Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 308
the angels in heaven have all their beauty from marriage love.
Affections and thought flowing from that love are represented
by diamondlike auras with scintillations as if from carbuncles
and rubies, which are attended by delights that affect the
interiors of the mind. In a word, heaven itself is represented in
marriage love, because heaven with the angels is the
conjunction of good and truth, and it is this conjunction that
makes marriage love.
382b. Marriages in heaven differ from marriages on the earth
in that the procreation of offspring is another purpose of
marriages on the earth, but not of marriages in heaven, since in
heaven the procreation of good and truth takes the place of
procreation of offspring. The former takes the place of the
latter because marriage in heaven is a marriage of good and
truth (as has been shown above); and as in that marriage good
and truth and their conjunction are loved above all things so
these are what are propagated by marriages in heaven. And
because of this, in the Word births and generations signify
spiritual births and generations, which are births and
generations of good and truth; mother and father signify truth
conjoined to good, which is what procreates; sons and
daughters signify the truths and goods that are procreated; and
sons-in-law and daughters-in-law conjunction of these, and so
on. 247
All this makes clear that marriages in heaven are not like
247. Conceptions, pregnancies, births, and generations signify those
that are spiritual, that is, such as pertain to good and truth, or to love and
faith (n. 613, 1145, 1255, 2020, 2584, 3860, 3868, 4070, 4668, 6239,
8042, 9325, 10249). Therefore generation and birth signify regeneration and
rebirth through faith and love (n. 5160, 5598, 9042, 9845). Mother signifies
the church in respect to truth, and thus the truth of the church; father the
church in respect to good, and thus the good of the church (n. 2691, 2717,
3703, 5581, 8897). Sons signify affections for truth, and thus truths (n. 489,
491, 533, 2623, 3373, 4257, 8649, 9807). Daughters signify affections for
good, and thus goods (n. 489–491, 2362, 3963, 6729, 6775, 6778, 9055).
Son-in-law signifies truth associated with affection for good (n. 2389).
Daughter-in-law signifies good associated with its truth (n. 4843).