194. IX. THIS FORMATION IS EFFECTED ON THE PART OF THE WIFE BY SECRET MEANS; AND THIS IS MEANT BY THE WOMAN'S BEING CREATED WHILE THE MAN SLEPT. It is written in the book of Genesis, that Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, so that he slept; and that then he took one of his ribs, and builded it into a woman: chap. ii. 21, 22. That by the man's sleep and sleeping is signified his entire ignorance that the wife is formed and as it were created from him, appears from what was shewn in the preceding chapter, and also from the innate prudence and circumspection of wives, not to divulge anything concerning their love, or their assumption of the affections of the man's life, and thereby of the transfer of his wisdom into themselves. That this is effected on the part of the wife without the husband's knowledge, and while he is as it were sleeping, thus by secret means, is evident from what was explained above, n. 166-168; where also it is clearly shewn, that the prudence with which women are influenced herein, was implanted in them from creation, and consequently from their birth, for reasons of necessity, so that conjugial love, friendship, and confidence, and thereby the blessedness of dwelling together and a happy life, may be secured: wherefore for the right accomplishing of this, the man is enjoined to _leave his father and mother and to cleave to his wife_, Gen. ii. 24; Matt. xix. 4, 5. The father and mother, whom the man is to leave, in a spiritual sense signify his _proprium_ of will and _proprium_ of understanding; and the _proprium_ of a man's (_homo_) will is to love himself, and the _proprium_ of his understanding is to love his own wisdom; and to cleave to his wife signifies to devote himself to the love of his wife. Those two _propriums_ are deadly evils to man, if they remain with him, and the love of those two _propriums_ is changed into conjugial love, so far as a man cleaves to his wife, that is, so far as he receives her love; see above, n. 193, and elsewhere. To sleep signifies to be in ignorance and unconcern; a father and a mother signify the two _propriums_ of a man (_homo_), the one of the will and the other of the understanding; and to cleave to, signifies to devote one's self to the love of any one, as might be abundantly confirmed from passages in other parts of the Word; but this would be foreign to our present subject.