Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 111
16
The Four Quarters in Heaven
141. Both in heaven and in the world there are four quarters,
east, south, west, and north, determined in each world by its
own sun; in heaven by the sun of heaven, which is the Lord, in
the world by the sun of the world. And yet there are great
differences between them. In the first place, in the world that is
called the south where the sun is in its greatest altitude above
the earth, north where it is in its opposite position beneath the
earth, east where it rises at an equinox, and west where it then
sets. Thus in the world it is from the south that all the quarters
are determined. But in heaven that is called the east where the
Lord is seen as a sun, opposite to this is the west, at the right is
the south in heaven, and at the left the north; and this in
whatever direction the face and the body are turned. Thus in
heaven it is from the east that all the quarters are determined.
That is called the east [oriens] where the Lord is seen as a sun,
because all origin [origo] of life is from him as a sun; moreover,
so far as angels receive heat and light or love and intelligence
from the Lord he is said to arise [exoriri] upon them. For the
same reason the Lord is called the east [oriens] in the Word. 112
142. Another difference is that to the angels the east is always
before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the
north to the left. But since this cannot be easily comprehended
in the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every
quarter, it shall be explained. The entire heaven turns itself to
112. In the highest sense the Lord is the east [oriens], because He is the
sun of heaven, which is always rising and never setting (n. 101, 5097, 9668).