76. It ought to be known, however, that angels cannot be seen by a man through the eyes of his body but through the eyes of the spirit within him,# because this is in the spiritual world, while all things of the body are in the natural world. Like sees like from being alike. Besides, as everyone knows, the bodily organ of sight which is the eye is so gross as to be unable even to see, except through magnifying glasses, the smaller things of nature; still less then can it see the things that are above the sphere of nature such as are all things in the spiritual world. But these things may be seen by a man when he is withdrawn from the sight of the body, and the sight of his spirit is opened. This takes place instantly whenever it pleases the Lord that these things should be seen. In that case, the man does not know but that he is seeing them with his bodily eyes. Angels were seen in this way by Abraham, Lot, Manoah and the Prophets. Thus, too, was the Lord seen by the disciples after the resurrection, and angels have been seen by me in the same way. Because the Prophets saw in this way, they were called "seers", and were said "to have their eyes opened" i Sam. ix. 9, Num. xxiv. 3, and enabling them to see thus was called "opening their eyes" as with Elisha's lad of whom we read,
Elisha prayed and said, Jehovah, I pray Thee, open his eyes that he may see; and when Jehovah opened the eyes of his young man, behold, he saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. 2 Kings vi. 17. # Man, as to his interiors, is a spirit (n. 1594); and the spirit is the man himself, for the body lives from the spirit (n. 447, 4622, 6054).