303. Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? That this signifies whether any one there is of such a quality as to know and perceive the states of the life of all, is evident from the signification of, Who is worthy? as denoting, who has merit and justice, and who has omniscience, thus whether there are any of such a quality. That by worthy, when said of the Lord, merit and justice are signified; these belong to Him alone, as may be seen above (n. 293). And that omniscience is signified is evident from what follows, where it is said, that the Lamb took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, and opened it; for by the right hand is signified omniscience and omnipotence, as may be seen above (n. 297); from the signification of the book, as denoting the state of the life of all in general and in particular (concerning which see just above, n. 299); and from the signification of opening it and loosing the seals thereof, as denoting to know and perceive. For when a book signifies the states of the life of all, then to open and to loose the seals signifies to know and perceive the same; for to know and perceive are said of the state of the life, but to open and loose the seals are said of a book. Thus the words, in the internal sense, are accommodated to the things signified by the words in the sense of the letter, for they correspond; therefore, to open signifies to know, and to loose the seals signifies to perceive what is entirely hidden from others (as above, n. 300).

3342. Furthermore spirits and angels communicate everything to others by means of representatives. By means of wonderful variations of light and shade they bring their own thoughts in a vivid way before the internal sight and at the same time before the external sight of the one with whom they are communicating, and subtly introduce those thoughts by effecting appropriate changes in his affectional state. The representations manifested in their communications with others are not like those described already, but they are produced without delay and in an instant, together with the ideas conveyed in their communications. It is like a lengthy description of something, accompanied at the same time by the presentation before the eyes of a visual image of that thing. For amazing as it is, by means of varying kinds of images that are quite beyond man's comprehension any spiritual reality at all can be set forth in representative form in which inwardly there are things that go with the perception of truth, and still more inwardly those that go with the perception of good.

[2] Such things also exist within man - for man is a spirit clothed with the body - as becomes clear from the fact that when anything spoken that is perceived by the ear rises up towards the more interior parts, it passes into mental images not unlike those of visual objects, and from these into conceptual ideas, and in this way one comes to perceive the sense of the words. Anyone who reflects on these matters properly may recognize from them that within him there is his spirit, which is his internal man, and also that he has this kind of ability to communicate following his separation from the body, for the same ability exists with him though this is not evident to him in his lifetime because of the obscurity, indeed the thick darkness brought about by earthly, physical, and worldly things.