h they spring to God?
Love of heaven, or the Wisdom of heaven, is made manifest to them by a
circle of light which surrounds them, and is visible to the Elect.
Their innocence, of which that of children is a symbol, possesses,
nevertheless, a knowledge which children have not; they are both
innocent and learned. 'And,' says Swedenborg, 'the innocence of Heaven
makes such an impression upon the soul that those whom it affects keep
a rapturous memory of it which lasts them all their lives, as I myself
have experienced. It is perhaps sufficient,' he goes on, 'to have only a
minimum perception of it to be forever changed, to long to enter Heaven
and the sphere of Hope.'

"His doctrine of Marriage can be reduced to the following words: 'The
Lord has taken the beauty and the grace of the life of man and bestowed
them upon woman. When man is not reunited to this beauty and this grace
of his life, he is harsh, sad, and sullen; when he is reunited to them
he is joyful and complete.' The Angels are ever at the perfect point
of beauty. Marriages are celebrated by wondrous ceremonies. In these
unions, which produce no children, man contributes the _understanding_,
woman the _will_; they become one being, one Flesh here below, and pass
to heaven clothed in the celestial form. On this earth, the natural
attraction of the sexes towards enjoyment is an Effect which allures,
fatigues and disgusts; but in the form celestial the pair, now _one_ in
Spirit find within theirself a ceaseless source of joy. Swedenborg was
led to see these nuptials of the Spirits, which in the words of Saint
Luke (xx. 35) are neither marrying nor giving in marriage, and which
inspire none but spiritual pleasures. An Angel offered to make him
witness of such a marriage and bore him thither on his wings (the wings
are a symbol and not a reality). The Angel clothed him in a wedding
garment and when Swedenborg, finding himself thus robed in light, asked
why, the answer was: 'For these events, our garments are illuminated;
they shine; they are made nuptial.' ('Conjugial Love,' 19, 20, 21.) Then
he saw the two Angels, one coming from the South, the other from the
East; the Angel of the South was in a chariot drawn by two white horses,
with reins of the color and brilliance of the dawn; but lo, when they
were near him in the sky, chariot and horses vanished. The Angel of the
East, clothed in crimson, and the Angel of the South, in purple, drew
together, like breaths,