decreases toward the exteriors; because interior things are nearer the Divine, and in themselves purer; but exterior things are more remote from the Divine, and in themselves grosser. Angelic perfection consists in intelligence, wisdom, love and every good, and thence in happiness; but not in happiness without the former; for without them happiness is external and not internal. Since the interiors of the angels of the inmost heaven are open to the third degree, therefore their perfection immensely surpasses that of the angels of the middle heaven, whose interiors are open to the second degree. In like manner the perfection of the angels of the middle heaven surpasses that of the angels of the ultimate heaven.
In consequence of this difference, an angel of one heaven cannot enter in among the angels of another. In other words, one cannot ascend from an inferior heaven, nor descend from a superior one. Whoever ascends from an inferior heaven is seized with painful anxiety; nor can he see those who are there, still less converse with them. And whoever descends from a superior heaven, is deprived of his wisdom, stammers in his speech, and is filled with despair.
Some angels of the ultimate heaven, who had not yet been taught that heaven depends on the state of the interiors, believed that they should come into superior heavenly happiness if they could only come into a heaven of superior angels. They were therefore permitted to enter. But when there they saw no one how-
