52. Of the natural memory, which is of the external man, and of the spiritual memory, which is of the internal man.

Man has two memories, an exterior and an interior memory, or a natural and a spiritual memory (n. 2469-2494). Man does not know that he has an interior memory (n. 2470-2471). How much the interior memory excels the exterior memory (n. 2473). The things in the exterior memory are in natural light, but the things in the interior memory, in spiritual light (n. 5212). It is from the interior memory that man is able to think and speak intellectually and rationally (n. 9394[1-6]). All and every particular which man has thought, spoken, and done, and all that he has heard and seen, are inscribed on his interior memory (n. 2474, 7398). That memory is man's book of life (n. 2474, 9386, 9841, 10505). In the interior memory are the truths which are become of faith, and the goods which are become of love (n. 5212, 8067). The things which are rendered habitual, and have become of the life, are in the interior memory (n. 9394, 9723, 9841). Scientifics and knowledges are of the exterior memory (n. 5212, 9922). They are very obscure and involved, respectively to those things which are of the interior memory (n. 2831). The languages which man speaks in the world are from the exterior memory (n. 2472, 2476). Spirits and angels speak from the interior memory, and consequently their language is universal, being such that all can converse together, of whatever land they may be (n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493); concerning which language, see the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 234-245); and concerning the wonders of the interior memory; which remains with man after death (see n. 463).

5342. 'And laid up food in the cities' means that it stored them - truths linked to good - in the interior parts. This is clear from the meaning here of 'laying up' as storing; from the meaning of 'food' as truth linked to good, dealt with just above in 5340; and from the meaning of 'the cities' as the interior parts of the natural mind, dealt with above in 5297. The idea that truths linked to good are stored in the interior parts of the natural mind, and are preserved there for use subsequently in life, in particular for use in temptations when a person is being regenerated, is an arcanum known to few at the present day. Therefore the nature of this arcanum must be stated. The seven years of abundance of corn mean the truths multiplied initially, and the storage of grain in the cities, in the midst of them, means that those truths linked to good were stored away in a person's interior parts. The seven years of famine and the sustainment provided by the bunches that had been gathered means the state of regeneration effected by means of the truths that had been linked to good and stored away in the interior parts.

[2] The arcanum is this: During the time from earliest infancy through to early childhood a person is led by the Lord into heaven; indeed he is placed among celestial angels who serve to keep him in a state of innocence. This state which infants pass through until early childhood is a well-known one. At the beginning of childhood a gradual shedding of that state of innocence takes place; but even so, the person is kept in a state of charity through the charitable affection which he and his companions feel for one another. During this state, which with many people lasts through to adolescence, he is among spiritual angels. Because he begins at this time to think from what is within himself and to act in accordance with this, he cannot be kept any longer in charity, as he was previously; for now he calls on hereditary evils and allows them to lead him. Once this state has arrived the forms of the good of charity and innocence adopted by him previously are banished, to the extent that forms of evil are present in his thinking and are reinforced by his actions. Actually those forms of good are not banished but are withdrawn by the Lord to interior parts where they are stored away.

[3] But because he does not as yet know any truths, those forms of the good of innocence and charity which he has adopted during those two states do not possess any qualities as yet; for truths give good its qualities, while good gives truths their essence. From this time of life onwards therefore he is being equipped with truths by means of the teaching he receives, and especially by means of his own thoughts about and consequent verification of those truths. Insofar as he is moved at this time by an affection for good, the Lord joins truths to good in him, 5340, and stores them away for [future] use. This is the state that is meant by the seven years of abundance of corn. These truths linked to good are the ones which in a proper sense are called remnants. In the measure therefore that a person allows himself to be regenerated, the remnants serve a useful purpose; for the Lord draws in the same measure on that store of remnants and returns them to the natural. As a result a correspondence of exterior things with interior ones, or natural things with spiritual ones, is brought about; and this happens in the state that is meant by 'the seven years of famine'. This is the arcanum.

[4] At the present day the member of the Church thinks that no matter what anyone's life is like he can nevertheless by an act of mercy be accepted into heaven and enjoy eternal blessedness there; for the member of the Church imagines that it is simply a matter of being let in. But he is much mistaken, because no one can be let into heaven and find acceptance there unless he has acquired spiritual life, and no one can acquire spiritual life unless he is being regenerated, and no one can undergo regeneration except by means of goodness of life coupled to truth taught by doctrine. This is the way spiritual life is acquired by him. The fact that no one can enter heaven unless he has acquired spiritual life through regeneration is stated plainly by the Lord in John,

Truly, truly I say to you, Unless anyone is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 9:9.

And just after this,

Truly, truly I say to you, Unless a person has been born from water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. John 3:5.

'Water' is the truth taught by doctrine, 2702, 3058, 3424, 4976, and 'the spirit' is goodness of life. No one enters the kingdom simply through being baptized; rather, baptism is the sign denoting regeneration which the member of the Church should call to mind.

5212. 'And behold, seven heads of grain were coming up on one stalk' means facts known to the natural, which facts existed linked together. This is clear from the meaning of 'heads' or 'tips' as facts known to the natural, dealt with below, and from the meaning of 'on one stalk' as existing linked together, for all present on one stalk are linked together by their common origin. The reason facts are meant by 'heads' or 'tips' is that 'grain' means the good of the natural, 3580; for facts are the containers of natural good, just as heads are of grain. In general all truths are vessels for containing good; and so too are facts since these are truths of the lowest order. Truths of the lowest order, that is, the truths belonging to the exterior natural, are called known facts because they reside in a person's natural or external memory. They are also called such because for the most part they are dependent on the light of the world and can for that reason be presented and represented to others by the use of words, that is, by the use of ideas put into words that draw on things such as belong to the world and the light of the world. The contents of the interior memory however are not called facts but truths since these are dependent on the light of heaven. Without the aid of that light they are unintelligible, and without the use of words, that is, of ideas put into words that draw on things such as belong to heaven and the light of heaven they are inexpressible. The facts meant here by 'heads' or 'tips' are ones that are known to the Church, regarding which see 4749, 4844, 4964, 4965.

[2] The reason there were two dreams, one about seven cows, the other about seven heads of grain, was that in the internal sense both parts of the natural are dealt with, the interior natural and the exterior natural, the rebirth of the two being the subject in what follows. By 'the seven cows' are meant things in the interior natural which have been called the truths belonging to the natural, 5198; by 'the seven heads of grain' are meant the truths in the exterior natural, which are called facts.

[3] Interior facts and exterior ones are meant by 'the tips of the river Euphrates even to the river of Egypt' in Isaiah,

So it will be on that day, that Jehovah will smite from the tip of the river even to the river of Egypt, and you will be gathered one to another, O children of Israel. So it will be on that day, that a great trumpet will be blown, and they will come - those who are perishing in the land of Asshur, and those who are outcasts in the land of Egypt - and they will bow themselves down to Jehovah on the holy mountain, in Jerusalem. Isaiah 27:12-13.

'Those perishing in the land of Asshur' stands for interior truths, and 'the outcasts in the land of Egypt' for exterior truths, which are facts.

[4] Comparison with the blade, the tip or the ear, and the full grain also implies the rebirth of a person by means of factual knowledge, the truths of faith, and the good deeds of charity, in Mark,

Jesus said, The kingdom of God is like when someone casts seed onto the land. Then he sleeps and rises, by night and by day, but the seed sprouts and grows, he himself knowing not how; for the earth bears fruit of its own accord, first the blade, then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear. Once the fruit has been brought forth, he will immediately put in the sickle, because the harvest is established. Mark 4:26-29.

'The kingdom of God', which is compared to the blade, the ear, and the full grain, is heaven existing with a person through regeneration; for one who has been regenerated has the kingdom of God within him and he becomes an image of the kingdom of God, that is, of heaven. 'The blade' is factual knowledge, which comes first; 'the ear' is knowledge of what is true that develops out of that; and 'the full grain' is the good that develops out of this. In addition the laws laid down regarding gleanings, Leviticus 19:9; 23:22; regarding the freedom to pluck the ears on a companion's standing grain, Deuteronomy 23:25; and also regarding the non-eating of bread or of dried ears or of green ones before they had brought a gift to God, Leviticus 23:14, represented such things as are meant by 'ears'.