Correspondence and Conjunction

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And Moses went up unto God, and Jehovah called unto him from the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say unto the house of Jacob, and declare to the sons of Israel: Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Me. And now if hearing ye shall hear My voice, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be Mine own possession above all peoples; because all the earth is Mine; and ye shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation; these are the words which thou shalt speak unto the sons of Israel.

And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Jehovah commanded him.

And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah hath spoken we will do; and Moses reported the words of the people unto Jehovah. Exodus 19:3-8

And Moses reported the words of the people unto Jehovah. That this signifies correspondence and conjunction, is evident from the signification of "reporting the words unto Jehovah," as being correspondence and the consequent conjunction; for the subject treated of is the covenant which was to be made with the people, and because covenants are made by consent on both sides, therefore something resembling this is done here, namely, Jehovah proposes, and the people answer, here through Moses, by whom is represented truth from the Divine conjoined with truth Divine in heaven, which is mediating.

Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Galatians 3:19, 20

And Moses went up unto God. That this signifies the truth from the Divine which is beneath heaven conjoining itself with the Divine truth which is in heaven, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being truth from the Divine, here truth from the Divine which is beneath heaven, for the reason that now he represents the sons of Israel as their head, thus those who are of the spiritual church, who as yet are not in heaven because not yet in good formed by truths ...

The Good in which Truths are to be Implanted — Christian Good

The man who is being regenerated is first led by the Lord by means of truth, and afterward by means of good. He who is being regenerated is led by means of truth to the intent that he may come to good, that is, may know it, and then will it, and finally do it.

But when he is being led to good by means of truth, he first comes to the good in which the truths of faith have not yet been implanted; for truths cannot be implanted until he is in good. Before this they are indeed known, because they are in the memory, but at this time they are not in good, but are outside of good.

Afterward when the man receives new life, which he first receives when he is in good, the truths of faith are implanted, and as it were enter upon a marriage with good in the internal man. This good, in which the truths of faith have not yet been implanted, but which is still so disposed that they can be received. (from Arcana Coelestia 8754)

... and from the signification of "going up," as being to conjoin oneself, for he who goes up to the Divine conjoins himself with Him; as for instance when "going up into heaven" is mentioned, there is meant being conjoined with the Lord; and the reverse is meant by "coming down from heaven."

The Divine truth in heaven, with which there is conjunction, is meant by "God," for in the Word the Lord is called "God" from Divine truth, and "Jehovah" from Divine good; and because the conjunction of Divine truth with Divine good is here treated of, therefore in this verse "God" is first mentioned, and then "Jehovah," in these words, "Moses went up unto God, and Jehovah called unto him from the mountain."

It is said, the Divine truth in heaven, and afterward, the Divine good in heaven, for the reason that the Divine Itself is far above the heavens, not only the Divine good itself, but also the Divine truth itself which proceeds immediately from the Divine good. That these are far above heaven, is because in itself the Divine is infinite, and the infinite cannot be conjoined with finite things, thus not with the angels in the heavens, except by the putting on of something finite, and thus by accommodation to reception. The Divine good itself is also in itself an infinite flame of ardor, that is, of love, and this flame no angel in heaven can bear, for he would be consumed like a man if the flame of the sun were to touch him without intermediate tempering. Moreover if the light from the flame of the Divine love, which light is Divine truth, were to flow in without abatement from its own fiery splendor, it would blind all who are in heaven. From all this it can be seen what the difference is between the Divine good and Divine truth above the heavens, and the Divine good and Divine truth in the heavens, here treated of.

But the covenant is not made with man otherwise than through the reception of the influx of truth from the Divine, and then through correspondence; for when higher things flow in into lower, they are not received in any other way.

What correspondence is and reception thereby, can be seen from what has been shown at the end of many chapters concerning the correspondence of all things in man with those things which are in heaven, and also that all conjunction of natural things with spiritual, and in general of lower things with higher, is effected through this correspondence; for there is no correspondence unless lower things are made subject to higher ones through subordination; and when they have been made subject, the higher things act in the lower exactly as a cause acts in its effect. From all this it can be seen how the case is with the reciprocity of man when the Divine flows in; and in regard to the conjunction which is here described in the sense of the letter by the manner in which covenants are made; namely, that Jehovah speaks by a go-between to the people, and the go-between reports the answer unto Jehovah; for in this way conjunction with the Divine can be apprehended by man. (from Arcana Coelestia 8778)

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Correspondence and Conjunction

And may also believe in thee to eternity. That this signifies that there may be the faith of truth which shall endure, is evident from the representation of Moses, as being truth from the Divine; from the signification of "believing," as being faith; and from the signification of "to eternity," as being what shall endure. The case herein is this. —

Truth Divine is not received by anyone unless it has been accommodated to his apprehension, consequently unless it appears in a natural form and shape; for at first human minds apprehend none but earthly and worldly things, and not at all spiritual and heavenly things. Wherefore if spiritual and heavenly things were set forth nakedly, they would be rejected as if they were nothing, according to the Lord's words in John:
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I told you heavenly things? (John 3:12).

Still less could those apprehend spiritual things who lived before the coming of the Lord, and who were at last in such blindness that they knew nothing, because they were unwilling to know anything, about the life after death, about the internal man, about charity and faith, and about any heavenly thing; which things they rejected because they held them in aversion. For they who regard earthly and worldly things as the end, that is, who love them above all things, hold spiritual things in aversion, and almost abhor the very name of them. It is nearly the same at the present day. The learned of the world do indeed believe that they would receive the Word more readily if heavenly things were set forth nakedly, and if it were not written so simply. But they are very much mistaken; they would then have rejected it more than the simple, and would have seen in it no light, but mere thick darkness. For this darkness is induced by human learning with those who trust in their own intelligence, and on this account exalt themselves above others. That such things are hid from the wise and revealed unto babes, that is, to the simple, the Lord teaches in Matthew 11:25, 26 and in Luke 10:21:

At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.  Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight.

The same is also very evident from the fact that they who are atheists and naturalists, as they are called, are those who are learned. This the world knows, and they themselves know.

(from Arcana Coelestia 8783)

Summary Ideas about Correspondence

Some Summary Ideas about Correspondence
— by Erik Sandstrom Sr. —

1. Correspondences "comedown," rather than "rise up." The lower is derived from the higher, not the other way around.

    E. g., The natural, or literal, sense of the Word is formed from the spiritual, or internal, sense, not the spiritual from the natural. When we explain the natural sense according to correspondences, we are simply unfolding what was already in the living spiritual sense and is constantly there.

2. Correspondence, influx, and discrete degrees are virtually synonymous terms. There can be no influx without corresponding levels, and these levels, or degrees, are discrete.

Again: Whenever discrete degrees are in correspondence, there is at once influx.

Influx is effected by correspondences

Let application of this be made to living conatus, and to living force, and to living motion.

Living conatus in man, who is a living subject, is his will united to his understanding; living forces in man are the interior constituents of his body, in all of which there are motor fibers interlacing in various ways; and living motion in man is action, which is produced through these forces by the will united to the understanding. For the interior things pertaining to the will and understanding make the first degree; the interior things pertaining to the body make the second degree; and the whole body, which is the complex of these, makes the third degree. That the interior things pertaining to the mind have no power except through forces in the body, also that forces have no power except through the action of the body itself, is well known. These three do not act by what is continuous, but by what is discrete; and to act by what is discrete is to act by correspondences. The interiors of the mind correspond to the interiors of the body, and the interiors of the body correspond to the exteriors, through which actions come forth; consequently the two prior degrees have power through the exteriors of the body. It may seem as if conatus and forces in man have some power even when there is no action, as in sleep and in states of rest, but still at such times the determinations of conatus and forces are directed into the general motor organs of the body, which are the heart and the lungs; but when their action ceases the forces also cease, and, with the forces, the conatus.    (DLW 219).

    E. g., Thought and speech correspond (if the person is sincere); thought and speech are on discrete levels; and thought flows into speech, not speech into thought.

3. It follows that true correspondences are dynamic, not static—not like a graph. There is at once influx, from one discrete degree into another, when these degrees are in correspondence. This law keeps the natural world alive from the spiritual.

    E. g., When the external mind (which speaks and acts) is brought into order by repentance and self-compulsion, then it comes into a state of correspondence with the internal mind (where conscience is); and since there is now correspondence, therefore conscience flows into the external mind and fills it with its essence, so that the external as to quality is like the internal.

"Blessed is the man who is in correspondence, that is, whose external man corresponds to his internal man"

So long as he lives in the body, man can feel and perceive but little of this; for the celestial and spiritual things with him fall into the natural things in his external man, and he there loses the sensation and perception of them. Moreover the representatives and correspondences in his external man are such that they do not appear like the things in the internal man to which they correspond, and which they represent; therefore neither can they come to his knowledge until he has put off those external things. When this happens, blessed is the man who is in correspondence, that is, whose external man corresponds to his internal man. (AC 2994).

4. There is synonymity between the three terms when there is a state of order, not when there is disorder. When there is disorder, there can be representation, but not correspondence.

    E. g., If an insincere person speaks, then what he says may represent good affections and true concepts, but there is no correspondence with his actual affections and thoughts. Nor is there a straight influx, for the actual affections and thoughts wish to remain in hiding and therefore appoint substitutes to act for them.

"These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips; but their heart is far from Me" (Matt. 15:8, ls. 29:13).

There is an Ordering and Actuating downward motion through Correspondences, thereby bringing material together from each region.

From Arcana Coelestia 5131:2 —

To enable end, cause and effect to follow one another and act as one, the effect must correspond to the cause, and the cause must correspond to the end.

Nevertheless, the end does not manifest itself as the cause, nor does the cause manifest itself as the effect.

Rather to enable the cause to exist, the end must act on the level where the cause belongs, calling on assistant means to help it – the end – to bring the cause into existence; and to enable the effect to exist, the cause likewise must act on the level where the effect belongs, by calling on assistant means to help it – the cause – to bring the effect into existence.

These assistant means are the ones that correspond; and because they correspond, the end can exist within the cause and bring the cause into operation, and the cause can exist within the effect and bring the effect into operation.

When the Lord Fills the Word with Life

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Concerning The Holy Scripture Or Word
In Which Are Stored Up Divine Things
Which Are Open Before Good Spirits And Angels

When the Word of the Lord is being read by a man who loves the Word and lives in charity, or by a man who from simplicity of heart believes what is written and has not formed principles contrary to the truth of faith which is in the internal sense, it is presented by the Lord before the angels in such beauty and in such pleasantness, with representatives also, and this with inexpressible variety in accordance with all their state at the time, that every particular is perceived as if it had life, which life is that which is in the Word, and from which the Word had birth when it was sent down from heaven. From this cause the Word of the Lord is such, that although in the letter it appears crude, there are stored up in it spiritual and celestial things which lie open before good spirits, and before angels, when the Word is being read by man.

That the Word of the Lord is so presented before good spirits and before angels, it has been given me to hear and to see; and I am therefore permitted to relate the experiences themselves: —

A certain spirit came to me not long after his departure from the body, as I was able to infer from the fact that he did not yet know that he was in the other life, but supposed that he was living in the world. It was perceived that he had been devoted to studies, concerning which I spoke with him. But he was suddenly taken up on high; and, surprised at this, I imagined that he was one of those who aspire to high things, for such are wont to be taken up on high; or else that he placed heaven at a great height, for such likewise are often carried up on high, that they may know from experience that heaven is not in what is high, but in what is internal.

But I soon perceived that he was taken up to the angelic spirits, (the second heaven), who were in front, a little to the right, at the entrance to heaven. He then spoke with me from thence, saying that he saw things more sublime than human minds could at all comprehend. While this was taking place, I was reading the first chapter of Deuteronomy, about the Jewish people, in that men were sent to explore the land of Canaan and what was in it. While I was reading this, he said that he perceived nothing of the sense of the letter, but the things in the spiritual sense, and that these were wonders which he could not describe. This was in the first entrance to the heaven of angelic spirits; what wonders then would be perceived in that heaven itself! and what in the angelic heaven!

Certain spirits who were with me, and who before had not believed that the Word of the Lord is of such a nature, then began to repent of their unbelief; they said, in that state, that they believed because they heard the spirit say that he heard, saw, and perceived that it was so.

But other spirits still persisted in their unbelief, and said that it was not so, but that these things were fancies; and therefore they too were suddenly taken up, and spoke with me from thence; and they confessed that it was anything but fancy, because they really perceived that it was so; and by a more exquisite perception indeed than can ever be given to any sense during the life of the body.

Soon others also were taken up into the same heaven, and among them one whom I had known in the life of the body, who testified to the same effect, saying also, among other things, that he was too much amazed to be able to describe the glory of the Word in its internal sense. Then, speaking from a kind of pity, he said that it was strange that men knew nothing at all of such things. He said further that from where he then was he could look most deeply into my thoughts and my affections, and perceived in them more things than he could tell; such as causes, influxes, whence they came, and from whom; the ideas, and how they were mixed with earthly things, and that these were to be wholly separated; besides other things.

On two occasions afterwards I saw others taken up into the second heaven, among the angelic spirits; and they spoke with me thence while I was reading the third chapter of Deuteronomy from beginning to end. They said that they were solely in the interior sense of the Word; at the same time asserting that there was not a tittle in which there was not a spiritual sense that coheres most beautifully with all the rest, and further that the names signify real things. Thus they too were confirmed; because they had not believed before that each and all things in the Word have been inspired by the Lord; and this they wished to confirm before others by an oath, but it was not permitted.

Certain spirits also were in unbelief concerning the Word of the Lord, as to there being such things stored up in its bosom, or within it; for in the other life spirits are in unbelief like that in which they had been in the life of the body; and this is not dissipated except by means provided by the Lord, and by living experiences. On this account, while I was reading some of the Psalms of David, the deeper insight or mind of these spirits was opened. These were not taken up among angelic spirits. They then perceived the interior things of the Word in those Psalms; and being amazed at them said that they had never believed such things.

The same portion of the Word was then heard by many other spirits; but they all apprehended it in different ways: —

With some it filled the ideas of their thought with many pleasant and delightful things, thus with a kind of life in accordance with the capacity of each one, and at the same time with an efficacy that penetrated to their inmosts, and this to such a degree with some that they seemed to be uplifted toward the interiors of heaven, and nearer and nearer to the Lord, according to the degree in which they were affected by the truths and the goods therewith injoined.

The Word was then at the same time brought to some who had no apprehension of its internal sense, but only of the external or literal sense; and to them the letter appeared to have no life.

From all this it was manifest what the Word is when the Lord fills it with life - that it is of such efficacy that it penetrates to the inmosts; also what it is when He does not fill it with life - that it is then the letter only, with scarcely any life.

Of the Lord's Divine mercy I too have been permitted in the same way to see the Lord's Word in its beauty in the internal sense, and this many times; not as it is while the words are being explained as to the internal sense in detail, but with all things both in general and particular brought together into a single series or connection, which may be said to be the seeing of a heavenly paradise from an earthly one.

Spirits who had found delight and joy in the Word of the Lord during their life in the body, have in the other life a kind of joyous heavenly warmth which it has also been permitted me to feel. The warmth of those who had some measure of this delight was communicated to me. It was like a vernal heat, beginning in the region of the lips, and diffusing itself about the cheeks, and thence as far as the ears, ascending also to the eyes, and descending toward the middle region of the breast.

The warmth of those who had been still more affected by delight in the Word of the Lord, and by the interior things of it which the Lord Himself had taught, was also communicated to me; beginning at the breast it ascended thence toward the chin, and descended toward the loins. The warmth of those who had been even more delighted and affected, was still more interiorly joyous and vernal, extending indeed from the loins upward toward the breast, and thence through the left arm to the hands. I was instructed by the angels that this is really the case, and that the approach of those spirits brings such warmths, although they themselves do not feel them, because they are in them, just as infants, children, and youths are not commonly sensible of their own warmth which they have in greater measure than adults and old people, because they are in it.

I was also made sensible of the warmth of some, who had indeed been delighted with the Word, but had not been solicitous about the understanding of it; their warmth was felt in the right arm only.

As regards the warmth: evil spirits also can by their artifices produce a warmth which counterfeits delight, and can communicate it to others; but it is only an external warmth, without an origin from internals. Such warmth is that which putrefies and converts food into excrement, like the heat of adulterers, and that of those who have been immersed in filthy pleasures.

There are spirits who do not desire to hear anything about the interior things of the Word; and even should they understand them, they are still unwilling. They are chiefly those who have placed merit in works, and who therefore have done goods from the love of self and of the world, or for the sake of the rank or wealth to be gained for themselves, and the consequent reputation, thus not for the sake of the Lord's kingdom. In the other life such desire more than others to enter heaven; but they remain outside of it; for they are unwilling to be imbued with the knowledges of truth, and thereby to be affected with good. They interpret the meaning of the Word from the letter according to their fancies, and by advancing whatever favors their cupidities with its approval. Such were represented by an old woman who had a face not comely, but of even snowy paleness, with irregular features [cui inerant inordinata], which made her ugly. But those who admit and love the interior things of the Word, were represented by a girl in early maidenhood, or in the flower of youth, handsomely dressed, and adorned with garlands and heavenly ornaments.

I have conversed with certain spirits concerning the Word, saying that it has been necessary that of the Lord's Divine Providence some revelation should come into existence, for a revelation or Word is the general recipient vessel of spiritual and celestial things, thus conjoining heaven and earth; and that without it they would have been disjoined, and the human race would have perished. And besides it is necessary that there should be heavenly truths somewhere, by which man may be instructed, because he was born for heavenly things, and, after the life of the body, ought to come among those who are heavenly; for the truths of faith are the laws of order in the kingdom in which he is to live forever.

It may seem a paradox, but still it is most true, that the angels understand the internal sense of the Word better and more fully when little boys and girls are reading it, than when it is read by adult persons who are not in the faith of charity. The cause has been told me, and is that little boys and girls are in a state of mutual love and innocence, and thus their most tender vessels are almost heavenly, and are simply capacities for receiving, which therefore can be disposed by the Lord; although this does not come to their perception, except by a certain delight suited to their genius. It was said by the angels that the Word of the Lord is a dead letter; but that in him that reads it is vivified by the Lord according to the capacity of each one; and that it becomes living according to the life of his charity and his state of innocence, and this with inexpressible variety.

(Arcana Coelestia 1767-1776)