Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4222

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4222. As regards the correspondence of the Grand Man with the things present in man, this is a correspondence with every single part of him. That is to say, it is a correspondence with his organs, members, and viscera, in so much indeed that not one organ or member exists in the body, not one part within any organ or member, nor even one small part of any part, with which there is no correspondence. It is well known that every organ and every member within the body consists of parts, and of parts of the parts. The brain, for example, consists in general of the cerebrum, the cerebellum, the medulla oblongata, and the medulla spinalis, the latter being a continuation or so to speak appendage. But the cerebrum consists of many members which are its parts, namely the membranes called the dura mater and the pia mater, the corpus callosum, the corpora striate, the ventricles and cavities, the smaller glands, the septa, in general the cineritious substance and the medullary substance, in addition to sinuses, blood vessels, and plexuses. It is similar with the sensory and motor organs of the body, and with the viscera, as is well known from anatomical studies. All these parts of the body in general and in particular correspond most exactly to the Grand Man, being as many in number so to speak as the heavens. For the Lord's heaven in a similar way divides up into smaller heavens; the smaller into those that are smaller still; the smaller still into the smallest; and lastly the smallest into individual angels, of whom each one is a miniature heaven corresponding to the grand one. These heavens are quite distinct and separate from one another, yet each one belongs to its own general heaven, and the general heavens to the most general or whole, which is the Grand Man.


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