Symbols of a Lamb
Welcome to a presentation on the symbolism and correspondence of a lamb, based on Emanuel Swedenborg’s commentary in Arcana Caelestia 5131, which links our sensory impressions of a lamb’s innocence right back to the Divine Innocence Itself.
Sensory Impressions
Imagine you are close to a newborn lamb in a field.
What do you see?
What do you hear?
What do you smell?
What do you feel?
In other words, what sensory impressions come to you from this experience?
Now think about the natural ideas that lie within these sensory impressions.
Ideas of innocence, of gentleness, and tenderness, and much more.
Sensory impressions are in correspondence with these natural ideas.
Natural ideas spring from, and are in correspondence to deeper spiritual realities.
Real Spiritual Innocence arises from recognising the truth that we should trust and follow God in all we do. We do not rely on ourselves or on what the world has to offer but on God.
This is innocence from truth
But there is a further, deeper level. Spiritual realities owe their existence to celestial entities.
If we put our trust in God, not because we know that it is the true way to live, but because we love living that way then we have within us an innocence that has love and goodness at its heart.
This is innocence from good.
Everything that is good and true comes from the Divine Itself.
So celestial entities correspond to the Divine Innocence Itself.
The Divine Innocence flows into celestial innocence from good, and then into spiritual innocence from truth, and finally into natural ideas of innocence, gentleness and tenderness, ultimately finding its most external expression in a newborn lamb in a field.
