585. Dat door het menigvuldig geworden kwade van de mensen op de aarde wordt aangeduid, dat de wil tot het goede ophield te bestaan, blijkt uit het voorgaande, namelijk dat er geen wil meer was, maar alleen begeerte; verder uit de betekenis van de mens op aarde. De aarde, in de letterlijke zin, is de plaats waar de mens is; en daar de liefde tot de wil of tot de begeerte behoort, zo wordt de aarde voor de wil van de mens zelf genomen, want de mens is men krachtens zijn willen, en niet zozeer krachtens zijn weten en verstaan, daar het weten en verstaan uit zijn wil voortvloeit; al wat niet uit zijn wil voortvloeit, dat wil hij niet weten, noch verstaan; ja zelfs, wanneer hij anders spreekt en handelt dan hij wil, is er toch iets van een wil, buiten zijn spreken en handelen om, dat hem regeert. Dat het land Kanaän of het Heilige Land, voor de liefde, en dus voor de wil van de hemelse mens genomen wordt, kan door vele plaatsen in het Woord bevestigd worden; op dezelfde wijze dat de landen van verschillende heidense volken hun liefde aanduiden, welke in het algemeen de eigenliefde en de liefde tot de wereld zijn; omdat dit echter zo vaak voorkomt, is er hier ter plaatse niet bij stilgestaan. Hieruit blijkt dat de boosheid van de mensen op de aarde zijn natuurlijke boosheid betekent, dat tot de wil behoort; en het wordt vermenigvuldigd geheten, daar het bij allen nog niet zo verkeerd was of zij wilden anderen het goede, zij het dan om eigenbelang; dat het echter geheel en al verdorven is geworden, duidt het gedichtsel van de gedachten van het hart aan.

34. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA

Spiritual truths cannot be comprehended, unless the following universals are known:

I. All things in the universe have relation to good and truth, and to the conjunction of both, in order that they may be anything; consequently to love and faith, and their conjunction.

II. With man there is will and understanding, and the will is the receptacle of good, and the understanding the receptacle of truth, and all things with man have relation to those two, and to their conjunction, as all things relate to good and truth, and their conjunction.

III. There is an internal man and an external, and they are distinct one from the other like heaven and the world, and nevertheless that they ought to make one, in order that man may be truly man.

IV. The light of heaven is that in which the internal man is, and the light of the world that in which the external is; and the light of heaven is the Divine truth itself, from which is all intelligence.

V. There is a correspondence between the things which are in the internal, and those which are in the external man; and consequently they appear in each under a different form, so that they can only be discerned by the science of correspondences.

Unless these and many other things are known, it is impossible to form any ideas concerning spiritual and celestial things, but such as are incongruous; and thus the scientifics and knowledges, which are of the external man, without these universals, can be of little service to the rational man for understanding and growth. Hence it appears, how necessary scientifics are. Concerning those universals, much is said in the Arcana Coelestia.

6032. 'And was seen towards him' means perception. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and discerning, dealt with in 2150, 3764, 4567, 4723, 5400, and as having faith, 1315, 1807, 3863, 3869, 4403-4421, 5400. As regards the meaning of 'seeing' as understanding and therefore perceiving, and also as having faith, it should be recognized that a person has two components constituting his life - SPIRITUAL LIGHT and SPIRITUAL HEAT. Spiritual light constitutes the life of his understanding, and spiritual heat the life of his will. By virtue of its very own origin spiritual light is Divine Truth flowing from the Lord's Divine Good and is therefore the truth of faith flowing from the good of charity, while spiritual heat by virtue of its very own origin is the Divine Good of the Lord's Divine Love and is therefore the good of celestial love or love to the Lord and the good of spiritual love or love towards the neighbour. As has been stated, these two constitute the entire life in a person.

[2] As regards spiritual light, this is related to a person's understanding in the way that natural light is related to his external sight. That is to say, so that the eye can function, light must exist which enables it to do so. When it exists the eye beholds in that light everything all round outside itself. The same is true of the intellectual power of the mind, which is a person's inner eye. So that this eye can function the light of heaven flowing from the Lord must exist, enabling it to do so. And when this eye functions with the aid of that light it too beholds things all round outside itself. But the objects it sees are spiritual ones - facts and truths. When however it does not have the aid of that light, a person's intellectual power of the mind or inner eye is like his external or physical eye when this is in darkness and cannot see anything. That is, it does not from factual knowledge behold any truth, or from truth behold any good. The light which enables the intellectual power of the mind to function is light indeed, a kind of light which is a thousand times brighter than midday light in the world, as I can testify since I have beheld it. In that light all the angels in heaven see things all round outside themselves, and in that same light they also behold and perceive the truths of faith and the essential nature of them. This now explains why in the spiritual sense 'seeing' means not only the understanding but also any of its activities, such as cogitation, reflection, observation, circumspection, and many others, as well as meaning not only faith but also anything constituting faith, such as truth, teaching drawn from the Word, and the like.

[3] As regards spiritual heat however, this is related to a person's will in the way natural heat is related to his body, in that the one imparts life to the other. But by virtue of its very origin - an origin that can be traced back to the Lord - spiritual heat is nothing other than Divine Love towards the entire human race and the reciprocation of that love by man, to Him and also towards the neighbour. And that heat is heat indeed; it blesses angels' bodies with warmth and at the same time blesses their inmost beings with love. This is the reason why 'heat', 'flame', and 'fire', when used in the genuine sense in the Word, mean things connected with love, such as affections for goodness and truth, and also goodness itself.