3. III. The difference in general terms between the natural, the spiritual and the celestial.
There are three heavens, the last, the middle and the highest. In the last heaven are the natural people, but their natural has a touch either of the spiritual, which belongs to the middle heaven, or of the celestial, which belongs to the third heaven. In the second heaven are the spiritual people, and in the third are the celestial people. There are also intermediate people who are called spiritual-celestial. Many of these are preachers in the highest heaven.
[2] The difference between the natural, spiritual and celestial is such that they have no standard of comparison between them; the natural therefore cannot in any way or by any approximation approach the spiritual, nor the spiritual the natural. This is why the heavens are distinct. I have been allowed to know this as the result of much experience. I have often been sent among spiritual angels, and I then talked with them in a spiritual manner. What I said I then retained in my memory, but when I returned to the natural state, that of everyone in the world, and wanted to recall it from my earlier memory and describe it, I was unable to do so. It was impossible; there were no words available, and not even ideas in my thinking, by means of which I could express it. The ideas of thinking and words were spiritual, so far removed from the ideas and words of natural thought that there was no similarity at all. The remarkable thing is that when I was in that heaven and talked with the angels, I was then quite unaware that I was speaking in any other way than when speaking with people on earth. But I learned later that thoughts and speech are so different that they cannot be compared, and consequently they have no standard of comparison.
[3] There is a similar difference between the spiritual and the celestial. I have been told that this difference is similar and such that no proportion or comparison can exist between them; but I have been unable to confirm this by personal experience, not being an angel of the middle heaven. Some angels therefore of the middle heaven have been allowed to associate with angels of the third heaven, to think there and speak with them, to retain in their memory what they thought and said, and then to return to their own heaven. These told me they were unable to express a single idea or a single word of their previous state, and that this would be impossible. Finally they said there is no proportion or comparison between them.
[4] So I have been allowed a number of times to be in the company of angels of the middle and highest heavens, and hear them talking to one another. I was then in an inward natural state, far removed from worldly and bodily concerns, in fact in the state of first waking after sleep. I heard things which cannot be said or expressed, as we read happened with Paul [2 Corinthians 12:4]; and at times I have been given the ability to perceive and understand the things they said. Their talk was full of secrets, about the Lord, redemption, regeneration, providence and other such matters. I was afterwards given to understand that these could not be spoken of or described in any spiritual or celestial words, but none the less they could be described by the words of a natural language so as to allow them to be grasped rationally. I was told that there do not exist any Divine secrets which cannot be perceived and expressed naturally too, although in a more generalised and imperfect form. Those who perceive them naturally by their rational intellect as a result of an affection for truth, can, when they later become spirits, perceive and speak about the same things in a spiritual or celestial manner, when they become angels, but no others can. For a single Divine truth perceived and loved naturally is like a crystal or porcelain vessel, which is later filled with wine, the wine having the quality of the truth, and its taste being the quality of the affection for truth.
[5] The existence of such a difference, which can be called limitless, between the natural, the spiritual and the celestial can be established from the difference between the thoughts of people on earth and those of angels, and from the difference in their speech, and also the kinds of work they do, as well as the difference between their scripts. All of these will be evident proofs of the nature of one and the other, and of the way in which everything reaches a higher degree of perfection, as it passes over from the world into heaven, and from one heaven to another.
[6] As regards thoughts, all the thoughts of people on earth, including the separate ideas in them, are to some extent affected by space, time, personality and matter. These are evident in natural light, that of the world; for nothing can be thought about without light, just as nothing can be seen without light. Natural light, the light of the world, is dead, since it comes from its sun, which is nothing but fire. Yet the light of the heavens everywhere and constantly flows into that light, and gives it life, so allowing a thing to be perceived and understood. The light of the world cannot by itself confer any power of perception or understanding, that is, bring about any natural or rational illumination; but the light of the world coming from the light of heaven confers this power and produces this result, because the light of heaven comes from its sun, which is the Lord and therefore life itself.
The influence of the light of heaven on the light of the world is like the influence of the cause on the effect; the nature of this will be discussed elsewhere [see 49-51]. These facts reveal the nature of natural thought or the ideas thought by people on earth. That is to say, they are indissolubly bound up with space, time, personality and matter. Consequently these thoughts, or ideas composing thoughts, are very limited and restricted, and are thus gross and to be called material. However, the thoughts of the angels of the middle heaven are all devoid of space, time, personality and matter. They are therefore limitless and unrestricted. The subjects of their thoughts are, like the thoughts themselves, spiritual, so that they think about them spiritually and not naturally. As for the angels of the highest heaven, they do not have thoughts but perceptions of things which they hear and see. The place of thoughts is for them taken by affections, which take various forms with them, just as thoughts do with spiritual angels.
[7] As regards speech, human speaking is like the ideas making up their thought, for these turn into words when converted into speech. Each word therefore in human speech has some share in space, time, personality and matter. However, the speech of the angels of the middle heaven is also like the ideas of their thought; for the words of their speech express these. But the speech of the angels of the highest heaven is entirely derived from variations in their affections. But when they talk with spiritual angels they speak like they do, differently, however, when they talk among themselves.
Such being the nature of the speech of angels and that of people on earth, their modes of speech are so different that they have nothing in common. The difference is such that a person cannot understand any word spoken by an angel, nor can an angel any word spoken by a person. I have heard the speech of angels and kept in mind the words, and afterwards checked whether that word was the same as any word in human speech or language; there was not one. There is one spiritual speech for all, which is innate in every person; and he acquires it as soon as he becomes a spirit.
As regards writing, this is like their speech. The writing of spiritual angels resembles the writing of people in the world as regards the use of letters; but every letter has a meaning. So you would say, if you saw it when in the natural state, that it is nothing but letters. But writings in the highest heaven are not similar as regards letters. Their letters are drawn with various curves, not unlike the letters of the Hebrew language, but everywhere bent so that there is never a straight line in them. Each letter refers to a thing, which they grasp by perceiving, not by thinking about it. This is why one who is natural understands nothing of spiritual writing, nor does one who is spiritual that of natural writing. Nor does one who is spiritual understand anything of celestial writing, nor does one who is celestial understand anything of spiritual writing, unless he is in the company of one who is spiritual.
[8] It is the same with their kinds of work, which are numerous, since everyone has some work to do. What sort of work the spiritual angels do cannot be described to a natural person, nor what the celestial do to one who is spiritual. The difference is as great as that between their thoughts, modes of speech and writing.
[9] These facts may establish that the difference between the natural, spiritual and celestial is such that they can only agree by means of correspondences. This too is the reason why people on earth are unaware of being in the company of spirits, and spirits are unaware of being in the company of people. Yet they are perpetually in each other's company. For a person cannot live for a minute without being among spirits as regards his thoughts and affections; nor can a spirit or an angel live for a moment without being present with people. The reason is that there is a perpetual link operating from first to last things, and so from the Lord to man. Linking by means of correspondences was established from creation, and the influence comes by way of angels and spirits. Everything celestial exerts an influence upon the spiritual, and the spiritual on the natural, and at the ultimate level of this, the bodily and material, it comes to an end and there remains. Nothing can continue in existence without such an ultimate level to be acted on by the intermediate levels. Otherwise it would be like houses built in the air. The human race is therefore the basis and foundation of the heavens.
[10] The reason why no angel knows that there is this difference between the natural, spiritual and celestial is that an angel does not change state; that is, he does not pass from the spiritual state into the natural one, so as to be able to check out the differences. I have talked with them on this subject, and they said they were unaware of the differences. They thought they were thinking, speaking, writing and working in the same way as in the world, but they were given a demonstration by undergoing changes of state, so that they did their thinking by turns, first in one and then in the other mode. Likewise they spoke by turns, first in one way and then in the other; and they also read their writings in the spiritual state and in the natural, and did their work likewise. Then they learned that the difference is indescribable. On this subject I was permitted to instruct even angels, since I am permitted to be by turns in either world, and to check out one against the other. Afterwards they all admitted this was so.
[11] However, the likeness of the natural, spiritual and celestial states lies in the kind of things which are the objects of sight, taste, smell and hearing, as well as the varieties of the sense of touch. Everyone appears to their sight like people in the world; their clothes are to be seen, their houses, and also gardens or parks, as well as fields, likewise well-watered grounds; also food and drink of various kinds, as well as terrestrial animals, the birds of the sky and in the waters fishes of various kinds and in various forms.
Their speech is to be heard as in the world, also singing and pieces of music. Taste is similar, and so is smell. In short, so is everything which is to be seen or perceived by any of the senses. But still these are of spiritual origin, and they therefore think spiritually about them and give them spiritual names. But all of these things, as they are to be seen or perceived in the middle and highest heavens, in respect of excellence of forms and harmonies, and in respect of perfections, which are outstanding and transcendental, are impossible to describe except imperfectly, only as resembling the most perfect things in the world, which are none the less imperfect compared with those in heaven.
