55、对此，我补充两个记事。记事一：
有一次，我听到天堂传来极其美妙的旋律，歌唱者是天堂的妻子们，也有少女。歌声的甜美仿佛某种爱之情感的和谐流淌。天堂的歌声无非是有声的情感，即以调和的声音所表达的情感，就像言语表达思维，歌声则表达情感。天使能通过旋律的对称和流动感知情感的主题。当时，我周围有很多灵，我听其中一些灵说，他们能听到这首美妙的旋律，知道歌唱的是某种爱的情感，但不知道它的主题是什么。为此，他们作出各种猜想，但都徒然无功。有的猜测，这歌声表达了新郎和新娘订婚时的情感；有的猜测，它表达了新郎和新娘举行婚礼时的情感；有的则猜测，它表达了丈夫与妻子的蜜月之恋。
就在这时，一位天使突然从天上显现在他们中间，他说，她们歌唱的是对异性的贞洁之爱。旁观者询问何为对异性的贞洁之爱。天使解释说，就是男人热爱外表可爱、举止优雅的少女或有夫之妇，这爱没有一丝淫乱的成分，反之亦然（即女人对少男或有妇之夫的爱也是如此）。说完，天使消失了。歌声还在继续，由于此时他们知道了歌声所表达的情感，所以就开始以多种方式聆听它，各自都与自身爱的状态一致。凡以贞洁的眼光看待女人者听到的歌声和谐甜美；凡以不洁的眼光看待女人者听到的歌声不相协调、压抑悲伤；凡以厌恶的眼光看待女人者听到的歌声则尖锐刺耳。
突然间，他们所站的平地变成了一座剧院，只听到有声音说：“请调查这爱。”来自各个社群的灵也突然间出现了，他们当中有几个白衣天使。然后，这些天使开口发言，他们说：“在灵界，我们调查了各种爱，不仅包括男人对男人、女人对女人的爱，丈夫与妻子间的爱情，还包括男人对女人、女人对男人的爱。而且，我们得以通过各个社群进行调查，目前尚未发现这种普遍的对异性的贞洁之爱，除了那些由于婚姻真爱而具有持续性活力的人外，这些人在顶层天。我们还得以觉察到这爱流入我们内心的情感，清楚感觉其甜蜜仅次于两颗心合而为一的夫妻间的爱情。不过，请你们探究这爱，因为对你们而言，它还是新鲜和未知的。在天堂，我们称其为天堂般的甜蜜，因为它就是愉悦本身。”
于是，他们开始讨论这个问题，那些不认为贞洁与婚姻有关的灵首先发言。他们说：“一看到漂亮可爱的少女或妻子，谁能控制住自己的思绪，防止它们染上一丝淫欲，而只爱她的美丽，即便有机会也绝不愿品尝它？谁能将人的这种本能欲望变得这样贞洁，也就是说，变成违背他本性的东西，却还能继续爱下去？当两性情爱通过眼睛进入思维时，它能只停留在女人的脸上吗？岂不会马上降到她的胸部及以下？天使说，这爱是贞洁的，而且是所有爱中最甜蜜的，只存在于拥有婚姻真爱，因而唯有与自己的妻子在一起时才拥有出色性能力的丈夫身上，他们说得都是些空话。当这些丈夫看到漂亮女人时，难道他们的想法还能高过别人的？他们还能使自己的思维悬在半空，防止它们降下来延伸到激起这爱的东西上？”
接下来发言的灵，处于冷淡和热情两种状态：对自己的妻子冷淡，对异性热情。他们说：“何为对贞洁的两性情爱？加上贞洁这个词，两性情爱岂不成了自相矛盾的术语吗？加上矛盾的形容词，岂不是剥夺了事物的本来属性，从而使它失去存在的意义了吗？不正是贞洁夺去了爱慕异性的的甜蜜吗？在这种情况下，两性情爱焉能是所有爱中最甜蜜的？你们全都清楚那爱的甜蜜居于何处。所以，若除去伴随这爱的结合的念头，那这甜蜜在何处？它从何而来？”这时，有些灵打断说：“我们曾和一些非常漂亮的女人在一起，并没有非分之念。所以，我们知道什么是对异性的贞洁之爱。”谁知，他们那只认自己好色本性的同伴却回答说：“你们对异性没好感是由于性无能。那并不是对异性的贞洁之爱，反而是不贞洁的爱导致的最终结果。”
听到这里，天使很愤慨，要求站在右边、面朝南方的灵发言，这些灵说：“有男人之间的爱，也有女人之间的爱，还有男人对女人、女人对男人的爱。这三组爱截然不同。两个男人之间的爱就像两种觉知之间的爱，因为男人被造，因而生来是要成为觉知的形式。两个女人之间的爱就像对男人的觉知的两种情感之间的爱，因为女人被造，因而生来是要成为对男人的觉知之爱的形式。这些爱，即两个男人或两个女人之间的爱，不会深入他们的内心，只停留于外，仅止于表面的接触。因此，这些爱不会将他们内在地结合起来。这就是为何两个男人在一起会彼此争论不休，好比两个运动员打拳击，而两个女人则有时会将自己的意愿坚持到底，好比两个木偶用拳头博斗。”
“另一方面，一个男人和一个女人之间的爱是觉知及其情感之间的一种爱，这爱会深入内心，将他们结合起来。这种结合就是爱情。但心智的结合，而非同时身体的结合，或唯独心智结合的努力是一种属灵之爱，因而是一种贞洁的爱。这爱只存在于那些拥有婚姻真爱，并由此具有活跃的性能力的人身上。这样的男人出于贞洁，除了自己的妻子外，不会允许自己感受对其他女人的基于身体的爱之流入。他们具有极为出色的性能力，故必热爱异性，同时又憎恶不洁之物。因此，他们拥有对异性的贞洁之爱，这爱就其本身而言，是内在的属灵友谊。这种友谊从活跃而又贞洁的性能力中获得其甜蜜。这些男人具有活跃的性能力，是因为他们坚决弃绝滥交。因他们只深爱自己的妻子，故这爱是贞洁的。又因他们的爱无关肉体，只关乎灵，故这爱是贞洁的。又因女人的美丽由于内在的吸引力而同时进入他们的心智，故它又是甜蜜的。”
听到这里，很多旁观者捂住耳朵说：“你的话好刺耳！你所说的这些对我们来说毫无意义。”这些灵是不贞洁的。这时，天堂再次传来歌声，比先前更甜美。但在这些不贞洁者听来却如此喧嚣刺耳，以致他们为躲避这种嘈杂而冲出剧院，逃之夭夭。只剩下少数灵，其智慧使得他们热爱婚姻的贞洁。
55、在此我再补充两点。第一点：
有一次我听到天堂传来的美妙的歌声，唱歌的人是天堂中的妻子们，也有年青女子。那甜美的歌声就像是一种和谐的爱。（天堂的歌就是用声音表达出来的爱，是以不同的音调表达的爱。因为思想是通过词语来表达的，所以歌声中传达了爱。天使们能听得懂不同音调传达的爱）
当时我周围有许多精灵，我得知他们听不懂这些甜美的歌声的意思，他们于是开始猜测，但是猜不到。一些人认为歌声表达了新人订婚时的喜悦之情。一些人认为歌声表达了新人互相之间早期的爱；
但是当天使来到他们中间时，告诉他们，这歌声表达的是对异性忠贞的爱。
周围的精灵们问到对异性忠贞的爱是什么。
天使解释道，这是一种男人对少女或已婚女性在形式和方式上都很优雅没有一点色欲在内的爱。反过来也如此（女人对男人的这样的爱）
说完这些后，天使消失了。
歌声还在继续。精灵们知道了歌声的含义后，由于他们各自的爱的不同使得他们对这歌声的理解也各不相同。那些对女人的想法洁纯的精灵听到了和谐甜美的歌声。那些对女人想法不纯的人听到的是杂乱悲伤的歌声。
那些蔑视女人的听到的是刺耳的歌声。
突然间，精灵们所在的地点变成了一个大厅。他们听到一个声音说：考虑一下，并讨论一下这种爱。”
突然间其它地方的精灵也聚集到这里来。其中有一些天使穿着白衣服。这些天使对他们说：“我们询问了精神世界中许多不同的爱，男人对男人的爱，女人对女人的爱，夫妻之间相互的爱，男人对女人的爱。女人对男人的爱。我们从一个地方到另一个地方，发现真正的婚姻之爱是纯洁的爱。它是如此的甜美，尤其是夫妻双方已经是合二为一的爱更是这样。
“但是我们请你们仔细考虑并想一想这种爱，因为它从前并不为你们所知。同时，因为这种爱极其美好，在天堂里我们称它为天堂的甜蜜。”
讨论的精灵们第一个发表看法的是一些不知道圣洁的婚姻之爱的。他们说：“当一个人见到漂亮的女人，结婚的还是没有结婚的，难道有谁不会去想体会一下她的美貌吗？有谁能违反自然本性而有那种圣洁的爱？当对异性的爱从眼睛转入到思想中，它能就停留在这个女的脸上吗？难到不会马上转移到她的胸部和别处吗？”
“天使们没有道理。说什么有圣洁的爱存在，并且它是最甜美的。它只存在于拥有真正的婚姻之爱的男人们中间，并且这些男人能保持出色的性能力。当这些男人见到漂亮女人时，他们的想法就会高于别人？就会抑制住本性。
之后讲话的是那些对爱即有冷漠又有热衷的精灵们。他们对自己的妻子们冷淡，对其它异性热衷。他们说：“对异性圣洁的爱是什么？圣洁与爱和性不是相冲突吗？两个互相冲突的词岂不没有意义？对异性圣洁的爱怎么可能是最甜美的？圣洁岂不是抹去了甜美？你们都知道爱的甜美在何处。因此当这种爱被抹去了那一点，甜美如何会存在呢？甜美会从何处来呢？
另外一些精灵说道：“我们曾见过一些非常漂亮的女人，我们没有过非份之念，我们知道对异性圣洁的爱是什么。”
在一起的另一些回复道：“你们对异性冷漠是因为你们性无能。那并不是圣洁的爱而淫乱的结果。
听到这里天使气愤地让站在右边面向南方的精灵们讲话。这些精灵们说：“有男人对男人的爱，女人对女人的爱，男人对女人的爱和女人对男人的爱这三种是完全不同的爱。”
“两个男人之间的爱好像是一个智者对另一个智者的爱，因为男人生来就是要成为有理解能力。”
这两种爱，即男人和男人，女人和女人间的爱不会深入到他们的内心，而是只存在于表层。所以，这两种爱不能把他们在内在上结合在一起。”
这就是为什么当两个男人在一起常会产生争论，两个女人在一起时也常会有分歧。“
“另一方面，一个男人和一个女人之间的爱是与智慧和对智慧的爱之间的爱，它会深入内心并将二者统一。这种统一即是爱。但是思想上的统一不等于躯体上的统一。努力在思想上统一的爱才是精神上爱。这种爱只存在于真正的婚姻之爱中，存在于那些有高尚的性观念的人中。只有这样的男人才能抑制对其它女人产生的冲动。因为他们有高尚的性观念，他们能够对异性尊爱，并且毫无不纯洁的动机。
“因此他们对异性的尊爱，这在内在本质上讲是精神上的友谊。这种友谊建立在高尚的性观念之上并且是纯洁的。这些男人有高尚的性观念是因为他们完全拒绝色欲。这种爱是纯洁的是因为他们只与他们的妻子相爱。
“因为这种爱只与精神而与肉体无关，它是纯洁的。因为女人的美在同时进入他们的头脑中，所以它是甜美的。”
听到这些后，周围站着的精灵们捂住耳朵说：“你的话好刺耳，毫无道理。”
这些精灵是不纯洁的。
接着又传来天堂的歌声，更加甜美。但对于那些不纯洁的精灵来说，这歌声非常刺耳，他们不得不逃出这个地方。剩下来的精灵是那些热爱圣洁的婚姻之爱的。
55. I shall add here two accounts of experiences, of which this is the first.
I once heard from heaven the sweetest music. There were wives there together with girls, who were singing a song. Its sweetness was like the affection of some love, pouring forth in a harmonious stream. Songs in heaven are nothing but affections in audible form, that is, affections expressed in modulated sounds, for just as thoughts are expressed by speaking, so are affections by singing. Angels can grasp the subject of the affection by the regularity and fluency of the modulation.
There were a number of spirits around me, some of whom told me that they could hear this very sweet music, and it was the music of some affection, but they did not know what its subject was. They made various guesses, but without success. One guess was that the song expressed the affection of the bridegroom and bride on plighting their troth, another that it was their affection on entering wedlock, another that it was the earliest stage in the love of husband and wife.
[2] Then an angel from heaven suddenly appeared among them, and said that they were singing about chaste sexual love. The bystanders enquired what chaste sexual love was. The angel replied that it was a man's love for a young woman or a wife of lovely appearance and good manners, free from any idea of lewdness; and the similar love of a woman for a man. With these words the angel vanished.
The singing continued, and since they then knew the subject of the affection it expressed, they began to hear it in many different ways, in each case depending on the state of their own love. Those who looked on women chastely heard the singing as harmonious and sweet. But those who looked on women unchastely heard it as inharmonious and depressing, and those who looked on women with distaste, heard it as discordant and harsh.
[3] The ground on which they were standing was suddenly changed into a theatre, and a voice was heard, saying, 'Discuss this love.' Spirits then quickly appeared from various communities, and among them some angels dressed in white, who said, 'In the spiritual world we have made enquiry into all the kinds of love, not only the love of a man for a man and a woman for a woman, and the reciprocal love of husband and wife, but also a man's love for women and a woman's love for men. We have been allowed to work through communities checking, and we have not yet found any shared chaste sexual love, except among those endowed with constant potency by truly conjugial love; and these are in the highest heavens. We have also been allowed to feel the influence of that love on the affections of our hearts, and our feeling was that it surpassed in sweetness every other love, except the love of a married couple whose hearts are one. But we should like you to discuss this love, since it is a new and unfamiliar one to you. Since it is the height of loveliness, we in heaven call it the sweetness of heaven.
[4] So in the discussion the first to speak were those who were unable to think of chastity in connexion with marriage. 'Can anyone,' they said, 'on seeing a lovely or loveable girl or wife so control the ideas he thinks about and keep them so untainted by lust, as to love her beauty and yet not wish, if he were allowed, to taste it? Can anyone turn the lust innate in every man into such chastity as to make it what it is not, and still go on loving? Can sexual love, when it passes from the eyes into the thoughts, stop at the woman's face? Does it not instantly go down to the chest, and beyond? The angels were talking nonsense when they said that there is a chaste form of that love, which is none the less the sweetest of all; a love which is only possible for husbands who have truly conjugial love, so that they have extraordinary potency with their wives. Are these so much above others that on seeing lovely women they can keep the ideas they think about uplifted and as it were in suspense, to prevent them coming down and proceeding to what makes that love?'
[5] The next speakers were those who felt both heat and cold, coldness towards their wives, but heat towards the other sex. 'What is chaste sexual love?' they said. 'Surely to add chastity to love is a contradiction in terms. Can you add a contradiction without taking away what is predicated of a thing, so making it non-existent? How can chaste sexual love be the sweetest of all loves, when chastity robs it of its sweetness? You all know where the sweetness of that love is located. So when the idea of union is thrown out together with that, where is its sweetness, and where is it to come from?'
Then some others intervened, saying, 'We have been with the loveliest women without desiring them. So we know what chaste sexual love is.' But their companions, knowing their lewdness, replied, 'You were then reduced to loathing the other sex as the result of impotence, and this is not chaste sexual love, but the depth of unchaste love.'
[6] On hearing this the angels were angry and asked those who stood on the right, that is, to the south, to speak. 'There is,' they said, 'the love of two men for each other, and the love of two women for each other, and the love of a man for a woman and of a woman for a man. These three pairs of loves are completely different. The love of two men is like the love of two intellects, for man was created and therefore is by birth designed to become an intellect. The love of two women is like the love of two affections for man's intellect, for woman was created and is designed by birth to become the love of a man's intellect. These loves, those between two men or two women, do not sink far into the breast, but stay outside, making merely superficial contact and not leading to any inner union of the two. This too is the reason why two men fence with reasoned arguments on either side, like boxers; and two women sometimes with lusts on either side, like actors pretending to fight with fists.
[7] But the love of a man and a woman is the love of the intellect and its affection, which sinks in deep and leads to union. That union is love; but the union of minds, and not of bodies at the same time, or an impulse towards that union and no other, is spiritual love, and so a chaste one. This love is only possible for those who possess truly conjugial love, and thus have abundant potency, because these people's chastity does not allow them to feel any influence of love from the body of any woman other than their wife. Being in this state of surpassing potency, they cannot help loving the other sex and at the same time loathing unchastity. As a result they have chaste sexual love, which regarded in essence is an inner spiritual friendship; this gains its sweetness from their abundant, but chaste, potency. That abundant potency is the result of a total forswearing of promiscuity, and, since the wife alone is loved, it is chaste. Now since that love in their case does not partake of the flesh, but only of the spirit, it is chaste; and because their innate attraction makes the woman's beauty at the same time enter the mind, it is delightful.'
[8] On hearing this many of the bystanders clapped their hands over their ears, saying, 'Your remarks offend our ears, and we regard what you have said as nonsense.' They were unchaste. Then the singing from heaven was heard again, and it was even sweeter than before. But to the ears of the unchaste it sounded such a discordant din, that to avoid the racket they rushed out of the theatre and took to their heels, leaving a few behind, whose wisdom made them love chastity in marriage.
55. To this I will append two narrative accounts. Here is the first:
I once heard a very sweet melody coming from heaven. The singers there were wives, and also young women, who were singing a little song together. The sweetness of the singing sounded like the harmoniously flowing affection of some love. (Heavenly songs are nothing else but voiced affections, or affections expressed and varied in musical tones. For as thoughts are expressed in spoken words, so affections are expressed in the singing of songs. Angels perceive the subject of the affection from the balance and flow of the musical variations.)
I had many spirits around me at the time, and I heard from some of them that they were listening to this very sweet melody, and that it was the melody of a some lovely affection whose subject they did not know. Therefore they began to make various guesses, but without success. Some guessed that the singing expressed the affection of a bridegroom and bride when they become engaged. Some supposed that it expressed the affection of a bridegroom and bride when they celebrate their wedding. And some thought that it expressed the early love of a husband and wife.
[2] However, an angel from heaven then appeared in the midst of them, and he said that they were singing about a chaste love for the opposite sex.
But the spirits standing around asked what a chaste love for the opposite sex was.
So the angel said that it is the love of a man for a maiden or married woman beautiful in form and lovely in manners, which is free of any idea of lasciviousness, and vice versa [that is, the same sort of love of a woman for a single or married man]."
Having said that, the angel vanished.
The singing continued, and now that the spirits knew the subject of the affection that the singing expressed, they began to hear it with a great deal of variety, each in accordance with the state of his own love. Those who looked upon women chastely heard the singing as harmonious and sweet. Those, however, who looked upon women unchastely heard it as discordant and sorrowful. And those who looked upon women with repugnance heard it as harsh and grating.
[3] But then, suddenly, the plain on which they were standing was turned into a theater, and they heard a voice say, "Examine and discuss this love."
Suddenly, too, spirits from various societies were present, and in the midst of them some angels in white. And the angels then addressed them saying, "We have inquired into all kinds of love in this spiritual world, not only the love of a man for a man, and of a woman for a woman, and the mutual love of a husband and wife, but also the love of a man for women, and the love of a woman for men. We have been allowed to pass through society after society as well, and to investigate, and we have not yet found the prevailing love for the opposite sex to be chaste, except in those who, because of their truly conjugial love, are in a constant state of sexual ability, and these are in the highest heavens.
"Moreover, we have also been granted to perceive an influx of this chaste love for the opposite sex into the affections of our hearts, and we felt it exceed every other love in its sweetness, except the love of two married partners whose hearts are one.
"But we pray you examine and discuss this love, because to you it is new and unknown. Also, because it is so exceedingly pleasant, in heaven we call it heavenly sweetness."
[4] As they were therefore discussing it, the first to speak were spirits who could not think of chastity as applying to marriages, and they said, "When one sees a beautiful and lovely woman, maiden or married, is there anyone who can so chasten the ideas in his thought and so purify them from lust that he loves her beauty, yet without at all wishing to taste it if he could? Who can turn the instinctive lust that every man feels into chasteness like that, thus into something against his own nature, and still feel love? When love for the opposite sex enters from the eyes into the thoughts, can it stop at a woman's face? Does it not instantly descend to her breast and beyond?
"The angels have spoken nonsense, saying that a chaste love like that exists and yet is the sweetest of all loves, and that it is only possible in husbands who are in a state of truly conjugial love and who consequently possess an extraordinary sexual ability with their wives. When these husbands see beautiful women, can they hold the ideas of their thought on high any more than others, and keep them suspended, so to speak, to prevent those ideas from descending and extending to that which prompts such a love?"
[5] After them, spirits spoke who were in both a state of coldness and a state of heat, in a state of coldness towards their wives and in a state of heat towards the opposite sex. And they said, "What is a chaste love for the opposite sex? Is it not a contradiction in terms when the word chastity is added to love and sex? What is left when a contradictory adjective is added but something robbed of its proper attribute, which is meaningless? How can a chaste love for the opposite sex be the sweetest of all loves when it is chastity that deprives it of its sweetness? You all know in what the sweetness of that love lies. Consequently, when the idea naturally accompanying this love is banished, where is the sweetness then, and what does it come from?"
Some others then interrupted and said, "We have been in the company of some very beautiful women, and we have not lusted. Therefore we know what a chaste love for the opposite sex is."
But their companions, who knew their lascivious natures, replied, "You were then in a state of antipathy toward the opposite sex owing to impotence, and that is not a chaste love for the opposite sex but the final result of an unchaste love."
[6] Having heard these things, the angels crossly asked the spirits who were standing to the right, towards the south, to speak, and these spirits said, "There is a love between men, also a love between women, and there is the love of a man for a woman and the love of a woman for a man. And these three pairs of loves are completely different from each other.
"Love between two men is like the love between one intellect and another, for men were created and so are born to become forms of understanding.
"Love between two women is like the love between one affection and another for the understanding of men, for women were created and are born to become forms of love for the understanding of men.
"These loves, namely, the love between two men and the love between two women, do not enter deeply into their hearts, but remain outside and only touch. Thus these loves do not unite the two of them interiorly.
"That is why two men together also spar with each other with endless arguments, like two athletes boxing, and two women sometimes as well, with endless insistence on their own wishes, like two marionettes battling with their fists.
[7] "On the other hand, the love between a man and a woman is a love between intellect and its affection, and this enters deeply and unites them. The union also is the love. But a union of the minds and not at the same time of the bodies, or an effort to a union of minds only, is a spiritual love and therefore a chaste love. This love is possible only in those who are in a state of truly conjugial love and who consequently possess an elevated sexuality, because men like this, out of chastity, do not permit themselves to feel an influx of love on account of the body of any other woman than their wife. And because they possess a highly elevated sexuality, they cannot help but love the opposite sex and at the same time turn their backs on anything unchaste.
"Thus they have a chaste love for the opposite sex, which regarded in itself is interior spiritual friendship. This friendship takes its sweetness from an elevated sexuality, but one that is chaste. These men have an elevated sexuality owing to their total renunciation of licentiousness. And it is chaste, because they are only in love with their wives.
"Now, then, because that love in them does not partake of the flesh but only of the spirit, it is chaste. And because the beauty of a woman, owing to the inherent attraction, enters at the same time into their mind, it is sweet."
[8] On hearing this, many of those standing around put their hands to their ears, saying, "Your words hurt our ears! The things you have said are meaningless to us."
These spirits were unchaste.
Then again, the singing was heard from heaven, and now sweeter than before. But to those unchaste spirits, it grated so discordantly that because of the harshness of the discord, they threw themselves out of the theater and ran away, the few spirits remaining being those who in their wisdom loved conjugial chastity.
55. I add to these things two stories. First this one:
Once I heard a very pleasant tune coming out of heaven.
Wives and young women were there who were harmonizing to a simple melody. The sweetness of the singing was like some feeling of love flowing out in harmony. Heavenly songs are nothing other than affections resonating, or feelings expressed and modulated in sounds. For just the way words express thoughts, song expresses feelings. From the pattern of the rhythms and the flow, angels can tell what feelings a song has to do with.
There were many spirits around me at that time, and I heard from some of them that they had heard that very pleasant tune and that it was the tune of some lovely feeling that they did not get the gist of. So they made different guesses, but in vain. They thought the song might express the feelings of a bridegroom and bride when they are engaged. Some thought it was the feeling of a bride and a groom entering marriage, and some thought it was the first love of a husband and wife.
And then an angel from heaven appeared among them and said, "They are singing chaste love for the other sex."
But the group standing around asked, "What is chaste love for the other sex?"
The angel said, "It is a man's love for a maiden or wife with a beautiful figure and fine manners, and it is without any lewd thoughts. The same goes for the love of a woman for a man."
When he had said this the angel vanished.
The song went on, and now that they knew what feeling it was about they heard it in many different ways, each according to the condition of his love. Those who looked chastely at women heard the song as harmonious and pleasant. But those who looked at women unchastely heard it as unharmonious and gloomy. And those who viewed women with disdain heard it as discordant and harsh.
Then suddenly the level place where they were standing turned into a theater, and they heard a voice say, "Investigate this love."
Then some spirits from various communities suddenly came up, with some angels in white among them. And the angels said, "In this spiritual world we have looked into all kinds of love - not only men's love toward men, women's toward women, and the reciprocal love of husbands and wives, but also love of men for women and women for men. We've had a chance to cover the communities and investigate, and so far the only place we found this general love for the other sex to be chaste is with people in a state of perennial potency thanks to their genuine love for marriage.
They are in the highest heavens.
"And we also were able to observe this love's influence on the feelings of our hearts, and we felt clearly that it is sweeter than every other love but the love of two married partners whose hearts are one.
"But we beg you to investigate this love because it is new to you and unknown, and because it is pleasantness itself. In heaven we call it heavenly sweetness."
They talked it over. Then the first to speak were the ones who could not think chastely about marriages, and they gave this opinion: "What man, when he sees a beautiful and lovable young woman or wife, can restrain and purify the thoughts in his mind from desire enough to love her beauty and still have no wish at all to sample it if he could? Who can change the inborn desire of any man into such chastity - change it from what it is - and still love?
When sexual love goes from your eyes into your thoughts can it be satisfied with a woman's face? Doesn't it immediately move down to her chest, and beyond? There's nothing in what the angels said - that this love can be chaste and yet is the sweetest love of all, and is only possible with husbands who have a true love for marriage and therefore have very strong potency with their wives. When they see beautiful women, could they, of all people, keep the thoughts in their minds on a high level and hang them up there securely enough not to come down and charge right on to the thing that makes that love?"
The next ones who spoke were both cold and hot - cold toward their wives and hot for the other sex - and they said, "What is chaste love of the other sex? Isn't 'chaste sexual love' a contradiction in terms? With this contradiction put in, what is it but something with its attributes taken away - which is not anything!
How can a chaste love for the other sex be the sweetest of all loves when chastity takes away its sweetness? You all know where the sweetness of that love lies. Banish any idea connected with that, and where is the sweetness, and where does it come from?"
Some others took that up, saying, "We have been with the most beautiful women and felt no desire, so we know what a chaste love for the other sex is."
But their friends, who knew about their lewdness, answered, "You were impotent at the time so sex turned you off. That isn't chaste love for the other sex, but the end result of unchaste love!"
When they heard this the indignant angels begged the ones standing on the right, toward the south, to speak up. They said, "There is love between men, love between women, and love between men and women. These three kinds of love are quite different from each other. Love between men is like love between understanding and understanding, for a man is created, and therefore born, to become understanding. Love between women is like an affection for men's understanding loving an affection for men's understanding, for a woman is created, and therefore born, to become a love for a man's understanding. These loves of men for other men and women for other women - do not penetrate deep into their hearts, but they stand outside and only touch each other, so they do not join the two together inwardly.
"This is also why two men argue on and on, 'sparring' with each other like two athletes. And two women sometimes do this to one another, matching desire with desire like two pantomimists in a fist fight.
"But love between men and women is the love of understanding and an attraction to understanding, and this does go deep and join them together. This conjunction is that love. But a union of minds and not of bodies at the same time - - - or an effort toward a union of minds alone - is a spiritual love and therefore a chaste love. This love is possible only for those who have a true love for marriage and have superior potency from it, because their chastity keeps each from letting in the influence of love from any woman's body other than his wife's.
"And because they have this outstanding potency they can't help loving the other sex and resisting unchastity at the same time! So love for the other sex is chaste for them. It is an inner spiritual friendship, in its own right, which takes its sweetness from their outstanding but chaste potency. Their potency is outstanding from their totally renouncing fornication, and chaste from loving only their wives.
"Now, this love is chaste for them because it is not activated by flesh but only by spirit, and it is sweet because feminine beauty enters the mind at the same time from an inborn tendency."
Many of the bystanders put their hands over their ears when they heard all this, saying, "Those words hurt our ears, and the things you said are worthless to us." They were unchaste.
And then we heard the song from heaven again, sweeter than before. But to the ones who were unchaste it grated so discordantly that they rushed out of the theater to escape the discord.
Just a few stayed, who had the sensitivity to love marital chastity.
55. To the above, I will add two Memorable Relations. First: A melody of the utmost sweetness was once heard from a heaven where wives together with virgins were singing a song, the sweetness of which was like the harmonious flowing forth of the affection of some love. Heavenly songs are nothing else than sonorous affections, that is, affections expressed and modified by sounds; for, as thoughts are expressed by speech, so affections are expressed by songs. Angels perceive the subject of the affection from the symmetry and flow of the melody.
There were many spirits about me at the time, and from some of them I learned that they had heard that sweet melody and that it was the song of some lovely affection, the subject of which they did not know. For this reason they made various conjectures, but in vain. Some conjectured that the song was an expression of the affection of a bridegroom and bride when betrothed; some, that it expressed the affection of a bridegroom and bride when going to their wedding; and others, that it expressed the honeymoon love of husband and wife.
[2] An angel from heaven then appeared in their midst and said that they were singing the chaste love of the sex. But those standing around asked, "What is chaste love of the sex?" The angel answered: "It is the love of a man for a virgin or wife of beautiful form and becoming manners--a love free from any idea of lasciviousness--and the like love of a virgin or wife for a man." Saying this, the angel vanished.
The singing continued, and because they then knew the subject of the affection it expressed, they heard it quite variously, each one according to the state of his love. Those who looked chastely upon women heard the song as something harmonious and sweet; but those who looked unchastely upon women heard it as inharmonious and sad, while those who looked upon women with loathing heard it as discordant and harsh.
[3] Then suddenly the plain on which they were standing was changed into a theatre, and a voice was heard, saying, "Investigate this love." And suddenly spirits were present from various societies, and in their midst several angels in white. These angels then spoke, and they said: "In this spiritual world we have inquired into all kinds of love, not only into the love of a man towards a man and of a woman towards a woman, and into the reciprocal love of husband and wife, but also into the love of a man towards a woman and of a woman towards a man. Moreover, it has been granted us to pass through societies and make investigation, and thus far we have not found the general love of the sex to be chaste, except with those who from love truly conjugial are in continual potency, and these are in the highest heavens. It has also been granted us to perceive the influx of this love into the affections of our own hearts; and we clearly felt it to exceed in sweetness every other love except the love of two married partners whose hearts are one. But we beg you to inquire into this love, for to you it is new and unknown. By us in heaven it is called heavenly sweetness because it is pleasantness itself."
[4] When they then discussed the matter, those spoke first who could not think of chastity as pertaining to marriages. They said: "Who, when he sees a beautiful and lovely maiden or wife, is able so to restrain and purify from concupiscence the ideas of his thought as to love her beauty and yet in no way desire to taste it if permitted? Who is able to change the concupiscence innate in every man into such chastity--that is, into what is not himself--and yet love? Can love of the sex, when entering by the eyes into the thoughts, stop at the face of a woman? Does it not instantly descend to her breast and beyond? The angels spoke empty words when they said that that love can be chaste and yet be the sweetest of all loves, and that it can exist only with husbands who are in love truly conjugial and thence in pre-eminent potency with their wives. When they see beautiful women, can they any more than others keep the ideas of their thoughts on high and hold them in the air, as it were, so that they do not descend and press on to that which makes that love?"
[5] After these, those spoke who were both in cold and in heat; in cold towards their wives and in heat towards the sex. They said: "What is chaste love of the sex? When chastity is added to it, is not love of the sex a contradiction? and what is the contradiction in the addition, other than a thing from which its predicate is removed? and that is not anything. How can chaste love of the sex be the sweetest of all loves when chastity deprives it of its sweetness? You all know wherein the sweetness of that love lies; if then the conjunctive idea associated with the love is banished, where and whence is its sweetness?"
Other speakers then took up the matter and said, "We have been with the most beautiful women and felt no desire; therefore we know what chaste love of the sex is." But their companions, who knew their lewdness, answered: "You were then in a state of loathing of the sex from lack of potency, and this is not chaste love of the sex but is the last state of unchaste love."
[6] Indignant at hearing these sentiments, the angels asked that those would speak who were standing on the right or at the south. These then said: "There is a love of man and man, and of woman and woman; and there is a love of a man for a woman and of a woman for a man. These three pairs of loves are entirely different from each other. The love of man and man is as the love of understanding and understanding; for man was created and thence born that he may become understanding. The love of woman and woman is as the love of affection and affection, the affection being the affection of the understanding of men; for woman was created and is born to become the love of man's understanding. These loves, that is, the love of man and man and of woman and woman, do not enter deeply into the breast but stand without and merely touch each other; thus they do not inwardly conjoin the two. Therefore, two men fight each other with an abundance of arguments like two athletes; and sometimes two women fight each other with an abundance of concupiscences, like two stage players fighting with their fists. But the love between man and woman is the love between the understanding and its affection, and this enters deeply and conjoins.
[7] Such conjunction is the love itself. Conjunction of minds and not at the same time of bodies, that is, the striving towards such conjunction alone, is a spiritual and thence a chaste love. This love exists only with those who are in love truly conjugial and from this in eminent potency; for, by reason of their chastity, they do not admit the influx of love from the body of any woman other than their wife; and, being in supereminent potency, they cannot but love the sex and at the same time hold in aversion what is unchaste. Hence they have a chaste love of the sex, and, regarded in itself, this is interior spiritual friendship which derives its sweetness from eminent but chaste potency. They have this eminent potency by reason of their total renunciation of whoredom; and because the wife only is loved, it is chaste. Now because with them that love does not partake of the flesh but only of the spirit, it is chaste; and because, at the same time, from an implanted inclination the woman's beauty enters into their mind, it is sweet."
[8] On hearing this, many of the bystanders put their hands to their ears, saying, "These utterances hurt our ears; the words you have spoken are empty nothings." They were unchaste.
Then the singing from heaven was again heard, and now sweeter than before. But to the unchaste it grated so discordantly that, because of the harshness of the discord, they threw themselves out of the theatre and fled, a few only remaining who from wisdom loved conjugial chastity.
55. I add two Memorabilia.
I. Once the sweetest of melodies was heard from heaven. Wives together with maidens were singing a song the sweetness of which was like the affection of some love flowing forth harmoniously. Song in heaven is nothing else than affection sounding, or affection expressed and formulated in sound; just as thought is expressed by speech, so affection is by song. From the symmetry and flow of the utterance the angels perceive the subject of the affection.
There were a number of spirits about me at the time. Some of them said that they heard the very sweet melody, and that it was the song of some lovely affection the subject of which they did not know. They made various conjectures, but in vain; some that the song was an expression of the affection of bridegroom and bride at betrothal; others that it expressed the affection of bridegroom and bride at the nuptials; and still others that it expressed the early love of husband and wife.
[2] But an angel appeared in the midst of them from heaven, and said that they were singing chaste love of the sex. But those standing around asked,
"What is chaste love for the sex?"
The angel said, "It is the love a man has for a maiden or wife of beautiful form and becoming manner, free from all idea of lasciviousness, or the similar love of a maiden or wife toward a man." So saying, the angel vanished.
The singing continued, and now that they knew what affection it expressed they heard it with much variety, each according to the state of his love. Those who regarded women chastely, found the song melodious and sweet; but those who regarded women unchastely, found it unmelodious and sad; while those who regarded women disdainfully, found it discordant and harsh.
[3] Suddenly the plain on which they were standing was turned into a forum, and a voice was heard, saying, "Look into this love."
Immediately spirits were present from different societies, and among them some angels in white. The latter spoke and said:
"We have inquired in this spiritual world into all kinds of love, not only into the love of man for man and of woman for woman, and into the mutual love of husband and wife, but also into the love a man feels toward women and a woman toward men. We have been enabled to traverse and explore whole societies, and we have yet to find sexual love chaste except with those who are in constant potency from true marital love, and these are in the highest heavens. We were also enabled to perceive the influx of this love into the affections of our hearts; it seemed to us to exceed every other love in sweetness, except the love of two married partners whose hearts are one. But we pray you to consider this love, for it is new and unknown to you; while by us in heaven it is called heavenly sweetness, because it is pleasantness itself."
[4] In their consideration, those spoke first who could not predicate chastity of marriages. These said: "Who, on seeing a beautiful and lovely girl or wife can chasten and purify the ideas of his thought from all lust so as to love her beauty and yet not desire at all, if allowed, to taste it? Who can turn the lust which is innate in every man into such chastity, that is, into what is not itself, and yet love? Can love for the sex, as it enters from the eye into the thought, stop at a woman's face? Does it not descend in a moment into the breast and beyond? The angels have idly said that this love can be chaste and yet be of all loves the sweetest; and that it is found only with husbands who are in true marital love and thence in extraordinary potency with their wives. Can they, any more than others, when they see beautiful women, keep the ideas of their thoughts on high and as it were suspended, so that they do not descend and go on to what constitutes the love?"
[5] Then those spoke who were both in cold and in heat, in cold towards their wives and in heat towards the sex; and they said:
"What is chaste love for the sex? Does not sexual love become a contradiction when chastity is added? And what is the contradiction in the addition except that a subject from which its predicate is taken away is then nothing? How can a chaste love for the sex be the sweetest of all loves when chastity robs it of its sweetness? You all know in what the sweetness of that love resides. When, then, all idea connected with this is banished, where and whence is its sweetness?"
Some interposed here, saying, "We have been with the most beautiful and have felt no desire; we therefore know what chaste love for the sex is."
But their companions, acquainted with their lewdness, replied, "You were then in a state of distaste for the sex
For lack of potency; and this is not chaste love for the sex, but the last state of unchaste love."
[6] Indignant at what they had heard, the angels asked those to speak who were standing at the right or to the south. These said:
"There is a love of man and man, and of woman and woman; and there is a love of man for woman and of woman for man; and these three pairs of loves are entirely different from one another. The love of man and man is like the love of understanding and understanding; for man was created and hence is born to become understanding. The love of woman and woman is like the love of affection and affection for the understanding of men; for the woman was created and is born to become the love of man's understanding. These loves, namely, of man for man and of woman for woman, do not enter the breast deeply, but stand outside and merely touch; thus do not conjoin the two inwardly. So two men contend against each other by arguments like two athletes; and sometimes two women by passions like two pantomimists fighting.
[7] But the love of a man and a woman is love between understanding and its affection, and this enters deeply and conjoins; and the conjunction is the love. But conjunction of minds and not at the same time of bodies, or the effort toward just this conjunction is spiritual and therefore chaste love. Only they know this love who are in true marital love and thence in eminent potency, because in their chastity they do not admit the influx of love from the body of any other woman than their own wife; and in eminent potency they cannot but love the sex and at the same time hold in aversion what is unchaste. Thence they have a chaste love for the sex which regarded in itself is interior spiritual friendship, which derives its sweetness from eminent but chaste potency. They have this eminent potency from their total renunciation of whoredom; and it is chaste because the wife only is loved. Their love then, not partaking of the flesh but only of the spirit, is chaste; and it is sweet, because woman's beauty does naturally enter the mind at the same time."
[8] On hearing these things many of the bystanders clapped their hands to their ears, saying, "These words offend our ears! What you have said, to us is trash." They were unchaste.
Again the singing was heard from heaven, sweeter now than before. But to the unchaste it grated so discordantly that because of the harshness of the discord they rushed from the forum and fled, only a few remaining who in wisdom loved marital chastity.
55. To the above I will add two Relations:
First this. Once there was heard from heaven the sweetest melody; wives with maidens were there singing together a Song of Solomon the sweetness of which was as the affection of some love flowing forth harmoniously. Heavenly songs are nothing else than sonorous affections, or affections expressed and modified by sounds; for just as thoughts are expressed by speech, so affections are by song. From the symmetry and flow of the melody the angels perceive the subject of the affection.
There were many spirits about me at the time, and I heard from certain of them that they heard this most sweet melody, and that it was the Song of Solomon of some lovely affection the subject of which they did not know; wherefore they made various conjectures, but in vain; they conjectured that the Song of Solomon was an expression of the affection of a bridegroom and bride when betrothed. Some that it expressed the affection of a bridegroom and bride when they enter into the nuptials. And others that it expressed the first love of husband and wife.
But an angel from heaven then appeared in their midst, and said, that they were singing the chaste love of the sex. But those standing around asked:
'What is the chaste love of the sex?'
The angel said: 'It is the love of a man towards a maiden or wife of beautiful form and decorous manner, free from all idea of lasciviousness, and the similar love of a maiden or wife towards a man.' Saying this the angel vanished.
The singing continued, and as they then knew the subject of the affection it expressed they heard it with much variety, each one according to the state of his love. Those that looked chastely upon women heard the Song of Solomon as harmonious and sweet; but they that looked unchastely upon women heard it as inharmonious and sad; and those that looked disdainfully upon women heard it as discordant and harsh. Then suddenly the plain on which they were standing was changed into a theater, and a voice was heard, saying, 'Investigate this love.'
And immediately there were spirits present from various societies, and in the midst of them several angels in white; and these then spoke and said:
'We have inquired into all kinds of love in this spiritual world, not only into the love of man towards man and of woman towards woman, and into the reciprocal love of husband and wife, but also into the love of man towards women and of woman towards men; and it has been given us to pass through societies and explore them, and not yet have we found the love of the sex chaste except with those who from love truly conjugial are in constant potency, and these are in the highest heavens. And it was also given us to perceive the influx of this love into the affections of our hearts; and we clearly felt it to exceed in sweetness every other love, except the love of two married partners whose hearts are one. But we pray you to investigate this love, for to you it is new and unknown; and by us in heaven it is called heavenly sweetness, because it is pleasantness itself.'
When they therefore, investigated the subject, those spoke first who could not think of chastity as pertaining to marriages, and they said: 'Who, when he sees a beautiful and lovely maiden or wife is able to so chasten and purify the ideas of his thought from concupiscence as to love her beauty and yet not at all desire, if it were allowed, to taste it? Who is able to convert the concupiscence that is innate in every man into such chastity, that is, into what is not itself, and yet to love? Can the love of the sex, as it passes by the eyes into the thoughts, stop at the face of a woman? Does it not instantly descend into the breast and beyond? The angels have idly said that this love can be chaste and yet be of all loves the sweetest; and that it is only possible with husbands who are in love truly conjugial and thence are in surpassing potency with their wives. Can they more than others when they see the beautiful keep the ideas of their thoughts on high and as it were suspended, so that they do not descend and go on to what constitutes the love?'
After these they spoke who were both in cold and in heat, in cold towards their wives and in heat towards the sex; and they said:
'What is a chaste love of the sex? Is not love of the sex when chastity is added a contradiction? And what is the contradiction in the addition but a subject from which its predicate is taken away, which then is nothing? How can the chaste love of the sex be the sweetest of all loves when chastity robs it of its sweetness? You all know wherein the sweetness of that love resides. When therefore, the idea of conjunction with this is banished, where and whence is then its sweetness?'
Some then followed, saying, 'We have been with the most beautiful and felt no desire; and we therefore, know what the chaste love of the sex is.'
But their companions who knew their lewdness answered, 'You were then in a state of distaste for the sex from lack of potency; and this is not the chaste love of the sex, but the last state of unchaste love.'
The angels were indignant at hearing these things, and asked that they who were standing on the right, or at the south, would speak. And these said:
'There is a love of man and man and of woman and woman; and there is a love of man to woman and of woman to man; and these three pairs of loves are entirely different from each other. The love of man and man is as the love of understanding and understanding; for man was created and hence is born that he may become understanding. The love of woman and woman is as the love of affection and affection for the understanding of men; for the woman was created and is born to become the love of man's understanding. These loves, that is to say of man for man and of woman for woman, do not enter deeply into the breast, but stand without, and merely touch each other; thus they do not inwardly conjoin the two. And therefore, two men contend with each other by reasonings and reasonings like two athletes; and two women sometimes by concupiscences against concupiscences like two pugilists fighting with their fists. But the love of man and woman is the love between the understanding and its affection, and this enters deeply and conjoins; and this conjunction is that love. But conjunctions of minds and not at the same time of bodies, or the effort toward this conjunction alone is a spiritual and therefore, a chaste love. And this love they alone have who are in love truly conjugial; and from this they are in eminent potency, because by reason of their chastity they do not admit the influx of love from the body of any other woman than their own wife; and being in super-eminent potency they cannot but love the sex and at the same time hold in aversion what is unchaste. Thence they have a chaste love of the sex which regarded in itself is interior spiritual friendship, that derives its sweetness from eminent but chaste potency. This eminent potency they have from their total renunciation of scortation; and it is chaste because the wife only is loved. Now, this love is chaste with them because it does not partake of the flesh but only of the spirit; and it is sweet, because the beauty of the woman by native inclination enters at the same time into the mind.'
On hearing these things many of those standing by put their hands to their ears, saying, 'These words offend our ears; and to us what you have said is nothing.' They were unchaste.
And then again that singing was heard from heaven, and sweeter now than before. But to the unchaste it grated so discordantly, that because of the harshness of the discord they rushed from the theater and fled, a few only remaining who from wisdom loved conjugial chastity.
55. His adjiciam duo Memorabilia; Primum hoc. Quondam e Coelo auditum est suavissimum melos; erant ibi uxores cum virginibus, quae concinebant cantilenam; suavitas cantionis erat sicut affectio cujusdam amoris harmonice profluens; Cantus coelestes nec aliud sunt quam affectiones sonorae, seu quam affectiones sonis expressae et modificatae, nam sicut cogitationes exprimuntur per loquelas, ita affectiones per cantus; Angeli ex modulationis symmetria et profluentia percipiunt rem affectionis. Erant tunc multi spiritus circum me, et audivi ex quibusdam, quod audirent suavissimum illud melos, et quod id esset melos cujusdam amabilis affectionis, cujus rem nescirent; quare divinabant varia, sed incassum; divinabant quod Cantio illa exprimeret affectionem sponsi et sponsae cum pangunt; quidam quod affectionem sponsi et sponsae cum intrant ad nuptias; et quidam quod primitivum amorem mariti et uxoris.
[2] At tunc in medio illorum apparuit Angelus e Coelo, et ille dixit, quod canerent Amorem sexus castum; at circumstantes quaerebant, quid Amor sexus castus; et dixit Angelus, quod sit amor viri ad virginem aut ad uxorem pulchram forma et decoram moribus, immunis ab omni idea lasciviae, et vicissim; his dictis Angelus evanuit. Perseverabat cantus, et tunc quia sciebant rem affectionis quam exprimebat, audiebant illum cum multa varietate, quisque secundum statum sui amoris; illi qui caste spectabant foeminas, audiebant Cantum illum ut symphonicum et suavem; illi autem qui incaste spectabant foeminas, audiebant illum sicut disharmonicum et maestum; et illi qui fastidiose spectabant foeminas, audiebant illum sicut discordem et raucum.
[3] At subito tunc Planum, super quo stabant, mutabatur in Theatrum, et audiebatur vox, "Ventilate hunc Amorem;" ac subito aderant spiritus ex variis Societatibus, et in medio illorum aliqui Angeli in albo; et hi tunc loquuti dicebant; "nos in Mundo hoc spirituali inquisivimus in omnes species amoris, non modo in amorem viri erga virum, ac foeminae erga foeminam; ac in amorem reciprocum mariti et uxoris; sed etiam in amorem viri erga foeminas, et foeminae erga viros; et datum est nobis pertransire Societates, et explorare, et nondum invenimus communem amorem sexus castum, nisi quam apud illos, qui ex amore vere conjugiali in potentia jugi sunt, et hi sunt 1in supremis Coelis: et quoque datum est percipere influxum hujus amoris in affectiones cordium nostrorum, et persensimus illum suavitate excedentem omnem alium amorem, praeter amorem duorum conjugum, quorum corda unum sunt: sed petimus ut ventiletis hunc amorem, quia coram vobis novus est et ignotus; et quia est ipsa amaenitas, a nobis in Coelo vocatur coelestis suavitas."
[4] Cum itaque ventilarent, primum loquuti sunt illi, qui non potuerunt cogitare castitatem de Conjugiis, et aiebant; "Quis dum videt Virginem aut Uxorem pulchram et amabilem, ita potest castigare et purificare ideas cogitationis suae a concupiscentia, ut amet pulchritudinem, et tamen prorsus non velit, si licet, illam libare; quis potest vertere concupiscentiam cuivis viro innatam in tale castum, ita in non se, et usque amare; num amor sexus, dum ab oculis intrat in cogitationes, potest subsistere in facie foeminae; numne descendit momento in pectus, et ultra; angeli loquuti sunt vana, quod ille amor detur castus, et tamen quod omnium suavissimus sit, et quod unice dabilis sit apud Maritos qui in amore vere conjugiali et inde in praepollente potentia cum uxoribus suis sunt; num hi prae aliis, dum vident pulchras, possunt ideas cogitationis suae tenere in alto, et sicut suspendere, ne descendant et pergant ad id quod facit amorem illum."
[5] Post hos loquuti sunt qui et in frigore et in calore erant, in frigore ad suas uxores, et in calore ad sexum, et dicebant, "quid Amor sexus castus; estne amor sexus contradictio cum adjicitur castitas; quid contradictio in adjecto nisi res cui aufertur sua praedicatio, quae non est aliquid; quomodo amor sexus castus potest esse omnium amorum suavissimus, cum castitas deprivat illum suavitate sua; nostis omnes ubi residet suavitas illius amoris; cum itaque idea conjunctiva cum hoc exulat, ubi et unde tunc suavitas." Tunc exceperunt aliqui, et dixerunt; "nos fuimus cum pulcherrimis, et non cupivimus, quare nos scimus quid amor sexus castus;" at consocii, qui noverunt lascivias illorum, respondebant, "vos tunc in statu fastidii sexus ex non potentia fuistis, et hoc non est amor Sexus castus, sed est ultimum amoris incasti."
[6] His auditis Angeli indignati rogaverunt, ut illi qui ad dextram seu ad meridiem stabant, loquerentur; et hi dixerunt, "est amor viri et viri, tum foeminae et foeminae, et est amor viri ad foeminam, et amor foeminae ad virum; et haec tria paria amorum inter se prorsus differunt; amor viri et viri est sicut amor intellectus et intellectus, vir enim creatus est, et inde nascitur, ut fiat intellectus; amor foeminae et foeminae est sicut amor affectionis et affectionis intellectus virorum, foemina enim creata est et nascitur ut fiat amor intellectus viri: hi amores, nempe viri et viri, ac foeminae et foeminae, non intrant penitus in pectora, sed foris stant, et se modo tangunt, ita non interius conjungunt duos; quare etiam duo viri ratiociniis et ratiociniis inter se pugillant sicut duo athletae; ac duae foeminae quandoque concupiscentiis et concupiscentiis inter se sicut duo ludiones dimicantes pugnis.
[7] At amor viri et foeminae est amor intellectus et ejus affectionis, et hic intrat penitus et conjungit; et conjunctio illa est ille amor; at conjunctio mentium et non simul corporum, seu nisus ad illam conjunctionem solam, est amor spiritualis, et inde amor castus; et hic amor solum datur apud illos, qui in amore vere conjugiali sunt, et inde in eminente potentia, quia hi propter castitatem non admittunt influxum amoris e corpore alius foeminae, quam ex suae uxoris; et quia in supereminente potentia sunt, non possunt aliter quam amare sexum, et simul aversari incastum; inde est illis amor sexus castus, qui in se spectatus est amicitia interior spiritualis, quae suavitatem suam ducit ex eminente potentia, sed casta; potentia illis eminens est ex totali abdicatione scortationis; et quia sola uxor amatur, est casta: nunc, quia ille amor apud illos non participat ex carne sed modo ex spiritu, est castus, et quia pulchritudo foeminae ex insita inclinatione simul intrat in mentem, est suavis."
[8] His auditis multi ex adstantibus ponebant manus ad suas aures, dicentes, "illa dicta laedunt aures nostras, et illa quae loquuti estis sunt in nobis nauci;" erant incasti: et tunc iterum auditus est cantus ille e Coelo, et nunc priori suavior; sed hic coram incastis illis crepuit ita discors, ut propter stridorem discordiae ejicerent se ex Theatro et aufugerent, remanentibus paucis, qui ex sapientia castitatem conjugialem amabant.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: sunr