Spiritual Experiences (Buss) n. 5595

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5595. It must be known, moreover, that spiritual speech is in many expressions of human speech, principally those which belong to sensation, as, for example, when seeing is spoken about understanding; about perceiving, smelling is said; about tasting, in like manner, but in a grosser sense; that to hear is to obey, and so on. There is a spiritual therein, from the spiritual world. In the words of human speech are many such [cases]; and man is unaware that they are from the spiritual world, because he does not know what the spiritual is, nor what correspondence. The speech of the most ancient people was of such a character. At that time, the speech of words was exceedingly full of such [instances]: at first, [it was] spiritual, afterwards more and more natural, and at length sensual, such as it is at this day. That there was a most ancient speech of ideas and affections, see what [is said] about it in various places.


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