Page:A Compendium of the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg.djvu/554

458 the flesh, although distinct. The reason of this phenomenon, rare on earth, is that the unition of their souls and minds is felt in the flesh; because the soul forms not only the inmosts of the head, but also the inmosts of the body; likewise the mind, which is intermediate between the soul and the body; this too although it appears to be in the head is yet actually in the whole body also. And they said that it is from this cause that the actions which the soul and mind intend flow instantly from the body; and that it is from this that they themselves, since the rejection of the body in the former world, are perfect men. Now as the soul and mind closely adjoin themselves to the flesh of the body, in order that they may operate and produce their effects, it follows that the unition of the soul and mind with the consort is felt, even in the body, as one flesh. (C. L. n. 178.)

It cannot be discerned in the natural world that marriages induce another form upon souls and minds, because there souls and minds are encompassed with a material body, and the mind rarely shines through this; and the men of this age also, more than the ancients, learn from infancy to put expressions on their faces by which they profoundly conceal the affections of the mind. This is the reason why the difference in the forms of minds before marriage and after marriage are not distinguished. That nevertheless the forms of souls and minds after marriage are different from what they were before it, manifestly appears from the same in the spiritual world. For then they are spirits and angels; who are nothing else than minds and souls in human form divested of their coverings, which were composed of the elements in waters and earths, and of exhalations therefrom diffused in the air,—which being cast off, the forms of the minds appear, as they had inwardly been in their bodies; and it is then clearly seen that with those who live in marriage and those who do not they are different. In general, with the married there is an inner beauty of the countenance; for the man takes from the wife the beautiful ruddiness of her love, and the wife from the man the brilliant lustre of his wisdom. For there the two consorts as to souls are united; and there appears besides a human fulness in each. This is in heaven; for there are no marriages elsewhere [in the spiritual world], but beneath the heavens are only nuptial bonds which are made and broken. (C. L. n. 192.)