502. (1) The state of a virgin or untouched woman before marriage and after marriage. What the state of a virgin is before she has been instructed in the various aspects of the nuptial torch has been disclosed to me by wives in the spiritual world, by those there who departed from the natural world in their infancy and were raised in heaven. They said that when they came into a marriageable state, from seeing married partners they began to long for married life, but only in order to have the name of wives and keep company with one man in a friendly and trusting association, and to be freed, too, from their condition of obedience at home and become independent. They also said that they thought of marriage only because of the bliss of the friendship and mutual confidence they shared with a male companion, and not at all because of the delight of any passion. [2] After the wedding, however, their virginal state, they said, was changed into a new one, of which they had had no knowledge before. And they said that this new state was one in which all the vital elements of their body, from the first to the last of them, swelled to receive their husband's gifts and unite these to their life, that they might thus become his lover and wife. Moreover this state commenced, they said, from the moment of defloration, and after that the flame of their love burned for their husband alone, and they felt the delights of that swelling as the delights of heaven. So, too, because they were introduced into this state by their husband, and because it emanated from him and was thus his state in them, they could not possibly help but love him alone. [3] It is evident from this what the state of virgins is before marriage and after marriage in heaven. A like state exists also in virgins and wives on earth who are married at the earliest opportunity, as may not be unknown. What virgin can have knowledge of this new state before she is in it? Inquire and you will hear. It is different with those who before marriage encounter stimulation from learning about it.