Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
— Doctrinal Things of Charity —
Love Truly Conjugial
Love truly conjugial is the union of two minds, which is a spiritual union; and all spiritual union descends from heaven. From this it is that love truly conjugial is from heaven, and that its first being is from the marriage of good and truth there. The marriage of good and truth in heaven is from the Lord; wherefore in the Word the Lord is called the "Bridegroom" and "Husband," while heaven and the church are called the "bride" and "wife;" and therefore heaven is compared to a marriage.
From all this it is evident that love truly conjugial is the union of two persons in respect to their interiors, which belong to the thought and the will, thus to truth and good; for truth belongs to the thought, and good to the will. For one who is in love truly conjugial loves what the other thinks and what the other wills; thus he also loves to think as the other does, and he loves to will as the other does; consequently to be united to the other, and to become as one man. This is what is meant by the Lord's words in Matthew:
"And they twain shall be one flesh, therefore they are no more twain, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:4-6; Gen. 2:24).The delight of love truly conjugial is an internal delight, because it belongs to the minds, and is also an external delight from this, which belongs to the bodies. But the delight of love not truly conjugial is only an external delight without an internal one, and such a delight belongs to the bodies and not to the minds. But this delight is earthly, being almost like that of animals, and therefore in time perishes; whereas the first-mentioned delight is heavenly, as that of men should be, and therefore is permanent.
No one can know what love truly conjugial is, and what is the nature of its delight, except one who is in the good of love and in the truths of faith from the Lord; because, as has been said, love truly conjugial is from heaven, and is from the marriage of good and truth there.
That which is done from love truly conjugial is done from freedom on both sides, because all freedom is from love, and both have freedom when one loves that which the other thinks and that which the other wills. From this it is that the wish to command in marriages destroys genuine love, for it takes away its freedom, thus also its delight. The delight of commanding, which follows in its place, brings forth disagreements, and sets the minds at enmity, and causes evils to take root according to the nature of the domination on the one side, and the nature of the servitude on the other.
From all this it can be seen that marriages are holy, and that to injure them is to injure that which is holy; consequently that adulteries are profane; for as the delight of conjugial love descends from heaven, so the delight of adultery ascends from hell.
Therefore those who take delight in adulteries can no longer receive any good and truth from heaven. From this it is that those who have taken delight in adulteries, afterward make light of and also at heart deny the things of the church and of heaven. The reason of this is that the love of adultery is from the marriage of evil and falsity, which is the infernal marriage.
(Arcana Coelestia 10167-10175)
(series to be continued)