depictions of heavenly things that are on display in many locations
there. In one home where there were angels I saw two large purses in
which was concealed a significant quantity of silver. Because these
money bags had been opened I was aware that anyone could take out the
silver that had been deposited in them and even make off with it; how-
ever, there were two young men sitting next to the money bags as guards.
The place where the bags had been deposited looked like a manger in a sta-
ble. In the next room, I noticed some modest young women and a faithful
wife. Two little children were standing just outside that room. I was told
not to play in a childish way with them but to treat them wisely. Afterward
a whore appeared, and a horse that was lying dead.
After I had seen these displays, I was told that what I had seen repre-
sented the Word’s earthly meaning with its spiritual meaning inside it.
The large purses full of silver meant true concepts in tremendous quanti-
ties. The fact that the bags had been opened but were guarded by young
men meant that any of us can get true concepts from the Word, but we
have to be careful to avoid violating the spiritual meaning, which con-
tains truths and nothing else. The manger in a kind of stable meant spir-
itual nourishment for the intellect. Mangers have this meaning because
the horses that eat from them mean the intellect. The modest young
women seen in the next room meant different kinds of love for the truth,
and the faithful wife meant the union of goodness and truth. The little
children meant a wise kind of innocence—the angels of the highest
heaven, who are the wisest angels, look like little children from a distance
because of their innocence. The whore and the dead horse meant that
many people are falsifying the truth nowadays, causing the loss of all
understanding of truth. A whore means falsification, and a dead horse
means no understanding of the truth.278 The second memorable occurrence.Once a sheet of paper was sent
down to me from heaven that was full of writing in Hebrew lettering,
but written in the way the ancients used to write. Letters that today are
largely straight were curved then and had little horns or tips that turned
upward. Angels who were with me at the time said they knew whole
meanings just from the letters. They derived these meanings especially
from the curvature of the lines and of the tips of the letters. They
explained what these meant individually and in combination. They said
that the letter “h,” which was added to both Abram and Sarai’s names,
meant infinity and eternity. They also explained to me the meaning of
Psalm 32 : 2 in the Word on the basis of the letters alone. Taken all