46. On the plurality of wives among Mohammedans

I spoke with Mohammedans about spiritual marriage, saying that it is a marriage of good and truth; that good loves truth and truth good like a married couple; and that these wish to be joined and bring forth goods and truths like daughters and sons, and as it were to procreate families. They understood this well, as also that conjugial love comes down from that spiritual origin, and that everything spiritual in man undergoes a change, so that it is scarcely recognisable, when it comes down to the natural; it can only be recognised by correspondences. From these facts it is plain that they, having several wives allowed by their religion, cannot have truly conjugial love. It was said that they are allowed several wives, that is, polygamy is permitted, because they live in hot climates and therefore are more heated with lust than those who live in cold climates. ¹ Therefore if they were not permitted polygamy, more of them would rush into adultery than would Europeans, and thus act contrary to their religious tenets; and to act contrary to one's religious tenets is to profane what is sacred. It was shown further that all their love of marriage is lascivious, and so not spiritual; nor can it become spiritual unless they acknowledge the Lord.

Footnotes:

100. The warmth and light that emanate from the Lord as the sun are what we call "spiritual;" and they are referred to as spiritual in the singular because they are a single whole. In the following pages, therefore, when it says "spiritual" it will mean both as a single whole. It is because of this spiritual [energy] that the whole other world is called "spiritual." Everything in that world has its source in that spiritual [energy] and takes its name from it as well.

The reason the warmth and light are called "spiritual" is that God is called "the Spirit," and God as the Spirit is that emanation. As to his very essence, God is called Jehovah; but he enlightens and gives life to heaven's angels and to us of the church through that emanation. This is why it is said that giving life and bringing about enlightenment are acts performed by the spirit of Jehovah.