§263 written materials 135
a. All the numbers in the Word mean particular things: 482 , 487 , 647 , 648 , 755 , 813 , 1963 , 1988 ,
2075 , 2252 , 3252 , 4264 , 4674 [ 4670 ], 6175 , 9488 , 9659 , 10217 , 10253 ; shown from heaven: 4495 ,
5265. Multiples mean the same thing as their factors: 5291 , 5335 , 5708 , 7973. The early people
conveyed heavenly mysteries by numbers—a kind of ecclesiastical algebra: 575.
expresses the affections from which their thoughts fl ow and which follow
in sequence according to the substance of the matter under consideration.
This is why these writings enfold treasures that cannot be completely
drawn out by thought. I have also been allowed to see these writings.
In the lower heavens, though, there are no written materials of this
sort. The written materials there are much like those in our world, with
similar letters. However, they are still not intelligible to people on earth
because they are written in an angelic language, and angelic language by
nature has nothing in common with our languages (§ 237 ). They express
affections through the vowels; with the consonants they express the par-
ticular concepts that derive from the affections, and with the words they
express the meaning of the matter (§§ 236 , 241 ).
Further, this writing enfolds in a few words more than we can
describe in several pages. I have seen these written materials as well.
This means that they have a written Word in the lower heavens, and
one expressed through heavenly forms in the inmost heaven.
It is worth knowing that in the heavens, writing fl ows spontaneously 262
from thoughts. It is done with such ease that it is as though the thought
projected itself. The hand does not pause over the choice of some partic-
ular word, because the words—both the spoken and the written ones—
are responsive to their individual thoughts, and anything that is so
responsive is natural and spontaneous.
There are also things written in the heavens without the use of hands,
simply in response to thoughts; but these do not last.
I have also seen written materials in heaven comprising nothing but 263
numbers arranged in a pattern and series, just like the writing of letters
and words; and I have been told that these writings come from the
inmost heaven, whose heavenly writing (described above in §§ 260 – 261 )
comes out as numbers for angels in the lower heavens when thought
from the higher heaven fl ows down. I have also been told that this
numerical writing enfolds mysteries, some of which cannot be grasped by
thought or expressed in words. All numbers do in fact correspond and
have meaning depending on their correspondence, just as words do,a but
with the difference that numbers represent general entities and words