4. As long as the mind confines itself to the sense of the letter alone one cannot possibly see that its contents are such. Take for instance these first sections of Genesis: From the sense of the letter the only subject matter people recognize is the creation of the world, and the Garden of Eden which is called Paradise, and Adam as the first man to be created. Who thinks anything different? The fact that these things contain arcana however which have never been revealed up to now will be sufficiently clear from what follows - especially clear from the fact that the subject of Genesis 1 is, in the internal sense, the NEW CREATION of man, that is, in general his REGENERATION, and in particular the Most Ancient Church. And the subject is presented in such a way that not the smallest part of any expression fails to have a representation, carry a spiritual meaning, or embody something within itself.

1872. There appeared before me a lovely girl whose face was radiant. She was moving swiftly in an upward direction towards the right and slightly increasing her speed. She looked to be in the flower of youth, being neither a small child nor yet a young woman; and she was wearing an attractive and shining black dress. In this manner and with gladness she hastened from light on into light. I was told that the interior things of the Word are such when they first start to rise up, the black dress being the Word in the letter. After this the young girl flew towards my right cheek, but I perceived her flight with my interior sight only. I was told that these are the things from the internal sense of the Word which do not come within human comprehension.