Selections from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
What the Nature of Memory-knowledge - Properly signified by "Egypt"
In the Ancient Church there were doctrinal things and there were memory-knowledges. The doctrinal things treated of love to God and of charity toward the neighbor, but the memory-knowledges treated of the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual world, and of the representatives of spiritual and celestial things in things natural and earthly. Such were the memory-knowledges of those who were in the Ancient Church. Egypt was one of those countries and kingdoms where the Ancient Church was; but as in Egypt it was chiefly memory-knowledges that were handed down to posterity, therefore such knowledge in general is signified by "Egypt;" and it is for this reason also that Egypt is so often treated of in the prophetic Word, and by it such knowledge is specifically meant.
The very magic of the Egyptians also had its origin thence; for they were acquainted with the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual, and afterward, when the church among them was at an end, these correspondences were abused by being turned to magical things. Now because they had such knowledges (that taught correspondences, and also representatives and significatives) and as these knowledges were of service to the doctrinal things of the church, especially to the understanding of those things which were said in their Word (that the Ancient Church had a Word both prophetic and historic, similar to the present Word; therefore by "being brought down to Egypt" is signified to the memory-knowledges of the church.
... When the Lord glorified His internal man, that is made it Divine, He was first imbued with the memory-knowledges of the church, and from and by them advanced to things more and more interior, and at last even to those which are Divine. For it pleased Him to glorify Himself, that is, to make Himself Divine, according to the same order as that in which He regenerates man, that is, makes him spiritual, namely, from external things, which are memory-knowledges and the truths of faith, successively to internal things, which are of charity toward the neighbor and of love to Him.
From this it is plain what is signified by the following words in Hosea:
When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called My son out of Egypt. (Hos. 11:1)that these words were spoken of the Lord:
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called My Son. (Matt 2:15)The interior things of memory-knowledges are those which approach more nearly to spiritual things, and are applications of memory-knowledges to heavenly things; for these are what the internal man sees, when the external only sees the memory-knowledges in the outward form.
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Be it known that the memory-knowledges of the ancients were altogether different from those of the present day. As before said the memory-knowledges of the ancients treated of the correspondence of things in the natural world with things in the spiritual world. The memory-knowledges which are now called philosophy, such as that of Aristotle and others like him, were unknown to them. This is evident also from the books of the ancient writers, most of which were written in language that signified, represented, and corresponded to interior things, as is evident from the following instances, not to mention others. • They located Helicon on a mountain, and by it they meant heaven
• They gave to Parnassus a place below on a hill, by which they meant memory-knowledges, where they said that a flying horse, called Pegasus,
• Broke open a fountain with his hoof;
• The sciences they called virgins, with other such traditions.
For they knew from correspondences and representatives that:-
• a mountain denotes heaven;
• a hill, that heaven which is beneath, or which is with man;
• a horse, the understanding;
• the wings with which he flew, spiritual things;
• a hoof, the natural mind;
• a fountain, intelligence;
• the three virgins who were called the Graces, affections of good; and the virgins who were called the Muses, affections of truth.
So also they assigned to the sun horses, the food of which they called ambrosia, and their drink, nectar; for they knew that the sun signified celestial love, horses the intellectual things therefrom; and that food signifies celestial things, and drink spiritual things.
From the ancients also there still survives the custom for kings at their coronation to sit upon a silver throne, to be clothed with a crimson robe, to be anointed with oil, to wear a crown on the head, and to carry a scepter, sword, and keys in their hands, to ride in royal pomp upon a white horse whose hoofs are shod with silver, and to be waited on at table by the chiefs of the kingdom, with other ceremonies; for they knew that a king represented Divine truth which is from Divine good, and hence they knew what is signified by a silver throne, a crimson robe, anointing oil, a crown, a scepter, a sword, keys, a white horse, hoofs shod with silver, and being waited on by chief men. Who at this day knows these significations, and where are the knowledges that teach them? Men call such things emblems, not knowing anything whatever about correspondence and representation. From all this it is evident of what nature were the knowledges of the ancients, and that they brought them into a knowledge of spiritual and heavenly things which at this day are scarcely known to exist.
The knowledges which succeeded those of the ancients, and are properly called philosophy, rather draw away the mind from the knowledge of such things, because they can also be applied to the confirmation of falsities; and moreover when truths are confirmed by means of them, they plunge the mind into darkness, because they are for the most part bare expressions, whereby confirmations are effected which are comprehended by few, and regarding which even these few are not agreed. From this it is evident how far mankind has receded from the erudition of the ancients, which led to wisdom. The Gentiles received those knowledges from the Ancient Church, the external worship of which consisted in representatives and significatives, and the internal in those things which were represented and signified. These were the knowledges which, in the genuine sense, are signified by "Egypt."
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... Because "Egypt" is memory-knowledge, it is also the natural; for all the memory-knowledge in man is natural, because it is in his natural man, even the memory-knowledge concerning spiritual and celestial things. The reason of this is that man sees these knowledges in the natural, and from it; and those which he does not see from the natural, he does not apprehend. But the regenerate man, who is called spiritual, and the unregenerate man, who is merely natural, see these knowledges in different ways.
With the regenerate man, the knowledges are enlightened by the light of heaven, but with the unregenerate, not so, but by the light which flows in through spirits, who are in falsity and evil; which light is indeed from the light of heaven, but becomes in them opaque, like the light of evening or of night; for such spirits and hence such men see as owls - clearly at night, and obscurely in the daytime, that is, they see falsities clearly and truths obscurely, and hence see clearly the things of the world, and obscurely, if at all, the things of heaven.
From these considerations it is evident that genuine memory-knowledge is natural truth; for all genuine memory-knowledge, such as is signified by "Egypt" in a good sense, is natural truth.
(Selections from Arcana Coelestia 4964-4967)