I was
once raised, as to my spirit, into one of the societies of the angelic
heaven; and instantly some of the wise men of the society came to me,
and said, "What news from the earth?" I replied, "This is new; the Lord
has revealed arcana which in point of excellence surpass all the arcana
heretofore revealed since the beginning of the church." They asked,
"What are they?" I said, "The following: 1. That in every part of the
Word there is a spiritual sense corresponding to the natural sense; and
that by means of the former sense the men of the church have conjunction
with the Lord and consociation with angels; and that the sanctity of the
Word resides therein. 2. That the correspondences are discovered of
which the spiritual sense of the Word consists." The angels asked, "Have
the inhabitants of the earth had no previous knowledge respecting
correspondences?" I said, "None at all;" and that the doctrine of
correspondences had been concealed for some thousands of years, ever
since the time of Job; and that with those who lived at that time, and
before it, the science of correspondences was their chief science,
whence they derived wisdom, because they derived knowledge respecting
the spiritual things of heaven and the church; but that this science, on
account of its being made idolatrous, was so extirpated and destroyed by
the divine providence of the Lord that no visible traces of it were left
remaining; that nevertheless at this time it has been again discovered
by the Lord, in order that the men of the church may have conjunction
with him, and consociation with the angels; which purposes are effected
by the Word, in which all things are correspondences.
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