792. Verse 22. And the voice of harpers and musicians, and pipers and trumpeters, shall not be heard in thee anymore signifies that there will not be with them any affection of spiritual truth and good, nor any affection of celestial truth and good. By "voice" is meant sound, and every sound corresponds to any affection which is of love, since it arises therefrom. From this it is that the sounds of the harp, of music, and of the pipe, from correspondence, signify affections. But the affections are of two kinds, spiritual and celestial; spiritual affections are affections of wisdom, and celestial affections are affections of love. They differ from each other as the heavens, which are distinguished into two kingdoms, the celestial and the spiritual, as has several times been said above. There are therefore musical instruments whose sounds have relation to spiritual affections, and there are those which have relation to celestial affections. The voice or sound of "harpers and musicians" has relation to spiritual affections, and the voice or sound of "pipers and trumpeters" to celestial affections. For the instruments whose sounds are discrete, as stringed instruments, pertain to the class of spiritual affections; and the instruments whose sounds are continuous, as wind instruments, pertain to the class of celestial affections. Hence it is, that the voice or sound of "harpers and musicians" signifies the affection of spiritual good and truth, and the voice or sound of "pipers and trumpeters" signifies affection of celestial good and truth. That the sound of the harp from correspondence signifies confession from the affection of spiritual truth, may be seen (n. 276, 661).
[2] It is here meant that they who are in the evils and falsities of the Roman Catholic religious persuasion have no affections of spiritual truth and good, nor any affections of celestial truth and good, because it is said that "the voice of harpers and of musicians and of pipers and trumpeters shall not be heard in thee anymore." The reason that they do not have them is because they cannot be given with them, for they have not any truth from the Word; and because they have no truth, neither have they any good. The latter is given to those only who desire truths; but no others desire truths from spiritual affection, but they who go to the Lord; these, according to this their desire, are instructed by the angels after death, and receive truths. The external affections in which they are while they are hearing masses, and in other devotions, which are without truths from the Lord through the Word, are merely natural, sensual, and corporeal; and as they are such, and are without internals from the Lord, it is not to be wondered at that in this thick darkness and blindness they are carried away to the worship of living and dead men, and to sacrifices to demons, who are called plutos, to make expiation for their souls.