Arcana Coelestia (Elliott): AC 130

Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 130

130. The person who wishes to become wise from the world has for his 'garden' sensory evidence and factual knowledge. His 'Eden' is self-love and love of the world, his 'east' is the west or himself. His 'river Euphrates' is all his factual knowledge, which is condemned; his 'second river', where Asshur is, is his insane reasoning from which come falsities; his 'third river', where Cush is, is the resulting assumptions he makes consisting of evil and falsity, which are his cognitions of faith; his 'fourth' is the wisdom that results, which in the Word is called magic. This is why Egypt, which means knowledge, after it has become magical, means this kind of person, the reason being that he wants to become wise from self, as shown throughout the Word. Such people are described in Ezekiel as follows,

Thus said the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster lying in the midst of his rivers, who said, My river is my own, and I have made myself. And the land of Egypt will be made into a desolation and a waste. And they will know that I am Jehovah. Moreover he has said, The river is mine, and I made it. Ezek 29:3, 9.

People like this are also called in the same prophet where again Pharaoh or the Egyptian is the subject 'the trees of Eden in hell' as follows,

I will cause him to go down into hell with those going down into the pit. Whom have you become like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? You will be made to go down with the trees of Eden into the nether world, in the midst of the uncircumcised, with those pierced by the sword. This is Pharaoh and all his horde. Ezek 31:16, 18.

Here 'trees of Eden' stands for facts and cognitions drawn from the Word which they profane in this manner by means of reasonings.

GENESIS 2:18-25

And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man ^a should be alone. I will make for him a help suitable for him.
And Jehovah God formed out of the ground every beast of the field, and every bird of the air,^b and He brought it to the man to see what he would call it; and whatever the man called it, the living creature,^c that was its name.
And the man gave names to every beast, and to the birds of the air,^b and to every wild animal of the field; but for man there was not found a help suitable for him.
And Jehovah God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he fell asleep; and He took one of his ribs, and He closed up the flesh in its place.
And Jehovah God built the rib which He took from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man.
And the man said, By this change, it is bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; for this she will be called Wife, because she was taken out of man (vir).
Therefore a man (vir) will leave his father and his mother and will cling to his wife, and they will be one flesh.
And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

Notes

^a Unless otherwise indicated man in these verses 18-25 represents the Latin homo.
^b lit. bird of the heavens (or the skies)
^c lit. the living soul

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