105. The planet Venus, in the idea of spirits and angels, appears to the left a little behind, at some distance from our Earth. It is said, in the idea of spirits, because to no spirit does the sun of this system, or any planet, appear; but spirits have only an idea that they exist. In consequence of this bare idea, the sun of this system is exhibited behind as a very dark something, and the planets not moving as in the system, but remaining constantly in their places (see above, no. 42).
106. In the planet Venus there are two kinds of men, of contrary dispositions; the first mild and humane, the second savage and almost brutal. Those who are mild and humane appear on the other side of the earth, those who are savage and almost brutal appear on the side of it looking this way. But it should be known that they appear thus according to the states of their life, for the state of life determines every appearance of space and of distance there.
107. Some of those who appear on the other side of the planet, and who are mild and humane, came to me, and were presented to my sight overhead, and I spoke with them on various subjects. Amongst other things, they said that while they were in the world they acknowledged, and now still more acknowledge, our Lord as their One only God. They added that on their earth they had seen Him, and they also represented how they had seen Him. These spirits, in the Grand Man, have relation to the memory of material things, agreeing with the memory of immaterial things, to which the spirits of Mercury have relation: wherefore the spirits of Mercury have the fullest agreement with these spirits of Venus; therefore, when they were together, I was sensible from their influx of a remarkable change, and a powerful operation in my brain (see above, no. 43).
108. I did not, however, speak with those spirits who are on the side that looks this way, and who are savage and almost brutal; but the angels informed me of their character, and the origin of their so brutal nature: it is this; they are greatly delighted with robbery, and more especially with eating the prey. The delight they have in thinking about eating the prey was communicated to me, and was apperceived to be exceedingly great. That there have also been inhabitants of a like brutal nature, on our Earth, appears from the histories of various nations; also from the inhabitants of the land of Canaan (1 Sam. xxx. 16); and likewise from the Jewish and Israelitish nation even in the time of David, in that they made yearly excursions, and plundered the nations, and rejoiced in feasting on the booty. I was informed, further, that the greater part of those inhabitants are giants, and that the men of our Earth reach only to their navel; also, that they are stupid, not seeking to know anything about heaven or eternal life, their only care being about their land and their cattle.
109. As they are of this character, even when they come into the other life, they are greatly infested there by evils and falsities. Their hells appear near the earth, and do not communicate with the hells of the evil of our Earth, because they are of an entirely different genius and disposition; hence also their evils and falsities are of an entirely different kind.
110. But those of them who are such that they can be saved, are in places of vastation, and are there reduced to the last degree of despair; for evils and falsities of this kind cannot otherwise be subdued and removed. When they are in the state of despair, they cry out that they are beasts, that they are abominations, that they are hatreds, and thus that they are damned. Some of them, when in such a state, even cry out against heaven; but for this they are forgiven, because it proceeds from despair. The Lord restrains them from indulging in vituperation beyond fixed limits. When they have passed through extreme suffering, the corporeal [principles] with them being then as it were dead, they are finally saved. It was also said of them that, during their life on their earth, they had believed in a certain supreme Creator without a Mediator; but when they are saved, they are also instructed that the Lord is the only God, Saviour, and Mediator. I have seen some of them, after they had passed through extreme suffering, taken up into heaven; and when they were received there, I have apperceived such a tenderness of joy from them as drew tears from my eyes.
111. Some spirits appeared overhead, and voices like thunders were heard thence; for their voices thundered forth just as thunders do from the clouds after lightnings. I supposed that there was an immense multitude of spirits, who had acquired the art of uttering their voices with such a sound. The more simple spirits who were with me laughed at them, at which I greatly marvelled. The cause of their laughter was soon disclosed, and it was, that the spirits who thundered were not many, but few, and were also small as children, and that on former occasions they had terrified them by such sounds, and yet were quite unable to do them the least harm. In order that I might know their character, some of them let themselves down from on high, where they were thundering; and, strange to say, one carried another on his back, and the two thus approached me. Their faces appeared not unhandsome, but longer than those of other spirits. In stature they were like boys of seven years old, but of more robust frame; so that they were dwarfs. I was told by the angels that they were from the Moon. The one who had been carried by the other came to me, applying himself to my left side under the elbow, and from thence he spoke, saying, that when they utter their voice they thunder in this manner; and that by so doing they strike with terror the spirits who would do them harm, and put some to flight, so that they go safely wherever they please. In order that I might know for certain that the sound they make was of this kind, he retired from me to some others, but not quite out of sight, and thundered in like manner. They showed to me, moreover, that their voice, being sent forth from the abdomen after the manner of an eructation, thus resounded like thunder. It was perceived that this arose from the circumstance, that the inhabitants of the Moon do not, like the inhabitants of other earths, speak from the lungs, but from the abdomen, and thus from some collection of air therein; the reason of which is, that the Moon is not surrounded with an atmosphere of the same kind as that of other earths. I was informed that the spirits of the Moon, in the Grand Man, have relation to the ensiform or xiphoid cartilage to which the ribs are attached in front, and from which descends the linea alba, which is the point of attachment of the abdominal muscle.
112. It is known to spirits and angels, that there are inhabitants even in the Moon, and likewise in the moons or satellites which are about the earth Jupiter and the earth Saturn. Even those who have not seen spirits who are from them, and spoken with them, entertain no doubt that there are human beings upon them, for they, too, are earths, and where there is an earth, there is man; for man is the end for the sake of which an earth exists, and nothing has been made by the Supreme Creator without an end. It may be evident to anyone who thinks from reason in any degree enlightened that the end of creation is the human race, in order that there may exist a heaven from it.
113. There are several reasons, about which I have received information from heaven, why it pleased the Lord to be born, and to assume the Human, on our Earth, and not on any other. THE PRINCIPAL REASON was for the sake of the Word, that it might be written on our Earth; and when written might afterwards be published throughout the whole Earth; and that, once published, it might be preserved for all posterity; and that thus it might be made manifest, even to all in the other life, that God did become Man.
114. That the principal reason was for the sake of the Word, is because the Word is the Divine Truth itself, which teaches man that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death; and which teaches, besides, how man ought to live and believe in order that he may come into heaven, and thus may be happy to eternity. Without revelation, and thus, on this Earth, without the Word, all these things would have been entirely unknown; and yet man has been so created, that as to his interiors he cannot dienn.
Footnote nn: (return)By natural light (lumen) alone, nothing can be known concerning the Lord, heaven and hell, the life of man after death, and the Divine truths, by means of which man has spiritual and eternal life, nos. 8944, 10318-10320. This may appear from the consideration that many, and amongst them the learned, do not believe these things, although they are born where the Word is, and where there is instruction by means of the Word concerning them, no. 10319. Therefore it was necessary that there should be a revelation from heaven, because man was born for heaven, no. 1775.
115. That the Word might be written on our Earth, is because the art of writing has existed here from the most ancient time, first on tablets, next on parchment, afterwards on paper, and lastly publication by printing. This was provided by the Lord for the sake of the Word.
116. That the Word might afterwards be published throughout the whole of this Earth, is because here there is an intercourse of all nations, not only by journeys on land, but also by navigation to all parts of the entire globe; hence the Word, after it had once been written, could be conveyed from one nation to another, and be taught everywhere.
117. That the Word, after it had once been written, might be preserved for all posterity, consequently for thousands and thousands of years, and that it has also been so preserved, is known.
118. That thus it might he made manifest that God has become man; for this is the first and most essential purpose for which the Word was given; since no one can believe in a God, and love a God, whom he cannot comprehend under some form; wherefore, they who acknowledge an invisible and thus incomprehensible [principle], sink in thought into nature, and consequently believe in no God. Wherefore, it pleased the Lord to be born on this Earth, and to make this manifest through the Word, so that it might not only be made known on this globe, but might also by this means be made manifest to spirits and angels from other earths, and likewise to the gentiles from our ownoo.
Footnote oo: (return)The gentiles in the other life are instructed by angels, and they who have lived well according to their religionism receive the truths of faith and acknowledge the Lord, nos. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600-2603, 2861, 2863, 3263.
119. It should be known that the Word on our Earth, which was given by the Lord through heaven, effects the union of heaven and the world, for which end there is a correspondence of all things in the letter of the Word with the Divine things in heaven; and that the Word in its supreme and inmost sense treats of the Lord, of His kingdom in the heavens and on earth, and of love and faith from Him and towards Him, consequently of life from Him and in Him. Such things are exhibited to the angels in heaven when the Word of our Earth is read and preachedpp.
Footnote pp: (return)The Word is understood by the angels in the heavens in a different manner from what it is understood by men on Earth, and the internal or spiritual sense is for the angels, but the external or natural sense for men, nos. 1769-1772, 1887, 2143, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2545, 2551. The Word is what unites heaven and earth, nos. 2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 10375. The Word, therefore, was written by strict correspondences, nos. 1404, 1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687. In the inmost sense of the Word the Lord alone and His kingdom are treated of, nos. 1873, 2249, 2523, 7014, 9357.
120. In every other earth, Divine Truth is manifested by word of mouth through spirits and angels, as was stated in the foregoing pages, in treating of the inhabitants of the earths in this solar system. But this takes place within families; for in most earths the human race dwell distinct according to families; wherefore, Divine Truth thus revealed through spirits and angels is not conveyed far beyond the families, and unless a new revelation constantly succeeds, it is either perverted, or perishes. It is otherwise on our Earth, where the Divine Truth, which is the Word, remains in its integrity for ever.
121. It should be known that the Lord acknowledges and receives all, from whatever earth they may be, who acknowledge and worship God under the Human Form, since God under the Human Form is the Lord: and as the Lord appears to the inhabitants in the earths in an angelic form, which is the Human Form, therefore, when the spirits and angels from these earths hear from the spirits and angels of our Earth that God is actually Man, they receive that Word, acknowledge it, and rejoice that it is so.
122. To the reasons that have been adduced above, may be added, that the inhabitants and spirits of our Earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to natural and external sense; and natural and external sense is the ultimate in which the interiors of life close, and on which they rest, as on their common [basis]. The case is the same with the Divine Truth in the letter, which is called the Word, and which for this reason also was given on this Earth, and not on any otherqq. And as the Lord is the Word, and the First and Last of it, therefore, in order that all things might exist according to order. He also willed to be born on this Earth, and to become the Word, according to these words in John, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through It, and without It was not anything made that was made.... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw Its glory the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father.... No one hath seen God at any time; the Only-begotten Son, Who is in the bosom of the Father, Himself hath manifested Him" (i. 1-3, 14, 18). The Word denotes the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lordrr. But this is an arcanum which enters into the understanding of only a few.
Footnote qq: (return)The Word in the sense of the letter is natural, no. 8783; by reason that what is natural is the ultimate, in which spiritual and celestial things close, and on which they subsist as on their foundation, and that otherwise the internal or spiritual sense of the Word without an external or natural sense would be as a house without a foundation, nos. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436.
Footnote rr: (return)The Word is the Lord as to the Divine Truth, consequently the Divine Truth from the Lord, nos. 2859, 4692, 5075, 9987. Through the Divine Truth all things were created and made, nos. 2803, 2894, 5272, 7835.
123. Those who are in heaven are able to speak and converse not only with those angels and spirits who are from the earths in our solar system, but also with those who are from other earths in the universe beyond this system; and not only with the spirits and angels there, but also with the inhabitants themselves, only, however, with those whose interiors have been opened, so that they are able to hear those who speak from heaven. The same thing is possible for a man to whom it has been given by the Lord to speak with spirits and angels, during his life in the world; for a man as to his interiors is a spirit, the body which he carries about in the world being serviceable to him only for performing functions in this natural or terrestrial sphere, which is the ultimate or last sphere. But to no one is it given to speak as a spirit with angels and spirits, unless he be of such a character that he can be consociated with angels as to faith and love. Neither can he be consociated with them, unless his faith and love are directed to the Lord; for man is conjoined to the Lord by means of faith in Him and love to Him, that is, by means of truths of doctrine and goods of life from Him; and when he has been conjoined [with the Lord], he is secure from the assaults of evil spirits from hell. With others the interiors cannot be opened to such an extent, since they are not in the Lord. This is the reason why there are few at this day to whom it is given to speak and converse with angels; a manifest proof of which is, that at the present day it is scarcely believed that spirits and angels exist, and still less that they are present with every man, and that through them man has connection with heaven, and, through heaven, with the Lord; and that it is still less believed that a man, when he dies as to the body, lives a spirit, and in the human form as before.
124. Since, with many in the church at the present day, there is no faith in a life after death, and scarcely any faith concerning heaven, nor concerning the Lord as being the God of heaven and earth, therefore the interiors that are of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, so that, while I am in the body, I might at the same time be with angels in heaven, and not only speak with them, but see the stupendous things there, and describe the same, lest possibly it might hereafter be said, Who has come to us from heaven, and told us of its existence, and of the things that are there? But I know that those who hitherto have at heart denied heaven and hell, and the life after death, will still persist in confirming themselves against them, and in denying them; for it is easier to make a raven white than to make those believe who have once at heart rejected faith; the reason is, that they always think about such matters from a negative, and not from an affirmative, standpoint. Nevertheless, let those facts that have already been stated, and that yet remain to be stated, concerning angels and spirits, be for those few who are in faith. In order that others also may be led to some degree of acknowledgment, it has been granted me to relate such things as delight and allure the man who is desirous of acquiring knowledge: of this character are the things that shall now be related concerning the earths in the starry heaven.
125. He who is not acquainted with the arcana of heaven, cannot believe that a man can see earths that are so far distant, and give any account of them from sensuous experience. But let him know that the spaces and distances, and therefore the progressions, which exist in the natural world, in their origin and first cause are changes of the state of the interiors, and that with angels and spirits they appear according to these changesss; and that through changes of state they may be apparently translated from one place to another, and from one earth to another, even to earths which are at the end of the universe: so likewise may man as to his spirit, his body still remaining in its own place. This has been the case with me, since, by the Lord's Divine mercy, it has been given to me to speak with spirits as a spirit, and at the same time with men as a man. That a man, as to his spirit, can be translated in this manner, is inconceivable to the sensual man, since he is in space and in time, and measures his progressions according to them.
Footnote ss: (return)Motions, progressions, and changes of place, in the other life, are changes of the state of the interiors of life, and nevertheless it really appears to spirits and angels as if they actually existed, nos. 1273-1277, 1377, 3356, 5606, 10734.
126. That there are many systems, may appear to every one from the fact that so many stars appear in the universe; and it is known in the learned world that every star is like a sun in its own place, for it remains fixed as the sun of our Earth does in its place; and that it is the distance that makes it appear in so small a form as a star; consequently, that, like the sun of our system, each star has planets around it, which are earths; and that the reason why these do not appear before our eyes is on account of their immense distance, and because only the light from their own star reaches us, which light cannot be again reflected from the planets so far as to reach us. To what other purpose could so great a heaven with so many constellations be intended? For the end of the creation of the universe is man, that from man there may be an angelic heaven; but what would a human race, and from it an angelic heaven, from one single earth, be for an Infinite Creator, for whom a thousand, yea tens of thousands of earths, would not suffice? It has been calculated that, supposing there were in the universe a million earths, and on every earth three hundred million men, and two hundred generations within six thousand years, and that to every man or spirit there were to be allotted a space of three cubic ells, the sum of that great number of men or spirits would not occupy a space equal to a thousandth part of this Earth, consequently hardly the space occupied by one of the satellites of the planet Jupiter or Saturn: which would be a space in the universe so small as to be scarcely discernible; for a satellite [of Jupiter or Saturn] is scarcely visible to the naked eye. What would this be for the Creator of the universe, for whom the whole universe, even if it were completely filled, would not be enough, for He is Infinite. In conversing with the angels on this subject, they have told me that they have a similar idea of the fewness of the human race relatively to the infinity of the Creator; but that, nevertheless, they do not think from spaces, but from states, and that according to their idea, earths numbering as many myriads as could ever be conceived in thought would still be as absolutely nothing to the Lord. The earths in the starry heaven, however, shall now be treated of in what follows from real experience; from which it will likewise be made manifest how the translations to these earths were effected as to my spirit, whilst my body remained in its own place.
127. I was led by the Lord by means of angels to a certain earth in the starry heaven, where it was given me to gaze upon the earth itself, yet not to speak with the inhabitants of it, but with spirits who had come from it. All the inhabitants or men of every earth, on the termination of their life in the world, become spirits, and remain near their own earth. From them, however, information is obtained concerning their earth and the state of its inhabitants; for men, when they quit the body, carry with them all their former life and all their memorytt. Being led to earths in the universe does not mean being led and translated thither as to the body, but as to the spirit; and the spirit is led through variations of the state of the inner life, which appear to it as progressions through spacesss. Approaches, also, are effected according to the agreements or likenesses of the states of life; for agreement or likeness of life conjoins, and disagreement and unlikeness disjoin. From this it may appear how translation as to the spirit is effected, and how it is made to approach distant regions, while the man, nevertheless, remains in his own place. But to lead a spirit outside of his own globe through variations of the state of his interiors, and to cause the variations to proceed successively until a state is reached which agrees or coincides with the state of those to whom he is being led, is in the power of the Lord alone; for there is needed a continual direction and foresight from first to last, both on the journey thither, and on the return journey, especially when this is to be effected with a man who is still as to the body in the world of nature, and thereby in space. That this has actually been effected, those who are in corporeal sensual things, and who think from them, cannot be induced to believe. The reason is that the corporeal sensual [faculties] cannot conceive of progressions apart from spaces. But, nevertheless, those who think from the Sensual of their spirit, that has in some degree been removed or withdrawn from the Sensual of the body, thus, who think interiorly in themselves, may be induced to believe and comprehend it, since in the idea of interior thought there is neither space nor time, but instead of them there are those things from which spaces and times proceed. Those things, therefore, that follow, concerning the earths in the starry heaven, are for the use of the latter, and not for the former, unless they are of such a character as to suffer themselves to be instructed.
Footnote tt: (return)Man after death has with him the memory of all his concerns in the world, nos. 2476-2486.
128. In a state of wakefulness, I was led as to the spirit by the Lord through angels to a certain earth in the universe, accompanied by some spirits from this globe. The progression took place towards the right, and lasted for two hours. Near the boundary of our solar system, there appeared first a whitish but dense cloud, and after it a fiery smoke ascending from a great gulf: this was an immense chasm, separating our solar system on that side from certain systems of the starry heaven. The fiery smoke appeared over a considerable distance. I was conveyed across the midst of it, and then there appeared beneath in that gulf or chasm very many men, who were spirits (for all spirits appear in the human form, and are actually men). I also heard them talking with each other; but whence they were, or of what character, it was not given me to know. One of them, however, told me that they were guards to prevent spirits passing without permission from this into any other system in the universe. That this was the case, was also confirmed; for when some spirits who were in the company, and who had not received permission to pass, came to that great interstice, they began to cry out wildly that they were perishing, for they were like persons struggling in the agony of death; wherefore they stopped on this side of the chasm, and could not be conveyed any further; for the fiery smoke which exhaled from the chasm attacked them, and tortured them in this manner.
129. After I had been translated across that great chasm, I at length reached a place where I stopped; and then some spirits appeared to me above, and it was given me to speak with them. From their speech, and from their peculiar manner of apperceiving things and explaining them, I discerned clearly that they were from another earth; for they differed altogether from the spirits of our solar system. They also apperceived from my speech that I had come from a great distance.
130. After we had conversed for awhile on various subjects, I asked them what God they worshipped. They said they worshipped some angel, who appears to them as a Divine man, for he is resplendent with light; and that he instructs them and enables them to apperceive what they ought to do. They said further that they knew that the Most High God is in the sun of the angelic heaven, and that He appears to their angel and not to themselves; and that He is too great for them to dare to adore Him. The angel whom they worshipped was an angelic society, to which it has been given by the Lord to preside over them, and to teach them the way of what is just and right; therefore they have light from a certain flame, which appears like a little torch, somewhat fiery and yellow. The reason of this originates in their not adoring the Lord; therefore they do not receive light from the sun of the angelic heaven, but from the angelic society; for an angelic society, when permitted by the Lord, can exhibit such a light to spirits who are in a lower region. I also saw that angelic society, which was high above them; and I also saw the flame there whence they had light.
131. In other respects they were modest, rather simple, but still they thought well enough. The quality of their Intellectual could be inferred from the light which prevailed among them; for the intellect is according to the reception of the light which is in the heavens; since it is the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord as a sun, that shines there, and enables the angels not only to see but also to understanduu.
Footnote uu: (return)There is much light in the heavens, nos. 1117, 1521, 1522, 1533, 1619-1632, 4527, 5400, 8644. All light in the heavens is from the Lord as the Sun there, nos. 1053, 1521, 3195, 3341, 3636, 4415, 9548, 9684, 10809. The Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord appears in the heavens as light, nos. 3195, 3222, 5400, 8644, 9399, 9548, 9684. That light illuminates both the sight and the understanding of angels and spirits, nos. 2776, 3138. The light of heaven also illuminates the understanding of man, nos. 1524, 3138, 3167, 4408, 6608, 8707, 9128, 9399, 10569.
132. I was informed that the inhabitants and spirits of that earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to something in the SPLEEN: and in this I was confirmed by an influx into the spleen while they were speaking with me.
133. When asked about the sun of their system, which illuminates their earth, they said that it appeared flaming. When I represented the size of the sun of our Earth, they said that their sun was smaller; for before our eyes their sun appears as a star; and I was told by the angels that it was one of the lesser stars. They also said that the starry heaven is also seen from their earth; and that a star larger than the rest appears to them towards the west; it was said from heaven that this is our sun.
134. My sight was afterwards opened, so that I could in some measure gaze upon that earth itself; and there appeared many meadows and forests with trees covered with leaves; likewise fleecy sheep. Afterwards I saw some of the inhabitants, who belonged to the lower class, clothed nearly like the country folk in Europe. I also saw a man (vir) with his wife (mulier). She appeared of handsome stature and of graceful mien; so did the man; but, what surprised me, he walked about pompously, with as it were a haughty gait, while the woman's gait, on the contrary, was humble. The angels told me that such is the custom on that earth, and that notwithstanding this peculiarity, the men are loved, because they are good. I was further told that they are not allowed to have more than one wife, because it is contrary to the laws. The woman I saw had an ample garment before her breast, behind which she could conceal herself, and which was so made that she could put her arms in it, and wrap herself in it, and in this wise go away: the lower portion of it could be gathered up, and, when gathered up and folded about the body, it looked like a stomacher, such as is worn by the women of our Earth. The same garment, however, also served the man for an article of clothing. He was seen to take it from the woman and throw it over his own back, and loosening the lower part, which thus flowed down to his feet like a robe, he walked about clad in this manner. What I saw on that earth was not seen with the eyes of my body, but with the eyes of my spirit, and a spirit can see the objects that are on an earth, when it is permitted by the Lord.
135. As I know that many will doubt the possibility of a man's being able, with the eyes of his spirit, to see anything on an earth so distant, I may state how the matter is. Distances in the other life are not as distances on the Earth. In the other life distances are altogether according to the states of the interiors of each one. They who are in a similar state are together in one society and in one place. All presence there results from likeness of state, and all distance results from unlikeness of state. Hence it was that I was near to that earth when I was brought by the Lord into a state similar to that of its spirits and inhabitants, and that being then present I conversed with them. Hence it is evident that earths in the spiritual world are not distant as in the natural world, but only apparently so according to the states of life of their inhabitants and spirits. The state of life is the state of the affections as to love and faith. In regard to a spirit, or, what is the same, a man as to his spirit, being able to see the things that are on an earth, I may also explain how the case therein is. Neither spirits nor angels are able, by their own sight, to see anything that is in the world; for to them the light of the world, that is, solar light, is as thick darkness: just as man by his bodily sight cannot see anything that is in the other life; for to him the light of heaven is as thick darkness. But nevertheless spirits and angels, when it pleases the Lord, can see the things in the natural world through the eyes of a man; but this is not granted by the Lord with any except those whom He permits to speak with spirits and angels, and to be together with them. It has been permitted them to see through my eyes the things in this world, and as plainly as I myself did; and even to hear men speaking with me. It has sometimes happened that through me some have seen their friends, with whom they had been intimate in the life of the body, altogether present as before, and they have been amazed thereat. Wives also have seen in this manner their husbands and children, and have wanted me to tell them that they were present and saw them, and to inform them of their state in the other life. But it was forbidden me to say and reveal to them that they had been seen in this way, for the further reason that they would have called me insane, or have thought my information ravings of the mind (animus), for I was well aware that, although they affirmed with their mouth, they yet did not at heart believe in the existence of spirits, the resurrection of the dead and their living among spirits, and these being able to see and hear by means of a man. When my interior sight was first opened, and when those who are in the other life saw through my eyes the world and the things therein, they were so amazed that they called it the miracle of miracles, and were affected with new joy that there was thus granted a communication of the Earth with heaven, and of heaven with the Earth. This joy continued for months; but afterwards it became familiar, and now the wonder has ceased. I have been informed that the spirits and angels with other men do not in the least see the things in the world, but only perceive the thoughts and affections of those with whom they are. From all this it may appear, that man was so created that, while living amongst men in the world, he might at the same time live in heaven amongst angels, and contrariwise, so that heaven and the world might be together with man, and act as a one, and that men might know what passes in heaven, and angels what passes in the world; and that when men depart this life, they might pass thus from the Lord's kingdom on earth into His kingdom in the heavens, not as into another, but as into the same kingdom, in which they had been during their life in the body. But as man has become so corporeal, he has closed heaven against himself.
136. Lastly, I conversed with spirits who were from that earth concerning various things on our Earth, especially concerning the fact that sciences are cultivated here, which are not cultivated elsewhere, such as astronomy, geometry, mechanics, physics, chemistry, medicine, optics, and natural philosophy; and likewise arts, which are unknown elsewhere, as the arts of ship-building, of smelting metals, of writing on paper, and likewise of publishing by printing, and thus of communicating with others on the Earth, and thus also of preserving what is communicated for the use of posterity for thousands of years; and that this has been done also with the Word which is from the Lord, and that on this account revelation is for ever permanent on our Earth.
137. At last I was shown the hell of those who are from that earth. Those who appeared from there inspired great terror. I dare not describe their monstrous faces. Sorceresses also appeared there, who practise nefarious arts. They appeared clad in green, and struck me with horror.
138. I was afterwards led by the Lord to an earth in the universe which was at a much greater distance from our Earth than the first one that has just been treated of. That it was at a much greater distance, was plain from this circumstance, that I was two days in being led thither as to my spirit. This earth was to the left, whereas the former was to the right. As remoteness in the spiritual world does not, as already observed, arise from distance of place, but from difference of state, the long-continuance of my progression thither, which lasted two days, enabled me to conclude that the state of the interiors which prevailed with them, which is the state of the affections and of the consequent thoughts, differed proportionately from the state of the interiors which prevails with the spirits from our Earth. As I was conveyed thither as to the spirit by means of changes of the state of the interiors, I was enabled to observe the successive changes themselves before I arrived there. This took place while I was awake.
139. When I arrived there, I did not see the earth, but only the spirits who were from that earth; for, as has already been stated, the spirits of every earth appear about their own earth, because they are of a similar genius with the inhabitants, for they are of them, and are serviceable to them. Those spirits appeared at a considerable height over my head, and from thence they saw me coming. It must be borne in mind that they who stand on high in the other life can behold those who are below them, and the higher they stand the wider is the extent of their vision; and that not only can they behold them, but also speak with them. They observed from there that I was not from their earth, but from some other at a distance; wherefore, addressing me from thence, they questioned me on various subjects, and to these questions it was also permitted me to reply. Among other things, I told them from what earth I came, and what kind of earth it was; and afterwards I told them about the earths in our solar system; and then also about the spirits of the earth or planet Mercury, that they wander about to many earths for the purpose of procuring for themselves knowledges about various things. On hearing this, they said that they had also seen those spirits among themselves.
140. I was told by the angels from our Earth that the inhabitants and spirits of that earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to KEENNESS OF VISION, and that therefore they appear on high; and that they have a most penetrating keenness of sight. In consequence of their having this relation, and of their seeing clearly the things that were below, in the course of our conversation I compared them to eagles, which fly aloft, and enjoy a piercing and extensive view of surrounding things. At this they became indignant, supposing that I considered them like eagles as to their rapacity, and consequently that I thought them evil; but I replied, that I did not liken them to eagles as to rapacity, but as to keenness of vision.
141. Being questioned concerning the God whom they worshipped, they replied that they worshipped a God visible and invisible; a God visible under the Human Form, and an invisible God, under no form at all; and I learned from their discourse, and likewise from the ideas of their thoughts which were communicated to me, that the visible God was our Lord Himself, and they also called Him Lord. To this it was given me to reply, that on our Earth also, an invisible and a visible God is worshipped; and that the invisible God is called the Father, and the visible, the Lord; but that both are One, as He Himself taught, saying, that no one had ever seen the form of the Father, that the Father and He are One, that whoso seeth Him seeth the Father, and that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; consequently, that both Divine [Essences] are in One Person. That these are the words of the Lord Himself, see John v. 37; x. 30; xiv. 7, 9-11.
142. Afterwards I saw other spirits from the same earth, who appeared in a place beneath the former: with these also I conversed; but they were idolaters, for they worshipped an idol of stone, like a man, but an unhandsome one. It is to be observed, that all who come into the other life, in the beginning have a worship which is like their worship in the world, but that by degrees they are removed from it. The reason why this takes place is, that all worship remains implanted in man's interior life, from which it cannot be removed and eradicated except by degrees. On seeing this, it was given me to tell them that they ought not to worship what is dead, but what is living; to which they replied, that they knew that God lives, and that a stone does not, but that they thought of the living God while looking on a stone resembling a man, and that otherwise the ideas of their thought could not be fixed upon and determined to the invisible God. It was then given me to tell them that the ideas of thought can be fixed upon and determined to the invisible God, when they are fixed upon and determined to the Lord, who is God visible in thought under the Human Form; and thus that man can be conjoined with the invisible God in thought and affection, consequently in faith and love, when he is conjoined with the Lord, but not otherwise.
143. The spirits who were seen on high were questioned whether on their earth they live under the rule of princes or kings. To this they replied, that they do not know what governments are, and that they live under themselves, distinguished into clans, families, and households. They were questioned whether they were thus in security. They said they were secure, since one family never envies another, nor desires to deprive another of anything. They were indignant at being asked such questions, as if they had been charged with being at enmity, or with needing protection against robbers. What, said they, does anyone need but food and raiment, and thus to live content and quiet under one's own management?
144. Being further questioned concerning their earth, they said that they have meadows, flower-gardens, orchards full of fruit-trees, and also lakes containing fish; and that they have birds of a blue colour, with golden feathers; and large and small animals. Amongst the smaller, they mentioned one sort which had the back raised like the camels on our Earth; nevertheless, they do not feed on their flesh, but only on the flesh of fishes, and besides on the fruits of trees, and on the leguminous plants of the earth. They said, moreover, that they do not live in artificial houses, but in groves, amongst the leafy boughs of which they make roofs to shelter them from rain and the heat of the sun.
145. Being questioned respecting their sun, which appears as a star from our Earth, they said that it has a fiery appearance, and that it is not larger to the sight than a man's head. I was told by the angels that the star which is their sun is one of the smaller stars, not far distant from the equator.
146. There were seen some spirits who were like what they had been during their abode as men on their earth. They had faces not unlike the faces of the men of our Earth, except that their eyes and nose were small. As this appeared to me something of a deformity, they said that with them small eyes and a small nose are considered a beauty. A female was seen, clothed in a gown ornamented with roses of various colours. I asked whence they procured for themselves materials for clothing on that earth. They answered that they gather from certain plants substances which they spin into thread; and that they then at once lay the threads in double and triple rows, moistening them with a glutinous water to give them consistence. Afterwards they colour the cloth, thus prepared, with the juices of herbaceous plants. It was also shown me how they prepare the thread. The women sit down on a seat, with their backs bent, and twist the threads with their toes; and when twisted they draw the threads towards them, and work them with their hands.
147. They said also, that on that earth a husband has only one wife, and no more; and that they beget from ten to fifteen children. They added, that there are likewise found harlots on that earth; but that these, after the life of the body, when they become spirits, are sorceresses, and are cast into hell.