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THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES

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ULTIMATES

appl1es In the forms of uses of the vegetable kingdom an image of creation appears in this, that from their firsts they proceed to their outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts. Their  firsts are seeds, their outmosts are stalks clothed with bark; and by means of the bark which is the outmost of the stalk, they tend to seeds which, as was said, are their firsts.  The stalks clothed with layers of bark represent the globe clothed with lands, out of which come the creation and formation of all uses. That vegetation is effected through the outer and inner barks and coatings, by a climbing up, by means of the coverings of the roots (which are continued around the stalks and branches), into the beginnings of the fruit, and in like manner through the fruits into the seeds, is known to many. An image of creation is displayed in forms of uses in the progress of the formation of uses from firsts to outmosts, and from outmosts to firsts; also in this, that in the whole progression there lies the end of producing fruit and seeds, which are uses. From what has been said above it is plain, that the progression of the creation of the universe was from its First (which is the Lord encircled by the sun) to outmosts which are lands, and from these through uses to its First, that is, the Lord; also that the ends of the whole creation were uses. [DLW314] 

Ends  Again, it must be understood that in deeds or works the whole man is exhibited, and that his will and thought or his love and faith, which are his interiors, are not complete until they exist in deeds or works, which are his exteriors, for these are the outmosts in which the will and thought terminate, and without such terminations they are interminate, and have as yet no existence, that is, are not yet in the man. To think and to will without doing, when there is opportunity, is like a flame enclosed in a vessel and goes out; also like seed cast upon the sand, which fails to grow, and so perishes with its power of germination. But to think and will and from that to do is like a flame that gives heat and light all around, or like a seed in the ground that grows up into a tree or flower and continues to live. Everyone can know that willing and not doing, when there is opportunity, is not willing; also that loving and not doing good, when there is opportunity, is not loving, but mere thought that one wills and loves; and this is thought separate, which vanishes and is dissipated. Love and will constitute the soul itself of a deed or work, and give form to its body in the honest and just things that the man does. This is the sole source of man’s spiritual body, or the body of his spirit; that is, it is formed solely out of the things that the man does from his love or will (see above, n. 463). In a word, all things of man and his spirit are contained in his deeds or works.{1} [HH475]   

To sanctify it. That this signifies thus the Lord there, is evident from the signification of "sanctifying," as being to represent the Lord and the holy things which are from Him, thus His presence in heaven and in the church (n. 10111). That which is represented is signified in the internal sense. The Word in the letter consists of representatives of celestial and spiritual things, which are of heaven and the church, and therefore in the internal sense these are signified.  Hence the Word of the Lord may be called as it were heaven in ultimates, for in the ultimates of heaven all things which are seen and heard are representatives of such things as angels in the higher heavens are speaking and thinking, all which bear relation to the truths of faith and to the goods of love.  That in the ultimates of heaven such things are representative, is because they who are in the ultimates of heaven do not apprehend the interior things of angelic wisdom, but only such things as represent them. It is also according to Divine order that when higher things fall down into lower, they are turned into such as are similar, and are thus presented before the external senses, thus accommodated to the apprehension of everyone.  From this it is that the Word in ultimates, that is, in the sense of the letter, is representative, and consequently significative, of celestial and spiritual things which are in the higher heavens, and is hereby presented in a form accommodated to the apprehension of men. In this way it is also of service to the heavens as a basis and foundation.   [AC 10126].

 Author: EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772)

 

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