Conjugial Love (Acton) n. 158

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158. II. THAT CONJUGIAL LOVE CONJOINS TWO SOULS AND THENCE MINDS INTO A ONE. Every man consists of soul, mind, and body. Being man's inmost, the soul from its origin is celestial; being his mediate, the mind from its origin is spiritual; and being his ultimate, the body from its origin is natural. Things which from their origin are celestial, and those which from their origin are spiritual, are not in space but in the appearances of space. This, moreover, is known in the world; wherefore it is said, that neither extension nor place can be predicated of things spiritual. Since, therefore, spaces are appearances, distance and presence also are appearances. That in the spiritual world the appearances of distance and presence are according to the nearness, relationship, and affinity of love, has been frequently pointed out and confirmed in treatises on that world. [2] It is mentioned here, that it may be known that the souls and minds of men are not in space as are their bodies; for from their origin, as said above, they are celestial and spiritual. And, not being in space, they can be conjoined as into a one, though not at the same time their bodies. This is especially the case between married partners who inmostly love each other. But because woman is from man, and this conjunction is a kind of reunition, it can be seen from reason that it is not conjunction into a one but adjunction, near and close, according to the love, and, in the case of those who are in love truly conjugial, even to contact. This adjunction may be called spiritual cohabitation, and it exists with partners who tenderly love each other, however distant they are in body. There are many evidences of experience even in the natural world which confirm this. From the above it is evident that conjugial love conjoins two souls and minds into a one.


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