143. Nowadays it may seem strange that 'beasts' and 'animals' in ancient times meant affections and similar things residing with man. But because people had heavenly ideas then, and because such things are also represented in the world of spirits by animals - by such animals in fact as resemble those affections - this alone is what they therefore understood when they spoke in this fashion. And this alone is what is meant in the Word whenever beasts are mentioned in general or in particular. The whole prophetical section of the Word is full of things such as these, and therefore anyone who does not know the particular meaning of any beast cannot possibly understand what the Word contains in the internal sense. But as slated already, there are two kinds of beasts - evil ones, because they are harmful, and good ones, because they are harmless. Good beasts, such as sheep, lambs, and doves, mean good affections. Here, because the subject is the celestial man, or the celestial-spiritual man, the same applies. The fact that 'beasts' in general means affections has been confirmed from several places in the Word quoted already in 45, 46. So there is no need of further confirmation.

9110. The same experience also proved that the natural man cannot enter, that is, cannot come up into the spiritual man. But when a person who has faith and consequently leads a spiritual life is engaged in thought, the spiritual man comes down into - that is, it engages in thought within - the natural man. For influx, when it takes place, is spiritual; that is, it passes from the spiritual world into the natural world, but not vice versa. Physical influx is altogether contrary to order and unnatural, thus is impossible, see 3721, 5119, 5259, 5779, 6322, 8237. This explains why, when the natural man separated from the internal comes into a sphere of spiritual life, he is seized first with blindness, then with insanity, and finally with agony. So it is also that those in hell do not dare to look towards heaven, 4225, 4226, 8137, 8265, 8945, 8946.