879. Verses 10-11 And he waited yet another seven days, and then proceeded to send out the dove from the ark. And the dove came back to him at evening time; and behold, in its mouth an olive leaf plucked off. And Noah knew that the waters had abated from over the earth.

'He waited yet another seven days' means the beginning of the second state of regeneration, 'seven days' meaning that which is holy, because now charity is the subject. 'And he proceeded to send out the dove from the ark' means a state of receiving the goods and truths of faith. 'And the dove returned to him at evening time' means that these started to show themselves a little, 'evening time' being similar in meaning to pre-morning twilight. 'And behold, in its mouth an olive leaf plucked off means a small measure of the truth of faith, 'leaf' meaning truth,' olive good that stems from charity, 'plucked off' the fact that the truth of faith derives from that charity, and 'in its mouth' the fact that it was made visible. 'And Noah knew that the waters had abated from over the earth' means that all this was so because the obstructive falsities were now fewer than previously.

150. The state of a person when caught up in the proprium, that is, when he imagines that he lives from himself, is compared to a deep sleep. Indeed the ancients actually called it 'a deep sleep' while the Word speaks of people having 'the spirit of deep sleep poured out on them, ¹ and of their sleeping a perpetual sleep. ² The fact that man's proprium is in itself dead, that is, that nobody possesses any life from himself, has been demonstrated in the world of spirits so completely that evil spirits who love nothing except the proprium, and insist stubbornly that they do live from themselves, have been convinced by means of living experience, and have admitted that they do not live from themselves. With regard to the human proprium I have for several years now been given a unique opportunity to know about it - in particular that not a trace of my thinking began in myself. I have also been allowed to perceive clearly that every idea constituting my thought flowed in [from somewhere], and sometimes how it flowed in, and where from. Consequently anyone who imagines that he lives from himself is in error. And in believing that he does live from himself he takes to himself everything evil and false, which he would never do if what he believed and what is actually the case were in agreement.

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