52. As long as someone is a spiritual man, the dominion over him runs from external man to internal man, as is said here, 'They will have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air', and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'. When however he becomes celestial and does what is good out of love, then the dominion over him runs from internal man to external man. This is how the Lord describes Himself, and so simultaneously the celestial man, who is a likeness of Him, in David,

You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, flocks and all cattle, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, ¹ and the fish of the sea, and that crossing the paths of the seas. Psalms 8:6-8.

Here therefore the beasts are mentioned first, the birds next, and the fish of the sea after that, for the reason that the celestial man starts with love which resides in the will. With the spiritual man it is different. With him fish and birds, which have to do with the understanding, the domain of faith, come first, while beasts come afterwards.

Footnotes:

9687. 'From violet and purple and twice-dyed scarlet and fine twined linen' means composed of the good of charity and faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'violet', 'purple', 'twice-dyed scarlet', and 'fine twined linen', where the veil, meaning the uniting intermediary between the inmost and middle heavens, is the subject. There these materials mean forms of the good of love and faith, dealt with in 9671; here however they mean forms of the good of charity and faith since the subject is the screen, by which the uniting intermediary between the second and lowest heavens is meant, 9686. For in the inmost heaven the good of love to the Lord is predominant, but in the middle heaven the good of charity towards the neighbour, and in the lowest heaven the good of faith. So it is that 'violet', 'purple', 'twice-dyed scarlet', and 'fine twined linen' mean the forms of good predominant in those heavens.