9648. And for the other side of the Habitation at the corner of the north. That this signifies toward the exteriors of this heaven where truths are in obscurity, is evident from the signification of "the Habitation," as being heaven (see n. 9594); and from the signification of "the north," as being the exteriors in which truth is in obscurity (n. 3708). From this it is plain that by "the side of the Habitation at the corner of the north," is signified toward the exteriors of heaven, where truth is in obscurity. There are four states to which the four quarters in the world, namely, the east, the west, the south, and the north, correspond. The east corresponds to a state of good in its rising, the west to a state of good in its going down; the south corresponds to a state of truth in its light; and the north to a state of truth in shade (n. 3708). The state of good to which the east corresponds, and the state of truth to which the south corresponds, are interior states; and the state of good to which the west corresponds, and the state of truth to which the north corresponds, are exterior; for the more interior any state is, the more perfect it is; and the more exterior it is, the more imperfect, thus the more obscure. It is for this reason that the higher a man can be raised toward interior things, the more he comes into the perception of good, and into the light of truth; and therefore when a man puts off bodily things, which are the veriest external things, as is the case when he departs out of the world; if he has lived a life of truth and good he comes into intelligence and wisdom, and thus into the perception of every happiness; and into a perception the greater, in proportion as through a life of good from the doctrine of truth he has suffered himself to be raised toward the interior things of heaven.