the sun of the spiritual world and the sun of the natural world. All
things were created by the Lord through the sun of the spiritual world,
but not through the sun of the natural world, since the latter is far
below the former; it is in middle distance; above it is the spiritual
world and below it is the natural world. This sun of the natural world
was created to render aid, as a kind of substitute; this aid will be
spoken of in what follows.

154. The universe and all things thereof were created by the Lord, the
sun of the spiritual world serving as a medium, because that sun is the
first proceeding of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, and from Divine Love
and Divine Wisdom all things are (as was pointed out above, n. 52-82).
In every thing created, greatest as well as least, there are these three,
end, cause and effect. A created thing in which these three are not, is
impossible. In what is greatest, that is, in the universe, these three
exist in the following order; in the sun, which is the first proceeding
of Divine Love and Divine Wisdom, is the end of all things; in the
spiritual world are the causes of all things; in the natural world are
the effects of all things. How these three are in things first and in
things last shall be shown in what follows. Since, then, no created thing
is possible in which these three are not, it follows that the universe
and all things of it were created by the Lord through the sun, wherein
is the end of all things.

155. Creation itself cannot be brought within man's comprehension unless
space and time are removed from thought; but if these are removed, it can
be comprehended. Removing these if you can, or as much as you can, and
keeping the mind in ideas abstracted from space and time, you will
perceive that there is no difference between the maximum of space and
the minimum of space; and then you cannot but have a similar idea of the
creation of the universe as of the creation of the particulars therein;
you will also perceive that diversity in created things springs from
this, that there are infinite things in God-Man, consequently things
without limit in the sun which is the first proceeding from Him; these
countless things take form, as in an image, in the created universe. From
this it is that no one thing can anywhere be precisely the same as
another. From this comes that variety of all things which is presented to
sight, in the natural world, together with space, but in the spi