§236 angels’ language 121
a. There is a breathing in the heavens, but it is more inward: 3884 , 3885 ; from experience: 3884 ,
3885 , 3891 , 3893. The ways they breathe differ and vary depending on their states: 1119 , 3886 , 3887 ,
3889 , 3892 , 3893. Evil people are utterly incapable of breathing in heaven and suffocate if they
come there: 3893 [ 3894 ].
The Language of Angels
234
A
NGELS talk with each other just the way we do in this world. They
talk about various things—domestic matters, community concerns,issues of moral life, and issues of spiritual life. There is no difference
except that they talk with each other more intelligently than we do
because they talk from a deeper level of thought.
I have often been allowed to be in their company and talk with them
like one friend with another, or sometimes like one stranger with another;
and since at such times I was in a state like theirs, it seemed exactly as
though I were talking with people on earth.
Angelic language, like human language, is differentiated into words. It 235
is similarly uttered audibly and heard audibly. Angels have mouths and
tongues and ears just as we do; and they also have an atmosphere in which
the sound of their language is articulated. However, it is a spiritual atmo-
sphere that is adapted to angels, who are spiritual. Angels breathe in their
atmosphere and use their breath to utter words just the way we do in ours.a
All people in heaven have the same language. They all understand 236
each other, no matter what community they come from, whether
nearby or remote. This language is not learned but is innate; it fl ows
from their very affection and thought. The sound of the language cor-
responds to their affection and the articulations of the sound—the
words, that is—correspond to the mental constructs that arise from
their affections. Since their language corresponds to these [inner events],
it too is spiritual, for it is audible affection and vocal thinking.
[ 2 ] Anyone who refl ects may realize that all thought comes from
affection, which is a function of love, and that mental constructs are vari-
ous forms into which the general affection is apportioned; for no
thoughts or concepts whatever occur apart from affection. This is the
source of their soul and life. This is why angels know simply from speech