“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work.” - Revelation 22:12
Kempton New Church

Week 5
Day 6

    Listen:

Betrothal

The words which in the sense of the letter in [Genesis 24] treat of the betrothal and marriage of Rebekah with Isaac, in the internal sense treat of the initiation and conjunction of good and truth; for the initiation and conjunction of good and truth are spiritual betrothal and spiritual marriage. (Arcana Coelestia 3158)

Betrothals in Heaven and on Other Planets

CL 444.2. I asked the two angels from what society in heaven they were. They said: “We are from the heaven of innocence. We came into this heavenly world as infants and were brought up under the Lord’s auspices; and when I became a young man and my wife who is here with me became a marriageable girl, we were betrothed and contracted and were joined in marriage… We have not known of any other love than love truly nuptial and conjugial.”

CL 316.3. The Lord’s Divine Providence is most singular and at the same time most universal in regard to marriages in the heavens, and in the marriages themselves, because all the happiness of heaven springs from the delights of conjugial love, as sweet waters from the sweet vein of a fountain. Therefore it is provided by the Lord that conjugial pairs be born, and that, all unknown to the boy and girl, they be continually educated for marriage; that in due time, the girl, then a marriageable maiden, and the boy, then a young man fit for entrance into marriage, meet somewhere as if by chance and see each other; that, as if by instinct, they instantly know that they are mates, and, as though from a kind of inner dictate, think within themselves, the young man, “She is mine”, and the maiden, “He is mine.” And that after this thought has dwelt for some time in the minds of both, they deliberately address each other and are betrothed. It is said, as if by fate and as if by instinct, but what is meant is by Divine Providence because, when not known, Divine Providence has this appearance.

SE/SD 6110.33. There is sometimes an investigation by angels, previous to a betrothing, as to whether there exists the reciprocal of love. If not, they recognize the fact of themselves; and this is from the Lord.

EU 178. As regards betrothals and marriages among the inhabitants on that earth1, they related that a daughter of marriageable age is kept at home, and is not allowed to go out until the day when she is to be married; and that she is then conducted to a certain wedding house, to which a number of other young women who are marriageable have also been brought; and they are there placed behind a partition that is raised as high as the middle part of their bodies, so that they are seen undressed merely in respect to the breast and face; and then the young men come thither to choose one for a wife; and when a young man sees one who is like himself, and to whom his mind draws him, he takes her by the hand; and if she then follows he leads her into a house that has been made ready, and she becomes his wife. For in that earth people see from the faces of others whether they agree in their minds, because there the face of everyone is the index of the mind, being quite free from pretense and deception. That all things may be done in a becoming manner, and without lasciviousness, an old man sits behind the virgin girls, and at their side an old woman, and they keep watch. There are a number of such places to which the young women are led, and there are also stated times when the young men may make their choice. For if they do not see a girl who suits them in one place, they go away to another; and if not at that time, they return at a subsequent time. They said further that a husband has only one wife, and never more, because this is contrary to Divine order.


1 This earth is referred to as the fifth earth in the starry heaven in Earths in the Universe (EU 168).

Questions
  1. After reading these passages what do you think about the courtship and betrothal process that seems to occur in heaven?
  2. What can we learn from the heavenly courtship process?
  3. What do you think about the betrothal and courtship process as described in EU 178?
  4. Why is it difficult to relate to a betrothal and courtship process like the one described in EU 178?
  5. What can we learn from the courtship process described in EU 178?
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