If this happens, it destroys the order imprinted on conjugial love. For the human mind contains three regions, the highest of which is called celestial, the middle one spiritual, and the lowest natural. A person is by birth in the lowest region, but climbs to the higher one called spiritual by living in accordance with the truths of religion, and to the highest by the marriage of love and wisdom. The lowest region, called the natural one, is where all the longings for evil and wantonness dwell. But the higher region, called spiritual, contains no longings for evil or wantonness; it is into this that the person is guided by the Lord when he is reborn. In the highest region, called the celestial, is the dwelling of conjugial chastity in its love. A person is lifted into this by the love of performing services, and since the most outstanding services are those arising from marriage, by truly conjugial love.

[2] This can offer a brief summary of how conjugial love from the earliest phase of its warmth must be lifted up from the lowest into a higher region, so as to become chaste. Then from chastity it can come down through the middle and lowest regions into the body. When this happens the lowest region is cleansed of its unchastity by the chaste love coming down. As a result the lowest level of this love becomes chaste. Now if the successive stages of this love are hurried on by premature physical union, the consequence is that the person acts from the lowest region, which is by birth unchaste. It is well known that this is the beginning and source of coldness towards marriage and neglect accompanied by distaste for a partner. Still there may be widely differing results from premature unions, as well as from too protracted engagements and too hasty ones. But they are so numerous and varied that it would be difficult to list them.