The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love: To Which is Added The Pleasures of Insanity Pertaining To Scortatory LoveSwedenborg, Emanuel
Religion
The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love: To Which is Added The Pleasures of Insanity Pertaining To Scortatory Love
Swedenborg, Emanuel
Marriage -- Religious aspects -- New Jerusalem Church; New Jerusalem Church -- Doctrines; Sexual ethics
first place, What is meant by the third proceeding divine essential,
which is called use?" The angels replied, "Love and wisdom, without use,
are only abstract ideas of thought; which also after some continuance in
the mind pass away like the winds; but in use they are collected
together, and therein become one principle, which is called real. Love
cannot rest unless it is as work; for love is the essential active
principle of life; neither can wisdom exist and subsist unless when it
is at work from and with love; and to work is use; therefore we define
use to be the doing good from love by wisdom; use being essential good.
As these three essentials, love, wisdom, and use, flow into the souls of
men, it may appear from what ground it is said, that all good is from
God; for every thing done from love by wisdom, is called good; and use
also is something done. What is love without wisdom but a mere
infatuation? and what is love with wisdom without use, but a puff of the
mind? Whereas love and wisdom with use not only constitute man (_homo_),
but also are man; yea, what possibly you will be surprised at, they
propagate man; for in the seed of a man (_vir_) is his soul in a perfect
human form, covered with substances from the purest principles of
nature; whereof a body is formed in the womb of the mother. This is the
supreme and ultimate use of the divine love by the divine wisdom."
Finally the angels said, "We will hence come to this conclusion, that
all fructification, propagation, and prolification, is originally
derived from the influx of love, wisdom, and use from the Lord, from an
immediate influx into the souls of men, from a mediate influx into the
souls of animals, and from an influx still more mediate into the inmost
principles of vegetables; and all these effects are wrought in ultimates
from first principles. That fructifications, propagations, and
prolifications, are continuations of creation, is evident; for creation
cannot be from any other source, than from divine love by divine wisdom
in divine use; wherefore all things in the universe are procreated and
formed from use, in use, and for use." Afterwards those who were seated
on the grassy couches, asked the angels "Whence are the innumerable and
ineffable delights of conjugial love?" The angels replied, "They are
from the uses of love and wisdom, as may be plain from this
consideration, that so far as any one loves to grow wise, for the sake
of genuine use, so far he is in the vein and potency of conjugial love;
and so far as he is in these two, so far he is in the delights thereof.
Use effects this; because love and wisdom are delighted with each other,
and as it were sport together like little children; and as they grow up,
they enter into genial conjunction, which is effected by a kind of
betrothing, nuptial solemnity, marriage, and propagation, and this with
continual variety to eternity. These operations take place between love
and wisdom inwardly in use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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