9923. 'A bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about' means that this shall be so everywhere, at every point, that is to say, religious teachings and worship consisting of the interior features of factual knowledge must be so everywhere. This is clear from what has been shown immediately above regarding 'bells' and 'pomegranates'. The repetition of the same words implies that everywhere shall it be so.

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.