365. (ii) The Lord flows in likewise in the case of every person with the whole essence of faith and charity.

This follows from the previous proposition, since the life of Divine wisdom is the essence of faith, and the life of Divine love is the essence of charity. Therefore, when the Lord is present with His own particular attributes, namely Divine wisdom and Divine love, He is also present with all the truths which make up faith and all the kinds of good which make up charity. For faith means every truth which the Lord enables a person to perceive, think and speak, and charity means every kind of good for which the Lord inspires an affection, and which the person consequently wills and does.

[2] I said above that the Divine love which radiates from the Lord as a sun is felt by the angels as heat, and the Divine wisdom from the same source is perceived as light. Anyone who is unable to pass beyond appearances in his thinking might hold the view that that heat is nothing but heat, and that light is nothing but light, such as are the heat and light radiated by the sun of our world. But the heat and light radiated by the Lord as a sun contain within themselves all the infinite possibilities in the Lord, the heat containing all the infinite possibilities of His love, the light all the infinite possibilities of His wisdom. Thus they also contain to an infinite degree all the good which makes up charity and all the truth which makes up faith. The reason is that that very sun is everywhere present in the form of its heat and light; and that sun is a circle most closely surrounding the Lord, and emanating from His Divine love and at the same time from His Divine wisdom. For, as has been said a number of times before, the Lord is in the midst of that sun.

[3] These statements now show plainly that there cannot be anything lacking to prevent a person drawing from the Lord, since He is omnipresent, all the good which makes up charity and all the truth which makes up faith. The fact that nothing of this is lacking is evident from a consideration of the love and wisdom of the angels of heaven; these they have from the Lord, and they are beyond description, passing the comprehension of a natural person, and they are capable of being increased for ever.

The infinite possibilities contained in the heat and light radiated by the Lord, even though they are perceived as simply heat and light, can be illustrated by various phenomena of the natural world. For instance, the sound of a person's voice and speech is heard as a simple sound, yet the angels on hearing it perceive in it all the affections which make up the person's love, and they also show which affections and of what kind they are. The fact that these things lie hidden within the sound one can even to some extent grasp from the sound of someone talking: for instance, whether it has in it a ring of contempt, or mockery, or hatred; and equally whether it has a ring of charity, good will, or cheerfulness, or other affections. The look the eye has when gazing at someone has something similar hidden in it.

[4] Another illustration might be the scents of a large garden, or the scents from broad expanses of flowering meadows. The fragrant odour they exhale is composed of thousands and myriads of various scents, yet they are still perceived as one. It is similar with many other things which, uniform as they appear externally, are still inwardly multifarious.

Sympathetic or antipathetic feelings are nothing but affections given off from the mind; they attract another the more strongly the more they resemble his, and repel him the more they differ from his. Although these feelings are countless and not felt by any bodily sense, they are still perceived by the sensory organs of the soul as one; and it is these which determine who are linked together and associated in the spiritual world. I have brought in these comparisons in order to illustrate what was said above about the spiritual light radiated by the Lord containing the whole of wisdom and the whole of faith; and to show that this is the light which allows the understanding to see and submit to analysis rational arguments, just as the eye sees and estimates the proportions of natural objects.

245. The four living creatures, each individually having six wings about it. (4:8) This symbolizes the Word in respect to its powers and protections.

We have already shown above that the four living creatures symbolize the Word. We will see below that wings symbolize powers and also protections.

The number six symbolizes completeness in respect to truth and goodness, as six is formed of three and two multiplied together, and three symbolizes completeness in respect to truth (no. 505), while two symbolizes completeness in respect to goodness (no. 762).

Wings symbolize powers because they are means of rising upward. Moreover, in the case of birds they take the place of the arms in the human being, and arms symbolize powers.

Since wings symbolize powers, and each living creature had six wings, it is apparent from what we said above what power is symbolized by each one's wings, namely, that the wings of the lion symbolize the power of combating the evils and falsities arising from hell, this being the power of the Word's Divine truth from the Lord; that the wings of the calf symbolize the power to affect hearts, for the Divine truth of the Word affects people who read it reverently; that the six wings of the human being symbolize the power to perceive the nature of God and what pertains to God, as this is peculiarly the mark of a human being in reading the Word; and that the wings of the eagle symbolize the power to recognize truth and good, and so to acquire for oneself intelligence.

[2] As regards the wings of cherubim, we read in Ezekiel that their wings kissed each other, that they had wings also covering their bodies, and that they had the likeness of hands under their wings (Ezekiel 1:23-24; 3:13; 10:5, 21). Kissing each other symbolizes conjoint and unanimous action. Covering their bodies symbolizes protection against violation of the interior truths which constitute the spiritual sense of the Word. And having the likeness of hands under their wings symbolizes powers.

Regarding seraphim, too, we are told that they had six wings, and that with two of them they covered their face, and with two their feet, and with two they flew (Isaiah 6:2). Seraphim likewise symbolize the Word, or more accurately doctrine drawn from the Word. The wings with which they covered their faces and feet likewise symbolize protections. And the wings with which they flew symbolize powers, as before.

That flying symbolizes to perceive and teach, and in the highest sense to foresee and provide, is clear as well from the following:

(God) rode upon a cherub, He flew, and He traveled on the wings of the wind. (Psalms 18:10, cf. 2 Samuel 22:11)

I saw (an) angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel... (Revelation 14:6)

[3] That wings symbolize protections is apparent from the following:

(Jehovah) covers you under His wing. (Psalms 91:4)

(To be hidden) under the shadow of (God's) wings... (Psalms 17:8)

(To trust) in the shadow of (His) wings. (Psalms 36:7; 57:1, cf. 63:7)

I spread My wing over you and covered your nakedness. (Ezekiel 16:8)

To you (shall be) healing in His wings. (Malachi 4:2)

As an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings..., carrying them on its wings, so Jehovah... leads him... (Deuteronomy 32:11-12)

(Jesus said,) "O Jerusalem...! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings... (Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34)