2208. THE ATTEMPT OF AN ANGEL TO ACT BY MEANS OF CORRESPONDENCES. A certain angel, when I was walking in the way, attempted to see how those things which belong to an angel inflowed into man's thought, and thus to explore correspondences; but he did not succeed, save in a few things. The reason was, as I perceived, that the thoughts of angels, though richer than man's thought, were very few in comparison with the correspondence excited; and further, that when they be omitted from his own proprium, evil affections were excited; and also further, such as were of the grosser sort, that when they excited such things out of their own [thoughts], they also excited in the mind things that were mixed; thence gave spirits a handle to excite more incongruous ideas. In a word, the ideas of angels are most limited [finitissimae] nor can they ever lead man. But so far as they act from proprium, they pervert. - 1748, June 6.