9514. 'And the cherubs shall be spreading out their wings upwards' means a raising accomplished by the truth of faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'wings' as the truths of faith, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'spreading out the wings upwards' as being raised, for in the spreading out of the wings upwards the endeavour to raise oneself is present, the fulfillment of the endeavour being the actual raising up. From all this it is evident that 'the wings of the cherubs, outspread upwards' means a raising of good in the Lord's direction by means of the truths of faith; for access to Him through good is meant by 'the cherubs'. Something brief must be stated here to show what a raising of good by means of the truths of faith implies. There are two realities with which everything in heaven and also everything in the world have connection - good and truth. Good without truth is not good, and truth without good is not truth; for without truth good lacks any specific quality, and without good truth is devoid of anything to give it being. Indeed truth is the actual outward form taken by good, and the form must exist to give it specific quality; but the good is the essential being, the manifestation of which is the truth.

[2] The relationship of good to truth is altogether like that of the will to the understanding, in that the will is dedicated to the reception of good and the understanding to the reception of truth. The will receives specific quality from the understanding, and the understanding its essential being from the will. For the will is formed within the understanding and thereby clothes itself with a specific quality. The relationship of good to truth is also like that of the body to the arms and feet, or to the wings in the case of birds. A body without arms and feet or without wings cannot move itself; but with the use of them it does move. Furthermore in the Word the body corresponds to good, and its arms or wings to truths and also to the powers good possesses in and exercises through truths. From these comparisons which are also correspondences one may see what is implied by a raising of good by means of the truths of faith, which in general are called spiritual truths. As regards the meaning of 'wings' as the truths of faith, see what has been shown in 8764.