Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 297
40
Marriages in Heaven
366. As heaven is from the human race, and angels therefore
are of both sexes, and from creation woman is for man and
man is for woman, thus the one belongs to the other, and this
love is innate in both, it follows that there are marriages in
heaven as well as on the earth. But marriages in heaven differ
widely from marriages on the earth. Therefore what marriages
in heaven are, and how they differ from marriages on the earth
and wherein they are like them, shall now be told.
367. Marriage in heaven is a conjunction of two into one
mind. It must first be explained what this conjunction is. The
mind consists of two parts, one called the understanding and
the other the will. When these two parts act as one they are
called one mind. In heaven the husband acts the part called the
understanding and the wife acts the part called the will. When
this conjunction, which belongs to man’s interiors, descends
into the lower parts pertaining to the body, it is perceived and
felt as love, and this love is marriage love. This shows that
marriage love has its origin in the conjunction of two into one
mind. This in heaven is called cohabitation; and the two are
not called two but one. So in heaven a married pair is spoken
of, not as two, but as one angel. 241
241. It is not known at this day what marriage love is, or whence it is
(n. 2727).