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The heavens occupied by evils and falsities
Arcana Coelestia 6858… Before the coming of the Lord into the world, evil genii and spirits occupied all that region of heaven to which the spiritual were afterward taken up; for before the coming of the Lord many such roamed at large and infested the good, especially the spiritual who were in the lower earth; but after the coming of the Lord they were all thrust down into their hells, and that region was set free, and was given for an inheritance to those who were of the spiritual church. It has been frequently observed that as soon as any place is left by good spirits it is occupied by evil ones; and that the evil are driven out of it, and as soon as this is done it again passes to those who are in good. The reason is that the infernals continually burn to destroy the things of heaven, especially those to which they are in opposition; and therefore when any place is left, being then without protection, it is immediately occupied by the evil.
What is man, that he could be pure?
And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous?
If God puts no trust in His saints,
And the heavens are not pure in His sight,
How much less man, who is abominable and filthy,
Who drinks iniquity like water!
Job 15:14-16
Twilight in states of heaven
AC 6110… in the other life they who are in desolation are soon afterward refreshed, and attain their desires. By means of such alternations are all made perfect. It is worthy of note that the alternations of the day in the natural world-morning, midday, evening, night, and again morning-perfectly represent the alternations in the spiritual world, with only this difference: that the alternations of the spiritual world flow into the understanding and the will, and sustain those things which are of the life; while the alternations in the natural world flow into those things which are of the body, and sustain them.
[4] What is still more worthy of note is that the shades of evening and the darkness of night do not come from the Lord, but from things that belong to angels, spirits, and men. For the Lord as a Sun is continually shining and flowing in, but evils and falsities from what is one’s own, being in men, spirits, and angels, turn and convert them from the Lord, and thus lead them into the shades of evening, and those who are evil into the darkness of night; in like manner as the sun of our world is continually shining and inflowing, but the earth by its rotation turns itself away from it, and brings itself into shade and darkness.
[5] The reason why these alternations take place in the natural world is that the natural world comes forth from the spiritual world, and therefore also subsists from it; and hence it is that universal nature is a theater representative of the Lord’s kingdom (see n. 3483, 4939). The reason why these alternations exist in the spiritual world is that all who are in heaven may be continually perfected. From this there are such alternations also in the natural world, for otherwise all things therein would perish with drought.
[6] Yet be it known that in heaven there is no night, but only evening, which is succeeded by the twilight that precedes the morning. But in hell there is night. There are alternations there also, but these are opposite to the alternations in heaven; for in hell morning is the heat of cupidities, noon is the itching of falsities, evening is anxiety, and night is torment. Yet through all these alternations the night dominates, and it is only the variations of shade and of the darkness of night that present these alternations.
[7] Be it further known that in the spiritual world the alternations with one person are not like those with another; and also that the alternations there are not distinguished into stated times, because it is the variations of state that present them to view; for in place of times in the natural world there are states in the spiritual world (n. 1274, 1382, 2625, 2788, 2837, 3254, 3356, 4814, 4882, 4901, 4916).
For more on the internal being regenerated first, and heaven and earth being the internal and external of the natural see the Round Three: We Are Not Human – We Are Becoming Human. How?
Third Round posts are short audio clips taken from Round 3 comments offered in the online Logopraxis Life Group meetings. The aim is to keep the focus on understanding the Text in terms of its application to the inner life along with reinforcing any key LP principles that have been highlighted in the exchanges.
