[2] Who took their lamps; signifies spiritual things in which is the celestial, or truths in which there is good, or what is the same, faith in which there is charity toward the neighbor, and charity in which there is love to the Lord; for "oil" is the good of love, as shown hereafter. But lamps in which there is no oil denote the same in which there is no good.

[3] And went forth to meet the bridegroom; signifies their reception. And five of them were prudent, but five were foolish signifies a part of them in truths in which there is good, and a part of them in truths in which is no good. The former are the "prudent," and the latter the "foolish." In the internal sense "five" denotes some, here therefore a part of them. They that were foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them; signifies not having the good of charity in their truths; for in the internal sense "oil" denotes the good of charity and of love. But the prudent took oil in their vessels with their lamps; signifies that they had the good of charity and of love in their truths; their "vessels" are the doctrinal things of faith.

[4] And while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept; signifies delay, and hence doubt. To "slumber" in the internal sense is to grow sluggish from the delay in the things of the church, and to "sleep" is to cherish doubt - the prudent, a doubt in which there is affirmation; the foolish, a doubt in which there is negation But at midnight a cry was made; signifies the time which is the last of the old church and the first of the new. This time is what is called "night" in the Word, when the state of the church is treated of. The "cry" denotes a change. Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him; signifies the same as the judgement, namely, acceptance and rejection.

[5] Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps; signifies preparation of all; for those who are in truths in which there is no good are equally in the belief of being accepted as are those who are in truths in which there is good, for they suppose that faith alone saves, not knowing that there is no faith where there is no charity. But the foolish said unto the prudent, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out; signifies that they desire good to be communicated by others to their empty truths, or to their destitute faith. For in the other life all spiritual and celestial things are mutually communicated, but only through good.

[6] But the prudent answered, saying, Perchance there will not be enough for us and you; signifies that it cannot be communicated, because the little of truth that they had would be taken away from there. For as to the communication of good in the other life to those who are in truths without good, these as it were take away good from those who have it, and appropriate it to themselves, and do not communicate it to others, but defile it; for which reason no communication of good to them is possible. These spirits will be described from experience at the end of the next chapter (Gen. 37).

[7] But go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves; signifies the good of merit. They who boast of this are "they that sell." Moreover in the other life they who are in truth in which there is no good, above all others make a merit of all they have done which appeared good in the outward form, although in the inward form it was evil, according to what the Lord says in Matthew:

And in Luke:

Such are those who are here meant by the foolish virgins, and the like is therefore said of them in these words: "they also came, saying, Lord, lord, open to us; but he answered and said, verily I say unto you, I know you not."

[8] And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came. This signifies their too late application. And they that were ready went in with him to the wedding; signifies that they who were in good and thence in truth were received into heaven. Heaven is likened to a wedding from the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth; and the Lord is likened to the bridegroom, because they are then conjoined with Him; and hence the church is called the bride. And the door was shut signifies that others cannot enter.

[9] Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us; signifies that they desire to enter from faith alone without charity, and from works in which there is not the Lord‘s life, but the life of self. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not; signifies rejection. His not knowing them means in the internal sense that they were not in any charity toward the neighbor and thereby in conjunction with the Lord. They who are not in conjunction are said not to be known.

[10] Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh; signifies an assiduous application of life in accordance with the precepts of faith, which is "to watch." The time of acceptance, which is unknown to man, and the state, are signified by their not knowing the day nor the hour in which the Son of man is to come. Elsewhere also in Matthew he who is in good, that is, he who acts according to the precepts, is called "prudent;" and he who is in knowledges of truth and does them not is called "foolish:" "Everyone that heareth My words and doth them, I will liken him unto a prudent man; and everyone that heareth My words and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man (Matthew 7:24, 26).

[2] That it is the spirit which speaks and hears has been made very manifest to me from conversations with spirits. Their speech communicated to my spirit fell into my interior speech, and thence into the corresponding organs, and there terminated in an endeavor which I have sometimes plainly perceived, Hence their speech was heard by me as sonorously as the speech of a man. Sometimes when spirits spoke with me in the midst of a company of men, some of the spirits supposed that as their speech was heard so sonorously, they would be heard by the other people who were there present; but they were informed that such was not the case, because their speech flowed into my ear by an internal way, and human speech flows in by an external way. This shows how the spirit spoke with the prophets not as a man with a man, but as a spirit with a man, that is, in him (Zech. 1:9, 13; 2:2, 7; 4:1, 4, 5; 5:10; 6:4). But I know that these things cannot be comprehended by those who do not believe that man is a spirit, and that the body merely serves this spirit for uses in this world. Those who have confirmed themselves in this unbelief are unwilling even to hear about any correspondence, and being in denial, if they do hear of it they reject it, and are rather made sad that anything should be taken away from the body,

[2] There are many differences among the spirits who correspond to the ear, that is, to its functions and offices. There are those who hear relation to each of its little organs some to the external ear, some to the membrane called the drum of the ear, some to the interior membranes which are called windows, some to the hammer, to the stirrup, to the anvil, the cylinders, and the cochlea; and there are those who bear relation to parts still more interior, even to those substantiated parts which are nearer to the spirit, and finally to those which are in the spirit; and last of all they are inmostly conjoined with those who belong to the internal sight, from whom they are distinguished by their not having so much discernment, but giving as it were a passive assent to them.

[2] Meanwhile two were speaking with each other above my head; and when it was asked who they were, it was said that one of them was a man most renowned in the learned world, and it was given me to believe that it was Aristotle. Who the other was, was not told. The former was then let into the state in which he was when he lived in the world; for everyone can be easily let into the state of his life which he had in the world, because he takes all the state of his life with him. But to my surprise he applied himself to my right ear, and there spoke hoarsely, but still sanely. From the meaning of what he said I observed that he was of a genius quite different from those schoolmen who first rose up, in that the things which he wrote he had hatched out from his own thought, and thereby had brought forth his philosophy; so that the terms which he invented, and which he gave to the subjects of his thought, were forms of expression by which he described interior things; and also that he had been stirred to such things by the delight of affection, and the desire of knowing the things which are of thought, and that he followed obediently what his spirit dictated. For this reason he came to my right ear. It is different with his followers, who are called schoolmen, and who do not advance from thought to terms, but from terms to thoughts, thus in a contrary way. And many of them do not advance to thoughts, but stay in the mere terms, and if they apply these, it is to prove whatever they wish, and to impose on falsities an appearance of truth, in accordance with their desire of persuading. Hence to them philosophy is the means of becoming insane rather than of becoming wise, and hence they have darkness instead of light.

[3] I afterwards spoke with him about analytic science, and it was given me to say that a child speaks more things philosophically, analytically, and logically in half an hour than he would be able to describe in volumes (because all the things of human thought and thence of human speech are analytical, the laws of which are from the spiritual world), and that he who wishes to think artificially from terms is not unlike a dancer who wants to learn to dance from a knowledge of the motor fibers and muscles; but if while he dances his attention were fixed on this knowledge he could scarcely move a foot; and yet without this knowledge he moves all the motor fibers scattered throughout his entire body, and in adaptation to them the lungs, the diaphragm, the sides, the arms, the neck, and all the rest, for describing all of which volumes would not suffice; and the case is similar with those who desire to think from terms. These things he approved, saying that if things are learned in this manner, they proceed in inverted order, and he added, If anyone desires to be a fool let him proceed so; but rather let him continually think of use, and from within.

[4] He then showed me what idea he had of the Supreme Deity, namely, that he represented Him to himself with a human face and encompassed about the head with a radiant circle; and that he now knows that the Lord is that very Man, and that the radiant circle is the Divine going forth from Him, which flows not only into heaven, but also into the universe, and disposes and rules these; adding that He who disposes and rules heaven, also disposes and rules the universe, because the one cannot be separated from the other. He also said that he had believed in one only God, whose attributes and qualities had been distinguished by as many names as were worshiped as gods by others.

[5] A woman was seen by me who stretched out her hand, wishing to stroke his cheek. When I wondered at this, he said that when he was in the world such a woman was often seen by him, who as it were stroked his cheek, and that her hand was beautiful. The angelic spirits said that such women were sometimes seen by the ancients, and were called by them Pallases; and that she appeared to him from the spirits who, when they lived as men in ancient times, were delighted with ideas and indulged in thoughts, but without philosophy. And because such spirits were with him, and were delighted with him because he thought interiorly, they therefore presented to view such a woman representatively.

[6] Lastly he told what kind of idea he had entertained respecting man’s soul or spirit, which he called pneuma namely, that it was an unseen vital something, as of ether. And he said that he had known that his spirit would live after death, because it was his interior essence, which cannot die, because it can think; and further that he could not think distinctly concerning it, but only obscurely,. because he had no knowledge respecting it from any other source than from himself, and a very little also from the ancients, Moreover Aristotle is among sane spirits in the other life, and many of his followers are among the foolish.