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Doctrine of the Wife for Husbands:
A Spiritual Practice for Achieving Unity
Part 4
Last
update: July 19, 2001 |
Go to the other parts: Part 1
|| Part
2 || Part 3
|| Part 4
Note: You may want to consult
a more recent version
of this essay:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/wife.html
Doctrinal
Propositions
- That in celestial man and woman the
Divine Truth is received in the form of the celestial Divine, which form is received in
our within which is our affection for the genuine good and true.
- That the aim of all our efforts in the
celestial state is solely to bring to our conscious awareness the arcana laid down in our
idea of the Divine Human.
- That our idea of the Divine Human in born
in the Divine Good of our remains, which idea contains infinite arcana to be laid out by
the Lord gradually in our conscious awareness; this idea is represented by the expression
"The Writings of Swedenborg as the Third Testament."
- That our idea of the Divine Human is
being laid out as Spiritual and Celestial Doctrines which bear names such as "The
Doctrine of Faith", "The
Doctrine of Life", "The
Doctrine of De Hemelsche Leer", "The
Doctrine of the Wife", and so on; these Doctrines are represented by the
expression "The Third Testament."
- That the First Five chapters of the Arcana
Coelestia signify the celestial degree of the Doctrine of the Wife; that the Fifth
Chapter of the Gospel of John signifies the spiritual degree of the Doctrine of the Wife;
and that the Twenty-first Chapter of Genesis signifies the natural degree of the Doctrine
of the Wife.
- That the Four Gospels, in their order,
signifies the orderly steps we undergo in our understanding and perception of the Doctrine
of the Wife.
- That the study explication, and teaching
of "The Third Testament", are required daily activities and the scientifics or
products thus accumulated constitute useful documents for the development
of the Doctrine of the Church and Theistic Science.
"And
Jehovah visited Sarah, as He had said; and Jehovah did unto Sarah as He had spoken
.
And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. And
she said unto Abraham, Cast out this handmaid and her son; for the son of this handmaid
shall not inherit with my son with Isaac. And the word was evil exceedingly in the eyes of
Abraham, on account of his son. And God said unto Abraham, let it not be evil in thine
eyes because of the boy, and because of thine handmaid; all that Sarah with unto thee,
hearken unto her voice, for in Isaac shall thy seed be called."
Genesis 21:1, 9 12
See also:
Arcana Coelestia 2615 2667 and De Hemelsche Leer
5:32 33 |
The wifes
superiority (i.e. priority) lies in her deeper vision of the husbands celestial
temptations. This deeper vision gives her infallible judgment over matters involving her
husbands celestial temptations. The Doctrine of the Wife makes visible that
the domain of the wifes superiority is in the husbands celestial
temptations. As well, it makes visible that she is not in a superior position regarding
matters involving spiritual and natural temptations.
Unless it is known what
kind of temptation one is in--celestial, spiritual, or natural one world not know when
the wifes has infallible judgment. Every regenerating husband has areas of celestial
temptations and these become increasingly visible as he overcomes natural and spiritual
temptations apart from the wife.
The content of celestial
temptations in general deals with natural things from the rational, i.e.,
PSYCHO-POLITICS OF USES IN EVERYDAY LIFE. In this battle the first rational (Ishmael) is
favored by the husbands natural inclinations and opposes ("mocks") the
second rational (Isaac) conceived within the wifes affections and judgment (Sarah)
and to be received by the husband (Abraham). When the husband overcomes as of self his
inmost resistance to his wifes vision/perception of truth (judgment) [=Abraham
hearkens unto Sarahs voice] then, and only then, can he form DOCTRINE (Jacob bowing
to Esau as Lord).
To a spiritual man there
is great delight in the Doctrine of the Church he forms along with other men of the
Church. His delight in Doctrine is greater than his delight in his wife. Adam was more
delighted in his proprium (Eve) than in the Lords leading (celestial Adam). It is of
the Lords Mercy to will that the spiritual man discover the presence of this
Doctrine within his wife so that his wife may be as delightful as the Doctrine to him,
yeah, more delightful. Thus he becomes celestial, for to the husband of the celestial
Church, the wife is the greatest delight of all. At last, she becomes for him the sole
genuine doorway to the Lord Himself. As he thus takes on more and more splendiferous
aspects, she radiates more and more with an even deeper light of wisdom.
Women in the
Priesthood? see here: http://www.newchurchissues.org/wip/MF/mfndx.htm
- The Revolt of Woman Rev. W. L. Gladish
- The Essential Feminine Rev. Dandridge Pendleton
- The Purpose of Woman Rev. Ormond Odhner
- The Uses of Men and Women Rev. Harold Cranch
- Serving the Church Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
- The ?Women?s Lib? Movement Rev. Frederick L. Schnarr
- Women on Boards Rev. Alfred Acton
- A Comparison of Attitudes towards Woman Kathleen M. Nicolier
- Single Women and the Church Rev. Kurt H. Asplundh
- "Womens Work" Rev. Kurt P. Nemitz Men as Husbands and Fathers
- Rev. Willard L.D. Heinrichs Male and Female Created He Them Rev. Kurt H.
Asplundh
- The Male and Female Minds Rev. Erik Sandström, Sr.
- Women and Uses Rev. Kenneth J. Alden Some Thoughts on Masculinity Rt. Rev. Peter
M. Buss
- Link to "What the Bible Says about Sexual Equality" Rev. John Odhner
- The New Church - A True Liberator of Modern Women or Is the New Church Relevant
to Modern Life? Marianne Sharpe
- The Involvement of Women in the Uses of the Organized Church Zoe Gyllenhaal
Simons
- Masculine and Feminine George H. Woodard Feminine Wisdom [Comments] Rev. Erik
Sandström, Sr. [Comments: Linda Simonetti Odhner, Rev. Erik Sandström, Sr.]
- Growing Beyond the Natural Masculine and Feminine Approaches [Comments] Rev.
Eric Carswell [Comments: Anne Fitzpatrick, Margaret Shepp Hyatt, Rev. Eric Carswell]
- The Masculine Principle Rev. Alain Nicolier
- The Perfect Complement of Woman and Man Rt. Rev. Peter M. Buss
- The Difference between the Sexes from Divine Revelation and from Experience
Sarah Headsten
- "A Name of Glory and Honor" Rev. Robert S. Jungé
|
Go to the other parts: Part 1
|| Part
2 || Part 3
|| Part 4
On the meaning of UNITION--CONJUNCTION--MARRIAGE--RELIGION--Concepts
necessary to explain the Doctrine of the Wife
- Eve is our won proprium, our natural self or self-conscious existence, the
essential of which is the feeling of as-of self, i.e. "it is I who thinks, it is I
who feels, it is I who decides, it is I who wishes, etc." Prior to the state of Eve,
human beings lived in an earthly paradise, directly led by angels and spirits, of whom
they were consciously aware. However, at one stage people began to experience the desire
to be led by their own self so as to be able to plan their future and explore in unknown
areas, and less by inner instinct. The making of Eve is that delight we have when this
desire for independence is satisfied by the Lord. A certain spiritual darkness is
necessary for this; human beings would no longer possess infallible judgment by instinct
as animals do also. But a new danger is now present: the Snake.
- The darkening of the spiritual world to human beings on earth (called the Fall),
brought on both natural freedom and spiritual slavery. This was not a necessary outcome.
The spiritual decline occurred only when people began to doubt the Word of God as
preserved is Sacred Scriptures given to every culture, society, and tribe in the form of
religious traditions or church. With the decline of the church came false beliefs, which
led to a lack of wisdom in practical life. Social life then became "a problem"
and required historical characteristics such as wars, famine, sickness, competition,
injustice, deceit, conflict, discord, unhappiness, and hate.
However a
means of salvation was provided in advance by the Lord: regeneration through temptations.
All men and women who want to compel their natural self to a life in obedience to their
religion, gradually receive a new conscious rational perception of spiritual realities.
- Regeneration is effected through temptations. As temptations are overcome in
spiritual battles of conscience vs. desire, we begin to construct a new conscious self,
one composed of rational elements only. Rational elements are within and above natural
elements (by Creation). Rational ideas are abstracted from space-time concepts; or,
space-time concepts are external elements within which there is a controlling agency
called the spiritual. Our innate rational cognitions are capable of conjoining to the
spiritual elements so that we can feel them as part of our self from within. This felling
from within constitutes a new experience, a new inner sense, a new birth, a regeneration
of an old sense that human beings possessed prior to the Fall. The formation of this new
rational self which can sense eternal trues as a self-conscious ability is called the
formation of the Church within us. For further explanations on the sensuous vs. rational
consciousness, see this
article.
"A wife unites herself with her husband's
intelligence, and so with him. If therefore a man loves himself for his intelligence, he
withdraws this from his wife into himself, which causes division, not union" (CL
331). |
Spiritual
Physiology of Marriage
Step 1) the wifes external mind,
which is outer love, conjoins and appropriates the husbands external mind, which is
wisdom.
Step 2) the husbands internal
mind, which is inner love, conjoins and appropriates the wifes internal mind, which
is inner wisdom.
External
Mind |
=
Memories of people, places, events, things, honors, reputation, books. |
Internal
Mind |
=
Memories of loves, likes, affections, preferences, needs, wants. |
|
CONJUGIAL LOVE |
External |
Internal |
Love |
Desire
to conjoin, share, and be first to each other. |
to
raise a family and make each other happy |
to
be one angel in heaven |
Wisdom |
Seeing
what is true vs. fiction |
in
society, work place, art, science, religion |
in
relationships and character |
ADAM and EVE=MAN and WOMAN= HUSBAND and
WIFE
THE DOCTRINE OF THE WIFE
CHART
Note: The wifes
superiority (i.e. priority) lies in her deeper vision of the husbands celestial
temptations. This deeper vision gives her infallible judgment over matters involving her
husbands celestial temptations. The Doctrine of the Wife makes visible that
the domain of the wifes superiority is in the husbands celestial
temptations. As well, it makes visible that she is not in a superior portion regarding
matters involving spiritual and national temptations. Unless it is known
what kind of temptation one is in celestial, spiritual, or natural one world not
know when the wifes has infallible judgment. Every regenerating husband has
areas of celestial temptations and these become increasing by visible as he overcomes
natural and spiritual temptations apart from the wife. The content of celestial
temptations in general deals with natural things from the rational, i.e.,
PSYCHO-POLITICS OF USES IN EVERYDAY LIFE. In this battle the first rational (Ishmael) is
favored by the husbands natural inclinations and opposes ("mocks") the
second rational (Isaac) conceived within the wifes affections and judgment (Sarah)
and to received by the husband (Abraham). When the husband overcomes as of self his inmost
resistance to his wifes vision/perception of truth (judgment) [Abraham hearkens unto
Sarahs voice] then, and only then, can he form DOCTRINE (Jacob bowing to E? or
Lord).
To a spiritual man there
is great delight in the Doctrine of the Church he forms along with other men of the
Church. His delight in Doctrine is greater than his delight in his wife. Adam was more
delighted in his proprium (Eve). Than in the Lords leading celestial Adam). It is of
the Lords Mercy to will that the spiritual man discover the presence of this
Doctrine within his wife so that his wife may be as delightful as the Doctrine to him,
yeah, more delightful. Thus he becomes celestial, for to the husband of the celestial
Church, the wife is the greatest delight of all. At last, she becomes for him the sole
genuine doorway to the Lord Himself. As he thus takes on more and more splendiferous
aspects, she radiates more and more with an even deeper light of wisdom.
The Psychobiology of
Gender
Female man * Male man
Wife * Husband
1 couple unit
Psychology Key: Woman = motivated or
affective (will) (love)
Man = cognitive (understanding) (wisdom)
N.B. Affections rule
Cognitions form within
*A wife is to be ruled by her husband
because cognitions separated (emptied) rule the natural (external). A husband is to obey
his wife because cognitions refilled (conjoined) achieve the couple state (for superior).
Relationships Gender
Differences
Why a man doesnt want to
commit himself to a relationship?
Control, Cowardice or (Fake
Independence) wants to retain control over woman avoiding changing his character
which a woman pressures him to do once the man the commits.
Selfishness and lack of caring,
Self-Destructive doesnt want to give up selfish activities and habits
(investing) wants to destroy himself by first destroying the woman and his relationship.
Doesnt want to give up other woman or men friends. Doesnt want
to share his money.
Why a woman wants and strives for a
relationship with commitment?
Conjunction (unity) wants to
evolve into a joint human (couple hood is completion of self)
Unselfish or Altruistic desires
to change herself so as to fit perfectly with her man.
Caring and Nurturing cares about
him so wants to be close and intimate so as to know how to take care of his needs.
Belonging needs overt signs of
belonging for reassurance and safety.
Romance wants to feel special and
exclusive.
Jealousy: reaction to
threat
- Outside threat to check relationships
(breaking up)
- Inner threat to ones self-esteem
(ego threat)
Different reasons for males and females:
("Im unworthy to be loved") ("Im inferior in compassion")
("Im not capable in compassion") ("Im replaceable")
c) Control, desire for (I own you; you
belong to me; no one can have you; youre just my property)
Jealousy: Zeal to
Protect
- Desire to protect relationships
- Fighting against loose ends in commitment
- Opposing general love of the sex (wonder,
lust vs. love of one of check sex)
Communication (Talk)
- Men use silence to control woman (if he
doesnt talk about it, she cant have he5r way and her demands can be ignored)
- Women use talk} to reach consensus, to
request help and attention, to play and share (intimacy) (safety), to release stress, to
overcome doubts and feelings of unworthiness
- Men use talk} to intimidate and impose
his will, to invalidate and criticize, to confuse (pool the wool over her eyes), to reduce
and woo, to focus on task and avoid relating
DISCLAIMER
[Does not pertain to extreme cases, e.g.
fatal attraction, abuse, mental, illness or deliberately calculating types]
Marriage is external
He/She is the one
Accommodating him/her (people are
unique, unique relationships, culture and self)
Finding out what he/she cares about
moment by moment
Solving his/her problems
Saving him/her form problems, not giving
him/her problems
Obey him/her
Make it safe to tell the truth, no
repercussions
Make up for transgressions remedy
Tell the truth, no deception, ever
Respond carefully to distress symptoms
- Let him/her say painful things without
reproach
- Be reassuring
- Dont assume you are being
criticized or attached
- Try to help him/her balance by remaining
calm and helpful and attentive
Be attentive all the time, no time out,
especially when fighting/arguing
It may feel strange to respond the way
he/she needs to be responded to
it evolves into your own way
face his/her
reality without denial
Avoid whose right/wrong style of
conversation
Develop exploratory style of talk to go
deeper without hurting, defending, accusing
Why men must give in to their women:
Its a mans world
Men automatically assume a position of
superiority
Men take their rights automatically
Men developed the social, economic and
judicial systems
Men are by definition biased toward male
views
Its the little things that show
the male predominance
- Women carrying burdens
- Men talking to men and ignoring women
- Mens violence in temper, word, act
- Mens silence on a topic
- Men looking a woman up and down
- Mens refusal to go along with
- Men hate weakness (no crying)
Men need womens sweetness but
dont allow themselves to have it by distancing form the women
Men cannot have love without obeying
their women as they expect their women to obey them
Men cannot be happy and evolve without
love
Children do not provide the kind of love
men need to be happy and fulfilled
Men need love to fell adequate, to be
healed of injuries, to become their true selves
The Revolt of Woman by Rev.
W.L. Gladish
(...)
What becomes of man's boasted superiority if he has in himself nothing of
conjugial love or even of the love of the sex, if his reception of that most universal
sphere which preserves creation depends wholly upon the female sex? May not this
superiority of woman be set over against the ability of his rational to climb into a light
in which women are not? "Conjugial love depends on the wife's love; and such is the
husband's love in reciprocation; and the wife's love does not depend on the husband's love
.... It is the reverse with those who are not in conjugial love" (De Conj. 34).
These passages clearly teach the superiority of woman
over man, of the wife over the husband.
Conjugial love is hers, not his. Consider what this involves. The conjugial
sphere is the most universal sphere proceeding from the Lord. It is the sphere which
preserves the created universe. It is the sphere not only of marriage, but also of
religion. Conjugial love is the source whence flow all human loves, spiritual as well as
natural. Man must receive through woman not only conjugial love but also love to the Lord,
mutual love, love of offspring, love of the neighbor; thus all that makes the sweetness,
beauty and joy of life is given by the Lord to woman and through her is transferred to man
so far as he, by return of her affection, is conjoined with her. Is it any wonder that
woman represents the church?
The truth of the matter is that the equality of man and
woman results from their inequality.
In his province-that of judgment and rational light man is supreme. His
understanding climbs into a light in which woman is not. For the sake of marriage the Lord
gives to him that light which is to guide them both.
In her province-that of affection-woman is supreme. Her will receives the
warmth of heaven. For the sake of marriage the Lord pours immediately into her soul that
conjunctive sphere which is for her husband as well as herself, which, having united them,
turns them to the Lord and then conjoins them with their fellows.
Therefore each is superior to the other; and each is also inferior to the
other. From the heights in which her will dwells, gently glowing with the warmth of
heaven, woman stoops to man in his poverty and offers him of her abundance. And if he
receives it and loves her, she lifts him up to the delectable mountains.
On the other hand, man also dwells upon the heights as to his understanding.
For the Lord separates his understanding from his will and lifts it up to the peaks where
it catches the eternal splendor of the Sun of Heaven. And from that Light he beckons the
woman to leave caring for bodily and earthly things and dwell with him in that splendor.
The reason we think that the Writings teach the inferiority of woman is that
the understanding is the only province of human life of which we have any conception. We
come of a faith-alone generation to which the will and its affections were unknown. We
ourselves still abide in the rind and husk and think of science as wisdom. If man can
think more deeply than woman, what is there left for her to do? Thought is the all of
life. She can indeed prepare her husband's meals and nurse the babies. But a servant can
do these things. Woman can show her equality with man only by invading his field, beating
him at his own game, becoming a more astute statesman and a better general of fighting
armies. Such is the thought of today.
(...)
The regenerating man recognizes his wife his equal because she is in all things
that he himself lacks so far his superior. He must acknowledge that superiority, and on
bended knee supplicate her to unite her grace, beauty and sweetness to his uncouth
austerity. And this not only in the days of courtship before marriage but his humility
before her grows with the years, and his wonder that she should hearken to his plea. To
him she becomes the embodiment of all his heart's desire, unattainable without her. Nor
does this at all involve placing his own burden of rational judgment upon her slender
shoulders. Here he is superior.
And as the understanding sees both for itself and for its will, so the husband
with a clearer sight looks out the untrod path for both.
(...)
So is it with man and woman. She, being a form of affection while he is a form
of understanding, is, as it were, both above and below him. She inspires him yet is guided
by him. From her unregenerate affections she looks up to his superior light. Yet has she
from within all things that form his rational. But with her they are only feelings,
impulses. She sees them as truths only when they have been formulated and spoken by him.
Her leadership is from within, hidden, unrecognized even by herself unless her husband has
wit enough to see it and show it to her. His leadership is open and manifest to all, and
to the unthinking seems the only leadership. Thus each leads and
each follows.
Each has a soul that reaches up to direct contact with God. Neither is the
internal of which the other is the external. Understanding from the Lord flows into the
male, but for love he must turn himself to woman. Love from the Lord flows directly into
the female, but for light she must turn to the man. The man does not represent the Lord
and the woman the church but both together represent the church (see CL 21), and in heaven
are not called two but one angel (HH 367).
(...)
If this study approaches a correct interpretation of the relation of man and
woman, it will be apparent that our sympathy should be with every movement which places
her by his side as altogether his equal; that everything which tends to encourage and
develop her interior leadership, or inspiration, should be most welcome; but that the
church should oppose all that takes the burden of external leadership and rational
judgment out of man's hands and places it in hers. For conjugial love is dependent on each
being supreme in his own sphere and seeking to be led by the opposite sex in those things
which belong to that sex.
-New Church Life, July 1915 (reprinted 1992;102:106-117)
Found it here: http://www.newchurchissues.org/wip/MF/mf15wg.htm |
The Spiritual
Psychobiology of Marriage
The diagram immediately above shows the
two phases or stages of marriage. Initially, the man's consciousness of externalizing
truth, which is the truth he knows, conjoins itself with the wife's externalizing good.
That is the wife's externalizing affections conjoin with the husband's externalizing
cognitions. Thus they form an externalizing marriage or bond. It is externalizing because
the man's truth and the wife's affections are both in the externalizing or lower degrees
of their consciousness. However, if the two partners continue to grow together and conjoin
more deeply within, then they enter phase 2 which is an internal union or conjunction. Now
their internalizing parts are conjoined or united--the man's internalizing good and the
woman's internalizing truth. Now for the first time the man becomes truly a husband and
the woman truly a wife.
In the diagram below, the same process
is portrayed. The externalizing union in stage 1 is shown to bond the man's externalizing
truth to the wife's externalizing good. This is not so much a true union as a partnership
since it resides in externalizing (or lower) parts of the consciousness. Husband and wife
as partners are adjoined to each other by externalizing natural life and family, but they
are not yet conjoined from within by inner or spiritual life. But in stage 2, the
husband's internalizing good is conjoined to the wife's internalizing truth. Now the
marriage consists of his affections covered over with her truths. This is a true
conjunction or union because it resides in the higher or internalizing regions of their
consciousness and life. Only when this stage of internal conjunction is achieved can they
be regenerated into a heavenly marriage and live together in eternity.
From Swedenborg's Arcana
Coelestia 1468.
He said to Sarai his wife. That this signifies that He so thought concerning the truths to
which celestial things were adjoined, is evident from the signification of Sarai when she
is called a wife. A "wife," in the internal sense of the Word, signifies nothing
else than truth conjoined with good; for the conjunction of truth with good is
circumstanced precisely as is a marriage. In the Word, when a "husband" is
mentioned, the husband signifies good, and the wife signifies truth; but when he is not
called the husband, but the "man," then he signifies truth, and the wife
signifies good: this is the constant usage in the Word, as before said (n. 915). In the
passage before us, as Abram is named, Sarai his wife signifies truth. To say thus to Sarai
his wife is, in the internal sense, to think so concerning the truths with which celestial
things were conjoined. It is historically true that Abram so said to his wife, when
journeying into Egypt; but as before said, all the historicals of the Word are
representative, and all the words are significative. No other historicals are recorded in
the Word, and in no other order, and no other words are used to express them, than such as
in the internal sense may express these arcana. |
Couples who do not progress to an
internal union of minds or spirits remain separated in their internals, and when they meet
again in the other life, they live with one another again for a brief period. They then
can become aware of each other's internal character and disposition, and these separate
them. Each is then given another partner with whom they can enter into an internal
marriage in heaven. But this happens only when both have been regenerated while still in
the physical body. If they are unsuitable to each other by internal disposition or genius
and separate, the one who is regenerate goes to heaven with the newly given conjugial
partner or soul mate, while the other who is not regenerated goes to hell where they enter
into an infernal concubinage with a partner. These infernal marriages are purely
externalizing and both partners are "devils" who hate each other's guts yet are
forced to endure each other in a marriage made in hell.
The Uses of Men and Women by
Rev. Harold Cranch
(...)
The masculine and feminine principles are present in all things, and are
analogous to good and truth, and their conjunction into one. Both love and wisdom are
present in the male, and in the female. But everything of love and wisdom in the male is
masculine, and everything of love and wisdom in the female is feminine in its nature.
Thus, there is a masculine love of the Lord, and a feminine love of the Lord, and they are
different. (1st. Index to Marriage, Posth. Th. II, page 530, Standard Edition.) There is
also masculine wisdom, and feminine wisdom. And since love is the life of man, and wisdom
is its love taking form in a regenerating life, we find the masculine and feminine both
described in terms of love.
"The inmost in the male is love, and its covering is wisdom . . . the
inmost in the female is .that wisdom in the male, and its covering is that derivative
love. This love is feminine love, and is given by the Lord to the wife, through the
wisdom of the husband, whereas the former love is a masculine love, and is the love of
being wise and is given by the Lord to the husband, according to :the reception of wisdom.
It is from .this .that the male is the wisdom of love, the female the love of that wisdom.
Therefore, from creation, there has been implanted into both the love of conjunction into
a one . . ." (CL 32)
and
"The male is born intellectual, the female voluntary . . . the male is
born into the affection of knowing, understanding, and being wise; . . . the female . . .
into the love of conjoining herself with the affections in the male. And as the interiors
form the exteriors into their own likeness, and as .the masculine form is the form of
understanding and ;the feminine form the form of its love, therefore, it is that the male
is different in face, in tone of voice, and in body from the female . . . they differ also
in their gestures and manners. In a word, there is not anything alike, but still there is
what is conjunctive in each thing . . . The masculine in the male is masculine in every
part of his body, even the smallest, and also in every idea of his .thought, and in every
spark of his affection. In like manner, the feminine in the female." (CL 33)
In an ideal marriage, the husband is the understanding of ,truth, and the wife
the will of applying that truth (CL 92 ; AE 100). In the male, the understanding
predominates. In the female, the will predominates. So we read:
"The masculine is to perceive from the understanding. The feminine is to
perceive from love. And the understanding perceives also those things which are about the
body, and outside of the world - for the rational and spiritual sight goes thither,
whereas love does not go beyond that which it feels. When it does go beyond, it derives it
from conjunction . . . with the understanding of the man . . . The wisdom of the wife is
not possible with the man nor the wisdom of the man with the wife. Nor is the moral wisdom
of man possible with women, insofar as it derives from his rational wisdom." (CL 168)
(...)
In the highest degree of regeneration and spiritual development, husband and
wife both represent aspects of wisdom. The man represents the love of acquiring wisdom, in
innocence, to learn the Lord's will. The wife then represents that wisdom in life- the
will to do from love what wisdom teaches. Her wisdom of life possesses all the knowledges,
truths, and rational concepts that his wisdom has evolved. So she is in the practical
wisdom of his love, and he is in a continual love for gaining increase in wisdom. As with
the most ancients, the will reigns. What the understanding learns is immediately willed,
and the loves of the will inspire greater wisdom.
Bishop Alfred Acton expressed this relationship of men and women in a very
beautiful way. He said:
"The inmost of the masculine is the love of growing wise. This love alone
prompts to the desire of laboring for the acquisition of knowledges and truths, which are
ultimately represented by the seed. The inmost of woman is wisdom itself, which is the
love of uses, for it is wisdom alone which prompts to the reception and love of truths,
that ,they may be forms of use which are ultimately represented by offspring." (NEW
CHURCH LIFE, April, 1922, page 148)
So the husband should be in the love of discovering and understanding truths,
his wife in the enlightenment and perception of those truths, to apply them to the life of
the family, and use them to develop in regeneration. It is from this that woman is
inmostly a form of wisdom. It is not wisdom to search into and acquire rational truths.
Wisdom is to love truths, .to cherish them, and to return them to ,the Lord as uses.
Therefore, as we read in the Heavenly doctrine: "Wisdom is the origin of beauty; in
woman, wisdom latent and concealed; in man, wisdom open and manifest." (CL 383)
(...)
Another important use primarily in the hands of women should be mentioned. The
standard of morality, particularly in regard to sex, and marriage, in any nation or
organization, is maintained by the ladies. . We are told that the moral wisdom of men,
which partakes of the rational, and the moral. wisdom of women, unite outwardly as both
have something of the will. Women have an innate perception of what is orderly and proper,
what is chaste, and modest. However, they also have the innate desire to please and to be
pleasing to men. If men fail in their duty, to become wise, to establish rational
safeguards for morality, and to use good judgment in regard to it, then women are apt to
lower their standards. Yet, if they do, .there is continual increase in immorality and
vice. Therefore, in the Writings, we are told that "the wife [and looking at this
more generally, womankind] is the faithful guardian of the common good; and as she is the
guardian of this, and the husband is wise, so she provides for the prosperity and
happiness of the home." (Index to the Missing Work on Marriage, s.v. sex) So wisdom
of life, and perception from that wisdom, is given to both men and women. Both are needed
for the proper performance of use.
(...)
From all these teachings, we can see that the wisdom and qualities of women are
needed in the development of the church, and they, together with their husbands, or
mankind and womankind together, are the church. But now let us examine the nature of the
incorporated body, and its uses to see if they involve both masculine and feminine
qualities.
(...)
To summarize: (1) Women are given a special understanding and enlightenment on
the applications of doctrine in their sphere of wisdom. This is true in regard to the
home, the preservation of morality, and particularly in the education, care, and welfare
of children. And as preparation for conjugial love, upon which the hope of the New Church
rests, can be made only in a sphere of genuine morality, their perception as to this is
needed in our body.
(2) Wisdom, to be complete, must be the wisdom of husband and wife together.
Each contributes to make the mutual wisdom of life from which sound judgments can be made,
and the church develop more fully. So we are told that angels, separated from their
consorts, are in intelligence, but not in wisdom; but with .their consorts, they are also
in wisdom. (AE 998) This would also have application to married partners here, and in more
general form, to the fact that good men are affected by the perception of good women.
(3) We have also seen that everything of life, everything of use, everything of
the church, has both masculine and feminine aspects. Therefore, the perception of
masculine and feminine wisdom, should be taken into consideration in regard to every use.
This is one of the important ways by which women become the custodians of the common good.
(4) It is evident that the teachings of the Writings regarding forensic
(business and legal affairs) and domestic uses, can be widely misunderstood. There are
domestic aspects to every use, as there are also forensic and legal needs. So it is said
that .the uses of the wife are adjoined to the uses of the husband, and to speak more
generally, the uses of womankind are adjoined to the uses of mankind. The decisions for
the forward progress of the church need legal provision and protection- a masculine use.
This is provided for by the Board of Directors. Implementation of uses is by both sexes,
and always involves clothing the more abstract principles with a body of application that
it may come into being, and may be returned to the Lord as a use- this is particularly a
feminine quality.
(...)
- New Church Life 1974;94:294-301
Found it here: http://www.newchurchissues.org/wip/MF/mf74hc.htm |
Marriage
as Psychiatry
(Healing of the soul and
mind)
- NOT GOOD FOR MAN TO BE ALONE
= Not good for man to love his own
wisdom hence himself.
- THEREFORE à WIFE FROM HIS RIB WHILE
HES ASLEEP
= He, as husband, can now love his
wifes love of his wisdom as he appropriates her love of his wisdom though he cannot
discern this since she hides it.
- Instead he thinks he woos her and that
his love in her while in fact her love is in him and she manages to have him believe she
is obedient and receptive when yet she is active and volitional.
- From this exchange of appropriation the
two become one and come into all the potentials not otherwise available ("conjugal
love" and its "heavenly felicity").
Correspondences from
Genesis
MAN LEAVING FATHER AND MOTHER
= Stop loving his own loves (father =
will) and his won wisdom (mother = understanding), born evil inclination.
CLEANING TO THIS WIFE
= Devotion to her = Loving her =
Receiving her love of him (his affections and wisdom), which love she has from
birth/influx.
MARRIAGE
= Spiritual reunion of man and
womans interiors = Becoming one flesh or one person or one angel.
End of Part 4
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Leon James
Related Articles:
Spiritual
Geography--Part 2: Jacob's Ladder and Other Psycho-Dynamic Applications|| Spiritual
Geography--Part 1-- Graphic Maps of Consciousness for Regeneration || Dual
Citizenship || Spiritual
Psychology || Spiritual
Time and Space || De
Hemelsche Leer Article || Theistic
Science || Religious
Psychology || Discrete
Degrees: A Top Down Presentation (Ian Thompson)
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