296. THERE ARE IN THE LORD THREE THINGS THAT ARE THE LORD, THE DIVINE OF LOVE, THE DIVINE OF WISDOM, AND THE DIVINE OF USE; AND THESE THREE ARE PRESENTED IN APPEARANCE OUTSIDE OF THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, THE DIVINE OF LOVE BY HEAT, THE DIVINE OF WISDOM BY LIGHT AND THE DIVINE OF USE BY THE ATMOSPHERE WHICH IS THEIR CONTAINANT.
That heat and light go forth out of the sun of the spiritual world, heat out of the Lord's Divine Love, and light out of His Divine Wisdom, may be seen above (n. 89-92, 99-102, 156-150). Now it will be shown that the third which goes forth out of that sun is the atmosphere, which is the containant of heat and light, and that this goes forth out of the Lord's Divine which is called Use.
297. Any one who thinks with any enlightenment can see that love has use for an end and intends it, and brings it forth by means of wisdom; for love can bring forth no use of itself, but only by wisdom as a medium. What, in fact, is love unless there be something loved? That something is use; and because use is that which is loved, and is brought forth by means of wisdom, it follows that use is the containant of wisdom and love. That these three, love, wisdom and use follow in order according to degrees of height, and that the outmost degree is the complex, containant, and base of the prior degrees has been shown (n. 209-216, and elsewhere). From all this it can be seen that these three, the Divine of Love, the Divine of Wisdom, and the Divine of Use, are in the Lord, and are the Lord in essence.
298. That man, as regards both his exteriors and his interiors, is a form of all uses, and that all the uses in the created universe correspond to those uses in him, will be fully shown in what follows; it need only be mentioned here, that it may be known that God as a Man is the form itself of all uses, from which form all uses in the created universe derive their origin, thus that the created universe, viewed as to uses, is an image of Him. Those things are called uses which from God-Man, that is, from the Lord, are by creation in order; but those things which are from what is man's own are not called uses; since what is man's own is hell, and whatever is therefrom is contrary to order.
299. Now since these three, love, wisdom, and use, are in the Lord, and are the Lord; and since the Lord is everywhere, for He is omnipresent; and since the Lord cannot make Himself present, such as He is in Himself and such as He is in His own sun, to any angel or man, He therefore presents Himself by means of such things as can be received, presenting Himself, as to love by heat, as to wisdom by light, and as to use by an atmosphere. The Lord presents Himself as to use by an atmosphere, because an atmosphere is a containant of heat and light, as use is the containant of love and wisdom. For light and heat going forth from the Divine Sun cannot go forth in nothing, that is, in vacuum, but must go forth in a containant which is a subject. This containant we call an atmosphere; and this encompasses the sun, receiving the sun in its bosom, and bearing it to heaven where angels are, and then to the world where men are, thus making the Lord's presence everywhere manifest.
300. That there are atmospheres in the angelic world, as well as in the natural world, has been shown above (n. 173-178, 179-183). It was there declared that the atmospheres of the spiritual world are spiritual, and the atmospheres of the natural world are natural. It can now be seen, from the origin of the spiritual atmosphere most closely encompassing the spiritual sun, that everything belonging to it is in its essence such as the sun is in its essence. The angels, by means of their spiritual ideas, which are apart from space, elucidate this truth as follows: There is only one substance from which all things are, and the sun of the spiritual world is that substance; and since the Divine is not in space, and is the same in things greatest and least, this is also true of that sun which is the first going forth of God-Man; furthermore, this one only substance, which is the sun, going forth by means of atmospheres according to continuous degrees or degrees of breadth, and at the same time according to discrete degrees or degrees of height presents the varieties of all things in the created universe. The angels declared that these things are totally incomprehensible, unless spaces be removed from the ideas; and if not removed, appearances must needs induce fallacies. But so long as the thought is held that God is the very Esse from which all things are, fallacies cannot enter.
301. It is evident, moreover, from angelic ideas, which are apart from space, that in the created universe nothing lives except God-Man, that is, the Lord, neither is anything moved except by life from Him, nor has being except through the sun from Him; so that it is a truth, that in God we live, and move, and have our being.
Emanuel Swedenborg: Angelic Wisdom Concerning The Divine Love And The Divine Wisdom
JEHOVAH BROUGHT FORTH THE SUN OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD
THE ATMOSPHERES
Table of Contents
Good angels of the Old Testament
Good angels in the New Testament
Appearance of good angels
Opinions concerning good angels
Apparitions of good genii
Bad angels
Of magic
Objections to the reality of magic
Reply to objections to the reality of magic
Examination of the affair of Hocque, magician
Magic of the Egyptians and Chaldeans
Magic among the Greeks and Romans
Examples which prove the reality of magic
