On this physical World our compass is governed by the magnetic field of the earth. On the inner Worlds direction is governed spiritually. Emanuel Swedenborg talks about the four directions of Heaven and hell: Chapter 16 vs. 141. Both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters, east, south, west, and north, determined in each world by its own sun; in heaven by the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, in the world by the sun of the world. And yet there are great differences between them… In heaven [it] is called the east where the Lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is the west, at the right is the south in heaven, and at the left the north; and this in whatever direction the face and the body are turned. Thus in heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are determined. That is called the east where the Lord is seen as a sun, because all origin of life is from Him as a sun; moreover, so far as angels receive heat and light or love and intelligence from the Lord He is said to arise upon them… 142. Another difference is that to the angels the east is always before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the north to the left. But since this cannot be easily comprehended in the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every quarter, it shall be explained. The entire heaven turns itself to the Lord as to its common center; to that center do all the angels turn themselves… The interiors of angels are actually turned forwards… In heaven all turn themselves to the Lord… 143. …Although angels, like men, turn and direct their faces and bodies in every direction, they nevertheless have the east always before their eyes. But the turnings of angels are unlike the turnings of men, because they are from a different origin. They appear alike, but they are not. The origin of these turnings is their ruling love, and from this all directions with angels and spirits are determined, for, as just said, their interiors are actually turned towards their common center, which in heaven is the Lord as a sun; consequently their ruling love is always before their face, because their love is always before their interiors… and in the heavens this love is the Lord as a sun because it is from Him that they have their love. And as the Lord Himself is in angels in His love, it is the Lord who causes them to look to Him whithersoever they turn… That the angels have the Lord constantly before their faces it has been granted me to know and also to perceive from much experience; for whenever I have been in company with angels I have noticed the Lord’s presence before my face, not actually seen, and yet perceptible in a light; and angels have often testified that this is so. As the Lord is constantly before the faces of the angels, so it is said in the world of those who believe in the Lord and love Him that they have God before their eyes and their face, and that they look to God, and see God… In the spiritual world all constantly turn themselves to their loves; and the quarters there… 144. This turning to the Lord is among the wonderful things in heaven. There may be many together in one place, some turning the face and body one way and some another, and yet all see the Lord before them, and… everyone has the south at his right, the north at his left, and the west behind him… 145. The Lord is seen by the angels, and the angels are seen by the Lord in another way. Angels see the Lord through their eyes; but the Lord sees the angels in the forehead… 146. The quarters in the heavens that give form to the Lord’s celestial kingdom differ from the quarters in the heavens that give form to His spiritual kingdom, for the reason that He is seen by the angels in His celestial kingdom as a sun, but by the angels in His spiritual kingdom as a moon; and where the Lord is seen is the east. The distance there between the position of the sun and that of the moon is thirty degrees, and there is a like difference in the position of the quarters… But it does not follow that the quarters of heaven become confused on this account, for neither can the spiritual angels ascend among the celestial angels, nor the celestial descend among the spiritual… 147. This makes clear the nature of the Lord’s presence in the heavens… The perception of the Lord’s presence is in their interiors; and it is from these that their eyes see, and it is by this continuity that they see the Lord outside of themselves. This shows what is meant by the Lord’s being in them and they in Him, according to His own words: Abide in Me and I in you (John 15:4). He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me and I in him (John 6:56). In the Word “the Lord’s flesh” signifies His Divine Human, and the Divine good of His love and “the Lord’s blood” signifies Divine truth and the holy of faith. 148. All in the heavens have their own places of abode in accordance with the quarters… 149. In like order the angels in each society in heaven dwell in relation to one another- towards the east there those who are in greater degree of love and charity, towards the west those who are in less degree towards the south those who are in greater light of wisdom and intelligence, and towards the north those who are in less. This arrangement prevails because each society represents heaven, and is a heaven in a smaller form. The same arrangement prevails in their assemblies. They are brought into this order by virtue of the form of heaven, from which everyone knows his own place… 150. Because of this the quarters in the heavens signify such things as pertain to those that dwell in them, - the east signifying love and its good clearly perceived, the west the same obscurely perceived, the south wisdom and intelligence in clear light, and the north the same in obscure light… 151. The reverse is true of those in the hells. Those who are there do not look to the Lord as a sun nor as a moon; but they look backward away from the Lord to that dense darkness that is in the place of the sun of the world, and to the darkness that is in the place of the earth’s moon… The world’s sun and the earth’s moon are not seen in the spiritual world, but in place of that sun a dense darkness over against the sun of heaven, and in place of that moon a darkness over against the moon of heaven. For this reason the quarters with those in the hells are opposite to the quarters of heaven. The east to them is where that dense darkness and darkness are, the west is where the sun of heaven is, the south is to their right, and the north to their left, and this also in every turning of their bodies. Nor can they face otherwise, because the whole bent and consequent determination of their interiors tends and strives that way… The bent and consequent actual determination of the interiors of all in the other life are in harmony with their love. The love of those in the hells is the love of self and the world, and these loves are what are signified by the world’s sun and the earth’s moon; and these loves are opposite to love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour; and this is the cause of their turning themselves backwards away from the Lord to this dense darkness. Moreover, those in the hells dwell likewise in accordance with their quarters, those who are in evil from love of self dwelling from their east to their west, and those who are in the falsities of evil from their south to their north… Love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour make heaven, while love of self and love of the world make hell, because the two are opposite… 153. Evil spirits are sometimes seen turned towards the quarters of heaven; and they then have intelligence and perception of truth, but no affection for good; but as soon as they turn back to their own quarters they have no intelligence or perception of truth; and then they declare that the truths they heard and perceived are falsities and not truths, and they wish falsities to be truths… This is provided by the Lord to the end that everyone may have the ability to see and acknowledge truths, but that no one can receive truths unless he is in good, since it is good, and never evil, that receives them; also that man has a like ability to the end that he may be made better by means of truths… Nevertheless, he is made better only so far as he is in good. (Heaven and its Wonders and Hell From Things Heard and Seen by Emanuel Swedenborg)
No comments:
Post a Comment