ious stone of a
sapphire and lazure color. And the angel said to me, "Their houses are
of stone, because stones signify natural truths, and precious stones
spiritual truths; and all those who lived in the silver age had
intelligence grounded in spiritual truths, and thence in natural truths:
silver also has a similar signification." In taking a view of the city,
we saw here and there consorts in pairs: and as they were husbands and
wives, we expected that some of them would invite us to their houses;
and while we were in this expectation, as we were passing by, we were
invited by two into their house, and we ascended the steps and entered;
and the angel, taking upon him the part of speaker, explained to them
the occasion of our coming to this heaven; informing them that it was
for the sake of instruction concerning marriages among the ancients, "of
whom," says he, "you in this heaven are a part." They said, "We were
from a people in Asia; and the chief pursuit of our age was the truths
whereby we had intelligence. This was the occupation of our souls and
minds; but our bodily senses were engaged in representations of truths
in form; and the science of correspondences conjoined the sensual things
of our bodies with the perceptions of our minds, and procured us
intelligence." On hearing this, the angel asked them to give some
account of their marriages: and the husband said, "There is a
correspondence between spiritual marriage, which is that of truth with
good, and natural marriage, which is that of a man with one wife; and as
we have studied correspondences, we have seen that the church, with its
truths and goods, cannot at all exist but with those who live in love
truly conjugial with one wife: for the marriage of good and truth
constitutes the church with man: therefore all we in this heaven say,
that the husband is truth, and the wife the good thereof; and that good
cannot love any truth but its own, neither can truth in return love any
good but its own: if any other were loved, internal marriage, which
constitutes the church, would perish, and there would remain only
external marriage, to which idolatry, and not the church, corresponds;
therefore marriage with one wife we call sacrimony; but if it should
have place with more than one among us, we should call it sacrilege." As
he said this, we were introduced into an ante-chamber, where there were
several devices on the walls, and little images as it were of molten
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