15. The reason reality is not reality unless it is manifested is that before that happens it has no form, and if it has no form it has no attributes. Anything that has no attributes is not really anything. Whatever is manifest on the basis of its reality is one with that reality because it stems from that reality. This is the basis of their being united into a single entity, and this is why each belongs to the other reciprocally, with each being wholly present in every detail of the other, as it is in itself.

These two Latin words mean literally “to be” and “to exist”.

Swedenborg translators sometimes leave them in Latin, but they have also been translated as “being” and “manifestation”.

We can sort of think of esse and existere separately, but they are always conjoined. If there is something real, you have to be able to attach qualities to it, and if you can find qualities there has to be something to hold them. (This is true in fiction and imagination as well if you think about it.) When thinking about the Lord, His esse or being is the infinite Divine love and His existere or manifestation is the infinite Divine wisdom. Both are reflected throughout creation.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 795; Arcana Coelestia 1432, 3299, 5041, 5272 [2], 6880, 9809; Divine Love and Wisdom 14-17-18-22, 55; The Apocalypse Explained 1069 [2], 1111 [2]; True Christian Religion 18, 21)