “locust” denotes falsity in the extremes (n. 7643).