Correspondences

A classic problem in trying to understand creation is how God could create and operate the universe and yet have the universe not be part of God, i.e. made out of God "substance," so to speak. Swedenborg's Writings teach that the key to this process is what they term "correspondences" between God and lower, more outward degrees of creation, down to the physical that we live in.  Correspondences are a kind of living symbolism that are the basis of those lower degrees' existence.  And there's even more to correspondences than that since, the Writings also teach, the whole of God's Word is also written in the form of correspondences as well, meaning that there is a hidden - and powerful - spiritual meaning within the literal stories.  People have long suspected this, of course, and there have been many attempts at interpretation.  The Writings claim to provide, for the first time, God's interpretation. When the spiritual meanings within the Scripture's is thus explained, it becomes clear why information was included that from the point of view of the literal story seems either trivial, obscure or awful.  

Rev. Worcester's The Language of Parable and Rev. Alan Grange's The Structure of New Church Teaching provide excellent introductions to this topic, and the other readings illustrate the concept's reach. 

Further Reading:

Correspondences in the Word of God

God's Explanation of Bible Symbolism  - A classic text reviewing of the correspondences of the Bible, illustrating the extraordinary reach of the correspondence concept.

Excerpt from The Structure of New Church Teaching

Seeing from Correspondence

The White Horse

(See also  What the Bible Says section on The Bible's Inner Meaning)

Chart from de Charms' The Growth of the Mind summarizing the "big picture" of correspondences of the seven days of creation, relating them to mental development and the whole sweep of both the Old and New Testaments.

Correspondences in Creation