Heaven and Hell # 52
52. That any one society is heaven in lesser form might be evident from the fact that there is in every society a heavenly form as there is in the whole heaven. In the whole heaven those who are superior to the rest are in the middle, with the less excellent round about in decreasing order, even to the boundaries, as may be seen stated in a preceding section (43). It can be seen also from this that the Lord leads all in the whole heaven as if they were one angel. The same is true of those in any one society. Hence, an entire angelic society sometimes appears as a one in the form of an angel, as I have been enabled by the Lord to see. In fact, when the Lord appears in the midst of angels He does not appear thronged about by many but as one in the angelic form. This is why the Lord is called "an angel" in the Word, and so is an entire society. "Michael," "Gabriel", and "Raphael" are no other than angelic societies so named from their functions. 1
Notas de rodapé:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] In the Word the Lord is called an angel (Arcana Coelestia 6280, 6831, 8192, 9303).
An entire angelic society is called an angel, and "Michael" and "Raphael" are angelic societies, so called from their functions (Arcana Coelestia 8192).
The societies of heaven and the angels have no name, but are distinguished by the quality of their good, and by the idea of it (Arcana Coelestia 1705, 1754).
