90. As the Divinity and Sanctity of the Word are here treated of, there may be added an experience worthy of note to what has already been said. There was once sent down to me from heaven a piece of paper covered with Hebrew characters, but written as they used to be among the Ancients, with whom those letters, which today are partly linear, were curved with little flourishes turning upwards. The angels who were then with me said that they understood a complete sense from the letters themselves, but a special sense from the curves and the upturned flourishes over any letter. They explained what the letters and the inflections signified, both separately and conjointly; and they said that the letter H, which was added to the names Abram and Sarai, signified the infinite and the eternal. They also explained to me the meaning of the Word in Psalm xxxii 2 from the letters or syllables alone; adding that the meaning of the letters with all the inflections included was, that the Lord is merciful even to those who do evil.
[2] They informed me that writing in the third heaven consisted of letters inflected and variously curved each of which contained a certain meaning; that the vowels there indicated sound, which corresponds to affection; that in that heaven they cannot pronounce the vowels i and e, but employ instead of them y and eu; and that the vowels a, o, and u are in use among them, because these have a full sound. They also said that they did not sound any consonants hard, but soft; and for this reason certain Hebrew letters had dots within them, as a sign that they should have a soft pronunciation.
They added that a hardness in sounding letters was in use in the spiritual heaven, because there the angels are in truths, and truth admits of hardness; but good does not, in which are the angels of the celestial or third heaven. They said, moreover, that they had the Word among them written in letters inflected with the upturned flourishes (tittles) which have a meaning of their own. From this it was plain what is signified by these words of the Lord:
One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the Law, till all be fulfilled. Matt. v 18;
and also:
It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the Law to fail. Luke xvi 17.