199. CONCERNING THE OPERATION OF SPIRITS AND ANGELS UPON HUMAN THOUGHTS It was confirmed by experience that unless the spirits, who rule man's interior thoughts or material ideas, as they are called, should think together with him, they would not be held in the same thought as that in which man is when he things or speaks, and man could never think at all, but the greatest obscurity would arise from the crowd of various thoughts amongst spirits, so that he could perceive nothing, not even in general matters. With regard to the angels, however, especially the more interior and inmost angels, they seem to be able to think together with man, because they are in too high a sphere for their thoughts to inflow into human minds in such a way as to distract, still less to confuse them; for a single idea of man's thought may be composed of an almost indefinite number of the ideas of the celestial angels; and, moreover, the thoughts of the angels are concordant and unanimous, thus by no means distracting. The angels are, therefore, exceedingly delighted by a man receiving faith, for then their ideas can inflow into his thoughts with heavenly joy; wherefore it is said by [God Messiah] that the angels greatly rejoice over a man who repents [Luke xv. 7, 10], that is, a man who receives faith. 1747, Sept. 5, o.s.