Unless it is known that there are degrees, what they are, and what their nature is, the things that follow cannot be comprehended, since in every created thing, thus in every form, there are degrees. Wherefore in this Part of THE ANGELIC WISDOM degrees will be treated. That there are degrees of love and wisdom, can be clearly established from the angels of the three heavens. The angels of the third heaven so far surpass the angels of the second heaven in love and wisdom, and these, the angels of the lowest heaven, that they cannot be together. The degrees of love and wisdom distinguish and separate them. Hence it is that angels of the lower heavens cannot ascend to angels of higher heavens; and if they are allowed to ascend, then they do not see them nor anything that is about them. They do not see them because the love and wisdom of the higher angels is in a higher degree, and this transcends perception. For each angel is his own love and wisdom, and love together with wisdom is in its form a man, because God Who is Love itself and Wisdom itself, is a Man. It has sometimes been granted me to see that angels of the lowest heaven ascended to angels of the third heaven; and when they had made their way thither, I have heard them complaining that they did not see anyone, and yet they were in the midst of those angels. Afterwards they were instructed that the angels were invisible to them because their love and wisdom were imperceptible to them, and that love and wisdom are what make an angel appear as a man.