1974. As for the meaning of "evening and morning," in all phases of regeneration, both general and particular, the progression starts from evening, and tends toward morning. In general, the evening of those who are being regenerated is misery, temptations, despair, but they arrive at the morning. So also in detail, in all phases of regeneration one begins from evils, which are turned into good. And it is worth remembering that evil spirits begin, out of their own fantasies and passions, to arouse the person, but that these evils are turned into good in various ways. This has been revealed to me by experience lasting 3 years. So that is "evening and morning," and it applies to every least phase. Therefore it is the process not only of regeneration, but also of the perception of goodness. 1748, 16 May.

2989. It may also be known that images do not take shape in the mind exactly as they present themselves in the countenance, but are purely affections that take shape there. Nor do acts take shape in the mind exactly as they present themselves through actions in the body; rather, it is thoughts that are configured there. Things that belong to the mind are spiritual while those that belong to the body are natural. From this it is evident that a correspondence exists between spiritual things and natural, and that there is a representation of spiritual things within natural. Or what amounts to the same, when the things that belong to the internal man take shape in the external, the things which are visible in the external are representative of the internal, and those in the external which accord with those in the internal are correspondent.