Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 9918

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9918. Pomegranates. That hereby are signified memory-knowledges of good, is evident from the signification of "pomegranates," as being the memory-knowledges of good (see n. 9552). That pomegranates were put upon the skirts of the robe, was because "the skirts" signified the ultimates or extremes of heaven and the church, and the ultimates or extremes of the church are memory-knowledges, as is evident from what was said above (n. 9915, 9917), about the successive order of goods and truths in the heavens and with man. The memory-knowledges of good and truth which are signified by "the pomegranates," are doctrinal things from the Word, which are memory-knowledges insofar as they are in the memory which is in the external or natural man. But when they enter into the memory which is in the internal or spiritual man, as is the case when the man lives according to them, then doctrinal things as to truth become of faith, and doctrinal things as to good become of charity, and are called spiritual. When this is done, they almost vanish out of the external or natural memory, and appear as it were innate, because they are then implanted in the man's life, like all those things which through daily use have become as it were of his nature. From this it is evident what memory-knowledges are, and what purpose they serve; consequently what purpose the doctrinal things of the church serve so long as they are kept solely in the memory; for so long as they are kept in the memory only, they have a place beneath intelligence and wisdom; and they do not ascend, or enter into the life, until they become of faith and charity in the internal man.


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