75、记事一：
一日，我正默想婚姻之爱，心里充满一种渴望，想知道在人类的黄金时代这爱是怎样的状况，随后的白银时代、青铜时代、铁器时代又是什么状态。我知道那些时代的善人如今都在天堂，就向主祷告，求祂许我与他们交流，从他们受教。立时有一位天使出现在我身旁，说：“我奉主差遣，来作你的向导和同伴。首先，我会为你引见第一个时代，也就是黄金时代的人。”“要见他们可不容易，”天使接着说，“得穿过一片幽暗的森林。若非主派天使作向导，没人能穿越。
尔时，我正在灵里，就整装待发。我们的目标在东方。沿途我看到一座高山，直插云霄。穿过一片大沙漠，就到了天使所说的森林。密密麻麻的参天古木使森林显得格外幽暗。林中穿插着许多羊肠小道。天使说，如此繁多的蜿蜒小道足以让人迷失方向，除非主开他的眼，使他看见葡萄藤缠绕的橄榄树。因为道路是以橄榄树为记。看不见这些橄榄树，行人就会误入周围的地狱区。这样做的目的是把守道路，因为只有远古时代的人住在那高山上。
进入森林以后，我们的眼睛被打开了，就见到处是一棵棵葡萄藤缠绕的橄榄树，藤上挂着一串串翠绿的葡萄。橄榄树被排列为一连串的圆形，我们就按照映入眼帘的橄榄树穿来绕去。最后我们看见一片高耸的香柏木，有几只鹰落在枝头上。一看到它们，天使说：“现在我们就在这大山上，离山峰不远了。”继续前行，越过树林是一个圆形的平原，一些公羊羔和母羊羔正在吃草。这些羊羔乃是山上人天真和平的象征。穿过平原，忽然看到左右两边有成千上万的帐篷，一座连着一座，一眼望不到头。天使说：“我们现在一个营地。看哪，主耶和华的军队！他们就是如此称呼自己和居所的。上古时期的人在世时是住帐篷，所以他们现在还是住帐篷。不过，我们还是折道前往智者云集的南方，去会晤可以交流的人。”
往前走，我远远看到有三个男孩和三个女孩坐在一座帐篷的门口。走近时，却发现他们是中等身材的成年人。天使说：“这座山的居民从远处看就像小孩子，因为他们有一颗童真心，天真无邪就显为小孩子。”看到我们，几位男子跑过来，问道：“你们从哪来？怎样到这里的？你们的面孔和我们的不同。”天使答复我们是如何穿越森林，又是以何因缘前来拜访的。听了我们的解释，三位男子当中的一位邀请我们到他家作客。该男子身穿紫蓝色外袍，内衬白羊毛上衣。他妻子身穿紫红色外袍，内衬镶边的细麻布上衣。
由于我渴望了解上古人类的婚姻，就轮流注视丈夫和妻子，发觉他们脸上显示的仿佛是一个灵魂。于是我说：“你们俩为一。”男子回答说：“我们是一。她的生命在我里面，我的生命在她里面。我们是两个身体，一个灵魂。我们的结合好比胸腔内心与肺的结合。她是我的心，我是她的肺。在这里，我们以心表示爱，以肺表示智慧。所以她是我智慧的爱，我是她爱的智慧。她的爱在外包裹我的智慧，我的智慧在内渗入她的爱。所以正如你说，我们脸上显出合一的灵魂。”
我就询问：“结合若此，那你在妻子之外还能注视别的女人吗？”他回答说：“可以。不过由于妻子已经与我灵魂合一，所以我们是一起注视，如此就不会产生任何欲望。因为当我看着别人的妻子，乃是透过我唯一所爱的妻子在看。妻子能直觉我一切的倾向，如同中间体，能引导我的思想，去除所有不合宜的意念，使我对一切不洁之事感觉冷淡和恐惧。所以我们不可能色迷迷地注视别人的妻子，正如我们不可能从幽暗的地狱注视天堂的光。因此，我们这里没有任何诱惑人的念头，更没有这方面的言词。”该男子不能说淫乱一词，因为天堂的圣洁阻止了他。天使向导对我说：“听哪，这个天堂的天使说的是智慧的言语，因为他们从因上说话。”
此后，我环顾四周，看到他们的帐篷仿佛涂了一层金，就问：“这金色从何而来？”男子回答说：“当我们谈论婚姻之爱时，就有闪烁的光如同黄金照耀我们的帐篷。因为谈论婚姻之爱时，太阳所发的炽热（这热实质上是爱），就裸露开来，给光着上自己的色彩（这光实质上是智慧）。这光就显为金黄色。以此缘故，从根源上说，婚姻之爱就是智慧与爱的游戏。因为男人生来是要变得智慧，女人生来是要成为对男人智慧的爱。由此而有婚姻之爱的乐趣，再有我们和妻子的乐趣。千百年来，根据我们对主耶和华的敬拜，我们清楚地看到，婚姻之爱的乐趣，就其丰富程度和活力而言，是显著无比的。这属天的结合，或说属天的婚姻，即爱与智慧的结合和婚姻，从主耶和华涌流而来。”
男子说完这话，我看到一座小山的帐篷当中有大光照耀，就问：“哪来的光？”“是从我们敬拜的圣所发出来的。”男子回答说。我问是否可以前往圣所。他说可以。我就前往，看到一个会幕，内外样式和以色列民在旷野所建造的完全一致，正是神在西奈山上指示摩西的样式（出埃及记25：40;26：30）。我问：“圣所内藏有何物，以致发出如此强烈的光？”他说：“里面有一块石版，上面刻着‘耶和华与诸天之约’。”他就说了这么多。
准备离开时，我又问道：“你们在世之时，有没有人娶多个妻子？”他说他一个也不知道：“因为我们不能有多个的念头。有过这种想法的人曾告诉我们，念头一起，那种属天的快乐立刻从灵魂最深处退至身体末端，直到趾甲，同时人的各种美德也消退了。一被察觉，他们就从我们这里被打发走了。”说完这话，男子跑回自己的帐篷，回来时手里拿着一只石榴，里面有大量金种子。他把石榴给我，我就带回，留作我们访问黄金时代的纪念。最后我们互道平安，起身回家了。
75、第一点：
在我冥思婚姻之爱时，我在想金记、银纪、铜纪和铁纪时它是什么样呢？因为我知道那时的人现在都生活在天国中，我求主允许我去探索下。
突然间有个天使站在我面前，他 说：“主派来带领你，先领你到最早的时代金纪去”，他又说：“去那的路要经过一个繁密的森林，没有主派来的向导是不可能的。”
我当时处于精神的状态中，所以我准备好了。我们面向东方，路上我见到一座山，其高度超过了云层。
我们走过沙漠，进入到森林，那里正象天使说的那样树木极阴暗，但林中有好多小路。天使说那都是迷惑人的。天使说，除非主使得来者能见到橄榄和藤交织的路，否则人将走入迷途。天使说：“这就是所说的森林，目的是防止外来者，只有远古时代的人住在那里。”
我们进入森林后，我们的眼睛被打开，只见到处是橄榄和藤，上面挂着兰紫的葡萄，另外橄榄树是一圈一圈的排列着的，我们绕着走直到来到一片香柏丛前，在香柏树上有些天使。
看到他们后，天使说：“我们现在在山上，离最高峰不远了。”
我们继续走，在香柏后是一片圆形的地方。那里有羊在吃草。这象征着住在那里的人的平和和纯真的境界。我们走过那片地，突然间看到帐篷，一个接一个，有上千个，一眼望不见尽头。
天使说：“我们到他们的聚居地了，他们称自己及他们的住地是耶和华的军队。因为远古时代的人们住在帐篷中，他们现在也住在帐篷中。天使说，我们朝南走，去与他们中的智者谈谈。”
路上我看到三个男孩和三个女孩坐在他们帐篷的入口处。走近后我才注意到他们是成年人。
天使说：“这里的人从远处看都象是孩子，因为他们处于纯真的状态中，童年时期才是纯真的。
见到我们后，男人们走过来问：“你们从哪里来？你们的面孔看上去与我们这的人不同。”
天使告诉他们我们怎样通过森林及来的目的。
听说后，一个男人请我们进入他的帐篷。这个男人身穿兰袍和一件极白的毛长衣。他妻子穿着紫裙子及结花的麻衬衫。因为我急于知道他们的婚姻情况，我环视了一下夫妻二人。从他们脸上可以见到他们灵魂上的统一。
所以我说：“你们俩是一个人。”
那个男的回答：“是的，她的生命在我的中，我的生命在也在她的中。我们有两个身体，但是只有一个灵魂，我们俩的统一就像是心脏和肺的统一一样。他是我的心脏，我是他的肺。在我们这里心脏指的是爱，肺指的是智慧。所以她是对我的智慧的爱，我是他爱中的智慧。她的爱在外在上有我的智慧，我的智慧在内在上存在于她的爱中。所以正象你说的，我们的面孔上呈现着灵魂上的统一。
我又问道：“若是这样的统一，那么你可以看其它的女人吗？”
男人答道：“可以，但是因为我妻子在我的灵魂之中，我们俩人一起看，一点色欲的念头都不存在。因为我看别人的妻子们时，我是通过我妻子的眼睛在看，我只与她相爱，因为她的我的妻子，她能体会到我所有的意图。她作为协调者引导我的思想，排除一切不协调的东西并且使我对一切不贞的事物都拒之在外。结果是我们俩都不能对别人的配偶产生不轨之念。就像是在地狱的黑暗之中看不到天堂的光一样。我们头脑中和语言中没有一丝色欲的体现。”他没有用色欲这个词，因为他所在的天国阻止这样的词。
我的天使向导对我说：“现在你知道了，天使的语言是智慧的语言。”
此后，我环视了一下，看到他们帐篷是由金子盖着的，我问这是为什么。
那个男人说，那是因为这里的光很强，看上去像是金子。“当我们谈论婚姻之爱时，来自于我们的爱的热量放出光，也就是智慧。爱所放出的光是金色的。这是因为婚姻之爱从其来源上讲是智慧和爱的相互作用。男人生来是智慧的一种形式，女人是对男人的智慧的爱的一种形式。由此而产生婚姻之爱中智慧与爱的相互作用，以及我们和妻子之间的相互作用。
千万年来，我们见到了婚姻之爱中的愉悦变得无比的美好和坚定，这都是因为我们信奉主耶和华。那种爱和智慧间的天国般的统一或者说天国般的婚姻就是信奉耶和华的结果。”
他说话的时候，我看见帐篷中间的一座山上放射出很强的光，于是我问它是从什么地方来的。
那个男人说：“那是从我们的圣殿来的。”
然后我问是否可以到那去，他说可以。我们走过去，只见有一个圣殿与以色列人在荒野里的一样。它的样子就是摩西在西奈山上看到的（见《出埃及记》25:40、26:30）。
他说：“圣殿里有一个桌子，上面写着“耶和华和天堂之契”，他就说了这些。
这时候，我们已经是快要离开了。我又问：“你们生活在世间时，有没有人同不同的女人一起生活过？”
他回答说没有。“我们从没想过有多个妻子。”“有这种想法的人告诉我们这种想法使得他们所拥有天国的氛围顿时消退了，并且损害了他们做人的美德，当有这种想法时，这个人就被赶出我们的国度了。”
说完这些后，那个男人回到帐篷里取来一个带着金种子的石榴。他把它送给了我，我带回到做为拜访过金纪的纪念。
说了再见后，我们回家了。
75. The first experience.
I was once meditating about conjugial love, when my mind was seized with a desire to know what this love had been like in the case of those who lived in the Golden Age, and also in the following ages, which were named after silver, copper and iron. Knowing that all who lived good lives in those ages are in the heavens, I prayed to the Lord to allow me to talk with them and be taught by them.
At once I found an angel beside me, who said: 'I have been sent by the Lord to be your guide and companion. First I shall guide and accompany you to those who lived in the first era or age, known as golden. The route to them,' he added, 'is steep, leading through a dark forest, which no one can penetrate unless supplied with a guide by the Lord.'
[2] I was in the spirit, so I prepared myself for travelling, and we set our faces towards the east. As we went I saw a mountain, the top of which was higher than the level of the clouds. We crossed a great desert and reached a forest thickly filled with trees of various kinds, so dense they made it dark, as the angel had said beforehand. But the forest was cut by numerous narrow paths, and the angel told me that all of these were a maze to lead people astray, and unless the Lord opened his eyes to see the olive-trees wreathed in grape-vines, and so to follow the path from one olive to the next, a traveller would stray into Tartarus, which is the region surrounding this at the sides. The forest is like this to guard the approach. For none but the primeval people live on this mountain.
[3] After we entered the forest, our eyes were opened and we saw here and there olive-trees entwined with vines, from which hung bunches of dark blue grapes. The olives were arranged in continuous curves, so as we spied them we went round and round. At length we saw a group of tall cedars with some eagles on their branches. On seeing them the angel said; 'Now we are on the mountain not far from the summit.' So we went on and a little beyond the cedars came upon a circular plain, where lambs of both sexes were feeding. These were forms intended to picture the state of innocence and peace among the mountain-dwellers.
We went across this plain and saw tents upon tents to the number of many thousand extending as far as the eye could see before us and to the sides in all directions. 'Now,' said the angel, 'we are in the camp where is the Army of the Lord Jehovih 1- that is what they call themselves and where they live. These most ancient people lived, when they were in the world, in tents, so they continue to do so now. But let us turn aside to the south, where the wiser among them are, so that we can find someone to talk with.'
[4] As we went I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at the door of a tent. But as we came closer, they turned out to be like men and women of middling height. 'All the inhabitants of this mountain,' said the angel, 'look from a distance like children, because they are in a state of innocence, and childhood is how innocence appears.'
When these men saw us, they hurried up to us and said: 'Where do you come from, and how have you come here? Your faces are not those of the people of our mountain.'
The angel replied telling them how we had been given permission to come through the forest, and why we had come. On hearing this one of the three men invited us in and took us into his tent. The man was dressed in a cloak of blue colour and a tunic of pure white wool. His wife was dressed in a purple robe with underneath it a blouse of fine embroidered linen.
[5] Since I was thinking that I wanted to know about marriage among the most ancient people, I looked in turn from husband to wife and back again, and observed that their faces showed how they were almost of one soul. So I said: 'You two are one.' The man replied: 'We are one. Her life is in me and mine is in her, so we are two bodies, but one soul. The union between us is like that of the two cavities in the chest, called the heart and lungs. She is my heart and I am her lungs. But since by heart we understand here love and by lungs wisdom, she is the love of my wisdom, and I am the wisdom of her love. Her love therefore forms the outer covering of my wisdom and my wisdom is inwardly inside her love. As a result, as you said, the unity of our souls is to be seen in the look of our faces.
[6] Then I asked, 'If your union is such, are you able to look at any woman other than your own?' 'Yes,' he replied, 'I can, but because my wife is united with my soul, we two look together, and so not the slightest spark of lust can enter in. For when I look at other people's wives, I see them through my wife, whom alone I love. Since she is capable of perceiving all my feelings, as an intermediary she directs my thoughts, taking away anything discordant, and at the same time striking into me a feeling of coldness and horror at anything unchaste. It is therefore as impossible for us here to look lustfully on any of our companions' wives as it is to look upon the light of our heaven from the shades of Tartarus. So we do not either have any idea in our thinking, much less a word in our language, for the enticements of lustful love.' He could not use the word fornication, because the chastity of their heaven prevented it. My angel guide said: 'Now you can hear how the angels of this heaven speak, a language of wisdom, since it is derived from causes.'
[7] After this I looked around and saw that their tent was as if gilded. So I asked, 'Why is this?' He answered that it was 'the result of the flaming light, which glitters like gold, flooding and striking the curtains of our tent, while we are talking about conjugial love. For then the heat of our sun, which in its essence is love, bares itself and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its own, gold colour. This happens because conjugial love in origin is the play of wisdom and love. For man was born to be wisdom, woman to be the love of her man's wisdom. This is the source of the delights of that play in conjugial love, and thus between ourselves and our wives. We have witnessed here over thousands of years how these delights are surpassing and excellent in quantity, degree and strength in proportion to our worship of the Lord Jehovih, who is the source from which that heavenly union, the heavenly marriage of love and wisdom, flows in.'
[8] After this speech I saw a great light above a hill in the middle of the tents. 'What is that light coming from?' I asked. 'It is,' he said, 'from the sanctuary of our tent of worship.' I asked if one might approach it. 'Yes,' he said. So I went near and saw a tent which both within and without exactly matched the description of the tabernacle constructed in the desert for the Children of Israel, the plan of which was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40; 26:30). 'What,' I asked, 'is there in the sanctuary to give so much light?' 'There is a tablet, ' he answered, 'bearing the inscription "The Covenant between Jehovah 2and the heavens."' He said no more.
[9] As we were then preparing to leave, I asked: 'Did any of you, when you were in the world, live with more than one wife?' He answered that he knew of none. 'For,' he said, 'we could not think of several. Those who had thought so told us that the heavenly blessedness of their souls at once fled from the inmost to the outermost parts of the body, even to the finger-nails, and at the same time also their virility departed. When this was noticed, they were thrown out of our country.'
After saying this, the man hastened back to his tent and came back with a pomegranate containing a mass of golden seeds. He presented it to me, and I brought it away as a token that we had visited those who lived in the golden age. Then after wishing each other peace, we departed and returned home.
Footnotes:
1. Genesis 15:2; Isaiah 65:13.
2. Coronis 37, where this account is repeated, the form Jehovih appears here, and it is explained as their name for 'Jehovah in His Humanity'.
75. The first account:
When I was once meditating on conjugial love, my mind was seized with a desire to know what that love was like among the people who lived in the golden age, and afterwards what it was like among those who lived in the following ages which are named after silver, copper, and iron. And because I knew that all those people who lived well in those ages are now in heaven, I prayed to the Lord to be allowed to speak with them and be instructed.
Then suddenly an angel stood beside me, and he said, "I have been sent by the Lord to be your guide and companion. First I will guide and accompany you to the people who lived in the first age or period, which is called golden." He also added, "The way to them is difficult. It lies through a dark forest which no one can pass through without being given a guide by the Lord."
[2] I was in the spirit, and so I readied myself for the journey, and we turned our faces to the east. And as we went I saw a mountain, whose height extended beyond the level of the clouds.
We crossed a great desert, and we came to a forest thick with trees of various kinds and dark on account of their density, as the angel had predicted. However, the forest was intersected by many narrow paths, but the angel said they were all winding ways leading astray, and that, unless a traveler's eyes were opened by the Lord to see the olive trees covered with leafy vines and to make his way from olive tree to olive tree, he would wander off into infernal regions which surrounded the forest on each side. "This is what this forest is like," the angel said, "in order to guard the approach, for none but the earliest people dwell on that mountain."
[3] After we entered the forest, our eyes were opened, and here and there we saw olive trees entwined with vines, which had bunches of purplish-blue grapes hanging from them. Moreover, the olive trees were arranged in a continuous series of circles. Consequently we went around and around as each one came to view, until finally we saw a grove of tall cedars, with some eagles on their branches.
Seeing them the angel said, "We are now on the mountain, not far from its summit."
We went on, and lo, beyond the grove, there was a circular field, where male and female lambs were grazing, which were forms representative of the state of innocence and peace of the people who dwelt on the mountain. We crossed this field, and suddenly tents appeared - tent after tent - reaching many thousands in number, in front and on each side, as far as the eye could see.
And the angel said, "We are now in an encampment. Behold the army of the Lord Jehovih! That is what they call themselves and their dwellings. When these most ancient people lived in the world, they dwelled in tents. Therefore they also live in tents now. But let us turn our way southward - where the wiser ones among them are - to find someone to talk with."
[4] As we went, I saw in the distance three boys and three girls sitting at the entrance of one of the tents. But when we drew near, they looked like men and women of average height.
And the angel said, "All the inhabitants of this mountain appear at a distance like little children, because they are in a state of innocence, and early childhood is the way innocence appears."
Seeing us, the men hurried over to us and said, "Where are you from, and how did you get here? Your faces are different from the faces of our mountain."
But the angel answered and told them how we were able to pass through the forest and the reason for our coming.
Hearing this, one of the three men invited us into his tent and led us inside. The man was dressed in a blue-colored robe and a tunic of very white wool. And his wife was dressed in a purple dress, with a blouse underneath of embroidered fine linen.
[5] Then because I had in my thought the desire to learn about the marriages of the most ancient peoples, I looked by turns at the husband and wife, and I observed a seeming unity of their souls in their faces.
So I said, "You two are one."
The man replied, "We are. Her life is in me, and my life is in her. We have two bodies, but one soul. The union between us is like the union of the two tabernacles in the breast which are called the heart and the lungs. She is my heart and I am her lungs. But since when we say heart here we mean love, and when we say lungs we mean wisdom, therefore she is the love of my wisdom, and I am the wisdom of her love. Therefore her love outwardly clothes my wisdom, and my wisdom is inwardly within her love. Consequently, as you have said, the unity of our souls appears in our faces."
[6] Then I asked, "If such is the union between you, are you able to look upon any other woman than your own?"
He replied, "I can, but because my wife is united to my soul, the two of us look together, and then not a trace of lust can enter. For when I look at other men's wives, I look at them through the eyes of my wife, who is the only one I am in love with. And because she, as my wife, can perceive all my inclinations, she acts as an intermediary and directs my thoughts, taking away anything discordant and at the same time inspiring a coldness and horror towards anything unchaste. As a result it is impossible for us here to regard any of our companions' wives with lust - as impossible as it would be to look at the light of our heaven from a state of infernal darkness. We have no mental concept among us, therefore, and not even any word in our speech for the temptations of libidinous love." He could not say free love, because the chastity of their heaven resisted it.
My angel guide then said to me, "You hear, now, the speech of the angels of this heaven, that it is a speech of wisdom, because they speak in terms of causes."
[7] After this I looked around, and seeing that their tent appeared covered with gold, I asked why this was.
The man replied that it was due to the flaming light, which glittered like gold. "It shines and strikes the curtains of our tent," he said, "whenever we are engaged in conversation on the subject of conjugial love. For the heat from our sun, which in its essence is love, then bares itself and tints the light, which in its essence is wisdom. It tints it with its own color, which is golden. This occurs because conjugial love in its origin is the interplay of wisdom and love, for man was born to be a form of wisdom, and woman to be a form of love for the wisdom in a man. From this come the delights of that interplay in conjugial love, and therefore between us and our wives.
"We here have seen, for thousands of years, that those delights become more excellent and exalted in abundance, degree and strength, according to the worship of the Lord Jehovih among us. That heavenly union or that heavenly marriage which exists between love and wisdom infuses itself as a result of that worship."
[8] When he said this, I saw a great light on a hill at the center amid the tents, and I asked where that light was coming from.
The man said, "It is coming from the sanctuary of our tabernacle of worship."
I then inquired whether we might go there, and he said we could. So I went, and I saw a tabernacle which, outside and in, exactly fit the description of the tabernacle which was built for the children of Israel in the wilderness, whose form was shown to Moses on top of Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40, 26:30). And I asked what there was inside the sanctuary that was giving off so much light.
He answered, "There is a tablet, which bears the inscription, 'The Covenant Between Jehovah and Heaven.'" That was all he said.
[9] Then, because by that time we were getting ready to leave, I asked, "When you lived in the natural world, did any of you live with more than one wife?"
He replied that he did not know one person who did. "For we could not think of having more," he said. "Those who had had such thoughts told us that their states of heavenly bliss instantly receded from the inmost depths of their souls to the outmost parts of their bodies, even into their fingernails, and along with them the virtues of manhood. When others perceived this, they were exiled from our lands."
Having said this, the man hurried to his tent and returned with a pomegranate containing a number of seeds made of gold. He gave it to me and I took it away with me, as a memento to me that we had been with people who had lived in the golden age.
So then, after saying farewell, we departed and returned home.
75. The first story: Once when I was thinking about married love I had a yearning to know what that love was like for those who had lived in the Golden Age and what it was like later in the following ages named from silver, copper, and iron. I knew that everyone who lived rightly in these ages is in heaven, so I prayed the Lord to let me talk with them and be informed.
And there beside me stood an angel! And he said, "The Lord sent me to guide you and keep you company, and first I'm going to guide and accompany you to those who lived in the first age or era, called Golden." He said, "The way there is difficult. It goes through a dark woods that no one can get through unless the Lord gives him a guide."
It was a spiritual experience. I got ready for the road, and we turned toward the east. And going along, I saw a mountain whose altitude reached above the clouds. We crossed a great desert and entered the forest the angel had mentioned, full of many different kinds of trees and so dense that it was dark. But many narrow paths ran through the forest, and the angel said they were all winding in mazes, and a traveler on them would be led astray into the underworld, which was around the edges of the forest, unless the Lord opened his eyes to see olive trees with grape vines twined around them and guide his steps from tree to tree.
The forest is like this in order to guard the approach, for only the very first people live on the mountain.
After we entered the woods our vision cleared, and here and there we saw the olive trees entwined with grape vines. Clusters of dark blue grapes hung from them. The olive trees were arranged in continuous spirals, so that we went round and round, following them as they appeared.
At last we saw a grove of tall cedars with some eagles on their branches. When the angel saw them he said, "Now we are on the mountain, not far from its summit."
We went on, and there beyond the grove was a rolling meadow where rams and ewes were grazing. They were symbolic of the mountain people's innocence and peace. We crossed this meadow, and what did we see but tent after tent, and thousands more before us and on both sides as far as the eye could see.
The angel said, "Now we are in the camp where the Army of the Lord Jehovah lives. This is what they call themselves and their dwellings. These very ancient people lived in tents while in the world, so they live in them now, too. But let's head off to the south, where the wiser of them are, to meet someone to visit with."
As we went I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at the door of one of the tents. But when we came closer they turned out to be men and women of medium height.
"All the inhabitants of this mountain look like little children from a distance," the angel said, "because they are in a state of innocence, and childhood is what innocence looks like."
The men ran up to us when they saw us and said, "Where are you from? And how did you get here? Your faces aren't faces from our mountain!"
But the angel answered and told all about our coming through the woods and the reason for our visit. When he heard that, one of the three men invited us into his tent and brought us in. The man wore a blue cloak and a tunic of white wool, and his wife wore a purple gown and an embroidered linen blouse under her tunic.
Since I had been thinking that I wanted to find out about the marriages of the earliest people, I looked closely at the husband and the wife, one at a time, and I noticed in their faces a sort of unity of their souls. I said, "You two are one!"
"We are one," the man replied. "Her life is in me and mine is in her. We are two bodies but one soul. The union between us is like the two tents in your chest called heart and lungs. She's my heart, and I'm her lungs. But here we mean love when we say
'heart' and wisdom when we say 'lungs,' so she is love of my wisdom and I'm the wisdom of her love. Because of this her love from outside veils my wisdom, and my wisdom from inside is in her love. This is why you can see the unity of our souls, as you said, in our faces."
Then I asked, "If you have this kind of unity, can you look at a woman other than your own?"
He said, "I can. But my wife is united with my soul, so we look together, and not a shred of sensuality can enter. For when I look at other wives I look at them through my wife, who is the only one I love. And my wife can tell all my inclinations, so she sets my thinking straight and weeds out everything discordant, and at the same time she puts in a coldness and horror toward anything unchaste. So for us here it is just as impossible to look at a friend's wife lustfully as it is to look at the light of our heaven from the gloom of the underworld. For this reason we have no notion of the attraction of lust, let alone any spoken words for it." He couldn't say "fornication." The chastity of their heaven prevented it.
My angel guide told me, "You hear now that the speech of the angels in this heaven is the speech of wisdom. They speak from the reasons for things."
After this I looked around and saw that their tent seemed enveloped in gold. I asked, "How come?"
He answered, "It is a flaming light that sparkles like gold. It brightens and tints the curtains of our tent when we are talking about the love in marriage. You see, the heat from our sun, which in its essence is love, unveils itself then and colors the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its color - which is gold. And this happens because married love originates in wisdom and love playing together. For a man is born to become wisdom and a woman to be love for the man's wisdom. So the joy of this play is in the married love between us and our wives. The joy comes from our love.
"For thousands of years here we have noted that this joy is excellent and outstanding in abundance, degree, and strength according to our worship of the Lord Jehovah. The heavenly union or heavenly marriage between love and wisdom flows in from Him."
When he had said this I saw a bright light on a central hill among the tents and asked, "What is that light from?"
"It's from the sanctuary in our tent of worship," he said.
I asked if I could go near it, and he said I could. I did, and I saw a tent that, both inside and out, exactly answered the description of the Tabernacle built in the desert for the Israelites, whose design was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40; 26:30).
"What is inside the sanctuary," I asked, "that makes so much light?"
He answered, "It's a document inscribed, 'The Covenant between Jehovah and the Heavens.'" He said no more.
Then we were ready to go, so I asked, "When you lived in the natural world, did any of you live with more than one wife?"
"I don't know of anyone," he answered, ''because we can't think about more than one wife. Those who have thought about it told us that instantly the heavenly blessings of their souls retreated from the innermost to the outermost parts of their bodies - all the way to their toe nails, and with them the honorableness of manhood.
When this was discovered, they were exiled from our territory."
After the man said this he ran to his tent and came back with a pomegranate with lots of golden seeds in it. He gave it to me as a present, and I brought it away as a souvenir to show that we had been with the people who lived in the Golden Age. And then, after a parting word of peace we went away and returned home.
75. The First Memorable Relation:
Once when meditating on conjugial love, my mind was seized with a desire to know what that love had been with those who lived in the Golden Age, and what it had been later with those who lived in the Ages that followed and which are named from silver, copper, and iron; and, knowing that all who had lived well in those Ages are in the heavens, I prayed the Lord that He would allow me to speak with them and be instructed. And lo, an angel stood by me and said: "I am sent by the Lord to be your guide and companion. First I will guide and accompany you to those who lived in the first age or period called GOLDEN;" and he added, "The way to them is hard. It lies through a dark forest through which no one can pass without a guide given him by the Lord."
[2] Being in the spirit, I girded myself for the journey, and we turned our faces towards the east. As we went on, I saw a mountain whose height extended above the region of the clouds. We passed through a great desert and came into the forest of which the angel had spoken. It was thick with trees of various kinds, and dark by reason of their density. The forest was intersected by many narrow paths, and the angel said: "These paths are so many tortuous paths of error, and unless his eyes are opened by the Lord to see the olive trees entwined with vine tendrils, and his steps directed from tree to tree, the traveler would wander off into the Tartarean shades which lie round about at the sides. This forest is such, to the end that it may guard the approach; for none but the primeval race dwells on that mountain."
[3] After entering the forest, our eyes were opened and here and there we saw olive trees entwined with vines from which hung clusters of grapes of a dark blue color. The trees were arranged in continuous gyres, and following these as they came into view we went round and round. At last we saw a grove of lofty cedars and on their branches some eagles. Seeing these, the angel said, "We are now not far from the top of the mountain."
We continued on, and lo, beyond the grove, a circular plain whereon male and female lambs were feeding. These were forms representative of the state of innocence and peace of those who dwelt on the mountain. We crossed this plain, and lo, in front and at the sides, in every direction as far as the eye could reach, were seen tabernacles after tabernacles to the number of many thousands. The angel then said: "We are now in the camp where dwells the Army of the Lord Jehovih, this being what they call themselves and their habitations. While living in the world, these most ancient peoples dwelt in tabernacles, and therefore they dwell in them now also. But let us bend our way to the south where are the wiser of them, that we may meet some one with whom to converse."
[4] Walking on, I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at the door of one of the tents, but when we drew near, they were seen as men and women of middle stature. The angel then said: "At a distance, all the inhabitants of this mountain appear like little children, for they are in a state of innocence, and infancy is the appearance of innocence." On seeing us, the men ran up to us and said: "Whence are you, and how came you hither? Your faces are not of the faces of our mountain." In reply, the angel told them the means of our approach through the forest and the reason of our coming. Hearing this, one of the three men invited us to his tabernacle and took us in. The man was clothed with a mantle the color of hyacinth, and a tunic of white wool, and his wife with a crimson robe, beneath which on her bosom was a tunic wrought with fine needlework.
[5] Desiring in my thought to learn about the marriages of the most ancients, I looked now at the husband, now at his wife, and in their faces I observed the unity, as it were, of their souls. So I said, "You two are one." The man replied: "We are one; her life is in me and mine in her. We are two bodies but one soul. The union between us is like the union of the two tents in the breast which are called heart and lungs, she being my heart and I her lungs. But here, by heart we mean love and by lungs wisdom. Thus she is the love of my wisdom and I am the wisdom of her love. Therefore her love veils my wisdom from without, and my wisdom is in her love from within. Hence, as you said, the appearance in our faces of the unity of our souls."
[6] I then asked him: "If such is the union, can you look at any other woman than your own?" He replied: "I can; but as my wife is united to my soul, we two look together and then nothing of lust can enter in; for when I look at the wives of others, I look at them through my own wife whom alone I love. And because she, my wife, has a perception of all my inclinations, therefore, as an intermediary she directs my thoughts, and removes everything discordant. At the same time she imparts cold and horror for everything unchaste. Therefore it is as impossible for us here to look upon a companion's wife from lust as it is to look at the light of our heaven from Tartarean shade. With us therefore, there is no idea of thought, still less any word of speech, for the allurements of libidinous love." He could not utter the word whoredom because the chastity of their heaven strove against it.
Speaking to me, the angel guide then said, "You now hear the speech of the angels of this heaven, that it is the speech of wisdom; for they speak from causes."
[7] After this, while looking around, I saw their tabernacle. It seemed as though overlaid with gold, and I inquired as to the cause of this. The man replied: "It is from a flaming light which glitters like gold, and whenever we are in discourse concerning conjugial love, this irradiates and tinges the coverings of our tabernacle; for the heat from our sun, which in its essence is love, then bares itself and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its own golden color. This is done because in its origin conjugial love is the sport of wisdom and love, man being born that he may be wisdom and woman that she may be the love of the man's wisdom. Hence, in conjugial love and from it come the delights of that sport between us and our wives. Here, for thousands of years, we have seen clearly that these delights are superlative and eminent in abundance, degree, and vigor, according to the worship among us of the Lord Jehovih, from whom inflows that heavenly union or marriage which is the union or marriage of love and wisdom."
[8] When he had finished speaking, I saw upon a hill in the center of the tabernacles a great light, and I asked, "Whence comes that light?" He replied, "It is from the sanctuary of the tabernacle of our worship."
I then asked him whether it was allowed to approach that tabernacle, and he said it was. Going to it, I then saw that both without and within, it was exactly like the tabernacle built for the sons of Israel in the wilderness, the pattern of which was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40; 26:30), and I asked the man, "What is inside that sanctuary from whence comes so great a light?" He replied, "A tablet on which is the inscription, THE COVENANT BETWEEN JEHOVAH 1AND THE HEAVENS." He said no more.
[9] Since we were then ready to depart, I asked him, "When living in the natural world, did any of you live with more than one wife?" He answered, "I know not one, for we could not think of more. Those who had thought of more have told us that the heavenly blessedness of their souls at once withdrew from the inmost parts of their bodies to the extremities, even to the fingernails, and with it the honorable badges of virility. When this was perceived, they were expelled from our land." Saying this, the man ran to his tent and returned with a pomegranate wherein was an abundance of golden seeds. This he gave to me, and I brought it away as a sign that we had been with those who had lived in the Golden Age. After a salutation of peace, we then departed and returned home.
Footnotes:
1. In Coronis, no. 37, where the present Relation is repeated is Jehovah; the Coronis, however, is a copy, the original MS. being lost.
75. I
As I was meditating once 1on marital love, my mind was seized with a desire to know what that love was like with those who lived in the Golden Age; and what it was like later with those who lived in the ages following, named from silver, copper, and iron. Knowing that all who lived well in those ages are in the heavens, I prayed the Lord that I might be allowed to speak with them and be instructed.
And lo! an angel presented himself and said, "The Lord has sent me to be your guide and companion. I will guide and accompany you first to those who lived in the first age or epoch, called the Golden Age." He added, "The way to them is arduous. It lies through a dark forest which no one can get through without a guide given him by the Lord."
[2] I was in the spirit and prepared myself for the journey. We turned our faces eastward. As we proceeded I saw a mountain which rose above the region of clouds. We crossed a great desert and came to the forest of which the angel had spoken, thick with different kinds of trees and dark from their density. The forest was intersected by many narrow paths, which the angel said were so many winding ways leading astray, remarking that unless the eyes were opened by the Lord to see olive trees encircled with vine tendrils, and the steps were directed from olive tree to olive tree, the traveller would wander away into Tartarus, which is round about at the sides. The forest is of this character in order to guard the approach; for only the earliest of the race dwell upon that mountain.
[3] After we entered the forest our eyes were opened and we saw the olive trees here and there, bound with vines from which hung clusters of dark blue grapes. These trees were arranged in perpetual circles; keeping them in view, we circled around and around. At last we saw a grove of lofty cedars and some eagles in their branches.
At sight of the grove the angel said, "We are now on the mountain not far from its summit."
We kept on, and beyond the grove came to a circular plain where male and ewe lambs were feeding, which were forms representing the state of innocence and peace of the mountain dwellers. We crossed the plain and saw tents after tents ahead and on either side, many thousands in number, as far as the eye could reach.
And the angel said, "We are now in the encampment where is the army of the Lord Jehovih! So they call themselves and their habitations. When they lived in the world, these most ancient people dwelt in tents; therefore they dwell in tents now, too. But let us bend our way southward, where the wiser ones are, and find some one with whom we may converse."
[4] As we proceeded I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting in the door of one of the tents; but as we came near they proved to be men and women of average stature.
The angel remarked, "All the inhabitants of this mountain appear from a distance like little children because they are in a state of innocence, of which infancy is an appearance."
On seeing us the men ran up to us and asked, "Whence are you? And how came you here? Your faces are not our mountain faces."
In reply the angel told them our means of getting through the forest and our reason for coming. Hearing this, one of the three invited and led us into his tent. He was clothed in a blue mantle and a tunic of white wool; and his wife in a flowing purple robe, and under it, about the breast, a tunic of fine embroidered linen.
[5] As I was eager to learn about the marriages of the most ancient people, I contemplated husband and wife by turn, and noted the unity of their souls as it were in their faces.
"You two are one," I said.
"We are one," the man replied. "Her life is in me and mine in her. We are two bodies but one soul. The union between us is like that of the two tents in the breast called heart and lungs. She is my heart and I am her lungs. But as we here mean love by the heart and wisdom by the lungs, she is the love of my wisdom and I am the wisdom of her love. Therefore her love envelops my wisdom, and my wisdom is inwardly in her love. Hence, as you said, the unity of our souls appears in our faces."
[6] I then asked, "If your union is so close, can you look at any other woman than your own?"
He replied, "I can; but as my wife is united to my soul, we two look together; then nothing of desire can enter. For when I look at the wives of others I look at them through my wife whom alone I love. And as she, my own, has a perception of all my inclinations, as intermediary she directs my thoughts, averts everything discordant, and imparts a cold and horror at everything unchaste. It is therefore as impossible for us to look from lust upon a comrade's wife as it is for a man to look from the darkness of Tartarus at the light of our heavens. We therefore possess no idea of thought, still less any word of language, for the allurements of wanton love." He could not say "whoredom," for the chastity of their heaven resisted.
The angel guide said to me, "You are listening now, in the speech of the angels of this heaven, to the language of wisdom; for they speak from causes."
[7] Then looking about I noticed that their tent seemed to be overspread with gold, and I asked, "Whence is this?"
"Our flaming light does that," he replied. "It gleams like gold, and lights and tints the curtains of our tent when we are conversing about marital love. For the heat of our sun, which in its essence is love, bares itself then and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its own golden color. The reason is that marital love in origin is the interplay of wisdom and love; for man is born to be wisdom, and woman to be the love of man's wisdom. So the delights of that play exist in marital love and, from that love, between us and our wives. For thousands of years we have seen clearly that these delights are excellent and exalted in abundance, degree and vigor according to the worship of the Lord Jehovih among us, from whom inflows the heavenly union, or the heavenly marriage, namely, of love and wisdom."
[8] After these words I saw a great light on a hill in the midst of the tents, and asked, "Where does that light come from?"
"From the holy place in our tent of worship," was his reply.
I asked whether it was allowable to visit the tent. He said it was; and I went and saw a tabernacle, inside and out exactly like the tabernacle which was built for the children of Israel in the wilderness, the pattern of which was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40; 26:30).
I asked, "What is in the holy place, that so much light comes from it?"
"A tablet with the inscription, 'The Covenant between Jehovah and the heavens,'" he replied, and said no more.
[9] We were ready to go now, and I asked, "Did any of you live with more than one wife in the natural world?"
He answered that he knew not one. "For we could not think of more. Those who did think of more told us that the states of heavenly blessedness of their souls, and along with those states the stamp of virility, instantly retreated from inmosts to the extremities of their bodies, even to the nails. When this was perceived they were expelled from our countries."
Having spoken so, the man ran to his tent and returned with a pomegranate, containing an abundance of seeds of gold. He gave it to me and I brought it away as a token that we had been with those who had lived in the Golden Age. After farewells we left and returned home.
Footnotes:
1. These Memorabilia are repeated with some variations in Coronis,37.
75. The First Relation:
Once when I was meditating on conjugial love my mind was seized with a desire to know what the quality of that love was with those who lived in the Golden Age; and what it was afterwards among those that lived in the ages following, named from silver, copper, and iron. And as I knew that all who lived well in those ages are in the heavens, I prayed the Lord that He would permit me to discourse with them and be instructed.
And lo! an angel stood by me and said, ‘I am sent by the Lord to be your guide and companion. And first I will conduct and accompany you to those who lived in the first age or period, called the Golden Age.' And he added, 'The way to them is difficult. It lies through a dark forest which no one can pass through without a guide given him by the Lord.' I was in. the spirit and girded myself for the journey and we turned our faces towards the east. As we went on I saw a mountain whose height extended above the region of the clouds. We crossed a great desert and came into the forest, which the angel had told me of, thick with various kinds of trees and dark by reason of their density. But the forest was intersected by many narrow paths, and the angel said they were so many winding ways leading astray; and that unless the eyes were opened by the Lord to see olive trees wound around with vine tendrils, and the steps were directed from olive tree to olive tree, the traveller would wander away into the regions of Tartarus which are round about at the sides. Such is this forest to the end that it may guard the approach; for none but a primeval race dwell upon that mountain. After we entered the forest our eyes were opened and we saw the olive trees here and there, encircled with vines from which hung clusters of grapes of azure color. And the olive trees were disposed in perpetual circles, so that we went round and round according as the trees came into view. At length we saw a grove of lofty cedars and several eagles on their branches:
Seeing which the angel said, 'We are now on the mountain not far from its summit.'
We continued on, and lo! beyond the grove a circular plain where male and ewe lambs were feeding, which were representative forms of the state of innocence and peace of the mountaineers. Then we passed over this plain and behold! tents on tents appeared before us and on either side, many thousands in number, as far as eye could reach.
And the angel said, 'Now we are in the camp. There is the army of the Lord Jehovih! So they call themselves and their habitations. These most ancient people dwelt in tents when they lived in the world and they therefore, dwell in them now also. But let us bend our way to the south, where the wiser of them are, that we .may meet some one with whom we may converse.'
As we went on I saw at a distance three boys and three girls sitting at the door of a certain tent; but as we came near they were seen to be men and women of middle stature.
And the angel said, 'All the inhabitants of this mountain appear from a distance like little children because they are in a state of innocence, and infancy is the appearance of innocence.'
On seeing us the men ran up to us and asked, 'From whence are you? And how came you here? Your faces are not of the faces of our mountain.'
In reply the angel told them how we passed through the forest and the reason of our coming. Hearing which one of the three men invited and introduced us into his tent. The man was clothed with a mantle the color of hyacinth and a tunic of white wool; and his wife with a flowing robe of crimson, and under it a tunic about the breast of fine linen embroidered. As in thought I had a desire to learn about the marriages of the most ancient people I looked alternately at the husband and the wife, and observed as it were a oneness of souls in their faces.
And I said, 'You two are one.'
The man replied, 'We are one. Her life is in me and mine in her. We are two bodies but one soul. The union between us is as that of the two tents in the breast called the heart and the lungs. She is my heart and I am her lungs. But as by the heart we here mean love and by the lungs wisdom, she is the love of my wisdom and I am the wisdom of her love. Therefore her love from without veils my wisdom, and my wisdom is inwardly in her love. Hence there is as you have said an appearance of oneness of souls in our faces.' I then asked, 'If such is the union can you look at any other woman than your own?'
He replied, ‘I can; but as my wife is united to my soul we two look together, and then nothing of desire can enter. For when I look at the wives of others I look at them through my wife whom alone I love. And as she, my own, has a perception of all my inclinations, she as an intermediate gives direction to my thoughts, and turns away everything discordant, and imparts a cold and horror of everything unchaste. It is therefore, as impossible for us here to look from lust upon any wife of a companion as it is to look from Tartarean shade at the light of our heavens. With us therefore, there is no idea of thought, still less any word of language for the allurements of wanton love.' He could not say scortation, for the chastity of their heaven strove against it.
The angel guide said to me, 'You hear now the speech of the angels of this heaven that it is the language of wisdom; for they speak from causes.'
Then looking about I saw that their tent was as if covered with gold, and asked, 'Whence is this?'
He replied, 'It is from the flaming light that gleams and glistens and touches the curtains of our tent as with gold when we are in conversation about conjugial love. For then the heat of our sun, which in its essence is love, bares itself, and tinges the light, which in its essence is wisdom, with its own golden color. And this is because in its origin conjugial love is the sport of wisdom and love; for a man is born that he may be wisdom; and a woman, that she may be the love of the man's wisdom. Hence are the delights of that sport in conjugial love and from that love between us and our wives. We here for thousands of years have seen clearly that these delights, as to abundance, degree, and vigor, are superlative and eminent, according to the worship of the Lord Jehovih with us, from whom inflows the heavenly union, or the heavenly marriage, which is of love and wisdom.'
When these words were said I saw a great light upon a hill in the midst among the tents, and asked, 'Whence is that light?'
He replied, 'It is from the holy place of the Tabernacle of our worship.'
And I asked whether it was permitted to go to it. He said it was; and I went and saw a tabernacle, fashioned without and within exactly like the tabernacle that was built for the sons of Israel in the wilderness, the pattern of which was shown to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:40; 26:30).
And I asked, 'What is within the holy place from whence proceeds so great a light?'
He replied, 'A tablet on which is the inscription, The Covenant between Jehovah and the Heavens.' He said no more.
As now we were ready to depart I asked, 'Did any of you while you lived in the natural world live with more than one wife?'
He answered, that he knew not one: 'For we could not think of more. Those who had thought of more have told us that instantly the states of heavenly blessedness of their souls had retreated from the inmosts to the extremities of their bodies, even to the toe-nails, and with them at the same time the praiseworthy qualities of manhood. When this was perceived they were expelled from our countries.'
Having said this the man ran to his tent and returned with a pomegranate, in which there was an abundance of seeds of gold; and he gave it to me and I brought it away as a token that we had been with those who lived in the Golden Age. And then after a salutation of peace we departed and returned home.
75. Primum Memorabile. Quondam cum meditatus sum de Amore conjugiali, captavit mentem desiderium sciendi, qualis ille Amor fuerat apud illos, qui in Saeculo Aureo vixerunt, et postea qualis apud illos qui in Saeculis sequentibus, quae ex Argento, Cupro, et Ferro, vocantur: et quia novi, quod omnes qui in illis Saeculis bene vixerunt, in Coelis sint, oravi ad Dominum, ut liceret mihi cum illis loqui et instrui: et ecce adstitit mihi Angelus, et dixit, "missus sum a Domino ut sim ductor et comes; ac primum te ducam et comitabor ad illos, qui vixerunt Primo Aevo seu Saeculo, quod vocatur Aureum:" et dixit, "est ad illos via ardua; est per Sylvam opacam, quam nemo potest transire, nisi duce dato a Domino."
[2] Eram in spiritu, et accinxi me viae, et convertimus facies ad Orientem; et in pergendo vidi Montem, cujus altitudo pertigit ultra regionem nubium: transivimus desertum magnum, et pervenimus in Sylvam ex variis arborum generibus confertam, et ex densitate illarum opacam, de qua Angelus praedixit: sed erat Sylva illa secta in plures tramites angustos; et dixit Angelus, quod totidem ambages errorum sint, et quod nisi aperiantur oculi a Domino, ac videantur Oleae pampineis vitibus circumcinctae, ac ferantur gressus ab Olea ad Oleam, abiturus sit viator in Tartara, quae circum circa ad latera sunt: "haec Sylva talis est, propter finem, ut custodiatur aditus; non enim alia Gens quam Primaeva super Monte illo habitat."
[3] Postquam intravimus Sylvam, aperti sunt oculi, ac vidimus hic et ibi Oleas circumligatas vitibus, e quibus pendebant botri coloris cyanei, et Oleae erant in perpetuos orbes dispositae; quare secundum conspectum illarum circuivimus et circuivimus; et tandem vidimus Lucum ex altis cedris, et super illarum ramis aliquas Aquilas; quibus visis dixit Angelus, "nunc in Monte sumus non procul a vertice ejus;" et perreximus, et ecce post Lucum Campus rotundus, ubi pascebant Agni et Agnae, quae erant formae repraesentativae status innocentiae et pacis Montanorum: hunc Campum pertransivimus, et ecce visa sunt Tabernacula et Tabernacula, ad plura millia antrorsum et ad latera in omnem extensionem visus; et dixit Angelus, "nunc sumus in Castris, ibi Exercitus Domini Jehovih; ita se et habitationes suas vocant; Antiquissimi hi, dum in Mundo fuerunt, habitaverunt in Tabernaculis, quare etiam nunc in illis habitant: sed flectamus viam ad Meridiem, ubi sunt Sapientiores illorum, ut conveniamus aliquem, cum quo sociemus sermonem."
[4] In eundo vidi e longinquo tres pueros et tres puellas sedentes ad januam cujusdam Tentorii, sed illi et illae, cum appropinquavimus, visi sunt sicut viri et mulieres mediae staturae; et dixit Angelus, "omnes incolae hujus Montis apparent e longinquo sicut Infantes, quia in statu innocentiae sunt, ac Infantia est apparentia Innocentiae." Hi Viri nobis visis accurrerunt, et dixerunt, "unde estis, et quomodo huc venistis; facies vestrae non sunt e faciebus nostri Montis;" at Angelus retulit ac narravit copiam accessus per Sylvam, et causam adventus; quibus auditis, unus ex tribus Viris invitavit et introduxit nos in Tabernaculum suum: Vir erat amictus pallio hyacinthini coloris, ac tunica ex lana candida; et ejus Uxor amicta erat toga purpurea, et subter tunica pectorali ex bysso acupicto:
[5] et quia in cogitatione mea erat desiderium cognoscendi Conjugia Antiquissimorum, intuebar per vices Maritum et Uxorem, et animadverti quasi unitatem animarum illorum in faciebus, et dixi, "vos duo estis unum;" et respondit Vir, "sumus unum; est illius vita in me, et mea in illa; sumus duo Corpora, sed una Anima; est unio inter nos sicut est duorum tentoriorum in Pectore, quae vocantur Cor et Pulmo; illa est meum Cor et ego sum illius Pulmo; sed quia per Cor hic intelligimus amorem, et per Pulmonem sapientiam, est illa Amor meae sapientiae, et ego sum Sapientia illius amoris; quare amor ejus ab extra 1obvelat meam sapientiam, et sapientia mea ab intra inest ejus amori: inde, sicut dixisti, est apparentia unitatis animarum in faciebus nostris:"
[6] et tunc quaesivi, "si talis unio est, num potis es spectare ad aliam Mulierem quam ad tuam;" et respondit, "possum, sed quia Uxor unita est meae Animae, nos duo spectamus simul, et tunc non potest hilum libidinis intrare, nam dum aspicio aliorum uxores, aspicio illas per meam Uxorem, quam unice amo; et quia haec mea perceptibilis est omnium inclinationum mearum, ut intermedia dirigit cogitationes meas, et abstrahit omne discors, et una indit frigus et horrorem pro omni incasto; quare nobis hic tam impossibile est ex libidine spectare aliquam uxorem consocii, sicut est spectare ex umbra tartarea lucem nostri Coeli; ideo nec datur apud nos aliqua idea cogitationis, et minus aliqua vox loquelae pro illecebris amoris libidinosi;" non potuit enuntiare scortationem, quia castitas Coeli illorum obnitebatur: et dixit mihi Angelus ductor, "audis nunc loquelam Angelorum hujus Coeli, quod sit loquela sapientiae, quia loquuntur ex causis."
[7] Post hoc, circumspexi, et vidi Tabernaculum illorum sicut obductum auro, et quaesivi, "unde hoc;" respondit, quod sit "ex flammea luce, quae sicut aurum coruscat, irradiat, et stringit aulaea Tabernaculi nostri, dum in sermone de Amore Conjugiali sumus; Calor enim e nostro Sole, qui in sua essentia est Amor, se nudat tunc, ac tingit lucem, quae in sua essentia est Sapientia, colore suo, qui est aureus; et hoc fit, quia Amor conjugialis in sua origine est Ludus Sapientiae et Amoris, Vir enim natus est ut sit Sapientia, ac Foemina ut sit amor sapientiae viri; inde sunt delitiae istius ludi in Amore conjugiali et ex illo inter nos et uxores nostras. Nos hic per millia annorum perspeximus, quod delitiae illae quoad copiam, gradum, et virtutem, praestantes et eminentes sint secundum cultum Domini Jehovih apud nos, e quo Coelestis illa unio, seu Coeleste illud Conjugium, quod est Amoris et Sapientiae, influit."
[8] His dictis, vidi lucem magnam super Colle in medio inter Tabernacula; et quaesivi, "unde illa Lux;" dixit, "est ex Sanctuario Tabernaculi nostri Cultus;" et interrogavi, num liceat accedere, et dixit, quod liceat; et accessi, et vidi Tabernaculum extra et intra secundum descriptionem prorsus simile Tabernaculo, quod pro filiis Isra'lis in deserto aedificatum est, cujus forma Mosi super Monte Sinai monstrata est, Exod. 25:40. Cap. 26:30. et quaesivi, quid intus in Sanctuario illo, unde tanta Lux; et respondit, "est Tabula, cui inscriptio est, Foedus inter Jehovam et Coelos;" plura non dixit:
[9] et quia tunc in accinctu abeundi eramus, quaesivi, "num aliqui, dum fuistis in Mundo naturali, ex vobis vixerint cum pluribus, quam cum una Uxore;" respondit, quod non sciat unum; "nam non potuimus cogitare de pluribus; dixerant nobis illi qui cogitaverant, quod illico coelestes beatitudines animarum illorum recesserint ab intimis ad extrema corporis illorum usque ad ungues, et simul cum illis encomia virilitatis; hi, dum hoc perceptum est, ejecti sunt e terris nostris." His dictis, cucurrit vir ad Tabernaculum suum, et rediit cum Malogranato, in quo fuit copia seminum ex auro; et donavit, et deportavi, quod mihi erat signum, quod fuerimus cum illis, qui in Saeculo aureo vixerunt. Et tunc post salutationem pacis abivimus, et rediimus domum.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: abextra