862. About the callus, or the bodily and worldly elements which form the callus
It is remarkable that that heap which is built up of bodily and worldly elements [see 856] is pictured as a hard callus, or as an outer crust. In some, this callus appears thicker and harder; in some it does not appear, but it is nevertheless there. That callus is a heap of fallacies of the senses, consequently of falsities glued together by the loves of self and of the world, which must indeed be softened, but not broken, for it has its roots from the inward parts, and this callosity from the more inward.
When the removal of this callus is being pictured, such as it appears by a spiritual display in the realm of spirits, then an underlying medullary substance is seen, almost such as exists in a person on earth, in whom the callous substance is depicted by bony skull, and the inward parts by medullary brain tissue.
862. CONCERNING THE CALLUS OR THE CORPOREAL AND WORLDLY THINGS WHICH FORM IT
It is surprising that a mass which is composed of corporeal and worldly things should be represented as a hard callus, or as an external crust - a callus which in some cases appears quite gross and hard, while in others it is not visible, though it is nevertheless present. This callus is a mass of the fallacies of the senses, consequently of falsities, stuck together by the loves of self and of the world. It must indeed be softened, but not broken, for it has its roots from things interior, and this latter callosity from things still more interior. When this callus is represented as being taken away, as it appears to be in the sphere of spirits by a spiritual representation, there is a medullary body beneath which is then seen, almost as in man in whom the callus is represented by the bony skull, and the interiors by the medullary brain.
862. De callo, seu corporeis 1
et mundanis, quae callum formant
Mirum est, quod sicut callus durus, seu sicut crusta externa repraesentetur ea congeries, quae a corporeis mundanis conflata sit, qui callus in quibusdam crassior et durior apparet, in quibusdam non apparet, sed usque adest hic callus est congeries fallaciarum sensuum, proinde falsitatum conglutinatarum ab amoribus sui et mundi, qui callus vel leniendus est, sed non frangendus, nam radicatus est ab interioribus, et haec callositas ab intimioribus; callus cum repraesentatur auferri, quod apparet sic per repraesentationem spiritualem in sphaera spirituum, tunc corpus medullosum subest et apparet, paene sicut in homine, in quo callus repraesentatur per cranium osseum, et interiora per medullosum cerebrum.
Footnotes:
1. imperfectum in the Manuscript