9921. 'And bells of gold' means all aspects of religious teachings and of worship springing from good which come across to those who belong to the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'bells' as all aspects of religious teachings and worship which come across to those who belong to the Church, dealt with below. Springing from good is meant by the bells' being made from gold; for 'gold' means good, 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 8932, 9490, 9510, 9874, 9881, 9884. The reason why all aspects of religious teachings and of worship which come across to those who belong to the Church are meant by 'bells' is that by means of those bells the people heard and recognized the presence of Aaron engaged in his ministry; for those who belong to the Church are meant by 'the people', and all aspects of religious teachings and of worship by 'Aaron's ministry'. Therefore it says in what follows, And they shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and his voice will be heard when he goes into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out. From all this it is evident what is meant by 'bells'. The reason why those bells were placed on the hem was that the holiness which religious teachings possess resides on the most external levels, and on these levels and from these levels the hearing and understanding of them takes place, see 9824, 9905.

6931. From what has been stated so far regarding spirits belonging to the planet Mercury it is perfectly clear that spirits retain the things they see and hear in the next life and that they are able - no less than when they were men - to learn things and so to learn matters of faith and thereby be made more perfect. The purer spirits and angels are, the more immediately and completely they absorb the things they hear, and the more perfect is their retention of them in their memory. And since this goes on for evermore it is evident that they grow constantly in wisdom. But the spirits belonging to Mercury grow constantly in the knowledge of things, yet not from this in wisdom. This is because they love items of knowledge, which are the means, but not useful services, which are the ends, as what has been recorded about them in 6814, 6815, shows.