Pre-existence
'...The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew...' -Genesis 2:4-5
This earth and everything on it was first created in the Spirit World or the higher Planes before it manifested on this Physical Plane. This includes mankind as Jesus taught; "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things. And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven." (St John 3:12-13) The Mormon Church calls this the Pre-existence.
Apocalypse Explained, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1757-9], tr. by John Whitehead [1911], at sacred-texts.com
1203.(Continuation) [2] Something shall now be said about the vegetable kingdom, and its soul, which is called the plant soul. That this, too, is spiritual is not known in the world... That the living force... is the spiritual... will be seen in what follows.
1204. ...(Continuation) ...(1) Nothing in nature exists and subsists except from the spiritual and by means of it. (2) Nature in itself is dead, being created that the spiritual may be clothed by it with forms that may serve for use... (5) From the spiritual by means of these forces both plants and animals, both those which appear in heaven and those which are in the world, have their existence. (6) These two classes have the same origin and thus the same soul, the difference being only in the forms into which the influx flows...
1206. ...(Continuation) [2] (1) Nothing in nature exists except from the spiritual and by means of it. The reason of this is that nothing can exist except from another, and so finally from Him who is and exists in Himself, who is God... Nothing in nature comes forth except from the spiritual, because nothing is possible without a soul. All that is called soul, which is essence, for that which has in itself no essence has no existence... Thus it is with nature. Its essence from which it exists is the spiritual, because this has in itself the Divine... force... Moreover, this essence may be called soul. For everything spiritual is living... For there is a spiritual world; and that world is prior, interior and superior to the natural world, consequently everything in the spiritual world is a cause, and everything in the natural world is an effect...
1207. ...(Continuation) [2] (2) Nature in itself is dead, being created in order that the spiritual may be clothed by it with forms that may serve for use... Nature and life are two distinct things. Nature has its beginning from the sun of this world, and life has its beginning from the sun of heaven. The sun of the world is pure fire, and the sun of heaven is pure love. That which proceeds from the sun that is pure fire is called nature; and that which proceeds from the sun that is pure love is called life...
1210. ...(Continuation) [2] (5) From the spiritual, by means of these forces, both plants and animals, both those that appear in heaven and those in the world, have their existence. Such things exist also in heaven, because these forces are in the spiritual in things greatest and in things least... thus in the spiritual both in heaven and in the world. Its firsts are in the heavens... For there are degrees of spiritual things, and each degree is distinct from the other, and the prior or higher degree is more perfect than the... lower. This is evident from the light and the heat in the heavens, and from the wisdom of the angels from these. The light in the highest or third heaven is from a flame so brilliant as to exceed a thousand times the midday light of the world; in the middle or second heaven the light is less bright, and yet exceeds a hundred times the noonday light of the world; in the lowest or first heaven the light is like the noonday light of our world. Also there are degrees of heat, which in heaven is love, and according to those degrees the angels have wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. Everything spiritual belongs to the light and heat that are from the Lord as a sun, and wisdom and intelligence are from these...
1211. ...(Continuation) [2] Something shall now be said about plants in heaven, as the animals there have already been spoken of. In the heavens, as on the earth, there are plants of all genera and species; yea, in the heavens there are also plants that are not on the earth, for there are composite forms of the different genera and species with infinite variation. This they derive from their origin... [3] According to the degrees of light and heat there, paradisal gardens, groves, fields, and plains are seen; and in these, groups of trees and flowers and lawns. In the inmost or third heaven especially there are orchards whose fruits drop oils; beds of flowers from which fragrant odors are spread abroad, and the seeds of which are sweet to the taste from the fragrance and the oil; and there are lawns diffusing like odors. In the middle or second heaven there are orchards whose fruits drop wine; and flower-beds from which exhale pleasant odors, with seeds of delicate flavor, and also lawns. In the lowest or first heaven there are the same things as in the inmost and in the middle heaven, with a difference of delights and pleasantnesses according to degrees... [4]... All these germinate from the lands there. There are lands there, as with us; but nothing springs up from seed sown, but only from seed created; and creation there is instantaneous, sometimes enduring for a long time and sometimes only for a moment; for they exist there by means of the forces of light and heat from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord... In the lands that are in the heavens... all things are spiritual with a natural appearance; but in the lands that are subject to the sun of our world it is not so...
1212. ...(Continuation) [2] (6) These two classes, animals and plants, have the same origin, and thus the same soul, the difference being only in the forms into which the influx flows. It has been shown above that the origin of animals, which also is their soul, is spiritual affection, such as man has in his natural. That plants have the same origin is evident especially from plants in the heavens, in their appearing according to the affections of angels, and representing those affections, even so that the angels see and recognize their affections in them as in their types; also that they are changed as the affections change; but this occurs outside of the societies. The only difference is that affections appear formed into animals by the spiritual in its intermediate parts, while they appear formed into plants in its [outer part,] which are the lands there. For the spiritual which is their source is living in its intermediates, but is not living in its [outer part.] In [the outer part] the spiritual retains no more of life than is sufficient to produce a resemblance of being alive. It is nearly the same as in the human body, the [outer part] of which... is from the soul... [3] That the plant soul has the same origin as the soul of the beasts of the earth and of the birds of heaven and of the fishes of the sea does not appear to be true at first sight, for the reason that the one is a living thing and the other is not; nevertheless it becomes plainly evident from the animals and the plants seen in the heavens, and also from those seen in the hells. In the heavens beautiful animals and like plants are seen; but in the hells noxious animals and like plants; and angels and spirits are known from the way the animals appear, and equally from the way the plants appear. The agreement with the affections of the angels and spirits is so complete that an animal can be changed into a corresponding plant, and a plant into a corresponding animal. [4] The angels of heaven know what element of affection is represented in the one and in the other... Moreover, it has been granted me to discern clearly the correspondence of both animals and of plants with the societies of heaven and with the societies of hell, thus with their affections, for in the spiritual world societies and affections make one... [5] The difference, therefore, between the plants in the spiritual world and those in the natural world is that in the spiritual world both their seeds and their germinations exist in an instant according to the affections of the angels and spirits there; but in the natural world the origin is implanted in the seeds, from which they spring each year. Moreover, there are two things proper to nature, time and consequent succession and space and consequent extension, but these do not exist in the spiritual world as properties of it, but in their place are appearances of the states of life of those there; and this is why from the lands there, which are from a spiritual origin, plants spring up instantly and disappear instantly. But this occurs only when the angels go away; as long as they remain the plants continue. This is the difference between plants in the spiritual world and plants in the natural world.
1204. ...(Continuation) ...(1) Nothing in nature exists and subsists except from the spiritual and by means of it. (2) Nature in itself is dead, being created that the spiritual may be clothed by it with forms that may serve for use... (5) From the spiritual by means of these forces both plants and animals, both those which appear in heaven and those which are in the world, have their existence. (6) These two classes have the same origin and thus the same soul, the difference being only in the forms into which the influx flows...
1206. ...(Continuation) [2] (1) Nothing in nature exists except from the spiritual and by means of it. The reason of this is that nothing can exist except from another, and so finally from Him who is and exists in Himself, who is God... Nothing in nature comes forth except from the spiritual, because nothing is possible without a soul. All that is called soul, which is essence, for that which has in itself no essence has no existence... Thus it is with nature. Its essence from which it exists is the spiritual, because this has in itself the Divine... force... Moreover, this essence may be called soul. For everything spiritual is living... For there is a spiritual world; and that world is prior, interior and superior to the natural world, consequently everything in the spiritual world is a cause, and everything in the natural world is an effect...
1207. ...(Continuation) [2] (2) Nature in itself is dead, being created in order that the spiritual may be clothed by it with forms that may serve for use... Nature and life are two distinct things. Nature has its beginning from the sun of this world, and life has its beginning from the sun of heaven. The sun of the world is pure fire, and the sun of heaven is pure love. That which proceeds from the sun that is pure fire is called nature; and that which proceeds from the sun that is pure love is called life...
1210. ...(Continuation) [2] (5) From the spiritual, by means of these forces, both plants and animals, both those that appear in heaven and those in the world, have their existence. Such things exist also in heaven, because these forces are in the spiritual in things greatest and in things least... thus in the spiritual both in heaven and in the world. Its firsts are in the heavens... For there are degrees of spiritual things, and each degree is distinct from the other, and the prior or higher degree is more perfect than the... lower. This is evident from the light and the heat in the heavens, and from the wisdom of the angels from these. The light in the highest or third heaven is from a flame so brilliant as to exceed a thousand times the midday light of the world; in the middle or second heaven the light is less bright, and yet exceeds a hundred times the noonday light of the world; in the lowest or first heaven the light is like the noonday light of our world. Also there are degrees of heat, which in heaven is love, and according to those degrees the angels have wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge. Everything spiritual belongs to the light and heat that are from the Lord as a sun, and wisdom and intelligence are from these...
1211. ...(Continuation) [2] Something shall now be said about plants in heaven, as the animals there have already been spoken of. In the heavens, as on the earth, there are plants of all genera and species; yea, in the heavens there are also plants that are not on the earth, for there are composite forms of the different genera and species with infinite variation. This they derive from their origin... [3] According to the degrees of light and heat there, paradisal gardens, groves, fields, and plains are seen; and in these, groups of trees and flowers and lawns. In the inmost or third heaven especially there are orchards whose fruits drop oils; beds of flowers from which fragrant odors are spread abroad, and the seeds of which are sweet to the taste from the fragrance and the oil; and there are lawns diffusing like odors. In the middle or second heaven there are orchards whose fruits drop wine; and flower-beds from which exhale pleasant odors, with seeds of delicate flavor, and also lawns. In the lowest or first heaven there are the same things as in the inmost and in the middle heaven, with a difference of delights and pleasantnesses according to degrees... [4]... All these germinate from the lands there. There are lands there, as with us; but nothing springs up from seed sown, but only from seed created; and creation there is instantaneous, sometimes enduring for a long time and sometimes only for a moment; for they exist there by means of the forces of light and heat from the sun of heaven, which is the Lord... In the lands that are in the heavens... all things are spiritual with a natural appearance; but in the lands that are subject to the sun of our world it is not so...
1212. ...(Continuation) [2] (6) These two classes, animals and plants, have the same origin, and thus the same soul, the difference being only in the forms into which the influx flows. It has been shown above that the origin of animals, which also is their soul, is spiritual affection, such as man has in his natural. That plants have the same origin is evident especially from plants in the heavens, in their appearing according to the affections of angels, and representing those affections, even so that the angels see and recognize their affections in them as in their types; also that they are changed as the affections change; but this occurs outside of the societies. The only difference is that affections appear formed into animals by the spiritual in its intermediate parts, while they appear formed into plants in its [outer part,] which are the lands there. For the spiritual which is their source is living in its intermediates, but is not living in its [outer part.] In [the outer part] the spiritual retains no more of life than is sufficient to produce a resemblance of being alive. It is nearly the same as in the human body, the [outer part] of which... is from the soul... [3] That the plant soul has the same origin as the soul of the beasts of the earth and of the birds of heaven and of the fishes of the sea does not appear to be true at first sight, for the reason that the one is a living thing and the other is not; nevertheless it becomes plainly evident from the animals and the plants seen in the heavens, and also from those seen in the hells. In the heavens beautiful animals and like plants are seen; but in the hells noxious animals and like plants; and angels and spirits are known from the way the animals appear, and equally from the way the plants appear. The agreement with the affections of the angels and spirits is so complete that an animal can be changed into a corresponding plant, and a plant into a corresponding animal. [4] The angels of heaven know what element of affection is represented in the one and in the other... Moreover, it has been granted me to discern clearly the correspondence of both animals and of plants with the societies of heaven and with the societies of hell, thus with their affections, for in the spiritual world societies and affections make one... [5] The difference, therefore, between the plants in the spiritual world and those in the natural world is that in the spiritual world both their seeds and their germinations exist in an instant according to the affections of the angels and spirits there; but in the natural world the origin is implanted in the seeds, from which they spring each year. Moreover, there are two things proper to nature, time and consequent succession and space and consequent extension, but these do not exist in the spiritual world as properties of it, but in their place are appearances of the states of life of those there; and this is why from the lands there, which are from a spiritual origin, plants spring up instantly and disappear instantly. But this occurs only when the angels go away; as long as they remain the plants continue. This is the difference between plants in the spiritual world and plants in the natural world.
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