1383. GENESIS – TWAALFDE HOOFDSTUK

De innerlijke gewaarwording van geesten en engelen, en de sferen in het andere leven. Onder de wonderen in het andere leven behoren de innerlijke gewaarwordingen; hiervan bestaan twee soorten: de ene, die de engelen eigen is, bestaat hierin, dat zij innerlijk gewaarworden, wat waar en goed is, en wat van de Heer komt, wat van henzelf, en verder, wanneer dat wat zij denken, spreken en doen, van henzelf komt, vanwaar het is en van welke aard. De andere soort, die allen met elkaar gemeen hebben, en welke de engelen in de hoogste volmaaktheid bezitten en de geesten overeenkomstig hun hoedanigheid, bestaat hierin, dat zij bij de eerste nadering van de ander weten, van welke aard hij is

4626. When any spirit is approaching, even though still a long way off and out of sight, his presence is detected, as often as the Lord allows it to be, from a certain kind of spiritual sphere. From that sphere one recognizes what his life is like, what his affection is like, and what his faith is like. Angelic spirits with keener perception know from his sphere countless things about the state of his life and faith, as has been demonstrated to me many times. When it pleases the Lord these spheres are also converted into odours; one smells quite distinctly an actual odour. The reason those spheres are converted into odours is that odour corresponds to perception and that perception is so to speak spiritual odour, from which also [natural] odour descends. But see what has been brought forward already on these matters - regarding spheres, in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1519, 1695, 2401, 2489, 4464; perception, in 483, 495, 503, 521, 536, 1383, 1384, 1388, 1391, 1397, 1398, 1504, 1640; and odours produced by these, in 1514, 1517-1519, 1631, 3577.

1384. As to the first kind - the angelic, which consists in the angels perceiving what is true and good, perceiving what is from the Lord and what from self, and perceiving the source and nature of their own thoughts, speech, and actions when these spring from self - I have been allowed to talk to members ¹ of the Most Ancient Church about their perception. They said that from themselves they neither think nor are able to think anything at all, and that from themselves do not will anything at all, but that in every single thing which they think or will they perceive what comes from the Lord and what from some other source. They also perceive, they have said, not only how much comes from the Lord and how much seemingly from themselves, but also when it seemingly comes from themselves, where it in fact comes from. They in that case perceive which angels it comes from, what is the character of those angels, and what their thoughts are, down to the smallest difference. Thus they perceive what the influx is, and countless other things. Perceptions of this kind exist in great variety. With celestial angels in whom love to the Lord reigns there is a perception of good, and from this of every aspect of truth. And because good is the source of the truth they perceive, they do not entertain any talk about truth, still less any reasoning about it, but simply say, It is so; or, It is not so; whereas spiritual angels, who also have perception, though not such as celestial angels have, are disposed to talk about truth and good. All the same, spiritual angels do perceive these, although with differences, for there are countless varieties of this perception. Such varieties are directly related to their perceiving whether something flows from the Lord's will, or from His consent, or from His permission - these being quite distinct from one another.

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