V.
THREE DISTINCT HEAVENS.
HERE are three heavens quite distinct from each other; the inmost or third, the middle or second, and the ultimate or first. They follow in order and are mutually related like the highest part of man, which is called the head; his middle, which is the body; and the lowest, which is the feet; and like the highest, middle and lowest stories of a house. The Divine which proceeds and descends from the Lord is also in similar order. Therefore, from the necessity of order, heaven is threefold.
The interiors of man which belong to his rational and natural mind, are also in similar order. He has an inmost, a middle and an ultimate. For when man was created all things of divine order were collated into him, so that he was made divine order in form, and thence a heaven in miniature. For this reason also he communicates with the heavens as to his interiors, and comes among the angels after death; among those of the inmost, middle or lowest heaven, according to his reception of divine good and truth from the Lord during his life in the world.
It is to be carefully noted that the interiors of the
