2993. It is similar with things in the vegetable kingdom. Not even the smallest thing exists there which does not represent something in the spiritual world and correspond to it, as I have been given to know many times through a similar contact with angels. I have also been told all about causes, that is to say, that the causes of all natural objects exist from among spiritual things, and the first beginnings of causes from among celestial things. Or what amounts to the same, all things in the natural world derive their cause from truth which is spiritual, and their first beginning from good which is celestial. In addition I have been told that natural objects come forth in this way from truth and good according to all the variations of truth or good which exist in the Lord's kingdom, and so come forth from the Lord, the source of all goodness and truth. These matters are bound to seem strange, especially to those who refuse, or who are unable, to allow their thought to go beyond the natural order, and who do not know what is meant by that which is spiritual and do not therefore acknowledge the existence of it.