Heaven and its Wonders and Hell. Emanuel Swedenborg

what correspond to the functions of the heart and lungs in man. It is on account of this correspondence that in the Word the "heart" signifies the will and also good of love, and the "breath" of the lungs signifies the understanding and the truth of faith. For the same reason affections are ascribed to the heart, although they are neither in it nor from it.{1}

      {Footnote 1} The correspondence of the heart and lungs with the Greatest Man, which is heaven, from experience (n. 3883–3896), The heart corresponds to those in the celestial kingdom, and the lungs to those in the spiritual kingdom (n. 3885–3887). There is in heaven a pulse like that of the heart, and a respiration like that of the lungs but interior (n. 3884, 3885, 3887). There the pulse of the heart varies in conformity to states of love, and the respiration in conformity to states of charity and faith (n. 3886, 3887, 3889). In the Word the "heart" means the will, and "from the heart" means from the will (n. 2930, 7542, 8910, 9113, 10336). In the Word the "heart" also signifies love, and "from the heart" means from love (7542, 9050, 10336).

      96. The correspondence of the two kingdoms of heaven with the heart and lungs is the general correspondence of heaven with man. There is a less general correspondence with each one of his members, organs, and viscera; and what this is shall also be explained. In the Greatest Man, which is heaven, those that are in the head excel all others in every good, being in love, peace, innocence, wisdom, intelligence, and consequent joy and happiness. These flow into the head of man and the things belonging to the head and corresponding thereto. In the Greatest Man, or heaven, those that are in the breast are in the good of charity and of faith, and these flow into the breast of man and correspond to it. In the Greatest Man, or heaven, those that are in the loins and the organs devoted to generation are in marriage love. Those in the feet are in the lowest good of heaven, which is called spiritual natural good. Those in the arms and hands are in the power of truth from good. Those that are in the eyes are in understanding; those in the ears are in attention and obedience; those in the nostrils are in perception; those in the mouth and tongue are in the ability to converse from understanding and perception; those in the kidneys are in truths searching, separating, and correcting; those in the liver, pancreas, and spleen are in various purifications of good and truth; and so with the rest. All these flow into the like things of man and correspond to them. This inflow of heaven is into the functions and uses of the bodily members; and the uses, since they are from the spiritual world, take on a form by means of such things as are in the natural world, and thus present themselves in effect. From this is the correspondence.

      97. For the same reason these same members, organs, and viscera have a like significance in the Word; for everything there has a meaning in accordance with correspondence. Thus the "head" signifies intelligence and wisdom; the "breast" charity; the "loins" marriage love; the "arms and hands" power of truth; the "feet" what is natural; the "eyes" understanding; the "nostrils" perception; the "ears" obedience, the "kidneys" the scrutiny of truth, and so on.{1} So, too, in the common speech of man it is said of one who is intelligent and wise that he has a good head; of one who is charitable that he is a bosom friend; of one who has clear perception that he is keen scented; of one who is intelligent that he is sharp sighted; of one who is powerful that he is long handed; of one who exercises his will from love that it is done from the heart. These and many other expressions in the speech of men are from correspondence, for they are from the spiritual world, although man is ignorant of it.

      {Footnote 1} In the Word the "breast" signifies charity (n. 3934, 10081, 10087). The "loins" and organs of generation signify marriage love (n. 3021, 4280, 4462, 5050–5052). The "arms" and "hands" signify the power of truth (n. 878, 3091, 4931–4937, 6947, 7205, 10019). The "feet" signify the natural (n. 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938–4952). The "eye" signifies understanding (n. 2701, 4403–4421, 4523–4534, 6923, 9051, 10569). The "nostrils" signify perception (n. 3577, 4624, 4625, 4748, 5621, 8286, 10054, 10292). The "ears" signify obedience (n. 2542, 3869, 4523, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 8990, 9311, 9397, 10061). The "kidneys" signify the scrutiny and correction of truth (n. 5380–5386, 10032).

      98. That there is such a correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man has been made clear to me by much experience, by so much that I am as convinced of it as of any evident fact that admits of no doubt. But it is not necessary to describe all this experience here; nor would it be permissible on account of its abundance. It may be seen set forth in the Arcana Coelestia, where correspondences, representations, the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world, and the interaction between soul and body, are treated of.{1}

      {Footnote 1} The correspondence of all the members of the body with the Greatest Man, or heaven, in general and in particular, from experience (n. 3021, 3624–3649, 3741–3750, 3883–3895, 4039–4054, 4218–4228, 4318–4331, 4403–4421, 4523–4533, 4622–4633, 4652–4660, 4791–4805, 4931–4953, 5050–5061, 5171–5189, 5377–5396, 5552–5573, 5711–5727, 10030). The influx of the spiritual world into the natural world or of heaven into the world, and the influx of the soul into all things of the body, from experience (n. 6053–6058, 6189–6215, 6307–6326, 6466–6495, 6598–6626). The interaction between soul and body, from experience (n. 6053–6058, 6189–6215, 6307–6327, 6466–6495, 6598–6626).

      99. But notwithstanding that all things of man's body correspond to all things of heaven, it is not in respect to his external form that man is an image of heaven, but in respect to his internal form; for man's interiors are what receive heaven, while his exteriors receive the world. So far, therefore, as his interiors receive heaven man is in respect to them a heaven in least form, after the image of the greatest. But so far as his interiors do not receive heaven he is not a heaven and an image of the greatest, although his exteriors, which receive the world, may be in a form in accordance with the order of the world, and thus variously beautiful. For the source of outward beauty which pertains to the body is in parents and formation in the womb, and it is preserved afterwards by general influx from the world. For this reason the form of one's natural man differs greatly from the form of his spiritual man. What the form of a man's spirit is I have been shown occasionally; and in some who were beautiful and charming in appearance the spirit was seen to be so deformed, black and monstrous that it might be called an image of hell, not of heaven; while in others not beautiful there was a spirit beautifully formed, pure, and angelic. Moreover, the spirit of man appears after death such as it has been in the body while it lived therein in the world.

      100. But correspondence applies far more widely than to man; for there is a correspondence of the heavens with one another. To the third or inmost heaven the second or middle heaven corresponds, and to the second or middle heaven the first or outmost heaven corresponds, and this corresponds to the bodily forms in man called his members, organs, and viscera. Thus it is the bodily part of man in which heaven finally terminates, and upon which it stands as upon its base. But this arcanum will be more fully unfolded elsewhere.

      101. Especially it must be understood that all correspondence with heaven is with the Lord's Divine Human, because heaven is from Him, and He is heaven, as has been shown in previous chapters. For if the Divine Human did not flow into all things of heaven, and in accordance with correspondences into all things of the world, no angel or man could exist. From this again it is evident why the Lord became Man and clothed His Divine from first to last with a Human. It was because the Divine Human, from which heaven existed before the Lord's coming, was no longer sufficient to sustain all things, for the reason that man, who is the foundation of the heavens, had subverted and destroyed order. What the Divine Human was before the Lord's coming, and what the condition of heaven was at that time may be seen in the extracts appended to the preceding chapter.

      102. Angels are amazed when they hear that there are men who attribute all things to nature and nothing to the Divine, and who also believe that their body, into which so many wonders of heaven are gathered, is a product of nature. Still more are they amazed that the rational part of man is believed to be from nature, when, if men will but lift their minds a little, they can see that such effects are not from nature but from the Divine; and that nature has been created simply for clothing the spiritual and for presenting it in a correspondent form in the outmost of order. Such men they liken to owls, which see in darkness, but in light see nothing.

103. XIII. THERE IS A CORRESPONDENCE OF HEAVEN WITH ALL THINGS