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
We stood in the midst of them, and said, "You believe that you
possess all the wealth of the kingdom;" they replied, "We do possess
it." We then asked, "Which of you?" they said, "Every one;" and we
asked, "How every one? there are many of you:" they said, "Every one of
us knows that all which another has is his own. No one is allowed to
think, and still less to say, 'Mine are not thine;' but every one may
think and say, 'Thine are mine.'" The coin on the tables appeared, even
to us, to be pure gold; but when we let in light from the east, we saw
that they were little grains of gold, which they had magnified to such a
degree by a union of their common phantasy. They said, that every one
that enters ought to bring with him some gold, which they cut into small
pieces, and these again into little grains, and by the unanimous force
of their phantasy they increase them into larger coin. We then said,
"Were you not born men of reason; whence then have you this visionary
infatuation?" they said, "We know that it is an imaginary vanity; but as
it delights the interiors of our minds, we enter here and are delighted
as with the possession of all things: we continue in this place,
however, only a few hours, at the end of which we depart; and as often
as we do so we again become of sound mind; yet still our visionary
delight alternately succeeds and occasions our alternate entrance into
and departure from these habitations: thus we are alternately wise and
foolish; we also know that a hard lot awaits those who by cunning rob
others of their goods." We inquired, "What lot?" they said, "They are
swallowed up and are thrust naked into some infernal prison, where they
are kept to hard labor for clothes and food, and afterwards for some
pieces of coin of trifling value, which they collect, and in which they
place the joy of their hearts; but if they do any harm to their
companions, they are fined a part of their coin."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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