§383 marriage 219
g. Conception, giving birth, being born, and generations mean spiritual events that are matters of
what is true and what is good, or of love and faith: 613 , 1145 , 1755 [ 1255 ], 2020 , 2584 , 3860 , 3868 ,
4070 , 4668 , 6239 , 8042 , 9325 , 10197 [ 10249 ]. Begetting and being born mean regeneration and
rebirth by means of faith and love: 5160 , 5598 , 9042 , 9845. A mother means the church in regard
to truth and therefore the truth of the church as well; a father means the church in regard to good
and therefore the good of the church as well: 2691 , 2717 , 3703 , 5580 [ 5581 ], 8897. Sons mean affec-
tions for what is true and therefore truths: 489 , 491 , 533 , 2623 , 3373 , 4257 , 8649 , 9807. Daughters
mean affections for what is good and therefore things that are good: 489 , 490 , 491 , 2362 , 3963 ,
6729 , 6775 , 6778 , 9055. A son-in-law means something true connected with an affection for the
good: 2389. A daughter-in-law means something good connected with its truth: 4843.
not the case in the heavens. In place of the procreation of children there
is the procreation of what is good and true. The reason for this replace-
ment is that their marriage is a marriage of the good and the true, as
presented above, and in this marriage what is good and true is loved
above all, as is their union; so these are what are propagated by the mar-
riages in the heavens. This is why in the Word births and generations
mean spiritual births and generations, births of what is good and true.
The mother and father mean the true united to the good that is prolifi c,
the sons and daughters the good and true things that are born, and the
sons-in-law and daughters-in-law mean the unions of these [descen-
dants], and so on.g
We can see from this that marriages in the heavens are not the same
as marriages on earth. In the heavens there are spiritual weddings that
should not be called weddings but unions of minds, because of the union
of the good and the true. On earth, though, there are weddings, because
they concern not only the spirit but the fl esh as well. Further, since there
are no weddings in the heavens, two spouses there are not called husband
and wife, but because of the angelic concept of the union of two minds
into one, each spouse is identifi ed by a word that means “belonging to
each other.”
This enables us to know what is meant by the Lord’s words about
marriages in Luke 21 : 35 – 36 [ 20 : 35 – 36 ].
I have also been allowed to see how marriages are entered into in the 383
heavens. Throughout heaven, people who are similar gather together and
people who are dissimilar part company. This means that every commu-
nity consists of like-minded people. Like are drawn toward like not by
their own will but by the Lord (see above, §§ 41 – 45 ). In the same way,
spouse is drawn toward spouse when their minds can be united into one.
So at fi rst sight they love each other most deeply, see each other as mar-
ried partners, and enter into their marriage. This is why all of heaven’s