137、记事二:
我正默想婚姻之爱，忽然发现远处有两个赤身的小孩，手里拿着篮子，有斑鸠飞在他们周围。近前看时，他们或多或少有点赤身的样子，只是饰有得体的花环，头戴小花冠，胸前百合和蓝玫瑰花环从两肩垂到腰间；一条点缀着橄榄的小叶子织成的纽带将他们两人围住并联起来。然而，再近前看时，他们不再像小孩子，也没有赤身，却像两个风华正茂的人；身穿长袍和亮丝上衣，上面织有最漂亮的花朵图案。当他们站在我旁边时，一股春天般的温暖气息从天上透过他们散发出来，还带有花园或田野中的新鲜植被所发出的那种馨香。这是从天上来的一对夫妇，他们向我说话；由于我在思想刚才所看到的情景，他们便问：“你看到了什么？”
我告诉他们说，在我看来，一开始，他们就像赤身的小孩，后来像饰有花环的小孩，最后则像身穿绣花衣的成年人，并且这时，我忽然感觉有一股春天的气息及其快乐扑面而来。他们闻言开心地笑起来，说，一路上，他们觉得自己既不像小孩，也没有赤身、饰有花环，一直是现在这个样子。从远处看，他们的婚姻之爱就具有这种形像；赤身的小孩表现了这爱的纯真状态，花环表现了它的快乐，长袍和上衣上所绣的花也是。“你说当我们靠近时，一股春天般的温暖气息带着如从花园散发的怡人馨香扑面而来，我们会告诉你其中缘由。”
于是，他们说:“我们结婚已有数个世纪了，一直处在风华正茂的年纪，就像你现在看到的样子。我们最初的状态就像少女和少男刚刚步入婚姻时的状态；这时，我们以为这种状态就是我们生活的终极幸福。但我们从我们天堂的其他人那样听说，并且后来我们自己也发觉，我们的最初状态是一种未调和光的热之状态；而这热会随着丈夫在智慧上更加完美，妻子则热爱丈夫里面的智慧而逐渐得到调和；这一切通过并照着他们在相互帮助下各自为社群所提供的服务而实现；快乐则随着热和光，也就是智慧和对它的爱被调和而不断到来。
“当我们靠近时，之所以有春天般的温暖气息扑面而来，是因为在我们天堂，婚姻之爱和春天般的热行如一体；对我们来说，热就是爱，与热结合的光就是智慧；有益的服务则如同含有这二者在深处的气场。热和光若无含有它们的某种事物，算什么呢？同样，若不体现在有益的服务中，爱和智慧算什么呢？若不体现在有益的服务中，这二者缺乏一个婚姻的纽带，因为它们没有作用于其上的实际存在物。在天上，哪里有春天的热，哪里就有真正的婚姻之爱；婚姻之爱的存在是由于以下事实：春天只出现在热与光均等结合的地方，也就是说，只出现在热和光一样多的地方，反之亦然。我们还发现，由于热以光为乐，光反过来以热为乐，所以，爱以智慧为乐，智慧反过来以爱为乐。”
这位天使继续说：“我们在天上享有永恒的光明，从未经历过傍晚的阴影，更别说黑暗了。因为我们的太阳不像你们的那样升起、落下，而总在天顶（即头顶正上方的天球点）和地平线的中间保持固定不变，照你们的说法，就在45度仰角处。这就是为何我们的太阳所放射的热和光会创造永恒的春天，凡爱与智慧均等结合者，皆享有永恒的春天。通过热与光的永恒结合，我们的主只会寻求进一步的服务。这也是每逢春天你们的世界就万物复苏，并且鸟类和动物交配的原因。因为春天的热会打开它们的内层，甚至打开被称为其灵魂的至内层，并作用于它们，植入其婚配的倾向，促使其繁殖力通过不断努力产出功用的果实，也就是其种类的繁殖而获得快乐。
“不过，人类享有从主持续流入的春天般的热。因此，人类能在任何季节，哪怕是隆冬，享有婚姻的快乐。因为男人被造是为了从主接受光，也就是智慧，女人被造是为了从主接受热，也就是对其丈夫智慧的爱。这就是为何当我们靠近时，你会感觉春天般的温暖气息扑面而来，还带有如花园和田野中的新鲜植被所散发的那种馨香。”
说完这番话，男人向我伸出右手，领我到他们家，那里有几对夫妇，和他们一样风华正茂。他说：“现在看似少女的这些妻子在世时都是满脸皱纹的老太婆，而现在看似少年的丈夫则是年迈体衰的老太翁。他们都被主带回到花样年华，因为他们彼此恩爱，并出于宗教信仰避奸淫如弥天大罪。”他又说：“若不弃绝奸淫的可怕欢娱，没有人知道婚姻之爱的幸福快乐；若不从主获得智慧，没有人能弃绝这些欢娱；若不出于对服务的爱而履行服务，则没有人能从主获得智慧。”此外，我还参观了他们的家用器具，这些器具都具有天堂的形状，并且金光闪闪，仿佛因镶嵌的红宝石而燃烧。
137、第二点是：
在我正在思考婚姻之爱时，我突然看见了远处有两个光着身体的小孩，手里拿着篮子，斑鸠飞在他们周围。他们走近后，我看到他们戴着花，头上戴着花环，胸前斜披着一串兰色的花和玫瑰花。围绕着他们俩的是一串小叶子和橄榄。
当他们再走近些后，我才看清楚，原来他们并不是个小孩子，也没有光着身体。而是两个青年人，身着丝制长袍，袍上织着美丽的花，当他们来到我身旁后，我感到一阵从天堂来的带着香气的春天般的暖流，那气息好象是田野里刚长出的植物的味道。
这两个人是天堂中的一对夫妇，他们同我讲话了，我正在想着刚才所见到的一切，他们问我：“你看到了什么。”
所以，我告诉他们我看到最开始象是光着身体的小孩，戴着花，后来变成了成人，衣服上织着花朵，我还告诉他们我感到一阵春天般宜人的暖流。
他们笑了，并且说他们并不是光着身体戴着花，他们一直都是象现在的样子。他们在远处时的样子代表着婚姻之爱，这种婚姻之爱的状态就象光着身体的孩子一样纯真，花环及织在衣服上的花朵代表着婚姻之爱中的快乐。
“你说当我们走近的时候，你感到一阵宜人的香气，下面我们就告诉你这是为什么。”
“我们结婚已经有几个世纪了，并且我们一直处于象现在这种青春状态中。”
“最开始我们婚姻的状态同那些刚刚结婚的青年男女一样。当时我们觉得那种状态是我们所经历的最美好的时光。但是天堂中的人后来告诉我们，我们也自己体会到，当时那种状态是只有热而没有光。我们后来发现这种状态在丈夫的智慧更完美，妻子更爱丈夫的这种智慧，双方互助在社会中做有益的工作的过程中逐渐融入了光，我们还发现了这其中新的愉悦中都是光与热相融合的。”
“当我们走近你时你感受到的宜人的暖流是因为在我们的天堂中婚姻之爱和温暖是同时存在的。对我们来讲，温暖就是爱，光与温暖相结合就是智慧，有益的工作就象是一种氛围围绕爱和智慧。没有媒介也就没有光和热。没有有益的工作也就没有爱和智慧，若没有有益的工作，二者的结合也就没有了纽带，因为这是缺乏目标的。”
“在天国中，只要有春天般的温暖在，就有真正的婚姻之爱存在，有真正的婚姻之爱是因为只有温暖与光二者相互结合时春天般的温暖才会存在。我们认为光和热相结合就有快乐产生，爱与智慧相结合也有快乐产生。”
男人接着说：“他们的天堂中没有黑暗，太阳总是在头顶和天边之间的地方照着，也就是我们所说的在四十五度角的天空中照着。”
“那就是为什么我们的太阳产生着春天般的光和热，它激励着那些爱与智慧相结合的夫妇们的春天般的状态。”
“通过这种光和热，主激发着一切有益的活动。这就是为什么在世间植物在春天发芽，鸟兽在春天繁育后代，春天的温暖能调动他们的内在力量，也就是灵魂，激励他们开花结果，繁延后代。”
“对于人类来讲，有一种从不间断的来自于主的影响，所以人能在任何季节中体会到婚姻之爱。因为男人生来是来自于主的光的接受者，女人生来是来自于主的热的接受者，也就是对男人智慧的爱的温暖。”
“这就是为什么我们带来春天般宜人的气息。”
说完这些，男人伸出手带领我来到同样处于青春状态的别的夫妇们住的地方，他告诉我，这里的妻子们在世间时曾经变老，长满皱纹，丈夫们在世间时也曾经是老年人，但现在他们看上去象是青年人。主使他们又回到青春花季，因为他们彼此相爱并且在宗教方面避免婚外情及其它罪恶。
他补充说只有排斥婚外情的人才能体会到真正的婚姻之爱，只有有来自于主的智慧的人才能排斥以上罪恶，只有热爱从事有益的工作的人才是智慧的。
我还看到了他们家中的摆设，一切都是极好的状态，闪着金光，嵌着红宝石。
贞节的存在及缺乏
137. The second experience.
While I was meditating about conjugial love, suddenly there appeared far off two naked children with baskets in their hands and turtle-doves flying around them. On a closer look they were more or less naked, but elegantly decked out with garlands. Small wreaths of flowers adorned their heads, and decorative bands of lilies and roses of blue colour hung obliquely across their chests from shoulders to hips; around the pair of them there was a kind of shared bond woven of small leaves interspersed with olives. But when they came closer, they no longer looked like children or naked, but like two people in the prime of life, dressed in gowns and tunics of shining silk with a pattern of the loveliest flowers you could see woven into it. When they stood beside me, a breath of spring-like warmth spread from heaven through them bringing a sweet fragrance, like that of fresh vegetation in gardens or fields. They were a married couple from heaven, who addressed me and asked, since my thoughts were on what I had just seen, what it was I had seen.
[2] I told them that they had at first looked to me like naked children, and then like children decked out in garlands, and then finally as taller and dressed in flowery clothes; and that then I felt a sudden breath of spring fill me with its delights. At this they gave a pleasant laugh, and said that while they were on their way they did not seem to themselves as children, or naked, or garlanded, but continually like they were then. Seen from a distance their conjugial love took on this appearance; its state of innocence was represented by the children being seen naked, and its delights by the garlands, as well as then by the flowers woven in their gowns and tunics. 'Since you told us,' they said, 'that as we approached a breath of spring-like warmth spread over you with pleasant scents as from a garden, we shall explain why this was.'
[3] 'We have now,' they said, 'been married for centuries, and have been constantly in the prime of life, as you see us now. Our first state was like that of a girl and a young man when they are just married; and we then thought that state to be the utmost blessedness of our lives. But we heard from others in our heaven, and later we felt for ourselves, that our first state was one of unmodified heat together with light; and this is by stages modified, as the husband acquires higher perfection in wisdom, and the wife loves it in her husband. This happens as the result of and in proportion to the services which each performs for the mutual help of their community; and then delights follow in succession as the heat and light, that is, wisdom and the love of it, are modified.
[4] 'The reason why, as we approached, a breath of spring-like warmth spread over you is that in our heaven conjugial love and that heat act as one, for amongst us heat is love, and light with which heat is combined is wisdom; the use to which they are put is like the atmosphere, which holds both of these in its depths. What are heat and light without something to hold them? So what are love and wisdom without a purpose to serve? They lack a conjugial bond because there is nothing for them to work on. In heaven there is truly conjugial love to be found, wherever there is the heat of springtime; and its presence is due to the fact that springtime is only to be found where heat is evenly combined with light, that is to say, there is as much heat as there is light, and vice versa. It is our conjecture that just as heat takes its pleasure with light, and light in turn does with heat, so love takes its pleasure with wisdom, and wisdom in turn with love.'
[5] 'We in heaven,' the angel went on to say, 'enjoy perpetual light, and there are never any shades of evening, much less darkness, because our sun does not set and rise like yours, but remains constantly fixed midway between the zenith and the horizon, what you would call at an elevation of forty-five degrees. This is why the heat and light radiated by our sun create a perpetual spring, and those whose love is evenly combined with wisdom enjoy a perpetual springtime. By the everlasting combination of heat and light our Lord seeks only to further services. This too is the cause of germination in your world and the mating of birds and animals every spring. For the warmth of spring opens up their inward parts right to the inmost, what is called their souls, and works on them, implanting its tendency towards marriage, and making their reproductive faculty achieve its delights by a constant effort to produce the fruits of their purpose, which is the continuation of their kind.
[6] 'But human beings enjoy a perpetual inflow of spring-like warmth from the Lord. They can therefore at any season, even in midwinter, enjoy the delights of marriage. For men were created to receive light, that is, wisdom, from the Lord, women to receive heat, that is, the love of their husband's wisdom, from the Lord. That then is why when we approached, you felt a breath of spring-like warmth spread a sweet fragrance over you, like that of fresh vegetation in gardens or fields.'
[7] After saying this the man gave me his right hand and took me to their homes, where there were married couples in the prime of life, as they were. He said that their wives, who now looked like young women, had been aged crones in the world, and the husbands, who now looked like young men, had been broken-down old men. They had all been brought back by the Lord to this flowering period, because they loved each other, and religion induced them to shun adultery as an extremely grave sin. He said that no one knows the blessed pleasures of conjugial love, unless he rejects the horrid pleasures of adultery; and no one can reject these, unless he has wisdom from the Lord, and no one has wisdom from the Lord, unless he performs services for the love of service.
I also saw the furniture of their homes, all in heavenly forms and shining with gold that seemed to be aflame with rubies interspersed.
137. The second account:
While I was once thinking about conjugial love, I suddenly caught sight of two naked little children in the distance, with baskets in their hands and turtledoves flying around them. Then, as they came closer, they looked like naked little children modestly decked out in garlands of flowers. Their heads were decorated with little chaplets of flowers, and their breasts were adorned with sash-like wreathes of blue-colored lilies and roses that hung diagonally from their shoulders to their hips. And round about the two of them appeared what looked like a shared chain of little leaves woven together and interspersed with olives.
When they drew nearer still, however, they did not appear as little children or naked, but as two adults in the bloom of their early youth, dressed in robes and tunics of shining silk, with beautiful-looking flowers woven into them. Moreover, when they stood next to me, a springlike warmth wafted down from heaven through them with a sweet-scented fragrance, like the fragrance of first growth in gardens and fields.
The two were a married couple from heaven, and they then spoke to me. And because I was still thinking about the things I had just seen, they asked, "What did you see?"
[2] So I told them how they had first appeared to me as naked little children, then as little children decked out in garlands, and finally as people more grown up, dressed in garments decorated with flowers. I also told them how an atmosphere of spring had then instantly wafted over me with its delights.
They laughed pleasantly at this and said that on the way they had not appeared to themselves as little children or naked or wearing garlands, but the whole time had looked the same as they did now. Their appearing as they had at a distance, they said, represented their conjugial love, its state of innocence being represented by their appearing as naked little children, its delights by the garlands, and these same delights now by the flowers woven into their robes and tunics.
"And," they continued, "because you said that as we approached, a springlike warmth wafted over you with its pleasant aromas, like those from a garden, we will tell you why this was.
[3] "We have been married for centuries now," they said, "and we have remained continually in this bloom of youth in which you see us.
"At first our state was similar to the initial state of a maiden and youth when they first come together in marriage. Moreover, we believed at the time that that state was the most blissful state we could experience in life. But we were told by others in our heaven, and we afterwards perceived for ourselves, that it was a state of heat not yet tempered with light. We found that it is gradually tempered as the husband is perfected in wisdom and as the wife grows to love that wisdom in her husband, which is achieved through and according to the useful services which each of them performs in society with the other's help. We also found that new delights then follow as heat and light or wisdom and its accompanying love are tempered each with the other.
[4] "A seemingly springlike warmth wafted over you when we approached because in our heaven conjugial love and that warmth go hand in hand. For with us, warmth is love, and light with warmth joined to it is wisdom, and useful service is like an atmosphere which holds both in its embrace. What are heat and light without their containing medium? So likewise, what are love and wisdom without their expression in useful service? Without expression in useful service, there is no bond of marriage between the two, because the objective reality in which they exist is lacking.
"In heaven, one finds truly conjugial love wherever there is a springlike warmth. One finds truly conjugial love there because a springlike climate occurs only where warmth is joined to light in an even balance, or where there is as much warmth as there is light and vice versa. And we like to think that as warmth works its pleasure when accompanied by light and conversely light when accompanied by warmth, so love works its pleasure when accompanied by wisdom and conversely wisdom when accompanied by love."
[5] With us in heaven, the man said further, the light is constant, and we never experience the dusk of evening, still less darkness, because our sun does not rise and set like your sun but stands continually midway between a point overhead and the horizon, or as you would say, at an elevation of 45 degrees.
"That is why," he said, "the heat and light emanating from our sun result in perpetual spring, and this inspires a perpetual springlike state in those in whom love is united in even measure with wisdom.
"Through the eternal union of heat and light, moreover, our Lord inspires nothing that is not productive and useful. That, too, is why the sproutings of plants on your earth and the matings of your birds and animals take place in springtime. For the warmth of spring opens up their inner capabilities even to the inmost forces which are called their souls, stirring them, and imparting to them its own inclination to unite, and causing their reproductive instinct to come into its delight from a continual effort to produce fruits of use, which is the propagation of their kind.
[6] "In the case of human beings, however, there is a never-ending influx of springlike warmth from the Lord. Consequently they can experience the delights of marriage in any season, even in the middle of winter. For men were created to be receivers of light from the Lord, meaning the light of wisdom, and women were created to be receivers of warmth from the Lord, meaning the warmth of love for the wisdom in a man.
"That now is why as we approached a springlike warmth wafted over you with a sweet-scented fragrance, like the fragrance of first growth in gardens and fields."
[7] Having said this, the man gave me his right hand and took me to houses where married couples lived in the same flower of youth in which they were. And he told me that the wives, who now looked like young girls, had once been wrinkled old ladies in the world, and that the husbands, who now looked like adolescent youths, had once been decrepit old men there. They have all been returned by the Lord to the bloom of this youthful age, he said, because they loved each other and out of religion abstained from adulterous affairs as enormous sins.
He added as well that only those people know the blissful delights of conjugial love who reject the horrible delights of adultery. And no one can reject these except one who is wise from the Lord, and no one is wise from the Lord unless he performs useful services from a love of doing them.
I also caught sight then of the implements in their houses. These were all in heavenly forms, and they shone of gold that was practically ablaze with intermingled rubies.
137. The second story: As I was thinking about the love in marriage I saw two naked babies appear out of the distance with baskets in their hands and doves flying around them. And up closer they still seemed naked, becomingly decorated with garlands. Little garlands of flowers decorated their heads, and bands of lilies and blue roses draped crosswise from one shoulder to their waists ornamented their chests. And round and round both of them was a sort of chain they shared, woven of little leaves with olives worked in.
When they came still closer they seemed neither to be babies nor naked, but two people in the flower of youth dressed in robes and shirts of shining silk with very beautiful flowers woven in.
When they were near me the warmth of spring from heaven breathed on me with a pleasant fragrance like the first blossoms in gardens and fields, through them.
They were two married partners from heaven. Then they spoke to me. The things I had just seen were on my mind, so they asked, "What did you see?"
I told them that at first they looked like naked babies to me, then like babies decorated with garlands, and finally like adults wearing clothes embroidered with flowers. And I said that just then the spring and its pleasantness breathed on me.
They laughed cheerfully at that and said that to themselves they did not look like babies as they went along, nor were they naked, nor did they have garlands, but that all the while they looked the same as now. But they said that their married love is represented that way from a distance - its innocent state in their looking like naked babies, its delights by the garlands, and the same thing now by the flowers woven into their robes and shirts.
And they said, "You said that as we approached the warmth of spring with its pleasant scent of a garden breathed on you, so we'll tell you why." They said, "We have been married for centuries now, and we're always in the flower of youth, as you see us.
Our first state was like the state of a young man and woman when they join themselves in marriage. We thought then that that state must be the very blessing of our life. But from others in our heaven we heard, and noticed it ourselves later, that it was a state of heat not moderated by light and that gradually it is moderated as a husband's wisdom gets more perfect and his wife loves it in him. This happens as a result of the things they do, and according to them - things they help each other do in society. Then come the delights according to how the heat and light - which is to say the wisdom and love of wisdom - are moderated.
"When we approached, a warmth like spring breathed on you because married love and the warmth of spring go together in our heaven. For warmth is love for us, and the light that warmth unites with is wisdom. The things we do are like an atmosphere that enfolds both of them. What are heat and light without being in something? And in the same way, what are love and wisdom without being put to use? There's no marriage in them, because something for them to be in just isn't there.
"In heaven, where there is the warmth of spring there is a real love of marriage. The reason for this is that there is spring only where heat and light are together in equal amounts, or where there is as much light as heat and vice versa. And, take it from us, love delights in wisdom, and, the other way around, wisdom delights in love, just the way heat delights in light, and, the other way around, light delights in heat."
He said more. "For us in heaven there is always light and never the shadows of evening, much less night, because our sun does not rise and set like your sun but always stays halfway between the zenith and the horizon, which we call 'forty - five degrees in the sky.' This is why the heat and light coming from our sun make perpetual spring, and a perpetual spring breeze always breathes on those who have love and wisdom together in equal amounts. And our Lord breathes nothing but activity through the eternal union of heat and light. This is where germination comes from in your world, too, and the mating of your birds and animals in the spring. You see, the warmth of spring releases things inside them, all the way to the most inward, called their souls. It does something to them and puts its marriage in them and makes their breeding instinct satisfy itself, due to a constant drive to produce the fruits of activity - which is propagation of their species.
"But for people the influence of spring warmth from the Lord is constant, so they can enjoy marriage in all seasons, even winter. For men are born vessels for light - that is, wisdom from the Lord - and women are born vessels for heat - that is, love for the man's wisdom from the Lord.
"So now that's why the warmth of spring with its pleasant smell like new blossoms in gardens and fields seemed to breathe on you as we approached."
After saying these things the man offered me his right hand and led me to houses where there were married partners who were in the same flower of youth as he and his wife. He said, "These wives that look like young women now were elderly women in the world, and their husbands that look like young men now were decrepit old men there. The Lord returned them to this blooming youth because they loved each other, and following their religion they avoided adulteries as terrible sins."
He said, "Only those who reject the horrible joys of adultery know the blessed joys of married love. And no one can reject them unless he has wisdom from the Lord. No one gets wisdom from the Lord unless he does useful things from a love of doing them."
Then I also saw the furnishings of their homes. Everything had a heavenly form and flashed with gold that seemed to be aflame from the rubies studding it.
137. The second Memorable Relation:
While I was meditating on conjugial love, lo, afar off were seen two naked infants with baskets in their hands and turtle-doves flying around them. When they were nearer, they seemed like naked infants becomingly adorned with garlands of flowers, their heads adorned with chaplets of flowers, and their breasts with garlands of lilies and of roses of a hyacinthine color hanging obliquely from their shoulders to their loins. Around the two and uniting them, as it were, was a common bond, woven of little leaves with olives interspersed. When they came yet nearer, however, they appeared, not as infants, nor naked, but as two persons in the first flower of their age, clad in robes and tunics of shining silk on which were woven flowers of a most beautiful appearance; and when they were beside me, there breathed through them out of heaven a vernal warmth, with a sweet-smelling odor as of the earliest blossomings in gardens and fields. They were two married partners from heaven.
They then spoke to me, and because what I had just seen was in my thought, they asked me, "What have you seen?"
[2] When I told them that they had first appeared to me as naked infants, then as infants adorned with garlands, and at last as adults clothed in garments embroidered with flowers, and that then forthwith an odor of spring breathed upon me with all its delights, they smiled pleasantly and said, that on their way, they had not seemed to themselves as infants, nor naked, nor with garlands, but continually the same in appearance as now. What at a distance had been thus represented was their conjugial love--its state of innocence by their appearing as naked infants, its delights by garlands of flowers, and the same now by the flowers woven in their robes and tunics. "And because you said that as we approached, a vernal warmth breathed upon you with its pleasant odors as though from a garden, we will tell you the cause of this."
[3] They then said: "We have been partners now for ages, and continually in the flower of age in which you now see us. Our first state was like the state of a virgin and a young man when they first consociate in marriage; and we then believed that that state was the very blessedness of our life. But we heard from others in our heaven, and afterwards we ourselves perceived, that that state was a state of heat not tempered with light, and that it is tempered according as the husband is perfected in wisdom and the wife loves that wisdom in her husband; also that this is effected by and according to the uses which each of them with mutual aid performs in society; and that delights follow in accordance with the tempering of heat and light, that is, of wisdom and its love.
[4] A warmth as of spring breathed upon you as we approached because in our heaven conjugial love and vernal heat act as one; for with us, heat is love and the light with which heat is united is wisdom; and use is as the atmosphere which contains both of them in its bosom. What are heat and light without their containant? and so, what are love and wisdom without their use? There is no conjugial in them, for there is no subject wherein to contain them. In heaven, wherever the heat is vernal, there is love truly conjugial; and it is there because nothing vernal is possible save where heat is united with light in equal measure, that is, where there is as much of heat as of light, and the reverse. Moreover, we affirm that, as heat delights itself with light and light in turn with heat, so love delights itself with wisdom and wisdom in turn with love."
[5] He said further: "With us in heaven there is perpetual light and never any shade of evening, still less darkness; for our sun does not set and rise as does yours, but remains continually midway between the upper pole of the sky and the horizon, which, according to your manner of speech, is in the sky at an angle of forty-five degrees. Therefore, the heat and light proceeding from our sun make perpetual spring and cause something perpetually vernal to breathe upon those with whom love is united with wisdom in equal measure. By the eternal union of heat and light, our Lord breathes forth nothing but uses. From this, moreover, come the germinations on your earth in the spring-time, and the matings of your birds and animals; for the vernal heat opens their interiors even to the inmost things thereof which are called their souls. These it affects; and it imparts to them its own conjugial, causing what is prolific in them to come into its delights, and this from a continual striving to produce the fruits of use, the use being the propagation of their kind.
[6] But with men, the influx of vernal heat from the Lord is perpetual, and therefore they can enjoy delights in marriage at any time, even in midwinter; for men were created to receive from the Lord light, that is, wisdom, and women were created to receive from the Lord heat, that is, the love of the wisdom of the man. This then is the reason why, as we approached, a vernal warmth breathed on you, with a sweet-smelling odor as of the early blossomings in gardens and fields."
[7] Having thus spoken, the man gave me his right hand and led me to homes where were partners in the same flower of age as themselves. He then said: "In the world, these wives whom you now see as maidens were old women; and their husbands, now seen as young men, were infirm and old. They have all been restored by the Lord to this flower of age because they mutually loved each other and from religion shunned adulteries as enormous sins." He said further: "No one knows the blessed delights of conjugial love save he who rejects the horrid delights of adultery; and no one can reject these save he who is wise from the Lord; and no one is wise from the Lord unless he performs uses from the love of uses."
Moreover, I then saw their household utensils. They were all in heavenly forms; and from the gold, they were glittering as though in flames from the rubies with which they were studded.
137. II
While I was meditating on marital love, two naked infants appeared in the distance, with baskets in their hands and turtledoves fluttering around them. Even when I saw them nearer by, they still seemed to be naked, becomingly adorned with wreaths of flowers - chaplets of flowers bedecked their heads; garlands of blue lilies and roses, hanging obliquely from shoulder to hip, adorned their breasts; and around the two ran a common bond, as it were, woven of little leaves and olives. But when they came closer still, they did not appear as infants or naked, but as two persons in the first bloom of life, clad in robes and tunics of shining silk, into which were woven flowers very beautiful to see. And as they reached my side there breathed on me through them a vernal warmth from heaven with the fragrance of early things in garden and field. They were two married partners from heaven.
They addressed me; and as what I had just seen filled my thoughts, they asked me, "What did you see?"
[2] I related how they had looked like naked infants to me at first, then as infants adorned with wreaths, and at last as adults clothed in beflowered garments, and how forthwith spring had breathed on me with its delights.
They smiled with pleasure, and said they did not seem to themselves on the way like infants, or naked, or garlanded, but all along as they looked now. Their marital love, they said, was so represented at a distance-its state of innocence by their appearing like naked infants, its delights by the garlands of flowers, and the same delights again by the flowers woven into their robes and tunics.
They continued, "You said that when we approached, a vernal warmth breathed on you with its pleasant aromas, as from a garden. We will tell you why that was."
[3] They explained, "We have been married partners for ages now, and constantly in the flower of age in which
You now behold us. Our first state was the first state of a virgin and youth when they join in marriage. We supposed that that state was the very blessedness of our life!
We heard from others in our heaven, however, and afterwards we ourselves perceived that it was a state of heat not tempered with light, and that it would be modified gradually, as the husband was perfected in wisdom and the wife loved that wisdom in the husband; and that this is effected by uses and according to them - uses which the two in mutual helpfulness render society; and that delights ensue according as heat and light, or wisdom and its love, are tempered.
[4] A springlike warmth breathed on you as we approached because marital love and vernal warmth act as one in our heaven. For among us love is heat, and wisdom is the light with which heat is united; and use is like an atmosphere which holds them both in its bosom. What are heat and light without a containant? Likewise, what are love and wisdom without their use? The marital is not in them, because the subject in which they must be, is lacking. In heaven, where the heat is vernal, there is true marital love. True marital love is found there because the vernal is only where heat is equally united with light, or where there is as much heat as light, and vice versa. We aver that as heat delights itself with light, and in turn light with heat, so love delights itself with wisdom, and wisdom in turn with love."
[5] He remarked further, "There is perpetual light with us in heaven and never any evening dusk. Still less is there darkness. Our sun does not set and rise like your sun, but always remains midway between the zenith and the horizon, or in your manner of speech at an elevation of forty-five degrees. Hence the heat and light proceeding from our sun make perpetual spring; and a perpetual springtime breathes on those in whom love is equally united with wisdom. Our Lord, through the eternal union of heat and light, breathes forth nothing else than uses; thence also are the germinations on your earth, and the mating of your birds and animals, in the springtime. For the vernal heat opens their interiors to the very inmosts, which are called their souls, and affects these and imparts what is marital. It brings their breeding impulse into its delights, in a continual endeavor to serve its use, which is the propagation of the species.
[6] But with men there is perpetual influx of vernal heat from the Lord, wherefore they can at all seasons, even in mid-winter, enjoy the delights of marriage. For men were created receptions of light, that is, of wisdom, from the Lord; and women were created receptions of heat, that is, of the love of the man's wisdom, from the Lord. This, then, is the reason why, at our approach, a vernal warmth breathed on you, with a redolence like that of early things in garden and field."
Having said this the man gave me his right hand and led me to homes where were other married partners in the prime of life like themselves. He remarked, "These wives, now looking like young women, were old women in the world; and their husbands, who look like young men, were infirm old men. They were restored by the Lord to this flower of age because they loved each other mutually and from religion shunned adulteries as monstrous sins."
And they added, "Only he knows the blessed delights of marital love who rejects the horrid delights of adultery; and only he can reject these who is wise from the Lord; and only he is wise from the Lord who performs uses from the love of use."
I also noted the furnishings of their houses, every article of a heavenly pattern, and glistening with gold, aflame, as it were, from the rubies studding it.
137. The Second Relation:
While I was meditating on conjugial love, lo! a long way off there appeared two young children, naked, with baskets in their hands and turtle doves flying around them. And when I saw them nearer they still were as if naked, becomingly adorned with wreaths of flowers; chaplets of flowers bedecked their heads, and garlands of lilies and roses of the color of hyacinth obliquely pendent from the shoulders to the loins, adorned their breasts; and round about the two there was as it were a chain in common, woven of leaflets with olives interspersed. But as they came yet nearer they did not appear as infants, nor naked, but as two persons in the first bloom of life, clad in robes and tunics of shining silk, into which were woven flowers most beautiful to the sight. And as they came close to me there breathed upon me from heaven through them a vernal warmth, with fragrant odor as of the earliest blossomings in gardens and fields. They were two married partners from heaven.
And then they spoke to me; and as what I had just seen was in my thought, they asked me, 'What did you see?'
And when I told them that they first appeared to me as naked infants; then as infants adorned with wreaths; and at last as adults clothed in garments embroidered with flowers, and that then forthwith spring breathed upon me with its delights; they smiled pleasantly, and said they did not see themselves, on the way, as infants, nor naked, nor with garlands, but continually in similar appearance as now. And that their conjugial love was thus represented at a distance, its state of innocence by their appearing as naked infants, its delights by garlands of flowers, and the same now by the flowers interwoven in their robes and tunics.
And they continued, 'As you said that just as we came near a vernal warmth breathed upon you with its pleasant aromas, as of a garden, we will tell you why it was so.' They said, 'We have been now for ages married partners and continually in the flower of age in which you see us now. Our first state was as the first state of a virgin and youth when they unite in marriage; and we then believed that state was the very blessedness of our life. But we heard from others in our heaven, and afterwards we ourselves perceived that that was a state of heat not tempered with light, and that it would successively be tempered, as the husband is perfected in wisdom and the wife loves that wisdom in the husband; and that this is effected by uses and according to them, which uses both of them by mutual aid perform in the society; and that delights follow according as heat and light, or wisdom and its love are tempered. A warmth as of spring breathed upon you as we drew near, because conjugial love and vernal heat in our heaven act as one; for with us heat is love, and the light with which heat is united is wisdom; and use is as the atmosphere which contains both of them in its bosom. What are heat and light without a containant? So what are love and wisdom without their use? The conjugial is not in them, because the subject in which they might be is not. In heaven, where the heat is vernal, there is love truly conjugial. That it is there is because it is not vernal elsewhere than where heat is equally united with light, or where there is as much heat as light, and vice versa. And we aver that as heat delights itself with light, and in turn light with heat, so love delights itself with wisdom, and wisdom in turn with love.'
He further said, 'With us in heaven there is perpetual light and never the shade of evening; still less is there darkness; because our sun does not set and rise like your sun, but remains continually midway between the zenith and the horizon, which according to your manner of speech is an elevation of 45 degrees. Hence it is that the heat and light proceeding from our sun make perpetual spring; and that a perpetual springtime breathes upon those in whom love is equally united with wisdom. And our Lord, through the eternal union of heat and light, breathes forth nothing else than uses; thence also are the germinations on your earth, and the mating of your birds and animals, in the springtime. For the vernal heat opens their interiors even to their very inmosts, which are called their souls, and affects them and imparts its conjugial, and causes their prolific inclination to come into its delights, by a continual endeavor to produce the fruits of use, which use is the propagation of their kind. But with men there is perpetual influx of vernal heat from the Lord, wherefore they can at any time, even in mid-winter, enjoy the delights of marriage; for men were created receptions of light, that is, of wisdom, from the Lord; and women were created receptions of heat, that is, of the love of the wisdom of the man, from the Lord. Hence now it is that, as we drew near, a vernal warmth breathed on you, with a fragrant odor as of the early blossomings in gardens and fields.'
Having said this the man gave me his right hand and led me to homes where there were married partners in similar bloom of life as themselves. And he said, 'These wives, now seen like virgins, were old women in the world; and their husbands, now appearing as young men, were there infirm old men; and they were all brought back by the Lord to this flower of age because they mutually loved each other, and from religion shunned adulteries as heinous sins.'
And they added, 'No one knows the blessed delights of conjugial love but he who rejects the horrid delights of adultery; and no one can reject them unless he is wise from the Lord; and no one has wisdom from the Lord unless he performs uses from the love of use.'
At the same time I also saw the furniture of their houses, every article of which was in a heavenly form, and glistened with gold flaming as it were with rubies set therein.
137. Alterum Memorabile. Cum eram in meditatione de Amore conjugiali, ecce e longinquo apparuerunt duo Infantes nudi cum canistris in manibus, et circum illos volantes turtures; et dum propius visi sunt, sicut erant nudi, sertis decenter ornati; corollae ex floribus decorabant capita illorum, et fasciae ex liliis et rosis hyacinthini coloris a scapulis ad lumbos oblique pendentes ornabant pectora illorum; et circum circa binos illos erat sicut vinculum commune ex foliolis cum interjectis olivis contextum. At cum propius accedebant, non apparebant sicut infantes, nec nudi, sed sicut bini homines in primo flore aetatis, amicti togis et tunicis ex fulgente serico, quibus intexti erant flores aspectu pulcherrimi; et cum juxta me erant, ex Coelo per illos afflabat calor vernalis cum suaveolente 1odore, sicut ex primitivis in hortis et agris: erant duo Conjuges e Coelo; et tunc alloquebantur me; et quia in cogitatione erant recentia quae videram, quaerebant, "quid vidisti;"
[2] et cum narrabam, quod illi mihi primum visi sint sicut infantes nudi, postea sicut infantes decorati sertis, et demum proceriores amicti florificatis vestibus; et quod tunc illico me afflaverit vernum cum ejus delitiis; ad illa 2ridebant amaene, et dixerunt, quod ipsi in via non visi sint sibi ut infantes, nec nudi, nec cum sertis, sed jugiter in simili apparentia ut nunc; et quod ita e longinquo repraesentatus sit amor conjugialis eorum, ejus status innocentiae per quod visi sint sicut infantes nudi, ejus delitiae 3per serta, et eaedem nunc per flores togis et tunicis illorum intextos; "et quia dixisti, quod sicut appropinquavimus, te afflaverit calor vernalis cum ejus amaenis spiraculis sicut ex horto, dicemus cur hoc;"
[3] et dixerunt; "fuimus Conjuges nunc per saecula, et jugiter in flore aetatis, in quo tu nos vides; et Primus noster status fuit sicut est status primus virginis et juvenis cum consociant se conjugio; et credidimus tunc, quod ille status esset ipsa beatitudo vitae nostrae; sed audivimus ab aliis in Coelo nostro, et postea nos ipsi percepimus, quod ille status esset caloris cum luce non temperati, et quod successive temperetur, sicut maritus perficitur sapientia, et uxor amat illam in Marito, et quod hoc fiat per usus et secundum illos, quos uterque mutuo auxilio praestat in Societate; tum quod delitiae secundum temperiem caloris et lucis, seu sapientiae et ejus amoris, succedant:
[4] quod cum appropinquavimus, afflaverit te sicut Calor vernalis, est quia Amor conjugialis et ille calor in Coelo nostro unum agunt, est enim Calor apud nos Amor, et Lux cum qua unitur calor, est Sapientia, ac Usus est sicut athmosphaera, quae in sinu suo continet utrumque; quid Calor et Lux absque suo continente, ita quid amor et sapientia absque suo usu; non est conjugiale in illis, quia subjectum, in quo sint, non est. In Coelo, ubi Calor vernalis est, ibi est Amor vere conjugialis; quod ibi sit, est causa, quia non alibi est vernale, quam ubi calor ex aequo unitus est luci, seu ubi tantum caloris est, quantum lucis, ac vicissim; et autumamus, quod sicut calor delitiatur cum luce, et lux vicissim cum calore, ita amor cum sapientia, et vicissim sapientia cum amore."
[5] Porro dixit, quod "apud nos in Coelo perpetua lux sit, et nusquam umbra vesperae, minus tenebrae, quia Sol noster non occidit et oritur sicut vester sol, sed stat jugiter in medio inter zenith et horizontem, quod est secundum vestrum sermonem in gradu Coeli 45; inde est quod calor et lux procedentes ex Sole nostro faciant perpetuum Ver, et quod perpetuum vernale inspiret illis apud quos amor ex aequo unitur cum sapientia; et Dominus noster per caloris et lucis unionem aeternam non aliud spirat quam usus; inde etiam sunt germinationes telluris vestrae, et connubia volatilium et animalium vestrorum, temporibus veris; calor enim vernalis aperit interiora illorum usque ad intima, quae vocantur animae illorum, et has afficit, et eis indit Conjugiale suum, et facit ut prolificum illorum in suas delitias veniat ex continuo conatu ad faciendum usus fructus, qui est propagatio sui generis.
[6] At apud homines est perpetuus influxus caloris vernalis a Domino, quare illi omni tempore, etiam in media hyeme, delitiari conjugio possunt; viri enim creati sunt receptiones lucis, hoc est, sapientiae a Domino, et foeminae creatae sunt receptiones caloris, hoc est amoris sapientiae viri a Domino: inde nunc est, quod sicut appropinquavimus, afflaverit te calor vernalis cum suaveolente 4odore, sicut ex primitivis in hortis et agris."
[7] His dictis dedit mihi vir dextram, et deduxit me ad domos, ubi erant conjuges in simili flore aetatis, in quo illi; et dixit, quod uxores illae nunc visae sicut virgines, fuerint in Mundo vetulae anus, et mariti nunc visi sicut adolescentes, fuerint ibi senes decrepiti; et quod omnes illi a Domino in aetatem hanc florescentem reducti sint, quia amaverunt se mutuo, et ex religione fugerunt adulteria ut peccata enormia; et dixit, quod nemo sciat beata jucunda Amoris conjugialis, nisi qui rejicit horrenda jucunda adulterii, et quod nemo haec rejicere possit nisi qui sapit ex Domino, et quod nemo sapiat ex Domino, nisi ex amore usuum faciat usus. Vidi etiam tunc utensilia domuum illorum, quae omnia erant in formis coelestibus, et fulgebant ex auro sicut flammante ex rubinis intertextis.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: suaviolente
2. Prima editio: quae
3. Prima editio: dilitiae
4. Prima editio: suaviolente