Heaven and Hell - Swedenborg Foundation

HEAVEN AND HELL 397
50
The Delights of Everyone’s Life
Are Changed after Death
into Things That Correspond
485. It has been shown in the preceding chapter that the
ruling affection or dominant love in everyone continues to
eternity. It shall now be explained how the delights of that
affection or love are changed into things that correspond.
Being changed into corresponding things means into things
spiritual that correspond to the natural. That they are changed
into things spiritual can be seen from this, that so long as man
is in his earthly body he is in the natural world, but when he
leaves that body he enters the spiritual world and is clothed
with a spiritual body. It has already been shown that angels,
and men after death, are in a complete human form, and that
the bodies with which they are clothed are spiritual bodies (n.
73–77 and 453–460); also what the correspondence is of
spiritual things with natural (n. 87–115).
486. All the delights that a man has are the delights of his
ruling love, for he feels nothing to be delightful except what he
loves, thus especially that which he loves above all things. It
means the same whether you say the ruling love or that which
is loved above all things. These delights are various. In general,
there are as many as there are ruling loves; consequently as
many as there are men, spirits, and angels; for no one’s ruling
love is in every respect like that of another. For this reason no
one has a face exactly like that of any other; for each one’s face
is an image of his mind; and in the spiritual world it is an
image of his ruling love. In particular, everyone’s delights are of