CL 83. The origins of conjugial love are internal and external. The internal origins are many and likewise the external, but the inmost of all, being the universal origin, is one. That this inmost origin is the marriage of good and truth will be shown in what now follows. No one has hitherto deduced the origin of that love from this source because it has not been known that there is any union between good and truth; and the reason why this has not been known is because good does not appear in the light of the understanding as does truth. Therefore knowledge of it has concealed itself and eluded investigation. And since, from this cause, good is among things unknown, no one could conjecture that there is a marriage between it and truth. Nay, before the natural rational sight, good appears to be so far removed from truth as to have no conjunction with it. That such is the case can be seen from common speech when the two are mentioned. Thus, when it is said, "This is good," there is no thought about truth; and when it is said, "This is true," there is no thought about good. Therefore it is believed by many at this day that truth is something entirely separate, and likewise good; and by many, it is also believed that a man is intelligent and wise, and thus is a man, according to the truths which he thinks, speaks, writes, and believes, and not at the same time according to the goods (which he does). That, nevertheless, there is no good without truth, nor any truth without good; consequently, that there is an eternal marriage between them, and that this marriage is the origin of conjugial love, shall now be explained. This shall be done in the following order:

1. That good and truth are the universals of creation and hence are in all created things; but that they are in created subjects according to the form of each.

2. That there is no solitary good, and no solitary truth, but that they are everywhere conjoined.

3. That there is the truth of good and from this the good of truth, or truth from good and good from that truth; and that in these two there is implanted from creation an inclination to conjoin themselves into a one.

4. That in subjects of the animal kingdom, the truth of good or truth from good is masculine; and that the good of truth therefrom or good from that truth is feminine.

5. That from the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, there is love of the sex and there is conjugial love.

6. That love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and hence is common to every animal.

7. But that conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man, and hence is proper to man.

8. That with man, conjugial love is in love of the sex as a gem in its matrix.

9. That with man, love of the sex is not the origin of conjugial love but is the first thereof; thus is as a natural external wherein is implanted a spiritual internal.

10. That when conjugial love has been implanted, love of the sex is inverted and becomes chaste love of the sex.

11. That the male and female were created to be the very form of the marriage of good and truth.

12. That they are that form in their inmosts, and hence, as the interiors of their mind are opened, in all that follows therefrom.

Now follows the explanation of these points.

CL 84. I. That good and truth are the universals of creation and hence are in all created things; but that they are in created subjects according to the form of each. That good and truth are the universals of creation is because the two are in the Lord God, the Creator, yea, are Himself; for He is Divine Good Itself and Divine Truth Itself. But this falls more clearly into the perception of the understanding and so into the idea of the thought, if for good be substituted love and for truth wisdom, thus: That in the Lord God the Creator is Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and that these are Himself; that is, that He is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, these two being the same as Good and Truth. The reason is because good pertains to love and truth to wisdom, for love consists of goods and wisdom of truths. As the latter two and the former two are the same, in the following pages they will be referred to, sometimes as the latter and sometimes as the former, and by either name the same thing will be meant. This preliminary explanation is made now, lest hereafter when the terms are used the understanding should conceive of a difference between them.

CL 85. Since, therefore, the Lord God the Creator is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, and the universe was created by Him, being thus as a work proceeding from Him, it must needs be that in each and every created thing there is something of good and truth from Him; for what is made by anyone and proceeds from him, bears his likeness. Moreover, reason can see that such is the case, from the order in which each and everything in the universe has been created, this order being, that one thing is for the sake of another and that one therefore depends upon another like a chain on its links; for all things are for the sake of the human race, to the end that from that race there may be an angelic heaven whereby creation returns to its Source, the Creator Himself. Thence is the conjunction of the created universe with its Creator, and by conjunction, everlasting preservation. It is on this account that good and truth are said to be the universals of creation. That such is the case is plain to everyone who reflects upon the matter from reason; for in every created thing he sees that which refers itself to good, and that which refers itself to truth.

CL 86. That good and truth are in created subjects according to the form of each, is because every subject receives influx according to its form. The preservation of the whole is nothing else than the perpetual influx of Divine Good and Divine Truth into forms created by that influx. Thus subsistence or preservation is perpetual existence or creation. That every subject receives influx according to its form may be illustrated in various ways, as for instance, by the influx of heat and light from the sun into plants of every kind. Each one of these receives this influx according to its form; thus every tree according to its form, every shrub according to its, every herb and every blade of grass according to its. The influx is the same into them all; but the reception, being according to the form, causes each species to remain the same. It may also be illustrated by the influx into animals of every kind, according to the form of each. That influx is according to the form of each thing, can be seen even by a rustic if he gives heed to the fact that various wind instruments, such as pipes, flutes, cornets, trumpets, and organs, give forth sound from the same blowing or inflow of air, according to their forms.

CL 87. II. That there is no solitary good, and no solitary truth, but that they are everywhere conjoined. A man wishing to get an idea of good from any sensation will be unable to find it, in the absence of some adjunct which presents it and makes it manifest. Without this, good is a nameless entity. That by which it is presented and manifested refers itself to truth. Say merely good, and not at the same time this thing or that to which it is adjoined; or define it abstractly, that is, apart from any cohering adjunct, and you will see that it is not anything, but that with its adjunct it is something. And if you strain the keen sight of reason, you will perceive that good without any adjunct is a thing of no predication, and hence of no relation, no affection, and no state, in a word, of no quality. It is the same with truth, if that word is heard without an inner adjunct; and cultivated reason can see that this inner adjunct has reference to good.

[2] But because goods are innumerable, and each rises to its maximum and descends to its minimum as by the steps of a ladder, and also varies its name according to its progression and its quality, it is difficult for any but the wise to see the relation of good and truth to objects, and their conjunction in those objects. That, nevertheless, there is no good without truth and no truth without good, is evident from common perception, as soon as It is acknowledged that each and everything in the universe has reference to good and truth, as shown in the preceding article, (n. 84, 85).

[3] That there is no solitary good and no solitary truth can be illustrated and at the same time confirmed in various ways; as, for instance, that there is no essence without form, nor any form without essence--and good is the essence or esse of a thing, while truth is that by which the essence is formed and the esse comes into existence. Again, in man there is will and understanding, good belonging to the will and truth to the understanding. The will alone does nothing; it acts only through the understanding; nor does the understanding alone do anything but acts from the will. Again, in man there are two fountains of his bodily life, the heart and the lungs. The heart cannot produce any sensitive and motory life without the respiration of the lungs; nor can the lungs without the heart. The heart has relation to good, and the respiration of the lungs to truth; there is also a correspondence.

[4] It is the same in each and everything of man's mind as it is in each and everything of his body. But time does not permit the offering of further confirmations, The matter can be seen more fully confirmed in THE ANGELIC WISDOM CONCERNING DIVINE PROVIDENCE (DP n. 3-26), where it is explained in this order.

1. That the universe, with each created thing thereof, is from Divine Love by Divine wisdom, or, what is the same thing, from Divine Good by Divine Truth.

2. That Divine Good and Divine Truth proceed from the Lord as a unit.

3. That this unit is present in an image in every created thing.

4. That good is not good save as it is united with truth; and that truth is not truth save as it is united with good.

5. That the Lord does not suffer that anything shall be divided; therefore, a man must either be in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at the same time in falsity. Besides much else.

CL 88. III. That there is the truth of good and from this the good of truth, or truth from good and good from that truth; and that in these two there is implanted from creation an inclination to conjoin themselves into a one. It is necessary that some distinct idea be acquired respecting these points because, upon this, depends a knowledge of the essential origin of conjugial love; for, as explained below, the truth of good or truth from good is masculine, and the good of truth or good from that truth is feminine. But this can be more distinctly comprehended if for good is substituted love and for truth wisdom; and that these are one and the same may be seen above (n. 84). Wisdom cannot exist with man except by the love of growing wise. If this love be taken away, man is entirely incapable of becoming wise. It is wisdom from this love that is meant by the truth of good or truth from good. But when, from this love, man has acquired wisdom and loves that wisdom in himself, or loves himself on account of it, he forms a love which is the love of wisdom; this is what is meant by the good of truth or good from that truth.

[2] There are, therefore, two loves with the male, of which the one, which is prior, is the love of becoming wise, and the other, which is posterior, is the love of wisdom. But this latter love, if it remains with the man, is an evil love and is called pride or the love of self-intelligence. That this love was taken from man lest it destroy him, and was transcribed into woman that it might become conjugial love which reintegrates him, and that this was foreseen from eternity, will be confirmed in what follows. Something regarding these two loves, and the transcription of the latter into woman, may be seen above (n. 32, 33), and in the preliminaries (n. 20). If, therefore, for love, good is understood, and for wisdom truth, then, from what is said in those passages and also here, it is evident that there is the truth of good or truth from good and from this, the good of truth or good from that truth.

CL 89. That in these two is implanted from creation an inclination to conjoin themselves into a one, is because the one is formed from the other--wisdom from the love of growing wise, or truth from good, and the love of wisdom from that wisdom, or the good of truth from that truth. From this formation, it can be seen that in them there is a mutual inclination to reunite and conjoin themselves into a one. This reunion is effected with men who are in genuine wisdom, and with women who are in the love of that wisdom in their husband, thus, with those who are in love truly conjugial. As to the wisdom which must be with the man and which must be loved by the wife, this will be spoken of later.

CL 90. IV. That in subjects of the animal kingdom, the truth of good or truth from good is masculine; and that the good of truth therefrom or good from that truth is feminine. That a perpetual union of love and wisdom or marriage of good and truth flows in from the Lord, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, and that created subjects receive it, each according to its form, has been shown above, (n. 84-86). That from this marriage or union the male receives the truth or wisdom to which the good of love is conjoined by the Lord according to reception; that this reception takes place in the understanding; and that from this the male is born to become intellectual--all this can be seen by reason from its own lumen, from various characteristics with the male, especially from his affection, his application, his ways, and his form.

[2] FROM THE AFFECTION OF THE MALE, in that it is an affection of learning, understanding, and being wise--the affection of learning in boyhood, the affection of understanding in adolescence and early manhood, and the affection of being wise from this manhood to old age; from all which, it is plain that his nature or innate disposition inclines to the formation of an understanding; consequently, that he is born to become intellectual. But because this cannot be effected except from love, therefore the Lord adjoins love to him according to his reception, that is, according to his animus that he wishes to become wise.

[3] FROM HIS APPLICATION, which is to such things as are intellectual or in which the understanding predominates, most of which are forensic and regard public uses. FROM HIS WAYS, all of which partake of the predominance of the understanding. From this it is that the actions of his life, which are meant by ways, are rational, or if not, he wishes them to seem so. Moreover, masculine rationality is conspicuous in his every virtue. FROM HIS FORM, in that it is different and entirely distinct from the female form, respecting which, something may also be seen above, (n. 33). Add to this, that in him is the prolific principle, and this is from no other source than the understanding, being from the truth from good there. That it is from this source will be seen in what follows.

CL 91. That the female is born to be voluntary--but voluntary from the intellectual of the man--or, what is the same thing, that she is born to be the love of man's wisdom, having been formed through his wisdom (n. 88, 89), is evident from the affection of the female, from her application, her ways, and her form. FROM THE AFFECTION OF THE FEMALE, in that it is an affection of loving science, intelligence, and wisdom, yet, not in herself but in the man, and so of loving the man; for a man cannot be loved from his form alone just because this appears as a man, but only from the endowment which is in him and which makes him a man. FROM HER APPLICATION, in that it is to such works as are done with the hands, called knitting embroidery, and by other names, and which serve for ornament and for the adornment of her person and the enhancement of her beauty; also to various offices which are called domestic and which adjoin themselves to the offices of men, which, as said above (n. 90), are called forensic. Women apply themselves to these from an inclination to marriage, that they may become wives and so be one with their husbands. That it is apparent FROM HER WAYS AND HER FORM is clear without explanation.

CL 92. V. That from the influx of the marriage of good and truth from the Lord, there is love of the sex and there is conjugial love. That good and truth are the universals of creation, and hence are in all created subjects; that they are in them according to the form of each; and that good and truth proceed from the Lord, not as two but as one, has been shown above (n. 84-87.) It follows from this, that a UNIVERSAL CONJUGIAL SPHERE proceeds from the Lord and pervades the universe from its primes to its ultimates, thus from angels even to worms. That this sphere, being the sphere of the marriage of good and truth, proceeds from the Lord, is because it is also the sphere of propagation, that is, of prolification and fructification; and this is the same as the Divine Providence for the preservation of the universe by successive generations. Now because this universal sphere, which is the sphere of the marriage of good and truth, flows into subjects according to the form of each (n. 86), it follows that the male receives it according to his form, that is, in the understanding, he being an intellectual form, and that the female receives it according to her form, thus, in the will, she being a voluntary form from the intellectual form of the man. And because that same sphere is the sphere of prolification, it follows that from this comes love of the sex.

CL 93. That conjugial love is also thence, is because that sphere flows into the form of wisdom with men and also with angels. Man can grow in wisdom to the end of his life in the world and afterwards in heaven to eternity; and as he increases in wisdom, so his form is perfected, and this form receives, not love of the sex but love of one of the sex, it being with this one that he can be united even to his inmost wherein is heaven with its felicities. This union is the union of conjugial love.

CL 94. VI. That love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and hence is common to every animal. Every man is born corporeal and becomes more and more interiorly natural; then, according as he loves intelligence, he becomes rational; and afterwards, if he loves wisdom, he becomes spiritual; what that wisdom is by which man becomes spiritual will be told later (n. 130). Now, as man progresses from science to intelligence and from intelligence to wisdom, so also does his mind change its form; for it is more and more opened and more closely conjoins itself with heaven and through heaven with the Lord. Hence the man becomes a greater lover of truth and more intent on the good of life. If, therefore, he stops at the first threshold of his progress towards wisdom, the form of his mind remains natural; and this receives the influx of the universal sphere--the sphere of the marriage of good and truth--no otherwise than as do the lower subjects of the animal kingdom which are called beasts and birds. And since these are merely natural, he becomes like them, and so loves the sex in the same way they do. This is what is meant by the statement that love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man and hence is common to every animal.

CL 95. VII. But that conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man, and hence is proper to man. That conjugial love belongs to the internal or spiritual man, is because the more a man becomes intelligent and wise, the more does he become internal or spiritual and the more is the form of his mind perfected. It is this form that receives conjugial love; for in that love he perceives and feels a spiritual delight which is inwardly beatific, and from this, a natural delight which draws its soul and life and essence from the former.

CL 96. That conjugial love is proper to man is because man alone can become spiritual; for he can elevate his understanding above his natural loves, and from that height can see those loves beneath him and judge of them as to their quality; he can also amend, chasten, and remove them. This, no animal can do, for its loves are wholly united with its connate science, for which reason that science cannot be elevated into intelligence, still less into wisdom. Hence an animal is led by the love implanted in its science, like a blind man led through the streets by a dog. This is the reason why conjugial love is proper to man. It can also be called native and germane to man, because man has within him the faculty of being wise, with which this love makes one.

CL 97. VIII. That with man, conjugial love is in love of the sex as a gem in its matrix. Being only a comparison, this will be explained in the article which next follows. The comparison, however, illustrates the truth that love of the sex belongs to the external or natural man, and conjugial love to the internal or spiritual man (n. 95).

CL 98. IX. That with man, love of the sex is not the origin of conjugial love but is the first thereof; thus is as a natural external wherein is implanted a spiritual internal. The subject here treated of is love truly conjugial, and not the common love which is also called conjugal and which with some is no other than a limited love of the sex. But love truly conjugial is with those only who desire wisdom and more deeply enter into it. These the Lord foresees, and for them He provides conjugial love. With them, this love does indeed commence from love of the sex, or rather by means of that love, yet it does. not arise from it; for it arises in proportion as wisdom with the man advances its step and comes into the light, wisdom and that love being inseparable companions.

[2] That conjugial love has its commencement by means of love of the sex is

(1) because, before a consort is found, the sex in general is loved, being regarded with a fond eye and treated with courteous morality; for an adolescent is in the period of choosing, and then, from an implanted inclination to marriage with one, which is latent in the shrine of his mind, his external grows pleasantly warm.

And (2) because, for various reasons, determinations to marriage are delayed even to the middle of manhood, and meanwhile that love commences as lust, and with some this goes off into actual love of the sex, though with such men its bridle is loosed no further than is conducive to health. The above, however, is said of the male sex, because that sex, but not the female sex, has the allurement which inflames actually. From this it is evident that love of the sex is not the origin of love truly conjugial but is the first thereof in time, though not in end; for what is the first in end, being the primary thing, is the first in the mind and its intention. There is no approaching this first except gradually and by means. The means are not in themselves the first things; they are merely advances to that which is the first in itself.

CL 99. X. That when conjugial love has been implanted, love of the sex is inverted and becomes chaste love of the sex. It is said that love of the sex is then inverted, because, while conjugial love is coming to its origin which is in the interiors of the mind, it sees love of the sex not in front of itself but behind, that is, not above itself but below. Thus it sees it as something which it leaves behind in passing, in like manner as is the case when one climbs from one office, through other offices, to an office of supereminent dignity, and then looks back or below to the offices through which he has passed; or, as when one intends a journey to the court of some king, and after his arrival, turns his gaze back to the things which he saw on the way. That with those who are in love truly conjugial, love of the sex then remains and becomes chaste, and yet sweeter than the former love, can be seen from its description by those who are in the spiritual world, as given in the two Memorable Relations therefrom, (n. 44, 45).

CL 100. XI. That the male and female were created to be the very form of the marriage of good and truth. The reason is because the male was created to be the understanding of truth, thus truth in form, while the female was created to be the will of good, thus good in form; from their inmosts, both are endowed with an inclination to conjunction into a one (n. 88). The two thus make one form, which emulates the conjugial form of good and truth. It is said that it emulates this form, because it is not the same but is like it; for, with the man, the good which conjoins itself with truth is from the Lord immediately, while the wife's good which conjoins itself with truth in the man is from the Lord mediately through the wife. Thus there are two goods, one internal, the other external, which conjoin themselves with truth in the husband, and by means of love truly conjugial make the husband to be constantly in the understanding of truth and thence in wisdom. But more on this subject in what follows.

CL 101. XII. That two married partners are that form in their inmosts, and hence, as the interiors of their mind are opened, in all that follows therefrom. There are three things of which every man consists and which follow in order--soul, mind, and body. His inmost is the soul, his intermediate is the mind, and his ultimate is the body. All that flows into man from the Lord flows into his inmost, which is the soul, and descends thence into his intermediate, which is the mind, and through this into his ultimate, which is the body. It is in this way that the marriage of good and truth flows into man from the Lord. It flows immediately into his soul, from this it goes on to the parts that follow, and through these to the outmost parts. In this way all these conjointly make conjugial love. From the idea of this influx, it is evident that two married partners are that form in their inmosts, and thence in all that follows therefrom.

CL 102. That married partners become that form as the interiors of their mind are opened, is because the mind is opened successively, from infancy to extreme old age. Man is born corporeal, and, as the mind next above the body is opened, he becomes rational. As this rational is purified and, as it were, decanted from the fallacies flowing in from the bodily senses and the concupiscences flowing in from the allurements of the flesh, it is opened, this being done solely by means of wisdom; and when the interiors of the rational mind are opened, then the man becomes a form of wisdom--a form which is the receptacle of love truly conjugial. The wisdom which makes this form and receives this love is rational and at the same time moral. Rational wisdom regards the truths and goods which appear interiorly in man, not as his own but as flowing in from the Lord; and moral wisdom shuns evils and falses as leprosies, shunning especially things lascivious which contaminate its conjugial love.

CL 103. To the above I will add two Memorable Relations. First this:

One morning before sunrise, when looking towards the east in the spiritual world, I saw four horsemen flying as from a cloud resplendent with the flame of dawn. Upon the horsemen's heads appeared crested helmets, upon their arms wings, as it were, and about their bodies light orange-coloured tunics. Thus clad as racers, they rose up, pulled tight the reins over the manes of their horses, and the horses speeded off as though with winged feet. With my eyes, I followed their course or flight with a mind to know whither they were going; and lo, three of the horsemen spread out to the three quarters, south, west, and north, and after a short course the fourth stopped in the east.

[2] Wondering at this, I looked up to heaven and asked whither those horsemen were going. I received the answer: "To the wise in the kingdoms of Europe--men of keen reason and acute discernment in the investigation of subjects, and eminent among their fellow countrymen for their ingenuity--that they may come and solve the secret concerning THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE AND OF ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY".

Angels then said from heaven, "Wait a little and you will see twenty-seven chariots, three with Spaniards in them, three with Frenchmen or Gauls, three with Italians, three with Germans, three with Batavians or Hollanders, three with Englishmen, three with Swedes, three with Danes, and three with Poles." Two hours later the chariots appeared, drawn by small light-bay horses elegantly caparisoned. Their riders were swiftly carried towards a spacious house which was seen in the common boundary of the east and the south. Around this house all the riders alighted from their chariots and entered the house in high spirits.

[3] It was then said to me, "Go you also and enter and you shall hear." So I went and entered. Examining the building within, I saw that it was square, the sides looking to the four quarters. On each side were three lofty windows of crystalline glass, with posts of olive wood. On either side of the posts were projections from the walls, like rooms, vaulted above and containing tables. The walls of these rooms were of cedar, the roof was of noble thyine wood, and the floor was boarded with poplar. Against the eastern wall, where no windows were seen, was set a table overlaid with gold, whereon was placed a tiara set around with precious stones. This was to be given as a prize or reward to him who should search out the secret about to be propounded.

[4] As I looked at the several roofed projections which were like stalls set by the windows, I saw in each, five men from one or other of the countries of Europe, all ready, awaiting the subject for the exercise of their judgment. Then, all at once an angel stood in the middle of the palace and said: The subject for the exercise of your judgment will be CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF CONJUGIAL LOVE AND OF ITS VIRTUE OR POTENCY. Discuss this subject, come to a decision, and write your decision on paper, signing it with the initial letter of the kingdom from which you come; that is, F for the Frenchmen or Gauls, B for the Batavians or Hollanders, I for the Italians, A for the Anglians or Englishmen, P for the Poles, G for the Germans, H for the Hispanians or Spaniards, D for the Danes, and S for the Swedes. Then put the paper into this silver urn which you see placed beside the golden table." With these words, the angel departed, saying, "I will return."

The five compatriots in each of the stalls by the windows then turned their attention to the subject that had been proclaimed, examined into it, and made their decision in accordance with the excellence of their judicial endowments. These decisions they wrote down on papers signed with the initial letter of their kingdom, and put them into the silver receptacle. In three hours, this business being finished, the angel returned and, drawing the papers out of the urn one after the other, read them before the assembly.

CL 104. From the FIRST paper which his hand took at random, he read as follows: "We five compatriots in our stall have concluded that conjugial love had its origin from the most ancient people in the Golden Age, and with them from the creation of Adam and his wife. Thence is the origin of marriages and with marriages the origin of conjugial love. As regards the virtue or potency of conjugial love, we derive this from no other source than the climate, that is, the position of the sun and the consequent heat upon the land. We have considered the subject, not from vain conjectures of reason but from the evident indications of experience; as, for instance, from the peoples who live under the equinoctial line or circle where the heat of day is ardent; also from peoples dwelling near that circle, and from peoples farther removed therefrom; and furthermore, from the co-operation of solar heat and vital heat, as seen in the animals of the earth and the birds of heaven in spring-time when they are prolific. Besides, what is conjugial love but heat? and if to this be added the supplementary heat of the sun, it becomes virtue or potency." To this was subscribed the letter H, the initial letter of the kingdom from which they were.

CL 105. The angel then put his hand into the urn a SECOND. time and took from it a paper, from which he read as follows: "We compatriots in our compartment have agreed that the origin of conjugial love is the same as the origin of marriages. These have been sanctioned by laws for the restraining of the innate desire of men for adulteries, which ruin the soul, debase the reason of the mind, defile the morals, and consume the body with wasting disease; for adulteries are not human but bestial, not rational but brutish, thus in no way Christian but barbarian. It is for the condemnation of such practices that marriages arose and, at the same time, conjugial love. It is the same with the virtue or potency of that love, because this virtue depends upon chastity, and chastity is abstinence from roving whoredoms. The reason is, because with him who loves his partner alone, virtue or potency is reserved for one and so is gathered and concentrated, as it were. It then becomes like a noble quintessence purged of defilements, which otherwise would be dissipated and scattered in every direction. One of us five, who is a priest, adds also predestination as a cause of that virtue or potency, saying, `Are not marriages predestined? and granting this, are not the resultant prolifications and the efficacies thereto also predestined?' He insists on this as a cause because he has sworn to it" To this was subscribed the letter B. Hearing this, some one said in a mocking tone, "Predestination! Oh, what a fine apology for defect or impotence!"

CL 106. Then for the THIRD time the angel drew a paper out of the urn. From this he read as follows: "We compatriots in our stall have reflected on the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and have seen that the chief cause is the same as with the origin of marriage; for before marriage, that love did not exist, and it exists then because when one seeks or desperately loves a virgin, he desires with heart and soul to have her as a possession to be loved above all else; and as soon as she pledges herself, he regards her as self regards self. That this is the origin of conjugial love is very clear from the fury of every man against rivals, and from his zeal against violators. We then considered the origin of the virtue or potency of that love, and three against two have decided that with a married partner its virtue or potency is from some licence with the sex. They said that they know from experience that the potency of love of the sex surpasses the potency of conjugial love." This was subscribed with the letter I. Hearing this, the men at the tables cried out, "Remove this paper and draw another from the urn."

CL 107. The angel then at once drew out a FOURTH paper, from which he read as follows: "We compatriots, under our window, have decided that the origin of conjugial love and of love of the sex is one and the same, the former being from the latter, except that love of the sex is unlimited, indeterminate, loose, promiscuous, and roving, while conjugial love is limited, determinate, restrained, bounded, and constant. Therefore, the latter love has been sanctioned and established by the prudence of human wisdom. Otherwise no empire or kingdom or republic or even society could exist, but men in countless troops would roam over fields and woods with harlots and ravished women, and would flee from place to place to escape from bloody murders, violations, and rapine. Thus the whole human race would be wiped out. This is our judgment concerning the origin of conjugial love. As to the virtue or potency of conjugial love, this we deduce from bodily health enduring continually from birth to old age; for a man who is continuously sound and enjoys stable health, is not lacking in vigour. His fibres, nerves, muscles, and cremasters do not become torpid, relaxed, or feeble, but continue in the strength of their powers. Farewell." This was subscribed with the letter A.

CL 108. For the FIFTH time the angel drew a paper from the urn, from which he read as follows: "We compatriots at our table, from the rational light of our minds, have looked into the origin of conjugial love and the origin of its virtue or potency, and, from reasons carefully examined, have seen and affirmed that conjugial love has no other origin than the fact that from the foments and the resultant incitements concealed in the secret chamber of his mind and body, every man, after various lusts of his eyes, at last directs his mind to one of the sex to whom he inclines, until he grows inwardly warm towards her. From this time his heat proceeds from flame to flame until it becomes a consuming fire. In this state, the lust of the sex is banished and in place of lust comes conjugial love. In this burning, a youthful husband knows no other than that the virtue or potency of that love will never cease; for he lacks experience and thence knowledge respecting the state of deficiency of powers and of the consequent cooling of love after its delights. The origin of conjugial love, therefore, is from that first ardour before the nuptials; and from this is its virtue or potency. After the nuptials, this potency alternates its flames and has its decrease and increase; yet, by the exercise of moderation from prudence, and by restraining the lusts which rush out from the caverns of a mind not yet purified--for lust precedes wisdom--it endures with stable alternation or decrease and increase even to old age. This is our judgment respecting the origin and long continuance of conjugial virtue and potency." To this was subscribed the letter P.

CL 109. For the SIXTH time the angel drew out a paper, from which he read as follows: "We compatriots, from our fraternity, have considered the causes of the origin of conjugial love, and have agreed upon two, one being the right education of children, and the other the distinct possession of inheritances. We have assumed these two because they look to and aim at one mark, namely, the public good. This is secured (by marriage) because children conceived and born of conjugial love become truly one's own, being members of the family by birth; and from parental love, exalted because the offspring is of legitimate descent, such children are educated as heirs of all their parents' possessions, both spiritual and natural. That the public good is founded on the right education of children, and on the distinct possession of inheritances, is evident to reason. There is love of the sex and there is conjugial love. The latter love appears as though it were one with the former, but it is distinctly different. Nor are the two collateral, but the one is within the other, and what is within is more noble than that which is without. We saw, that from creation conjugial love is within love of the sex, being concealed therein as an almond in its shell. Therefore, when conjugial love is drawn out from its shell, which is love of the sex, it shines before the angels like a gem, a beryl, and an astroid, and this because on conjugial love is inscribed the welfare of the whole human race, which is what we mean by the public good. This is our judgment respecting the origin of this love. As to the origin of its virtue or potency, we have concluded from a consideration of its causes that it is the withdrawal and separation of conjugial love from love of the sex. This is effected on the man's part by means of wisdom, and on the wife's by means of love of the man's wisdom. Love of the sex is a love held in common with beasts, but conjugial love is proper to man. So far, therefore, as conjugial love is withdrawn and separated from love of the sex, man is a man and not a beast; and man acquires virtue or potency from his love, and the beast from its." This was subscribed with the letter G.

CL 110. For the SEVENTH time the angel drew out a paper, from which he read as follows: "In the chamber under the light of our window, we compatriots have enlivened our thoughts and hence our judgment by meditation upon conjugial love. Who is there that would not be enlivened by that love? for when in the mind, it is at the same time in the whole body. We judge of the origin of the love from its delights. Who knows or ever has known a trace of any love except from its delight and pleasure? The delights of conjugial love are felt in their origins as blessedness, happiness, and felicity, in their derivations as amenities and pleasures, and in their ultimates as the delight of delights. Love of the sex, therefore, has its origin when the interiors of the mind and thence the interiors of the body are being opened up for the influx of these delights; but conjugial love has its origin when, by entry into betrothal, the primitive sphere of that love promotes them ideally. As regards the virtue or potency of that love, this comes from the ability of the love, with its current, to pass from the mind into the body; for when the mind sensates and acts, and especially when it is in delight from this love, then from its seat in the head it is present in the body. From this we judge the degrees of potency and the constancy of its alternations. Moreover, we also deduce the virtue of potency from the stock. If this be noble with the father, then by derivation it becomes noble with the offspring also. That such nobility is generated, inherited, and by derivation descends--as to this, reason agrees with experience." To this was subscribed the letter F.

CL 111. For the EIGHTH time a paper came forth, from which he read as follows: "In our compartment, we compatriots have not found the actual origin of conjugial love because that origin is inmostly laid up in the sanctuaries of the mind. Not even the most consummate wisdom can reach that love in its origin with any ray of the understanding. We have made many conjectures, but after vainly revolving subtleties, we know not whether our surmises are trifles or judgments. He, therefore, who wishes to draw forth the origin of that love from the sanctuaries of the mind and set it before his eyes, let him go to Delphi. We have contemplated the love below its origin--that in the mind it is spiritual, being there like the fountain-head of a sweet current; that from the mind it flows down into the breast where it becomes delightful and is called bosom-love, which, considered in itself, is full of friendship and, from a plenary inclination to mutuality, is full of confidence; and that when it has passed through the breast it becomes genital love. When a young man revolves these and like things in his thoughts, as he does when he chooses one of the sex for himself, they kindle in his heart the fire of conjugial love; and this fire, being the primitive of that love, is its origin. As to the origin of its virtue or potency, we acknowledge none other than the love itself, for they are inseparable companions and yet of such sort that sometimes the one precedes and sometimes the other. When love precedes and virtue or potency follows both are noble because the potency is then the virtue of conjugial love. But if potency precedes and love follows, then both are ignoble because the love is then from carnal potency. We therefore judge the quality of each from the order in which the love descends or ascends, and so proceeds from its origin to its goal." To this was subscribed the letter D.

CL 112. For the last or NINTH time the angel took up a paper, from which he read as follows: "We compatriots, from our committee room, have addressed our judgment to the two points of the proposition, the origin of conjugial love and the origin of its virtue or potency. In discussing the subtleties of the origin of conjugial love, in order to avoid obscurity in our reasonings, we distinguished between spiritual, natural, and carnal love of the sex. By spiritual love of the sex, we mean love truly conjugial because this is spiritual; by natural love of the sex, we mean polygamous love because this is natural; and by merely carnal love of the sex, we mean scortatory love because this is merely carnal. When with our judgments we looked into love truly conjugial, we saw clearly that this love exists only between one male and one female, and that from creation it is heavenly and inmost love and the soul and father of all good loves--a love which was inspired into our first parents and which can be inspired into Christians. Moreover, it is so conjunctive that through it two minds can become one mind, and two human beings can be as one, this being meant by becoming one flesh. That this love was inspired from creation is plain from these words in the book of Creation:

That it can be inspired into Christians is plain from these words:

Thus far respecting the origin of conjugial love. As to the origin of the virtue or potency of love truly conjugial, this we surmise arises from a similarity and unanimity of minds. For when two minds are conjoined conjugially, their thoughts kiss each other spiritually, and these thoughts breathe their virtue or potency into the body." To this was subscribed the letter S.

CL 113. Standing behind an oblong partition set up in the palace, facing the doors, were some strangers from Africa. These called out to the natives of Europe, "Permit one of us also to offer an opinion concerning the origin of conjugial love and its virtue or potency"; and all at the tables signified with their hands that it was allowed. One of the strangers then entered and, standing by the table whereon the tiara had been placed, he said: "You Christians deduce the origin of conjugial love from the love itself, but we Africans deduce it from the God of heaven and earth. Is not conjugial love a love chaste, pure, and holy? Are not the angels of heaven in that love? Is not the whole human race and thence the whole angelic heaven the seed of that love? Can a thing so supereminent spring from any other source than God himself, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe? You Christians deduce conjugial virtue or potency from various rational and natural causes, but we Africans deduce it from the state of the conjunction of man with the God of the universe, a state which we call the state of religion, but you the state of the Church; for when the love is from this source and is stable and perpetual, it cannot do otherwise than operate its virtue, and this is like itself and so is also stable and perpetual. Love truly conjugial is known only to those few who are near to God, and therefore to no others is the potency of that love known. This potency with the love is described by angels in the heavens as the delight of perpetual spring."

CL 114. After this speech, all arose; and lo, behind the golden table whereon lay the tiara, appeared a window, not seen before; and through the window was heard a voice, The tiara shall go to the African. It was then given him by the angel, who placed it in his hand but not upon his head; and he went home with it. The inhabitants of the kingdoms of Europe then went out and, getting into their chariots, returned to their own peoples.

CL 115. The second Memorable Relation:

Awaking from sleep at midnight, I saw, on an eminence towards the east, an angel holding in his right hand a paper which, from the inflowing light of the sun, was seen in a bright radiance. On the middle of the paper was a writing in letters of gold; and I saw written there: THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. From this writing flashed a splendour which spread out in a wide circle around the paper so that the circle or ambit seemed like the dawn as seen in spring-time.

After this, I saw the angel descending with the paper in his hand. And as he descended, the paper seemed less and less bright, and the writing, which was THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH, changed from the colour of gold to that of silver, then to that of copper, afterwards to that of iron, and finally to that of iron and copper rust. Finally, the angel was seen to enter a dark cloud and to descend through the cloud and alight upon the earth. There the paper, though still held in his hand, was no longer visible. This was in the world of spirits where all men first come together after death.

[2] The angel then spoke to me, saying, "Ask those who come hither whether they see me or see anything in my hand." A great number of spirits was approaching, one company from the east, one from the south, one from the west, and one from the north; and I asked those who came from the east and the south, being those who in the world had been in the pursuit of learning, whether they saw anyone with me in this place, and anything in his hand. They all said that they saw nothing at all. I then asked those who came from the west and the north, being those who in the world had put faith in the words of the learned. They also said that they saw nothing. But after those in front had gone away, those in the rear, being those who in the world had been in simple faith from charity, or in some truth from good, said that they saw a man with a paper--a man in becoming apparel and a paper upon which, on closer view, they traced letters. Bringing their eyes still closer, they said that they read, THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH. They then addressed the angel, asking him to tell them what this meant.

[3] The angel then said: "All things in the whole heaven and all things in the entire world are nothing but a marriage of good and truth; for created things, both those which live and breathe and those which do not live and breathe, are one and all created from and into the marriage of good and truth, nothing whatever being created into truth alone, and nothing whatever into good alone. Alone, the latter and the former are not anything; but by marriage they exist and become a thing of like quality as the marriage. In the Lord the Creator is Divine Good and Divine Truth in its very substance, the esse of Substance Itself being Divine Good, and the existere of Substance Itself Divine Truth. They are also in their very union; for in Him they make one infinitely. Since these two are one in the Creator, therefore they are also one in each and every thing created by Him. Moreover, by this the Creator is conjoined with all things created by Himself in an eternal covenant as of marriage."

[4] The angel said further, that the Sacred Scripture, which proceeded immediately from the Lord, is in general and in particular a marriage of good and truth. And since with Christians, the Church, which is formed by the truth of doctrine, and religion, which is formed by the good of life according to the truth of doctrine, are solely from the Sacred Scripture, it is evident that the Church in general and in particular is the marriage of good and truth.

That such is the case can be seen in THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED, (n. 373, 483). What has been said above respecting the marriage of good and truth is also said of THE MARRIAGE OF CHARITY AND FAITH, since good is the good of charity and truth the truth of faith.

Certain of those in front, who had not seen the angel and the writing, were still standing by, and on hearing these words they said, with half-closed lips, "Yes, truly, we comprehend that." But then the angel said to them, "Turn away from me a little and say the same thing." And they turned away and said, with open lips, "It is not so."

[5] After this the angel spoke of THE MARRIAGE OF GOOD AND TRUTH as it is with married partners, saying that if their minds were in that marriage, the husband being truth and the wife the good thereof, they would both be in the delights of the blessedness of innocence, and thence in the happiness in which are the angels of heaven. In that state, the prolific principle of the husband would be in continual spring and thence in the effort and strength to propagate his truth; and the wife, from love, would be in a continual reception of it: "(In heaven), the wisdom which is with men from the Lord feels nothing more delightful than to propagate its own truths; and the love of wisdom which is with wives there, feels nothing more pleasing than to receive them as though in a womb, and thus to conceive, carry in the womb, and bring forth. Such is the nature of spiritual prolification with the angels of heaven; and if you will believe it, from this origin are also natural prolifications."

After a salutation of peace, the angel then raised himself from the earth, and passing through the cloud, ascended into heaven; and then, according to the degrees of ascent, the paper shone as before. And lo, the circle of light which had previously appeared as the dawn, then descended and dispelled the cloud which had brought darkness upon the earth, and it became sunny.