16. [47.] XVI
EVERY HUMAN BEING IS AN AFFECTION, AND THERE ARE AS MANY DIFFERENT AFFECTIONS AS THERE ARE HUMAN BEINGS BORN, OR THAT WILL BE BORN TO ETERNITY
This can be established especially from the case of angels in heaven and spirits in hell, all of whom are affections, spirits in hell being evil affections which are lusts, and angels in heaven being good affections. The reason every human being is an affection is that his life is love, and it is prolongations and derivations from the love that are called affections; because of this, affections are in themselves loves, too, but subordinate to the general love as their master or head. Accordingly, with life itself being love, it follows that each and all things of life are affections, consequently that man himself is an affection. [2] Most people in the world will be astonished at this. That they will be, it was given me to learn orally, from every one passing from the natural world into the spiritual; so far I have not come across one who knew that he was an affection; indeed, few knew what an affection is, and when I said that an affection is love in its prolonged and derived form, they asked what love is, saying they knew what thought is, inasmuch as they perceive that, but they did not know what an affection is, because no one has a perception of it as they have of thought. That love is part of the nature of things, they said they knew, from a betrothed maiden's love before marriage, from a mother's love for her children, and also to some extent from the father's love when kissing his newly-married wife or his child, though some said in place of these "his mistress". When I told them that thought is not anything itself, but is something by reason of an affection that is of a man's life's love, the thought arising from this, just as a thing formed arises from what forms it, and further that the reason the thought is perceived but not the affection, is because a thing formed is perceived but not that which forms it, just as the body is perceived by the bodily senses but not the soul-then, being amazed at [3] what I had told them, they were instructed in regard to it by several things of practical experience; as for instance that all things of their thought are from affection and in accordance with it; then, too, that they were unable either to think without affection or to think contrary to it; furthermore, that every one is such as his affection is, and consequently every one is examined in respect of his affection and no one in respect of his speech, for speech is the expression of the thought that is of external affection, and this is a desire to favour, or to please, or to be praised, or to be esteemed civil, moral or wise, and to desire these things for the sake of ends embraced by the internal affection, towards which ends these things are means. Nevertheless, unless a man is a consummate hypocrite, the affection itself is detected from the tone of his voice, for the words spoken are of thought and the sound in them is of affection. Accordingly they were told that as there is no speech apart from sound, neither can there be thought apart from affection; and that, in consequence, it is clear that affection is the all of thought, just as sound is the all of speech, speech being only the articulation of sound.
[4] By these things they were taught that a human being is nothing but an affection, and afterwards by this fact, that the whole heaven and the whole hell are distinguished, as a kingdom is, into provinces, and into societies according to the general and specific differences of affections, and most assuredly not according to differences of thoughts; and furthermore, that these differences are known only to the Lord.
Hence it follows that the varieties and differences of affections are infinite in number, and are as many as human beings born, or that will be born to eternity.