6206. Verder moet men weten dat al het boze invloeit uit de hel en al het goede door de hemel uit de Heer; dat het boze echter de mens wordt toegeëigend, heeft als oorzaak dat de mens gelooft en zich overreedt dat hij dit zelf denkt en uit zichzelf doet, en zo dit tot het zijne maakt; indien hij geloofde zoals het hier werkelijk mee gesteld is, dan zou hem het boze niet worden toegeëigend, maar zou hem het goede uit de Heer worden toegeëigend; want dan zou hij direct als het boze invloeide, denken dat het was uit de boze geesten bij hem; en wanneer hij dit zou denken, zouden de engelen dit afwenden en verwerpen; want de invloeiing van de engelen is in datgene wat de mens weet en gelooft; maar niet in de dingen die de mens niet weet en gelooft; de invloeiing immers wordt niet ergens anders vastgehouden dan daar waar iets bij de mens is. Wanneer de mens zich zo het boze toe-eigent, verwerft hij zich de sfeer van dat boze en het is deze sfeer waaraan zich geesten uit de hel toevoegen die in de sfeer van een soortgelijk boze zijn, want het eendere wordt met het eendere verbonden. De geestelijke sfeer bij de mens of geest is de aan het leven van zijn liefden ontvloeiende uitwaseming; vanuit die wordt al van verre gekend hoedanig hij is; volgens de sferen worden allen in het andere leven, ook de gezelschappen onderling, verbonden en eveneens ontbonden; want tegengestelde sferen botsen en stoten elkaar wederkerig af; vandaar zijn de sferen van de liefden van het boze alle in de hel en de sferen van de liefden van het goede alle in de hemel, dat wil zeggen, degenen die daarin zijn.

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.