Himmel
Himmel sind himmlische und spirituelle Dinge. Folglich sind sie das Innerste, beides des Reiches des Herrn im Himmel und auf der Erde. Dies bezieht sich auch auf die Kirche und jeden einzelnen, der ein Königreich des Herrn oder eine "Kirche" ist. Folglich bezeichnen die Himmel alles, was mit Liebe und Nächstenliebe zu tun hat, und den darauf beruhenden Glauben, sowie alles, was die innere Anbetung betrifft. In gleicher Weise bezeichnen sie alles, was mit dem inneren Sinn des Wortes zu tun hat. All diese Dinge sind Himmel und werden 'Der Thron des Herrn' genannt. Die früheren Himmel, die vergangen sind", wie in Offenbarung 21:1 erwähnt, bezeichnen die Gesellschaften derer in der geistigen Welt, die nur äußerlich oder scheinbar gut waren.
(Notae: Die Offenbarung Erklärt 21, Die Offenbarung Erklärt 675; Himmlischen Geheimnissen 2162)
Heaven and Hell #141
141. THE FOUR QUARTERS IN HEAVEN.
Both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters, east, south, west, and north, determined in each world by its own sun; in heaven by the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, in the world by the sun of the world. And yet there are great differences between them. In the first place, in the world that is called the south where the sun is in its greatest altitude above the earth, north where it is in its opposite position beneath the earth, east where it rises at an equinox, and west where it then sets. Thus in the world it is from the south that all the quarters are determined. But in heaven that is called the east where the Lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is the west, at the right is the south in heaven, and at the left the north; and this in whatever direction the face and the body are turned. Thus in heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are determined. That is called the east [oriens] where the Lord is seen as a sun, because all origin [origo] of life is from Him as a sun; moreover, so far as angels receive heat and light or love and intelligence from the Lord He is said to arise [exoriri] upon them. For the same reason the Lord is called the East [Oriens] in the Word. 1
V:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the highest sense the Lord is the east [oriens], because He is the sun of heaven, which is always rising and never setting (101, 5097, 9668).
