Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2299

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2299. Young children are taught in particular by means of representatives suited to their disposition; and how beautiful these representatives are and at the same time how filled with wisdom from within. nobody can possibly believe. In this way intelligence which derives its soul from good is gradually instilled into them. Let merely one representative which I have been allowed to witness be recounted here, from which the nature of all others may be inferred. They represented the Lord rising up out of the tomb, and at the same time His Human united to the Divine. This was done in a manner so wise as to surpass all human wisdom, and yet at the same time in a manner that was innocent and that of a young child. They also presented the idea of a tomb, but not at the same time an idea of the Lord, except in so remote a way that one scarcely perceived it to be the Lord, except so to speak a long way off. The reason for this was that the idea of a tomb implies death and burial, which they were removing by their manner of presentation. After that, with utmost carefulness, they introduced into the tomb something air-like, yet seeming to be lightly filled with moisture, by which they meant, also with an appropriate remoteness, spiritual life in baptism. After that I saw them represent the Lord's descent to those that are bound and His ascent with those that are bound into heaven, which they did with matchless carefulness and reverence. And the representation had a child-like feature in that when they represented the Lord among the bound on the lower earth, they let down scarcely visible, soft and very slender cords with which they effected the Lord's ascent. All along they acted with a holy fear lest anything at all in the representation should border on anything devoid of the spiritual-celestial within it. There are other representatives besides these, such as games that are appropriate to the minds of young children by which they are introduced into cognitions of truth and into affections for good.


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