5646. ABOUT WALKING: THAT THEY ARE CHANGES OF STATE ABOUT THE FORMS OF SPIRITS, AND THAT SPIRITS ARE APPEARANCES. Walkings, goings, and departures, are nothing else but changes of the state of the interiors; but, still, before the eyes of the spirits and angels, they appear exactly like walkings, goings and departures; which is like the case is with man's life, that he believes he lives from himself; and, by reason of his understanding of truth and will of good, that he believes he understands truth and wills good from himself; because it entirely appears so. Those appearances are so real, that the spirits are altogether unaware that they are from that origin; nor are they willing to know that they are thence; and the angels of heaven know, indeed, but do not talk about it. This is of the Lord's Divine Providence, in order that everyone may seem to himself to live and act from himself. This derives its origin from man's walkings and goings in the world. Naturally, men walk from place to place, because space is there and time is there; but, in the other life, there are neither spaces nor times other than appearances according to states. But, when men actually walk about, then it is indeed the body that does it, but it is from the will in the plane of action; and, so far as the will is present, in that degree the man himself walks. Wherefore, when they are in the other life, instead of spaces and times, there are states and those things which are appearances of state; and a spirit, also, is an appearing man.* (For a spirit, there, is an appearing man before the eyes of others, owing to the fact that the Lord's Divine in heaven is a man. Hence are so many varieties, as regards forms, in the countenances of spirits, according to the changes of state, their presence and absence.) Spirits and angels are, indeed, actual forms; but they have nothing of life from themselves. They are led by the Lord according to [their] life; for in God we live, move, and are. These forms are recipients of the Divine: and, in whatever manner they receive, just such they are. Because those forms are the forms of interior nature, or are in the spiritual world, they are adapted to all the changes and variations of state, and this to an immense and incredible extent, and in greater extent according as they are in interiors to what extent and of what kind, there, is incredible. Hence is manifest how much [fuller] recipients they in the heavens who are in the inmost [heavens], are, than those in the lower [heavens] and in the world of spirits; consequently, recipients of the wisdom and the bliss which belong to life from the Divine. * In the margin: "N.B."