For the same reason the Lord is called the East [Oriens] in the
Word.{1}
{Footnote 1} In the highest sense the Lord is the east
[oriens], because He is the sun of heaven, which is always
rising and never setting (n. 101, 5097, 9668).
142. Another difference is that to the angels the east is always
before the face, the west behind, the south to the right, and the
north to the left. But since this cannot be easily comprehended in
the world, for the reason that men turn the face to every quarter, it
shall be explained. The entire heaven turns itself to the Lord as to
its common center; to that center do all the angels turn themselves.
Also on the earth, as is well known, there is a directing of all
things towards a common center; but there is this difference between
this directing in the world and that in heaven, that in heaven the
front parts are turned to the common center, but in the world the
lower parts of the body. In the world this directing is called
centripetal force, also gravitation. The interiors of angels are
actually turned forwards; and since interiors manifest themselves in
the face it is the face that determines the quarters.
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