Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 3577

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3577. 'Like the odour of the field' means as the good ground from which truth is acquired. This is clear from the meaning of 'the odour of the field' as the perception of truth acquired from good, like the scent from the harvest in the field - 'the field' meaning good ground, see 3500. The reason 'odour' means perception is that all the delight that good yields and all the pleasantness that truth gives, which people perceive in the next life, also manifest themselves there as corresponding odours, see 1514, 1517-1519. From this and from correspondences it is evident that 'odour' is nothing else than the power of perception, though a natural power of perception corresponding to a spiritual power of it.


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