Heaven and Hell (Harley) n. 369

Previous Number Next Number Next Translation See Latin 

369. Everyone, whether man or woman, rejoices in understanding and will; but with the man the understanding predominates, and with the woman the will predominates, and the character is determined by that which predominates. Yet in marriages in the heavens there is no predominance; for the will of the wife is also the husband's will, and the understanding of the husband is also the wife's understanding, since each loves to will and to think as the other, that is, mutually and reciprocally. Thus are they conjoined into one. This conjunction is actual conjunction, for the will of the wife enters into the understanding of the husband, and the understanding of the husband into the will of the wife, and this especially when they look into one another's faces; for, as has been repeatedly said above, there is in the heavens a sharing of thoughts and affections, more especially with husband and wife, because they reciprocally love each other. From all this it can be established what the conjunction of minds is that makes marriage and produces conjugial love in the heavens, namely, that one wishes what is his own to be the other's, and this reciprocally.


This page is part of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church