al, so as to seek an eternal union, which
consists in two becoming one flesh?'" To this the angelic spirits added,
"In heaven they are in total ignorance what whoredom is; nor do they
know that it exists, or that its existence is even possible. The angels
feel a chill all over the body at the idea of unchaste or
extra-conjugial love; and on the other hand, they feel a genial warmth
throughout the body arising from chaste or conjugial love. With the
males, all the nerves lose their proper tension at the sight of a
harlot, and recover it again at the sight of a wife." The three
novitiates, on hearing this, asked, "Does a similar love exist between
married partners in the heavens as in the earths?" The two angelic
spirits replied, that it was altogether similar; and as they perceived
in the novitiates an inclination to know, whether in heaven there were
similar ultimate delights, they said, that they were exactly similar,
but much more blessed, because angelic perception and sensation is much
more exquisite than human: "and what," added they, "is the life of that
love unless derived from a flow of vigor? When this vigor fails, must
not the love itself also fail and grow cold? Is not this vigor the very
measure, degree, and basis of that love? Is it not its beginning, its
support, and its fulfilment? It is a universal law, that things primary
exist, subsist, and persist from things ultimate: this is true also of
that love; therefore unless there were ultimate delights, there would be
no delights of conjugial love." The novitiates then asked, whether from
the ultimate delights of that love in heaven any offspring were
produced; and if not, to what use did those delights serve? The angelic
spirit answered, that natural offspring were not produced, but spiritual
offspring: and the novitiates said, "What are spiritual offspring?" They
replied, "Two conjugial partners by ultimate delights are more and more
united in the marriage of good and truth, which is the marriage of love
and wisdom; and love and wisdom are the offspring produced therefrom: in
heaven the husband is wisdom, and the wife is the love thereof, and both
are spiritual; therefore, no other than spiritual offspring can be there
conceived and born: hence it is that the angels, after such delights, do
not experience sadness, as some do on earth, but are cheerful; and this
in consequence of a continual influx of fresh powers succeeding the
former, which serve for their