Swedenborg Arcana Caelestia Vol. III (1750)

"...madness; and upon the house of Judah I will open My eyes, and every Horse of the peoples I will strike with blindness,” 12:4. Here, too, the horse clearly stands for the understanding, which would be struck with astonishment and blindness, and the rider for the person who is intelligent, who would be struck with madness.

In Hosea: “Take away all iniquity, and receive what is good, and we will repay the young bulls of our lips; Asshur shall not save us, we will not ride upon a Horse, and we will no longer say, 'Our God' to the work of our hands,” 14:2-3. Asshur stands for reasoning, and the horse for self-derived intelligence; there are many other such places.

2762. That a Horse signifies the intellectual faculty comes from nowhere else than the representations in the other life. Horses are often seen there in the world of spirits, with great variety, as are people sitting upon horses. As often as they appear, they signify the intellectual faculty; such are the constant representations among spirits. From the representative of the horse as being the intellectual faculty, it follows that when horses are mentioned in the Word, the spirits and angels who are with a person immediately know that it is the intellectual faculty that is being discussed.

From this it is also why, to certain spirits from a world elsewhere, when they are elevated into heaven from the world of spirits having been imbued with intelligence and wisdom, shining horses appear, as if fiery. These were also seen by me when they were raised up. From this, it was made clear to me what is signified by the Fiery Chariot and Fiery Horses that were seen by Elisha when Elijah ascended into heaven in a whirlwind, and also what is signified by Elisha's exclamation then: “My father, my father, the Chariot of Israel and its Horsemen,” 2 Kings 2:11-12; and why Joash, king of Israel, said the same thing to Elisha when he was dying, 2 Kings 13:14. That by Elijah and Elisha the Lord was represented with respect to the Word will be told elsewhere, by the Lord's Divine Mercy; namely, the Doctrine of Love and Charity from the Word by the Fiery Chariot, and the Doctrine of faith derived from it by the Fiery Horses. The doctrine of faith is the same as the understanding of the Word regarding its interior contents, or internal sense. That chariots and horses appear in the heavens among spirits and angels is evident not only from the fact that they were seen by the prophets, such as Zechariah (1:8-10, 6:3-7) and others, but also by Elisha's servant, of whom it is written in the Book of Kings: “Jehovah opened the eyes of Elisha’s servant, and he saw, and behold, the Mountain was full of Horses, and fiery Chariots round about Elisha,” 2 Kings 6:17. Furthermore, where there is a dwelling place in the World of Spirits for the intelligent and wise, chariots and horses...