THERE IS AND THERE CAN BE NO ANGEL OR SPIRIT THAT WAS NOT BORN A MAN IN THE WORLD.

It has been shown in the work on Heaven and Hell (n. 311-317) that angels were not created such immediately; but all who are or have been in heaven were born as men, and became angels after a life passed in the world. That no angel could exist except from a man born in the world, and that this is according to the Divine order, will be seen from the following propositions:

1. In man there is an angelic mind.

2. Such a mind can be formed only in man.

3. It cannot be procreated and be multiplied by procreations.

4. From this spirits and angels derive the ability to subsist and to live to eternity;

5. And of being adjoined and conjoined to the human race;

6. And thus heaven exists, which was the end in creation.

1. In man there is an angelic mind.

[[2]] It is known in the Christian world that man is born for heaven, and that if he lives well he will come into heaven, and will there be associated with angels as one of them; also that a soul or mind has been given him which is such that it will live to eternity; also that this mind viewed in itself is wisdom from the Lord derived from love to the Lord; and that the angels have a like mind. This makes clear that there is in man an angelic mind. To this may be added that this mind is the man himself; for every man is a man by virtue of this mind, and such as this mind is such is the man. The body with which this mind is clothed and compassed in the world is not in itself the man, for the body cannot be wise from the Lord and love Him from itself, but only from its mind; consequently the body is separated and cast off when the mind is about to depart and become an angel. And then man comes into angelic wisdom, because the higher degrees of the life of his mind are opened; for every man has three degrees of life; the lowest degree is natural, and man is in that while in the world; the second degree is spiritual, and in that is every angel in the lower heavens; the third degree is celestial, and in that is every angel in the higher heavens. And man is an angel so far as the two higher degrees are opened in him in the world by means of wisdom from the Lord and by means of love to Him. And yet in the world man does not know that these degrees have been opened. This he does not know until he has been separated from the first degree which is natural; and the separation is effected through the death of the body. That he is then wise like an angel, though not so in the world, it has been granted me both to see and hear. I have seen in the heavens many of each sex who were known to me in the world, and who, while they lived there, believed in simplicity those things that are from the Lord in the Word, and had lived faithfully according to them; and these were heard in heaven speaking things ineffable, as is said of the angels.

[2] 2. Such a mind can be formed only in man.

[[3]] For this there are many reasons. For all Divine influx is from first things into ultimates, and through a connection with ultimates into intermediates, and thus the Lord binds together all things of creation, and for this reason He is called "the First and the Last." For the same reason He came into the world and put on a human body and therein glorified Himself, that from firsts and also from ultimates He might govern the universe, both heaven and the world. The same is true of every Divine operation. This is so because in ultimates all things co-exist, for all things that are in successive order are in ultimates in simultaneous order; consequently all things that are in simultaneous order are in a continuous connection with all things in successive order. This makes clear that the Divine in the ultimate is in its fullness. What successive order is and the nature of it, and what simultaneous order is and the nature of it, may be seen above. From this it is clear that all creation has been effected in ultimates, and that every Divine operation passes through to ultimates and there creates and operates. That the angelic mind is formed in man is evident from man's formation in the womb, also from his formation after birth, also from the law of Divine order that all things should return from ultimates to the first from which they are, and man to the Creator from whom he is. [[4]] This is evident from the formation of man in the womb, as can be seen from what has been said above, where it was shown that by life that is from the Lord man is fully formed in the womb for birth, for the reception of life from the Lord, for the reception of love by means of a future will, and for the reception of wisdom by means of a future understanding, which together constitute the mind which is capable of becoming angelic. [[5]] This is evident from man's formation after birth, in that all the means have been provided that man may become such a mind; for every nation has a religion, and the Lord's presence is everywhere, and there is a conjunction with Him according to the love and wisdom therefrom. Thus there is in every man a capacity to be formed, and in one who desires it there is from his infancy to old age a continual formation for heaven, that he may become an angel. [[6]] This is evident from the law of Divine order that all things should return from ultimates to the first from which they are, as can be seen from every created thing in the world. The seed is the first thing of a tree. From the seed the tree rises out of the earth, puts forth branches, blossoms, produces fruit, and stores up seed therein, and thus returns to that from which it was. This is true of every shrub, plant, and flower. Also seed is the first thing of the animal, which is formed for birth either in the matrix or the egg, and afterwards grows and becomes an animal of the same kind, and when it has come to maturity has seed in itself. Thus everything in the animal kingdom, like everything in the vegetable, from its first rises to its last, and from its last rises again to its first from which it was. The same is true of man, but with this difference, that the first of an animal and of a vegetable is natural, consequently when it has risen it relapses into nature; while the first of man is spiritual like his soul, receptive of Divine love and Divine wisdom; and when this is separated from the body, which relapses into nature, it must needs return to the Lord, from whom it has life. Other types of the same thing present themselves in both kingdoms, the vegetable and the animal; in the vegetable from their resuscitation out of ashes, and in the animal from the metamorphosis of caterpillars into the chrysalides and the butterflies.

[3] 3. Only in man can the angelic mind be procreated and be multiplied by procreations.

[[7]] One who knows what the substances in the spiritual world are, and relatively what the matters in the natural world are, can easily see that no procreation of angelic minds is possible or can be possible except in those and from those who dwell upon an earth, the ultimate work of creation. But as it is not known what the substances in the spiritual world are relatively to the matters in the natural world, it shall now be told. Substances in the spiritual world appear to be material, although they are not, and because they are not material they are not permanent. They are correspondences of the affections of angels, and they remain as long as the affections or the angels remain, and disappear with them. And the same would have been true of angels if they had been created in the spiritual world. Furthermore, with the angels there is and there can be no procreation, and no consequent multiplication, except such as is spiritual, which has relation to wisdom and love, and such as pertains to the souls of men who are born anew or regenerated. But in the natural world there are matters by means of which and out of which procreations and afterwards formations can be effected, thus multiplications of men, and of angels therefrom.

[4] 4. From this, spirits and angels derive the ability to subsist, and to live to eternity.

[[8]] They have this for the reason that an angel or spirit from having been first born a man in the world takes to himself permanent existence; for from the inmosts of nature he takes to himself a medium between the spiritual and the natural by which he is so terminated that he may subsist and endure. Through this he has what gives him a relation to the things that are in nature, and corresponding with them.

[5] 5. Through this also spirits and angels can be adjoined and conjoined to the human race, for there is conjunction, and where there is conjunction there must be a medium.

The angels know that there is such an intermediate, but as that intermediate is from the inmosts of nature, and the expressions of language are from the ultimates of nature, it can be described only by means of abstract terms.

[6] 6. The angelic heaven, which was the end of creation, had its existence in no other way.

This follows from what has been said; also that the human race is in consequence its nursery and source of supply.