Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 10837

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10837. As regards betrothals and marriages among the inhabitants on that earth, they related that a daughter of marriageable age is kept at home, and is not allowed to go out until the day when she is to be married; and that she is then conducted to a certain wedding house, whither also have been brought a number of other young women who are marriageable; and they are there placed behind a partition that is raised as high as the middle part of their bodies, so that they are seen undressed merely in respect to the breast and face; and then the young men come thither to choose one for a wife; and when a young man sees one who is like himself, and to whom his mind draws him, he takes her by the hand; and if she then follows he leads her into a house that has been made ready, and she becomes his wife. For in that earth people see from the faces of others whether they agree in their minds, because there the face of everyone is the index of the mind, being quite free from pretence and deception. That all things may be done in a becoming manner, and without lasciviousness, an old man sits behind the virgin girls, and at their side an old woman, and they keep watch. There are a number of such places to which the young women are led, and there are also stated times when the young men may make their choice. For if they do not see a girl who suits them in one place, they go away to another; and if not at that time, they return at a subsequent time. They said further that a husband has only one wife, and never more, because this is contrary to Divine order.


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