4099. En etende heeft hij ook ons zilver gegeten; dat dit betekent dat het ware van die aandoeningen zou verteren indien zij niet gescheiden werden, staat vast uit de betekenis van eten, namelijk verteren; en uit de betekenis van het zilver, namelijk het ware, nrs. 1551, 2954.

Dat ‘ons zilver’ wil zeggen het ware van die aandoeningen, is duidelijk, want door Rachel en Lea worden de aandoeningen van het ware aangeduid, zoals eerder hier en daar werd getoond. Wat deze dingen behelzen, kan men ook niet weten tenzij men weet hoe het gesteld is met de goede en ware dingen die door het goede als middel worden ingeboezemd, of tenzij men weet hoedanig de gezelschappen van de geesten zijn die als middellijk goede van dienst zijn; de gezelschappen van de geesten die als middellijk goede van dienst zijn, zijn die, die in de wereldse dingen zijn; maar de gezelschappen van de engelen die van dienst zijn om de aandoeningen van het ware binnen te leiden, zijn niet in wereldse dingen, maar in hemelse dingen; deze beide gezelschappen werken bij de mens die wordt wederverwekt; voor zoveel als de mens door de engelen in de hemelse dingen wordt ingewijd, voor zoveel worden de geesten die in de wereldse dingen zijn, verwijderd en indien zij niet verwijderd worden, dan worden de ware dingen verstrooid; want de wereldse en de hemelse dingen stemmen overeen bij de mens wanneer de hemelse dingen over de wereldse dingen heersen; maar zij stemmen niet samen wanneer de wereldse dingen over de hemelse dingen heersen; wanneer zij samenstemmen, dan worden de ware dingen in het natuurlijke van de mens vermenigvuldigd; maar wanneer zij niet samenstemmen, dan worden zij verminderd, ja zelfs verteerd, omdat de wereldse dingen de hemelse dingen verduisteren en ze dan in twijfel brengen, maar wanneer de hemelse dingen de heerschappij voeren, dan verlichten zij de wereldse dingen en stellen ze in een helder licht en nemen de twijfels weg; die dingen hebben de heerschappij die boven het andere worden geliefd. Hieruit kan blijken wat daaronder wordt verstaan dat het ware van de aandoeningen zou verteren indien zij niet gescheiden werden, wat wordt aangeduid door ‘etende heeft hij ons zilver gegeten’.

47. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA.

Of the internal and the external with man.

It is known in the Christian world, that man has an internal and an external, or an internal man and an external man; but it is little known what is the quality of the one and of the other (n. 1889, 1940). The internal man is spiritual, and the external is natural (n. 978, 1015, 4459, 6309,9701-9709). How the internal man which is spiritual is formed to the image of heaven; and the external which is natural to the image of the world; and man was therefore called by the ancients a microcosm (n. 3628, 4523-4524, 6057, 6314, 9706, 10156, 10472). Thus in man the spiritual world and natural world are conjoined (n. 6057, 10472). Thence man is such that he can look up towards heaven, and down towards the world (n. 7601, 7604, 7607). When he looks upwards, he is in the light of heaven and sees thence; but when he looks downwards, he is in the light of the world and sees thence (n. 3167, 10134). There is given with man a descent from the spiritual world into the natural (n. 3702, 4042).

The internal man which is spiritual, and the external man which is natural, are altogether distinct (n. 1999, 2018, 3691, 4459). The distinction is such as exists between cause and effect, and between prior and posterior, and there is no continuity (n. 3691, 4154, 5145-5146, 5711, 6275, 6284, 6299, 6326, 6465, 8603, 10076, 10099, 10181). Consequently that the distinction is like that between heaven and the world, or between the spiritual and the natural (n. 4292, 5032, 5620, 5639). The interiors and exteriors of man are not continuous, but distinct according to degrees, and each degree is terminated (n. 3691, 4145, 5114, 6326, 6465, 8603, 10099). He who does not perceive the distinctions of the interiors and the exteriors of man according to degrees, and does not understand the quality of those degrees, cannot comprehend the internal and the external of man (n. 5146, 6465, 10099, 10181). The things of a higher degree are more perfect than those of a lower degree (n. 3405). There are three degrees in man answering to the three heavens (n. 4154).

The exteriors are more remote from the Divine with man, and therefore they are respectively obscure, and of a general nature (n. 6451). And they are also respectively not in order (n. 996, 3855). The interiors are more perfect, because nearer to the Divine (n. 5146-5147). In the internal there are thousands and thousands of things, which in the external appear as one general thing (n. 5707). Thence thought and perception is clearer in proportion as it is interior (n. 5920). Hence it follows that man ought to be in internals (n. 1175, 4464).

The interiors of the mind, with the man who is in love and charity, are actually elevated by the Lord, and otherwise they would look downwards (n. 6952, 6954, 10330). Influx and enlightenment from heaven with man, is an actual elevation of the interiors by the Lord (n. 7816, 10330). Man is elevated when he advances to spiritual things (n. 9922). As far as man is elevated from externals towards interiors, so far he comes into light, consequently into intelligence; and this is what is meant by being withdrawn from sensual things, according to the saying of the ancients (n. 6183, 6313). Elevation from the external to the interiors, is like that from mist into light (n. 4598).

Influx from the Lord is through the internal man into the external (n. 1940, 5119). Interiors can flow into exteriors, but not the contrary; consequently that influx is spiritual and not physical, namely, from the spiritual man into the natural, and not from the natural man into the spiritual (n. 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427-5428, 5477, 6322, 9109-9110). The Lord from the internal, where there is peace, governs the external, where there is turbulence (n. 5396).

The internal can see all things in the external, but not the reverse (n. 1914, 1953, 5427-5428, 5477). When man lives in the world, he thinks from the internal in the external, consequently his spiritual thought flows into his natural, and there presents itself naturally (n. 3679). When man thinks well, it is from the internal or spiritual in the external or natural (n. 9704-9705, 9707). The external man thinks and wills according to conjunction with the internal (n. 9702-9703). There is an interior and an exterior thought; the quality of the one and the other (n. 2515, 2552, 5127, 5141, 5168, 6007). The thought and affection in the internal is not perceived by man during his life in the world, but only that which is in the external therefrom (n. 10236, 10240). But in the other life externals are taken away, and man is then let into his own internals (n. 8870). It then becomes manifest what is the quality of his internals (n. 1806-1807).

The internal produces the external (n. 994-995). And the internal then invests itself with such things as enable it to produce its effects in the external (n. 6275, 6284, 6299); and by which it may live in the external (n. 1175, 6275). The Lord conjoins the internal or spiritual man to the external or natural man, when He regenerates him (n. 1577, 1594, 1904, 1999). The external or natural man is then reduced into order through the internal or spiritual man, and is subordinated (n. 9708).

The external must be subordinate and subject to the internal (n. 5077, 5125, 5128, 5786, 5947, 10272). The external is so created, that it may serve the internal (n. 5947). The internal must be lord, and the external its minister, and in a certain respect its servant (n. 10471).

The external ought to be in correspondence with the internal, that there may be conjunction (n. 5427-5428, 5477). What the quality of the external is when it corresponds with the internal, and what when it does not correspond (n. 3493, 5422-5423, 5427-5428, 5477, 5511). In the external man there are things which correspond and agree with the internal, and there are things which do not correspond and agree (n. 1563, 1568).

The external has its quality from the internal (n. 9912, 9921-9922). How great the beauty of the external man is, when it is conjoined with the internal (n. 1590). And how great its foulness when not conjoined (n. 1598). Love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbor conjoin the external man with the internal (n. 1594). Unless the internal man be conjoined with the external, there is no fructification (n. 3987).

The interiors successively flow into the exteriors, even into the extreme or ultimate, and they there exist and subsist together (n. 634, 6239, 9215-9216). They not only flow in successively, but also form in the ultimate what is simultaneous, in what order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099). All the interiors are held in connection from the first, through the ultimate (n. 9828). Thence also in the ultimates are strength and power (n. 9836). And therefore responses and revelations were made from the ultimates (n. 9905, 10548). Thence also the ultimate is more holy than the interiors (n. 9824). Hence also in the Word, "first and last" signify all and every particular, thus the whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335).

The internal man is open to him who is in Divine order, but shut to him who is not in Divine order (n. 8513). There is no conjunction of heaven with the external man without the internal (n. 9380). Evils and the falsities of evil shut the internal man, and cause man to be only in externals (n. 1587, 10492). Especially evils from the love of self (n. 1594). The interiors are shut even to the sensual, which is the ultimate, if the Divine is denied (n. 6564). With the intelligent and learned of the world, who from the sciences confirm themselves against the things of heaven and the church, the internal is shut more than with the simple (n. 10492).

Because the internal man is in the light of heaven, and the external in the light of the world, therefore they who are in the external without the internal, that is, they with whom the internal is shut, do not care for the internal things of heaven and the church (n. 4464, 4946). In the other life they cannot at all endure internal things (n. 10694, 10701, 10707). They believe nothing (n. 10396, 10400, 10411, 10429). They love themselves and the world above all things (n. 10407, 10412, 10420). Their interiors, or the things which are of their thought and affection, are vile, filthy, and profane, howsoever they may appear in externals (n. 1182, 7046, 9705, 9707). The ideas of their thought are material, and not at all spiritual (n. 10582). The quality further described of those whose internal that looks heavenward is shut (n. 4459, 9709, 10284, 10286, 10429, 10472, 10492, 10602, 10683).

So far as the internal, which is spiritual, is opened, so far truths and goods are multiplied; and so far as the internal, which is spiritual, is shut, so far truths and goods vanish (n. 4099). The church is in the internal spiritual man, because that is in heaven, and not in the external without it (n. 10698). Hence the external church with man is nothing without the internal (n. 1795). External worship without internal worship is no worship (n. 1094, 1175). Concerning those who are in the internal of the church, of worship, and of the Word; of those who are in the external in which is the internal; and of those who are in the external without the internal (n. 10683). The external without the internal is hard (n. 10683).

The merely natural man is in hell, unless he be made spiritual by regeneration (n. 10156). All who are in the external without the internal, or with whom the spiritual internal is shut, are in hell (n. 9128, 10483, 10489).

The interiors of man are actually turned according to his loves (n. 10702). In each and all things there must be an internal and an external that they may subsist (n. 9473).

"Above" and "high" in the Word, signifies the internal (n. 1725, 2148, 4210, 4599). Thence in the Word higher is interior, and lower is exterior (n. 3084).

5128. 'When you were his cupbearer' means as is the normal position for sensory impressions of this kind. This is clear from the meaning of 'cupbearer' as the powers of the senses, that is, those of them that are subject to the understanding part of the mind, dealt with in 5077, 5082 - the normal position being meant by the expression 'when you were'. The need for sensory impressions to be subject and subordinate to rational ideas has been referred to already in what has gone before; but since the subjection and subordination of them is the subject here in the internal sense, something more must be said about the nature of this.

[2] The person with whom the senses have been made subject is called a rational person, but a person with whom they have not is called one ruled by his senses. But whether a person is rational or whether he is one ruled by his senses is scarcely discernible by others; only the individual himself can know, if he examines himself inwardly, that is, if he examines what he wills and what he thinks. Others cannot know from a person's speech whether he is one ruled by his senses or whether he is a rational person, nor can they know it from his actions, because the life of his thought held within his speech and the life of his will held within his actions cannot be perceived by any of the physical senses. These hear merely the sound he utters, or they see the movement made by his body together with the affection that impels him to make it. One cannot tell whether this affection is artificial or genuine. In the next life however those who are governed by good perceive clearly both what is held within a person's speech and what is held within his actions, and so perceive the nature of the life within them and where that life has its origin. Yet even in the world several indications exist which enable one to deduce to some extent whether the senses are subject to the rational, or the rational to the senses; or what amounts to the same, whether a person is rational or ruled solely by his senses. Those indications are as follows: If one notices that a person who makes false assumptions is not ready to become more enlightened but casts truths altogether aside, dispenses with reason, and obstinately defends falsities, this is an indication that he is ruled by his senses and is not a rational person. His rational is closed, so that it does not let in the light of heaven.

[3] Ruled even more by their senses are those who are quite convinced by what is false, for such a conviction closes the rational altogether. It is one thing to make false assumptions, another to be convinced by what is false. Those convinced by what is false do have some light shining within their natural, but this is like the light in winter. When it shines among them in the next life that light is as bright as snow; but as soon as the light of heaven falls on it, it becomes a dull light, the degree and nature of their conviction making it dark as night. The same is also evident in these people while they are living in the world, for during that time they are unable to see the faintest glimmer of truth. Indeed because of the dullness and benightedness due to the falsity of which they are convinced, they see no value at all in truths and laugh at them. To the simple those people sometimes give the impression that they are rational, for by means of that snowy-white wintry light they are able to employ clever reasonings to substantiate falsities and make them look like truths. This kind of conviction exists in many of the learned, more than in every other kind of person, for they have used syllogistic and philosophical reasonings, and finally much factual knowledge to become firmly convinced by falsities. Among the ancients such people were called serpents belonging to the tree of knowledge, 195-197, but today they may be called those who are ruled inwardly by their senses and are devoid of true rationality.

[4] The main indication that shows whether someone is ruled wholly by his senses or whether he is a rational person exists in the life he leads. By this one does not mean the kind of life that is evident in his words and deeds but the kind that is held inwardly in these. For the source of the life within his words is his thought, and the source of the life within his deeds is his will, both having their origin in his intentions or end in view. The nature therefore of the intentions or end in view present within his words and deeds determines the nature of the life they hold within them, for without the life within them words are mere sounds, while deeds are mere motions. This kind of life is also what is meant when one speaks of life continuing after death. If a person is rational his words flow from right thinking and his deeds from right willing; that is, his words are a product of faith and his deeds a product of charity. But if a person is not rational he can, it is true, make a pretence of acting as one who is rational, and likewise of speaking as one who is such; but no life at all is coming from his rational. For a life of evil closes entirely the path to or communication with the rational, which causes him to be a merely natural person or one ruled by his senses.

[5] There are two things which not only close that path of communication but also rob a person of the ability ever to become rational - deceit and profanation. Deceit is like a subtle poison which affects the inward parts, while profanation is that which mixes up falsities with truths and evils with forms of good. The two completely destroy the rational. Present with everyone there are forms of good and truth which have been stored away by the Lord since earliest childhood. In the Word these forms of good and truth are called remnants, regarding which see 468, 530, 560, 561, 661, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284; and it is these remnants that deceit poisons and that profanation mixes up with falsities and evils. For what profanation is, see 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 1327, 1328, 2051, 2426, 3398, 3402, 3489, 3898, 4289, 4601. All these indications show to some extent who a rational person is and who one ruled by his senses is.

[6] When the senses have become subject to the rational, the sensory powers that serve to form a person's first mental images receive light which comes through heaven from the Lord; they are at the same time brought into a state of order that enables them to receive that light and agree with the rational. Once they exist in this condition sensory impressions are no longer a barrier that prevents truths from being either acknowledged or seen, for those that are not in keeping with truths are instantly set aside, while those which are in keeping are accepted. Those that are in keeping are now so to speak at the centre and those that are not are on the fringes. Those at the centre are so to speak raised up towards heaven, while those on the fringes are hanging downwards. Those at the centre receive light from the rational, and when they are manifested visually in the next life they look like small glittering stars which radiate light, gradually decreasing, out to the fringes. This is the kind of form that natural or sensory images are being brought into when the rational has dominion and the senses exist subject to it. This is what happens to a person while he is being regenerated, bringing him as a consequence into a state in which truths can be seen and acknowledged by him in abundance. But when the rational is subject to the senses the opposite happens, for in this case falsities are in the middle or at the centre and truths are on the fringes. The falsities at the centre dwell in a certain kind of light, which however is an inferior and deceptive one, like that emitted by a coal fire. Into this there is flowing light on every side from hell. This inferior light is that which is called darkness, for as soon as any light from heaven flows into it, it is converted into darkness.