10156. Who have brought them out from the land of Egypt. That this signifies salvation from hell by the Lord, is evident from the signification of “being brought out from the land of Egypt,” as being to be liberated from hell (see n. 8866, 9197), thus to be saved. That by “the land of Egypt” is signified hell, is because by that land in the genuine sense is signified the natural and its memory-knowledge; and to be brought forth from the natural man and its memory-knowledge, and to be raised into the spiritual man and its intelligence and wisdom, is also to be brought forth from hell. For man is born natural, but becomes spiritual through regeneration; and if he does not become spiritual, he is in hell; for the memory-knowledge of the natural man, that is, of a man not regenerated, is in the light of the world; but the intelligence of the spiritual man, that is, of the regenerate man, is in the light of heaven. And so long as a man is only in the light of the world, he is in hell; but when he is at the same time in the light of heaven, he is in heaven.

[2] Moreover, those who are solely in natural memory-knowledge, and consequently in no other light than the light of the world, cannot possibly believe the things which are of heaven; and even if they wish to enter into them by means of their own light, which is called natural light, they meet as it were a thick darkness, which blinds them and makes what is heavenly appear as nothing; for that which appears in the mind like thick darkness is tantamount to nothing. Hence it is that the merely natural man, no matter how much he believes himself to surpass others in light, at heart denies Divine and heavenly things; which also is the reason why so many of the learned reduce themselves by their knowledges to such insanity; for many of them deny the things that belong to the faith of the church and of heaven more than the simple do. It is otherwise with those who suffer themselves to be raised by the Lord into the light of heaven; for these are first raised above the memory-knowledges that belong to the natural man; and then from the light of heaven they see the things which are in their natural man and are called memory-knowledges, and well discriminate among them, adopting those they comprehend and which are congruent, and rejecting or laying aside those they do not comprehend and which are incongruent. In a word, the case herein is this.

[3] So long as a man is merely natural, so long his interiors, which see from the light of heaven, are closed; and the exteriors, which see from the light of the world, are open; and then the man looks downward, that is, into the world and to himself, for all the things that belong to his will and thought converge thither; and wherever the man looks, there his heart turns, that is, his will and his love. But when a man becomes spiritual, then his interiors, which see from the light of heaven, are opened, and then the man looks upward, which is effected by means of an uplifting by the Lord; thus he looks into heaven and to the Lord. Thither also are raised all things that belong to his will and his thought; thus his heart, that is, his love.

[4] For man has been so created that in respect to his internal he is formed according to the image of heaven, and in respect to his external according to the image of the world (n. 6057, 9279), to the end that heaven and the world may be conjoined in man, and that thus through man the Lord can inflow out of heaven into the world, and can direct the world; in particular with each one, and in general with all; and thus can conjoin the two, and thereby cause that in the world also there may be an image of heaven. But when a man cares solely for the world, heaven is closed with him; whereas when he suffers himself to be raised by the Lord, then heaven is opened with him, and the world is subjected to him. And when this is the case, hell is separated and removed from him; and then for the first time the man knows what good is and what evil is; but not before. This is what is called “the image of God” with man (Genesis 1:27-28).

[5] These things have been said that it may be known what the spiritual man is, and what the natural man, and that unless the merely natural man is made spiritual by the Lord, he is hell; consequently that it may be known why by “Egypt” is signified hell, seeing that by it is also signified the natural and its memory-knowledge. (That memory-knowledge is signified by “Egypt,” see the places cited in n. 9340; and that from this it signifies the natural, n. 9391; and also hell, n. 8866, 9197)

6057. Before any statement can be made about influx and the operation of the soul into the body, it must be well understood that the internal man is formed according to the image of heaven, and the external man according to the image of the world; insomuch that the internal man is a heaven in the least form, and the external man is a world in the least form, thus is a microcosm. That the external man is an image of the world, may be seen from the external or bodily senses; for the ear is formed according to the whole nature of the modification of the air; the lungs according to the whole nature of its pressure, as also is the general surface of the body, which is held in its form by the circumpressure of the air; the eye is formed according to the whole nature of ether and of light; the tongue to the sense of the solvent and fluent parts in liquids; and, together with the lungs, the trachea, the larynx, the glottis, the fauces, and the lips, according to the power of suitably modifying the air, whence come articulate sounds, or words, and harmonious sounds; the nostrils are formed according to the sense of particles fluent in the atmosphere; the sense of touch, which encompasses the whole body, is according to the sense of the changes of state in the air, namely, to the sense of its cold and heat, and also to the sense of liquids and to that of weights. The interior viscera to which the aerial atmosphere cannot enter are held in connection and form by a more subtle air, which is called ether; not to mention that all the secrets of interior nature are inscribed upon and applied to the external man, such as all the secret things of mechanics, of physics, of chemistry, and of optics. From all this it is evident that universal nature has contributed to the conformation of the external of man; and hence it is that the ancients called man a microcosm.

[2] And just as the external man has been formed according to the image of all things of the world, so has the internal man been formed according to the image of all things of heaven, that is, according to the image of the celestial and spiritual things which proceed from the Lord and from which and in which is heaven. The celestial things there are all those which are of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor; and the spiritual things there are all those of faith, which in themselves are so many and of such a nature that the tongue cannot possibly utter one millionth part of them. That the internal man has been formed according to the image of all these things, is strikingly shown in the angels, who when they appear before the internal sight (as they have appeared before mine), affect the inmosts by their mere presence; for love to the Lord and charity toward the neighbor pour out of them and penetrate, and the derivative things of faith shine forth from them and affect. By this and other proofs it has been made plain to me that as the internal man has been created to be an angel, he is a heaven in the least form.

[3] From all this it is now evident that in man the spiritual world is conjoined with the natural world, consequently that with him the spiritual world flows into the natural world in so vivid a manner that he can notice it, provided he pays attention. All this shows the nature of the interaction of the soul with the body, namely, that properly it is the communication of spiritual things which are of heaven, with natural things which are of the world, and that the communication is effected by means of influx, and is according to the conjunction. This communication which is effected by means of influx according to the conjunction is at this day unknown, for the reason that each and all things are attributed to nature, and nothing is known about what is spiritual, which at this day is so far set aside that when it is thought of it appears as nothing.