§97 we correspond to heaven 53
c. The chest in the Word means charity: 3934 , 10081 , 10087. The loins and reproductive organs
mean marriage love: 3021 , 4280 , 4462 , 5050 , 5051 , 5052. The arms and hands mean the power of
truth: 878 , 3091 , 4931 – 4937 , 6947 , 7205 , 10017 [ 10019 ]. The feet mean the natural: 2162 , 3147 ,
3761 , 3986 , 4280 , 4938 – 4952. The eyes mean discernment: 2701 , 4403 – 4421 , 4523 – 4534 , 6923 ,
9051 , 10569. The nostrils mean perception: 3577 , 4624 , 4625 , 4748 , 5621 , 8286 , 10054 , 10292. The
ears mean obedience: 2542 , 3869 , 4523 , 4653 , 5017 , 7216 , 8361 , 8990 , 9311 , 9396 [ 9397 ], 10061. The
kidneys mean probing and purifi cation of what is true: 5380 – 5386 , 10032.
The less general correspondence, though, is with the specifi c members,
organs, and viscera, and we need to note what this is like as well.
People who are in the head in the universal human that is heaven are
supremely involved in everything good. In fact, they are in love, peace,
innocence, wisdom, intelligence, and therefore in delight and happiness.
These fl ow into the head and into the components of the head in us, and
correspond to them.
People who are in the chest of the universal human that is heaven are
involved in the qualities of thoughtfulness and faith, and also fl ow into
our chests and correspond to them. However, people who are in the
groin of the universal human or heaven and in the organs dedicated to
reproduction are in marriage love.
People who are in the feet are in the outmost heaven, which is called
“natural-spiritual good.” People who are in the arms and hands are in the
power of what is true because of what is good. People who are in the eyes
are in understanding; people who are in the ears are in attentiveness and
obedience; people who are in the nostrils are in perception; people in the
mouth and tongue in conversing from discernment and perception.
People who are in the kidneys are in truth that probes and discrimi-
nates and purifi es; people in the liver, pancreas, and spleen are in various
aspects of purifi cation of what is good and true; and so on. They fl ow
into the like parts of the human being and correspond to them.
The infl ow of heaven is into the functions and uses of these mem-
bers, and since the uses originate in the spiritual world, they take form by
means of elements characteristic of the natural world and thus make
themselves known in their effects. This is the origin of correspondence.
This is why these same members, organs, and viscera in the Word 97
mean similar things. Everything there actually has meaning according to its
correspondence. The head there means intelligence and wisdom, the chest
thoughtfulness, the groin marriage love, the arms and hands the power of
truth, the feet what is natural, the eyes discernment, the nostrils percep-
tion, the ears obedience, the kidneys the probing of truth, and so on.c