10188. 'And two rings of gold you shall make for it under the rim' means the sphere of Divine Good by means of which a joining together and preservation are effected. This is clear from the meaning of 'two' as a joining together, dealt with in 5194, 8423; from the meaning of 'rings' as a Divine sphere, dealt with in 9498, 9501; from the meaning of 'gold' as good, dealt with in 9874, 9881; and from the meaning of 'the rim' as a border serving to defend from the approach of evils and the harm these can do, dealt with immediately above in 10187. From these meanings it is evident that 'two rings of gold under the rim' means the sphere of Divine Good by means of which a joining together is effected. The reason why a preservation is also meant is that the poles were inserted into the rings and then served to carry [the altar], and 'carrying' means preserving, 9900.

[2] What the sphere of Divine Good is must be stated briefly here. The sphere of Divine Good fills the whole of heaven, and also extends into hell; for it is like the sphere of the sun's heat in the world, which in summer reaches even into dark places where the sun does not appear. That Divine sphere was likened by the ancients to circles of radiating light which had God in the middle of them and angels round about. Those therefore who allow themselves to be led by the Lord, and so who receive what is Divine from Him, are in the sphere of Divine Good, to the extent that they are receptive. Those however who are not receptive are, it is true, in that same sphere; but their interiors are closed off, to such an extent that they are insensitive to its influx. For the attention of those in hell is fixed on things of an external nature and not on those of an internal nature. From these external things furthermore evils and consequent falsities emanate, which as they appear around those spirits look like a pall of smoke from a furnace. As a consequence of this the external sphere of Divine Good there loses its effectiveness, while the internal sphere nevertheless remains. Though they are unreceptive of this sphere because the way for it to come in has been closed, the Lord nevertheless rules the hells by means of it.

[3] The reason why it is the sphere of Divine Good that emanates from the Lord is that the Sun of heaven, which is the Lord, is God's love; for that is how this love manifests itself there. The heat radiating from it is the good of love, while the light radiating from it is the truth of faith. This is why in the Word the sun is used to mean God's love, its fire and heat being the good of love, and its light the truth of faith.

[4] Furthermore from each individual angel there emanates a sphere from his love, as there does also from each good or bad spirit, in keeping with their loves, though the spheres emanating from them do not extend very far. But the Divine sphere extends through all creation, for it emanates from what is inmost, and what is inmost is the all in all of the things that go out in order from it.

Regarding spheres, see what has been shown previously, in part from experience as well, in 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504-1512, 1695, 2401, 4464, 5179, 6206(end), 6598-6613, 7454, 8063, 8630, 8794, 8797, 9490-9492, 9498, 9499, 9534, 9606, 9607.

8630. Since the inhabitants of the planet Jupiter acquire intelligence in a different way than the inhabitants of our planet, and are in addition of different disposition by virtue of their life, they cannot stay together with them. If any from our planet come near they either flee from them or drive them away. Spheres exist, which must be called spiritual spheres, which constantly emanate from, indeed well out of each community. Those spheres flow from the activity of members' affections and resulting thoughts, and so are emanations of the actual life within them. Regarding spheres, see 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504, 1505, 1507, 1508, 1510-1519, 2401, 4464, 5179, 6206, 6598-6613, 7454, 8063.

[2] Associations in the next life are determined in every instance by such spheres. Those that agree with one another are fused together in the measure that they agree, and those that disagree are driven apart to the extent that they disagree. Each province in the Grand Man, to which some member or organ in the human body corresponds, has its own sphere, distinct and separate from the sphere of another province. So it is that those who belong to the same province are linked together, and those who belong to different ones are separated. Spirits and angels who come from the planet Jupiter correlate in the Grand Man with THE ABILITY TO FORM MENTAL IMAGES, and so with the state of activity taking place in the interior parts. But spirits belonging to our planet correlate with various functions performed by the exterior parts of the body, into which the ability to form mental images cannot enter, since those spirits wish to be in control. Hence the antagonism between the spheres.