35. Man has two inherent powers of will and understanding. When the understanding is governed by the will they then constitute one mind and so one life; for what a person in that case wills and does he also thinks and intends. But when the understanding is at variance with the will, as it is with people who claim to have faith and yet live otherwise, then a mind previously one is split in two. One half seeks to transport itself into heaven, while the other inclines towards hell. And because the will is what accomplishes everything, the whole man would rush straight into hell unless the Lord took pity on him.

3298. 'Her days for bringing forth were completed' means the first state of the effect. This is clear from the meaning of 'days' as states, dealt with in 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, 2788. The first state of the effect is meant by 'the days for bringing forth were completed' because 'bringing forth' in the spiritual sense has to do with good and truth, and means in that sense the manifestation of these, 2621, 2629. Good and truth are similar to offspring, in that they are conceived, carried in the womb, born, and after that grow to maturity. After conception the efficient, or conceived, seed starts to produce the effect. This takes place in the womb. Once these states have been completed and the time to give birth is at hand, the effect at that point begins to exist, which is called the first state of the effect. For at that point the offspring begins to act independently so to speak and to strive to reach that state which is called the state of the effect.