§156 angels’ changes of state 85
a. In heaven, there is no state that corresponds to night, but to the half-light that comes before
dawn: 6110. The half-light means the state halfway between the last and the fi rst: 10134.
b. The alternations of state as to enlightenment and perception are structured in heaven the way
the times of day are in the world: 5672 , 5962 , 6310 [ 6110 ], 8426 , 9213 , 10605. Days and years in the
Word mean all states in general: 23 , 487 , 488 , 493 , 893 , 2788 , 3462 , 4850 , 10656. Morning means
the beginning of a new state, and a state of love: 7216 [ 7218 ], 8426 , 8427 , 10114 , 10134. Evening
means a state when light and love are vanishing: 10134 , 10135. Night means a state without love or
faith: 221 , 709 , 2353 , 6000 , 6110 , 7870 , 7947.
that pertain to life; and since angelic life is a life of love and faith and
thereby of wisdom and intelligence, states are attributes of these, and we
talk about states of love and faith and states of wisdom and intelligence.
Now we need to describe how these states change for angels.
Angels are not constantly in the same state as to love, and conse- 155
quently they are not in the same state as to wisdom, for all the wisdom
they have is from their love and in proportion to it. Sometimes they are
in a state of intense love, sometimes in a state of love that is not intense.
It decreases gradually from its most to its least intense. When they are in
the highest level of love, they are in the light and warmth of their lives, or
in their greatest clarity and delight. Conversely, when they are in the
lowest level they are in shadow and coolness, or in what is dim and
unpleasant. From this latter state they return to the fi rst, and so on. The
phases follow each other with constant variety.
These states follow each other like variations of light and shade,
warmth and cold, or like the morning, noon, evening, and night of indi-
vidual days in our world, varying constantly throughout the year. Not
only that, they correspond—morning to the state of their love in clarity,
noon to the state of their wisdom in clarity, evening to the state of their
wisdom in dimness, and night to a state of no love or wisdom. It should
be known, though, that there is no correspondence of night with the
states of life of people in heaven, but rather a correspondence of the half-
light that comes before dawn. The correspondence of night is with peo-
ple who are in hell.a
Because of this correspondence, “day” and “year” in the Word mean
states of life in general, warmth and light mean love and wisdom, morn-
ing the fi rst and highest level of love, noon wisdom in its light, evening
wisdom in its shade, and the half-light the dimness that comes just before
the morning. Night, though, means the loss of love and wisdom.b
As the states of the inner levels of angels’ love and wisdom change, 156
so too do the states of the various things that surround them and are vis-
ible to their eyes; for the things that surround angels are given their