26. XXVI ¹ . The Word.

Investigation was made into the manner in which the spiritual angels pronounce the words of their speech. I learned that they enunciate or pronounce them in accordance with ideas and these are the ideas conveyed by the things they mean. So when they enunciate or pronounce a horse and carriage, they express them by a word which has a [spiritual] meaning; for instance, a horse by a word based on an idea of the intellect, and a carriage by a word based on the idea of teaching from the Word, and likewise in other cases. Thus they use correspondence to speak of things which they see, as people on earth do. In short, they give things names based upon their correspondence.

[2] So now it has been disclosed to them that they have correspondences in the words of their speech. They did not know this previously, but it was disclosed by the fact that they investigated in my mind at the natural level their ideas about those in the spiritual state. In short, all the words of language they speak are formed from correspondences.

[3] I enquired how they write 'horses harnessed to a carriage'. They said they write only l, and this letter expresses that. Then I enquired how they write 'the understanding of teaching'. They said it was in the same way by l; but then they were thinking at a higher level. But few of them paid any attention to this, just as few in this world think of spiritual light, when mention is made of the light of the intellect, or of illumination and enlightenment; or of spiritual fire or heat when mention is made of heavenly fire, as for instance that which kindles hearts. They do not know that fire and the heat it gives corresponds to love, which is an emotion of the heart, that is, of the will, ² and light corresponds to truth, which is an action of the intellect.

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