8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

9833. 'And the violet, and the purple, and the twice-dyed scarlet, and the fine linen' means the good of charity and faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the violet' as the celestial love of truth, dealt with in 9466; from the meaning of 'the purple' as the celestial love of good, dealt with in 9467; from the meaning of 'the twice-dyed scarlet' as spiritual good, dealt with in 4922, 9468; and from the meaning of 'the fine linen' as truth which has a celestial origin, dealt with in 5319, 9469. Thus these threads taken all together mean the good of love and faith, though at this point they mean the good of charity and faith since they have regard to things in the spiritual kingdom, 9814. 'The violet', 'the purple', 'the twice-dyed scarlet', and 'the fine linen' come to mean forms of love or charity and aspects of faith because of their colours. For the colours which appear in heaven owe their origin to the light of heaven, this light being Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord, the Source of all intelligence and wisdom. Consequently all the variations of that light, which appear visually there as colours, are variations of intelligence and wisdom consisting of truths and forms of the good of faith, charity, and love, see 1042, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4677, 4741, 4742, 4922, 9466; and in the measure that colours there are derived from red they are the sign of good, whereas in the measure that they are derived from white they are the sign of truth, 9467.

8067. 'And as a memorial between your eyes' means that it shall be constantly in their understanding. This is clear from the meaning of 'memorial' too as constant recollection, the word 'memorial' being used because it has reference in the Word to the understanding, whereas 'sign' has reference to the will; and from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the understanding, dealt with in 2701, 3820, 4403-4421, 4523-4534. This is why 'as a memorial between the eyes' means that it shall be constantly in their understanding, that is, their thinking.

Something brief will be said to show how one should understand the explanation that it shall be constantly in the understanding and constantly in the will. The things which have imprinted themselves on a person through faith and charity, that is, which he fully believes and loves, are constantly in his thought and will. He thinks them and wills them even when he contemplates and deals with other matters, and imagines that those things are not present in his mind at that time. For they are indeed there among other things which determine the character of his mind. The truth of this is plainly evident from the spiritual sphere surrounding a spirit or angel; for when the spirit or angel approaches, that sphere tells one immediately about his faith and about his charity, and about much more that he has at heart, even though he is not thinking about them at the time. Such are the things that constitute the life of every mind and remain constantly there. These considerations could be illustrated by very many details to be observed in a person, such as his reflections on different things, his affections, the ways to act that have been ingrained in him since early childhood, and the like, which are continually present and hold sway although he does not consciously think about them at all. It is similar with love to the neighbour, love to God, and a love of goodness and truth, and with faith. People with those kinds of love and with faith will and think them constantly; for such love and faith reside within these people, and when they do so they are said to be reigning throughout, see 6159, 6571, 7648.