595. And the rainbow above his head, signifies the interior things of the Word. This is evident from the signification of the "rainbow," as being Divine truth such as the Word is in the spiritual sense (of which presently); and from the signification of "above the head," as being what is interior; for "above" and "higher" signify within and interior, as can be seen from this, that in heaven when interior is said higher is meant; for the heavens of the angels who are interior or interiorly wise appear also above the heavens of the angels who are more external or externally wise. For this reason the three heavens are distinguished from one another by their height, the inmost or third heaven appearing above the middle or second heaven, and this above the ultimate or first. [2] "Higher" signifies interior, because when higher and lower things are together, that is, form what is simultaneous, as in the head of man, they exist together in such an order that those things that had in successive order existed above are placed within, and those that had in successive order existed below are placed without. This is why higher things signify interior things, and lower things signify exterior things. This may be illustrated to the comprehension by the idea of a surface, in the center of which are things purer, and in the circumferences things grosser; things higher and lower form such a surface when they are let down into one and make what is simultaneous. From this it can also be seen, what is signified by the "angel," spoken of just above, "encompassed with a cloud," since for the same reason and from the same idea, "to be encompassed" means by what is without and below. [3] A "rainbow" signifies interior Divine truth, such as the Word is in the spiritual sense, because the light of heaven, like as the light of the world, according to its incidence upon objects and its modification in them, presents variegations of color and also rainbows; these it has also sometimes been granted me to see in the angelic heaven (as may be seen described in Arcana Coelestia, n. 1623-1625). But the rainbows that appear in the angelic heaven differ from the rainbows that appear in the world, in that the rainbows of heaven are from a spiritual origin, while the rainbows of the world are from a natural origin; for the rainbows of heaven are from the light that arises from the Lord as a sun, and as that sun is in its essence the Lord's Divine love, and the light therefrom is Divine truth, the variegations of light which are presented as rainbows are variegations of intelligence and wisdom with the angels. From this it is that rainbows there signify the form and beauty of spiritual Divine truth. But the rainbows of the world are from a natural origin, namely, from the sun of the world and its light; therefore they are merely modifications and consequent variegations of light by waters that fall from a cloud. And because there are like appearances of color in the spiritual world as in the natural world, and because these correspond, therefore the rainbows of the world have a similar signification as the rainbows of heaven, namely, spiritual Divine truths in their form and beauty; these truths are such as those of the Word in the spiritual sense. [4] "Rainbows" have a similar signification in Ezekiel:
Above the expanse that was over the head* of the cherubim was the appearance of a sapphire stone, the likeness of a throne; and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as of the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as it were the appearance of a living coal like the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins and upward; but from the appearance of his loins even downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about, as the appearance of a rainbow that is in the cloud in the day of rain so was the appearance of the glory round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Jehovah (Ezek. 26-28). As the "cherubim" signify providence and guard that the Lord be not approached except through the good of love, there appeared a throne, and upon the throne the appearance of a man; "throne" signifying the universal heaven, and the "man upon the throne," the Lord Himself; "the appearance of a living coal, like the appearance of fire from the appearance of his loins and upward," signifies celestial Divine love, which reigns in the higher heavens, for the higher heavens are represented by the upper part of the body, from the loins upward, to which they correspond, for these heavens constitute that part in the Greatest Man, which is heaven; "fire like a living coal" signifies that love, so do the "loins," for the "loins" correspond to the marriage of good and truth, which those have who are in the higher heavens; this is why heaven is called a "marriage," and the Lord is called the "bridegroom" and "husband," and heaven and the church the "bride" and "wife." "From his loins downward he appeared like the brightness of fire which was like a rainbow" signifies the spiritual Divine love, which reigns in the lower heavens, for the region of the body from the loins down to the soles of the feet corresponds to that love; and because that love proceeds from celestial Divine love it is called "fire and its brightness;" Divine truth from the Divine good of love is what is bright and presents the appearance of a rainbow. This makes evident also that the translucence of spiritual Divine truth through natural Divine truth is what produces that appearance in the heavens, and consequently that is what it signifies (as was said above; but this can be more clearly understood from what is said on Heaven in the work on Heaven and Hell; that from the Lord's Divine Human it represents One Man, n. 59-86; on the Correspondence of all Things of Heaven with all Things of Man, n. 87-102; and in the Arcana Coelestia, on the correspondence of the loins, n. 3021, 4280, 4462, 5050-5062). [5] "The bow in the cloud" or the rainbow, has a similar signification in the book of Genesis:
God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I give between Me and you and every living soul that is with you, unto the generations of an age. I have given My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall be in clouding Myself with a cloud over the earth that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living soul in all flesh; and the waters shall no more be for a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud, and I see it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul in all flesh that is upon the earth (9:12-17). Unless it is known that there is a spiritual sense in every particular of the Word it may be supposed that the bow in the cloud, which is called a rainbow, appears for a sign that the earth shall no more be destroyed by a flood, and yet that bow exists from causes in nature, and is produced mediately when rays of light from the sun pass through the watery particles of rain from a cloud, which shows that like bows or rainbows existed before the flood. For this reason, in consequence of the correspondence between spiritual and natural things, such rainbows as are seen from the earth by men mean such rainbows as are seen by angels in the spiritual world, all of which arise from the light of heaven and its modification in the spiritual-natural sphere there, and thus from spiritual Divine truth, and its translucence in natural Divine truth; for all light in heaven is spiritual, and in its essence is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord. From this it can be seen that "the bow in the cloud or rainbow" signifies spiritual Divine truth translucent through natural Divine truth, and there is such a translucence with those who are being reformed and regenerated by the Lord by means of Divine truth and a life according to it. In the heavens also this very translucence appears as a rainbow. "The sign of a covenant" signifies the Lord's presence and conjunction with such, for "covenant" signifies conjunction. This sign was given because the "flood," by which the human race was then destroyed, signifies the direful falsities of evil, from which the posterity of the Most Ancient Church perished. The restoration and the establishment of a new church, called the Ancient Church, by Divine truth conjoined to spiritual good, which in its essence is charity, are what rainbows representatively manifest in heaven and thence signify in the world. (But as these words involve more arcana than can be explained briefly, see for a detailed explanation of them Arcana Coelestia, n. 1031-1059.) * Latin has "expanse," the Hebrew "the head," as is also found in AE n. 253, 280, 297.
This page is part of 
© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church