324. There is ample support for the truth of this in Secrets of Heaven and also in the book on Heaven and Hell, as well as throughout the preceding pages where I have dealt with correspondence [52, 83, 87]. I explained there that there is nothing in the created universe that does not answer to something in us, not only to our feelings and consequent thoughts, but also to our physical organs and viscera--not in respect to their substances, but in respect to their functions.

This is why when the Word talks about the church and its people, there is such frequent mention of trees like the olive and the vine and the cedar, of gardens and groves and woods, and of the beasts of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea. They are mentioned because they correspond and are united by corresponding, as noted. So too, when we are reading things like this in the Word, angels are not conscious of them but of the church in their stead, or of the church's people in regard to their state.

87. The reason that sun looks like fire to angels' eyes is that love and fire are interactive. Angels cannot see love with their eyes, but instead of love they see what answers to it. They have inner and outer natures just as we do. It is their inner self that thinks and is wise, that intends and loves, and their outer self that feels, sees, speaks, and acts. All these outer functions of theirs are responsive to the inner ones, but the responsiveness is spiritual and not earthly.

To spiritual beings, divine love feels like fire. This is why fire means love when it is mentioned in the Word. That is what "sacred fire" used to mean in the Israelite church, and that is why we often ask in our prayers to God that heavenly fire (meaning divine love) should kindle our hearts.