§159 angels’ changes of state 87
d. Angels are being made more perfect to eternity: 4803 , 6648. In heaven, there is never any state
exactly like any other, which results in a perpetual process of perfecting: 10200.
their perception of and sensitivity to what is good become more and
more delicate.d
They have gone on to say that the Lord does not produce these
changes of their states, since the Lord as the sun is always fl owing in with
warmth and light, that is, with love and wisdom. Rather, they themselves
are the cause, since they love their sense of self and this is constantly mis-
leading them. They illustrate this by comparison with our world’s sun,
which is not the cause of the changes of warmth and cold and of light
and darkness, of distinct years and distinct days, because it stays motion-
less. The reason can be traced to our earth.
I have been shown how the Lord as the sun looks to angels in the 159
heavenly kingdom in their fi rst state, in their second state, and in their
third. I saw the Lord as the sun, at fi rst reddish and gleaming, so brilliant
as to be beyond description. I was told that the Lord as the sun looks like
this to angels in their fi rst state. Later I saw a great, dim halo around the
sun, because of which the reddish, gleaming quality that made the sun so
brilliant began to dim. I was told that the sun looks like this to them in
their second state. Then I saw the halo become darker so that the sun
seemed less ruddy, step by step, until fi nally it looked quite pale. I was
told that the sun looks like this to them in their third state. After this, I
saw that pale [disk] move to the left toward heaven’s moon and add its
light to the light of the moon so that the moon shone exceptionally
brightly. I was told that this was the fourth state of people in the heav-
enly kingdom and the fi rst state of people in the spiritual kingdom. I was
also told that the changes of state in each kingdom proceed alternately,
not throughout, but in one community after another. I was also told that
these alternations are not fi xed, but happen more or less swiftly without
people being aware of it.
Angels went on to say that the sun in and of itself neither changes
nor moves, but that things look the way they do because of the ongoing
progressions of state in themselves, since the Lord appears to each indi-
vidual in keeping with that individual’s state—reddish to people when
they are in an intense love, less ruddy and ultimately pale as their love
wanes. The quality of their state is portrayed by the dim halo that
imposes the apparent changes of fl ame and light on the sun.