Selection from Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
• DIVINE LOVE, BY DIVINE WISDOM, IN DIVINE USE
• UNLESS IT GOES ON TO PRODUCE SEED – OFFSPRING – 'USEFULNESS' – IT IS INTENTION WITHOUT REALIZATION
• ALL THINGS IN THE UNIVERSE THEREFORE ARE PROCREATED AND FORMED FROM USE, IN USE, AND FOR USE
— A MEMORABLE RELATION —
I drew near, and the keeper opened the gates.
I asked him, "What is the name of this garden?" He said, "Adramandoni," that is, The Delight of Conjugial Love. I went in, and lo! olive trees, and from olive tree to olive tree trailing and pendent vines, and under and among them shrubs in blossom. In the midst of the garden was a grassy circle on which husbands and wives were sitting, and young men and maidens in pairs; and on elevated ground in the midst of the circle there was a small fountain leaping high by the force of its stream. As I came near the circle I saw two angels in purple and scarlet, conversing with those who were sitting on the grass. They were speaking on the origin of conjugial love and on its delights. And because the conversation was about this love there was eager attention and full reception, and thence an exaltation in the speech of the angels as from the fire of love.
From their conversation I gathered briefly this: They spoke first of the difficulty of tracing and the difficulty of perceiving the origin of conjugial love, because its origin is Divine-celestial; for it is Divine love, Divine wisdom and Divine use, which three proceed from the Lord as one, and flow thence as one into the souls of men, and through the souls into the minds, and there into the interior affections and thoughts, through these into the desires near to the body, and from these through the bosom into the genital region, where all things derived from the first origin are together, and together with the successives constitute conjugial love.
After this the angels said, "Let the intercourse of speech be by question and answer; for the perception of a subject acquired from hearing alone, though it flows in, does not remain unless the hearer of himself also thinks from himself and questions about it."
Then some of that conjugial assembly said to the angels, "We have heard that the origin of conjugial love is Divine-celestial, because it is from the influx from the Lord into the souls of men; and that because from the Lord, it is love, wisdom, and use, which are the three essentials that together make the one Divine essence; and that nothing but what is of the Divine essence can proceed from Him and flow into the inmost of man, which is called his soul; and that in their descent into the body these three are changed into what is analogous and correspondent.
Now therefore we ask, "First, What is meant by the third essential proceeding Divine, which is called use?"
The angels replied, "Love and wisdom without use are but ideas of abstract thought, which also after some tarrying pass away as the winds. But in use the two are brought together and there make a one which is called real. Love cannot rest unless it is doing, for love is the active itself of life; nor can wisdom exist and subsist except from love and with it, while it is doing; and doing is use. We therefore define use to be doing good from love by wisdom. Use is the good itself. Since these three, love, wisdom, and use, flow in into the souls of men, it is evident why it is said that all good is from God; for everything done from love by wisdom is called good; and a use also is a thing done. What is love without wisdom but something illusory? And what is love with wisdom without use but a breath of the mind? But love and wisdom with use not only make the man, but also are the man. Yea, which will perhaps surprise you, they propagate man; for in the seed of man is his soul, in perfect human form, covered over with substances from the purest things of nature, out of which a body is formed in the womb of the mother. This use is the supreme and the ultimate use of Divine love by Divine wisdom."
Finally, the angels said, "Let this be the conclusion: That all fructification, all propagation, and all prolification come originally of the influx of love, wisdom and use from the Lord; of immediate influx from the Lord into the souls of men; of mediate influx into the souls of animals; and of influx yet more mediate into the inmosts of vegetables. And all these are effected in the ultimates from the firsts. It is plain that fructifications, propagations, and prolifications are continuations of creation; for creation cannot be from any other source than from Divine Love, by Divine wisdom, in Divine use. All things in the universe therefore are procreated and formed from use, in use, and for use."
Afterwards those that were sitting on the grassy banks asked the angels, "Whence are the delights of conjugial love, which are innumerable and ineffable?" The angels answered, "They are from the uses of love and wisdom. And this may be seen from the fact that in so far as one loves to be wise for the sake of genuine use he is in the vein and potency of conjugial love, and in so far as he is in these two he is in delights. Use effects this, because love by wisdom delight each in the other, and they play as it were like little children, and as they grow up, they enter into genial conjunction. This is as if by betrothals, nuptials, marriages, and propagations; and these continue with variety to eternity. These things take place between love and wisdom inwardly in use; but these delights in their beginnings are imperceptible, but become perceptible more and more as they descend thence by degrees and enter the body. They enter through degrees, from the soul into the interiors of man's mind, from these into its exteriors, thence into the inmost bosom, and from this into the genital region. Yet these heavenly nuptial sports in the soul are not in the least perceived by man; but they insinuate themselves thence into the interiors of the mind, under the form of peace and innocence; and into the exteriors of the mind in the form. of blessedness, pleasantness, and joy; but into the inmost bosom under the form of the delights of inmost friendship; and into the genital region, by influx continuous even from the soul, with the very sense of conjugial love, as the delight of delights. These nuptial sports of love and wisdom in use in the soul, in proceeding towards the inmost bosom become enduring, and in that bosom present themselves sensibly under an infinite variety of delights; and by virtue of the wonderful communication of the inmost bosom with the genital region, these delights become there delights of conjugial love, which are exalted above all delights that are in heaven and in the world, for the reason that the use of conjugial love is the most excellent of all uses, because therefrom comes the procreation of the human race, and from the human race the angelic heaven."
To this the angels added, "That they who are not in the love of becoming wise from the Lord for the sake of use, know nothing of the variety of delights innumerable, which come of love truly conjugial. For with those that do not love to become wise from genuine truths, but love to be in insanity from falsities, and through this insanity do evil uses from some love, with such the way to the soul is closed; whence it results that the heavenly nuptial sports of love and wisdom in the soul, intercepted more and more, cease, and together with them conjugial love, with its vein, its potency, and its delights."
To this the hearers responded, "That they perceived that conjugial love is according to the love of becoming wise for the sake of use, from the Lord." The angels replied, "So it is." And then upon the heads of some of them appeared garlands of flowers. They asked, "Why is this?" The angels said, "Because they have more profoundly understood." All then left the garden, and these in their midst.
(from Conjugial Love 183)