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EARTHS IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
WHICH ARE CALLED PLANETS
AND
EARTHS IN THE STARRY HEAVEN
THEIR INHABITANTS, AND THE SPIRITS AND ANGELS THERE
FROM THINGS HEARD AND SEEN
_FROM THE LATIN_
OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
SWEDENBORG SOCIETY (Incorporated) 20-21 BLOOMSBURY WAY, LONDON, W.C.1
1962
* * * * *
_The issues of this volume in a demy 8vo edition by the Swedenborg
Society have been:--_
_First Edition_ 1860
_Second Edition_ 1875
_Third Edition_ 1894
_Reprinted_ 1909
" 1931
" 1940
" 1962
_For other editions, see "A Bibliography of the Works of Emanuel
Swedenborg"_ (JAMES HYDE).
_Printed in Great Britain by Morrison & Gibb Ltd., London and
Edinburgh_
* * * * *
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
NOS.
EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE, 1-8
THE PLANET MERCURY, 9-45
THE PLANET JUPITER, 46-84
THE PLANET MARS, 85-96
THE PLANET SATURN, 97-104
THE PLANET VENUS, 105-110
THE MOON, 111, 112
REASONS WHY THE LORD WILLED TO BE BORN ON OUR EARTH, AND NOT ON
ANY OTHER, 113-122
EARTHS IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 123-126
THE FIRST EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 127-137
THE SECOND EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 138-147
THE THIRD EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 148-156
THE FOURTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 157-167
THE FIFTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, 168-178
PAGE
INDEX OF SUBJECTS, 101
INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES, 106
* * * * *
EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE.
1. Inasmuch as, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, the interiors which
are of my spirit have been opened in me, and it has thereby been given
me to speak with spirits and angels, not only with those who are near
our Earth, but also with those who are near other earths; and since I
had an ardent desire to know whether there were other earths, and to
know their character and the character of their inhabitants; it has
been granted me by the Lord to speak and have intercourse with spirits
and angels who are from other earths, with some for a day, with
some for a week, with some for months; and to be instructed by them
respecting the earths from and near which they were, and concerning
the life, customs, and worship of their inhabitants, besides various
other things there that are worthy of note. And since it has been
given me to become acquainted with these matters in this way, it is
permitted me to describe them from the things which I have heard and
seen. It is necessary that it be known that all spirits and angels are
from the human race[a], and that they are near their own earths[b],
and are acquainted with what is upon them; and that a man may be
instructed by them, if his interiors are so far opened as to enable
him to speak and be in company with them: for man in his essence is
a spirit[c], and is in company with spirits as to his interiors[d];
wherefore he whose interiors are opened by the Lord, is able to speak
with them, as man with man[e]. It has now been granted me to enjoy
this privilege daily for twelve years.
[Footnote: _From the_ ARCANA COELESTIA: _in which work these and
subsequent articles, which are inserted below the line, are explained
and shown._]
[Footnote a: There are no spirits and angels who are not from the
human race, no. 1880.]
[Footnote b: The spirits of every earth are near their own earth,
because they are of its inhabitants, and of a similar genius; and they
are meant to be of service to them, no. 9968.]
[Footnote c: The soul, which lives after death, is the spirit of man,
which in a man is the man himself, and also appears in the other life
in a perfect human form, nos. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622, 4735, 6054,
6605, 6626, 7021, 10594.]
[Footnote d: Man, even during his abode in the world, is, as to his
interiors, consequently as to his spirit or soul, in the midst of
spirits and angels who are of such a character as he himself is, nos.
2379, 3645, 4067, 4073, 4077.]
[Footnote e: Man is capable of speaking with spirits and angels, and
the ancients on our Earth frequently spoke with them, nos. 67, 68, 69,
784, 1634, 1636, 7802. But at the present day it is dangerous for man
to speak with them, unless he be in a true faith, and be led by the
Lord, nos. 784, 9438, 10751.]
2. That there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits and
angels from them, is very well known in the other life; for in that
life, every one who from a love of the truth and consequent use
desires it, is allowed to speak with the spirits of other earths, so
as to be convinced that there is a plurality of worlds, and informed
that the human race is not from one earth only, but from numberless
earths; and so as to be informed, besides, of what genius and life
they are, and of what character their Divine worship is.
3. I have sometimes spoken on this subject with the spirits of our
Earth, and it was said that a man of sound understanding may conclude,
from many things which he knows, that there are more earths than one,
and that there are human beings upon them. For it is an inference of
reason, that such huge bodies as the planets are, some of which exceed
this Earth in magnitude, are not empty bodies, created only to be
carried and to rotate around the sun, and to shine with their scanty
light (_lumen_) for the benefit of one earth only; but that they must
needs have a nobler use than this. He who believes, as every one ought
to believe, that the Divine created the universe for no other end
than the existence of the human race, and of a heaven from it (for
the human race is the seminary of heaven), cannot but believe that
wherever there is an earth, there are human beings. That the planets,
which are visible to our eyes, being within the boundaries of this
solar system, are earths, may be clearly seen from the following
considerations. They are bodies of earthy matter, because they reflect
the sun's light (_lumen_), and, when seen through the telescope,
appear, not as stars shining from their flame, but as earths
(_terrae_) variegated with dark spots. Like our Earth, they are
carried round the sun and advance progressively through the path of
the zodiac, which motion causes years, and seasons of the year, which
are spring, summer, autumn, and winter. They likewise rotate upon
their own axis, just as our Earth does, and this rotation causes days,
and times of the day, that is, morning, mid-day, evening, and
night. And moreover, some of them also have moons, which are called
satellites, which perform their revolutions around their globes in
stated times, as the moon does around ours. The planet Saturn, because
it is so very far distant from the sun, has also a great luminous
ring, which supplies that earth with much, although reflected, light.
How is it possible for any one who is acquainted with these facts, and
thinks from reason, to assert that such bodies are uninhabited?
4. I have, moreover, spoken with spirits [to the effect] that men may
be led to believe that there are more earths in the universe than one,
by considering the immensity of the starry heaven with its innumerable
stars, each of which, in its own place, that is, in its own system, is
a sun, and like our sun, but differs in magnitude. Any one who rightly
weighs these facts must conclude that so immense a whole cannot but be
the means to an end which is the final end of creation, and that this
end is a heavenly kingdom, in which the Divine may dwell with angels
and men. For the visible universe, that is, the heaven resplendent
with such an innumerable multitude of stars, which are so many suns,
is merely a means for the existence of earths, and of human beings
upon them, from whom a heavenly kingdom [may be formed]. From these
considerations a rational man cannot but think that a means so immense
to an end so great was not provided for a human race, and a heaven
from them, from one earth only. What would this be to the Divine,
who is infinite, and to whom thousands, yea, myriads, of earths,
all filled with inhabitants, would be but a little thing and almost
nothing!
5. Besides, the angelic heaven is so immense that it corresponds to
each single part in man, myriads [of angels corresponding] to each
member, and organ, and viscus, and to each affection of them; and
it has been given me to know that this heaven, as to all its
correspondences, cannot possibly exist except from the inhabitants of
very many earths[f].
[Footnote f: Heaven corresponds to the Lord, and man, as to all things
in general and particular, corresponds to heaven; and hence heaven,
before the Lord, is a Man in a large effigy, and may be called the
Grand or Greatest Man, nos. 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3746, 4625.
Concerning the correspondence of man, and of all things pertaining to
him, with the Grand Man, which is heaven, in general, from experience,
nos. 3021, 3624-3649, 3741-3751, 3883-3896, 4039-4055, 4218-4218-4228,
4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533, 4622-4633, 4652-4660, 4791-4805,
4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396, 5552-5573, 5711-5727,
10030.]
6. There are spirits whose sole study is the acquisition of knowledges
finding in them their only delight. These spirits are therefore
permitted to wander about, and even to pass beyond this solar system
into others, and procure knowledges. They have stated that there are
earths in immense numbers, inhabited by human beings, not only in this
solar system, but in the starry heaven beyond it. These spirits are
from the planet Mercury.
7. With regard, in general, to the Divine worship of the inhabitants
of other earths: all there, who are not idolaters, acknowledge the
Lord to be the One only God; for they adore the Divine, not as an
invisible Divine, but as visible, for this reason, besides others,
that when the Divine appears to them it is in the Human Form, as He
formerly did to Abraham and others on this Earth [g]; and all who
adore the Divine under the Human Form are accepted by the Lord [h].
They also say that no one can worship God rightly, and still less be
conjoined with Him, unless he comprehends Him by some idea, and that
God cannot be comprehended except in the Human Form; and that if He
be not thus comprehended, the interior sight, which is that of the
thought, concerning God, is dissipated, as is the sight of the eye,
when looking into the universe with nothing to limit the view; and
that then the thought cannot but fall into nature, and worship it
instead of God.
[Footnote g: The inhabitants of all the earths adore the Divine Being
under the Human Form, consequently the Lord, nos. 8541-8547, 10159,
10736, 10737, 10738. And they rejoice when they hear that God actually
became Man, no. 9361. It is impossible to think of God except in the
Human Form, nos. 8705, 9359, 9972. Man is able to worship and love
that of which he has some idea, but not that of which he has no idea,
nos. 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9167, 10067.]
[Footnote h: The Lord receives all who are in good, and who adore the
Divine under the Human Form, nos. 9359, 7178.]
8. When they were told that the Lord assumed the Human on our Earth,
they pondered for awhile, and then said that it was done for the
salvation of the human race.
THE EARTH OR PLANET MERCURY, AND ITS SPIRIT AND INHABITANTS
9. That the entire heaven resembles one man, who is therefore called
the Grand or Greatest Man (_Maximus Homo_), and that all things in
general and particular in man, both his exteriors and interiors,
correspond to that man or to heaven, is an arcanum as yet unknown in
the world; but that it is so has been shown in many passages[i].
But to constitute that Grand Man, those who come from our Earth into
heaven are insufficient, being comparatively few; they must come from
many other earths: and it is provided by the Lord that as soon as
there is in any part a deficiency in the quality or quantity of the
correspondence, those who may supply it shall be immediately summoned
from another earth, in order that the proportion may be preserved, and
heaven by this means maintain its consistence.
[Footnote i: See note f.]
10. It has also been disclosed to me from heaven, what the spirits
from the planet Mercury have relation to in the Grand Man, namely,
that they have relation to the memory, but to the memory of things
abstracted from earthly and merely material things. As, however, it
has been given me to speak with them, and this for many weeks, and to
learn of what character they are, and to examine how the inhabitants
of that earth are circumstanced, I wish to adduce the experiences
themselves.
11. Some spirits came to me, and it was stated from heaven that they
were from the earth nearest to the sun, which on our Earth is called
the planet Mercury. Immediately on their coming they sifted out of my
memory the things that I knew. This, spirits can do most skilfully,
for when they come to a man they see in his memory all the particulars
it contains[j]. While passing in review the various things, and, among
others, the cities and places where I had been, I observed that they
had no wish to know the temples, palaces, houses, and streets, but
only the things I knew to have been done in them, also the things that
related to the government there, and to the genius and manners of the
inhabitants, and other similar things; for such matters are closely
associated with the places in a man's memory, so that when the places
are called to mind, these matters also suggest themselves. I was
surprised to find them of such a character, and therefore inquired
why they disregarded the magnificent objects of the places, and only
inquired into the facts and transactions connected with them. They
said that they had no delight in regarding material, corporeal, and
terrestrial things, but only things that are real. Hence it was proved
that the spirits of that earth, in the Grand Man, have relation to the
memory of things abstracted from material and terrestrial things.
[Footnote j: Spirits enter into all things of man's memory, and do
not [insinuate anything] from their own [memory] into the man's, nos.
2488, 5863, 6192, 6193, 6198, 6199, 6214. The angels enter into
the affections and ends, from which and for the sake of which a man
thinks, wills, and acts in such or such a manner in preference to
every other, nos. 1317, 1645, 5844.]
12. I was told that the life of the inhabitants of that earth is such,
namely, that they do not concern themselves about terrestrial and
corporeal things, but only about the statutes, laws, and governments
of the nations there; and also about the things of heaven, which are
innumerable. I was further informed, that many of the men (_homines_)
of that earth converse with spirits, and that thence they have
knowledges respecting spiritual things and the states of life after
death, and that thence also they have a contempt for corporeal and
terrestrial things; for those who know for a certainty, and believe,
that there is a life after death, are concerned about heavenly things,
as being eternal and blessed, but not about worldly things, except so
far as the necessities of life require. Such being the character of
its inhabitants, such also is that of the spirits who are from it[k].
[Footnote k: The spirits who are with man are in possession of all
things of his memory, nos. 5853, 5857, 5859, 5860.]
13. How eagerly they search for and imbibe the knowledges of such
things as pertain to the memory raised above the sensual things of
the body, was made manifest to me from the circumstance that when they
looked into the things which I knew respecting heavenly subjects, they
ran over them all, and kept on stating the nature of each. For when
spirits come to a man, they enter into the whole of his memory, and
call forth from it what suits themselves; nay, what I have often
observed, they read its contents as from a book[k]. These spirits did
this more skilfully and quickly, because they did not linger over such
matters as are heavy and sluggish, and confine and consequently impede
the internal sight, as is the nature of all terrestrial and corporeal
things, when regarded as ends, that is, when alone loved; but they
devoted their attention to things themselves; for those matters to
which terrestrial things do not cling, carry the mind (_animus_)
upwards, and so introduce it into a wide field [of view], whereas
merely material things drag the mind (_animus_) downwards, and thus
limit and imprison it. Their eagerness to acquire knowledges
and enrich the memory was further evident from the following
circumstances: Once, when I was writing something concerning things
to come, and they were at a distance, so that they could not look into
those things from my memory; because I was unwilling to read them in
their presence, they were very indignant, and, contrary to their usual
demeanour, they were disposed to inveigh against me, saying that I
was the worst of men, and other like things; and, to show their
resentment, they caused a kind of contraction, attended with pain, on
the right side of my head as far as the ear; but such treatment did me
no harm. As, however, they had done evil, they removed themselves to
a still greater distance, yet kept stopping, being desirous of knowing
what I had written. Such is their eager desire for knowledges.
14. The spirits of Mercury, more than other spirits, possess the
knowledges of things, both of those which are within this solar
system, and those which are beyond it in the starry heaven; and
whatever things they have once acquired they retain, and recollect
them as often as similar ones occur. From this also it may manifestly
appear that spirits have memory, and that it is much more perfect than
that of men; and further, that spirits retain what they hear, see, and
apperceive, and especially such matters as they are delighted with, as
these spirits are with the knowledges of things; for things that are
matters of delight and love flow in as it were spontaneously, and
remain; other things do not enter, but only touch the surface and pass
by.
15. When the spirits of Mercury come to other societies, they try
to discover from them what they know, and when they have ascertained
this, they depart. There is also such a communication among spirits,
and especially among angels, that when they are in a society, if they
are accepted and loved, they communicate or share all they know.[l]
[Footnote l: In the heavens there is a communication of all goods,
inasmuch as heavenly love communicates all its possessions to others;
and hence the angels derive wisdom and happiness, nos. 549, 550, 1390,
1391, 1399, 10130, 10723.]
16. The spirits of Mercury, on account of their knowledges, are more
conceited than others; wherefore they were told that, although they
know innumerable things, there is yet an infinity of things which they
do not know; and that even were the knowledges with them to increase
to eternity, they would still be unable to attain to so much as an
acquaintance with the generals of all things. They were told that they
were conceited and elated of disposition, and that this character
is unbecoming; but they replied, that it is not conceit, but only a
glorying on account of the capacity of their memory. Thus they have
the art of excusing their faults.
17. They are averse to verbal speech, because it is material;
wherefore, when I conversed with them without intermediate spirits, I
could only do so by a kind of active thought. Their memory, because it
is a memory of things, not of purely material images, brings nearer
to the thought its proper objects; for the thought, which is above the
imagination, requires for its objects things abstracted from those
of matter. But notwithstanding that this is the case, the spirits
of Mercury excel but little in the faculty of judgment. They take no
delight in the things which pertain to judgment and to conclusions
from knowledges; for their delight is in the bare knowledges.
18. It was suggested to them, whether they did not wish to make any
use of their knowledges; for it is not enough to be delighted with
knowledges, because knowledges have respect to uses, and uses ought
to be their ends; that from knowledges alone no use results to
themselves, but to others with whom they are willing to share or
communicate them; and that it is not at all meet for a man who wants
to become wise to stand still in knowledges alone, inasmuch as
these are only instrumental causes, meant to be serviceable for the
investigation of matters which ought to belong to the life. But they
replied that they were delighted with knowledges, and that to them
knowledges were uses.
19. Some of them, also, wish to appear, not as men, like the spirits
of other earths, but as crystalline globes. Their wanting to appear
so, although they do not, arises from the circumstance that the
knowledges of immaterial things are in the other life represented by
crystals.
20. The spirits of Mercury differ entirely from those of our Earth,
for the spirits of our Earth concern themselves not so much about
[immaterial] things as about worldly, corporeal, and terrestrial
things, which are material. For this reason the spirits of Mercury
cannot be together with the spirits of our Earth, and therefore
wherever they meet them they flee away, for the spiritual spheres that
are exhaled from both are almost contrary. The spirits of Mercury have
a common saying, that they do not want to look at the sheath, but at
things stripped of their sheath, thus at interior things.
21. There appeared a flame of considerable brightness, which blazed
cheerfully, and this for about an hour. That flame signified the
advent of some spirits of Mercury who, for penetration, thought, and
speech, were prompter than those who preceded them. When they were
come, they instantly ran over the things that were in my memory,
but, owing to their promptness, I was unable to apperceive what they
observed. Immediately afterwards, I heard them say that the matter
was thus and thus. With regard to the things which I had seen in the
heavens and in the world of spirits, they said that they knew them
before. I perceived that a multitude of spirits who were consociated
with them, was behind, a little to the left, in the plane of the
occiput.
22. At another time I saw a multitude of such spirits, but at some
little distance from me, in front a little to the right, and they
spoke with me from thence, but through intermediate spirits; for their
speech is as quick as thought, which does not fall into human speech,
except by means of other spirits; and what surprised me, they spoke
in a body, and yet as promptly and rapidly as possible. Their speech,
being of many together, was apperceived as undulatory, and, what was
remarkable, it glided towards my left eye, although they were to the
right. The reason was, that the left eye corresponds to the knowledges
of things abstracted from material things, thus to such as belong to
intelligence, while the right eye corresponds to such as belong
to wisdom[m]. With the same promptness with which they spoke, they
perceived the things that they heard, and formed their judgment upon
them, saying of one thing that it was so, and of another that it was
not so, their judgment being as it were instantaneous.
[Footnote m: The eye corresponds to the understanding, because
the understanding is the internal sight, and the sight of things
immaterial, nos. 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569. The sight of the left
eye corresponds to truths, consequently to intelligence; and the sight
of the right eye corresponds to the goods of truth, consequently to
wisdom, no. 4410.]
23. There was a spirit from another earth, who was well qualified to
converse with them, being a prompt and rapid speaker, but who affected
elegance in his discourse. They instantly formed their judgment
concerning whatever he spoke, saying of one thing that it was too
elegantly, of another that it was too learnedly expressed; so that the
only thing they attended to was, whether they heard from him anything
which was not known to them before, rejecting thereby such things as
obscured the subject, which are chiefly affectations of elegance in
expression and of erudition; for these hide the things themselves and
in their place substitute expressions, which are the material forms
of things; on these the speaker keeps his mind (_animus_) fixed, and
wants to draw attention to his expressions rather than their meaning,
by which the ears of his auditors are more affected than their minds
(_mens_).
24. The spirits of the earth Mercury do not tarry in one place, or
among assemblies of the spirits of one system, but wander through
the universe. The reason is that they have reference to the memory
of things, which requires to be continually enriched; therefore it is
granted them to wander about, and everywhere acquire knowledges.
If, while travelling in this manner, they meet with spirits who love
material, that is, corporeal and terrestrial things, they shun them,
and betake themselves to where they do not hear such things. From this
it may appear that their mind (_animus_) is elevated above sensual
things, and thus that they are in interior light (_lumen_). This it
was also given me actually to perceive when they were near me and were
speaking with me. I observed then that I was withdrawn from sensual
things to such a degree, that the light (_lumen_) of my eyes began to
grow dull and dim.
25. The spirits of that earth go about by companies and phalanxes, and
when assembled together they form as it were a globe. They are joined
together in this manner by the Lord in order that they may act as a
one, and that the knowledges of each may be communicated to all, and
the knowledges of all to each, as is the case in heaven[l]. That they
wander through the universe in quest of the knowledges of things, was
made manifest to me also from this fact, that once, when they appeared
very remote from me, they spoke with me from thence, and said that
they were then gathered together, and were going beyond the sphere of
this system into the starry heaven, where they knew there were such
as had no concern about terrestrial and corporeal things, but about
things elevated above them, with whom they desired to be. It was
stated that they themselves do not know whither they are going, but
that under the Divine auspices they are conveyed to where they may
be instructed concerning such things as they had previously been
unacquainted with, and which are in agreement with the knowledges they
already possess. It was also stated that they do not know how they
meet with the companions with whom they are conjoined, and that this
also is effected under the Divine auspices.
26. As they journey through the universe in this manner, and are thus
enabled to know more than others about the systems and earths beyond
the sphere of our solar system, I have spoken with them on this
subject also. They said that in the universe there are very many
earths, with human beings upon them; and that they wonder at its being
supposed by some, whom they called men of little judgment, that the
heaven of the Omnipotent God consists only of the spirits and angels
who come from one earth, when these are so few that, relatively to the
Omnipotence of God, they are scarcely anything, and this would be the
case even if there were myriads of systems with myriads of earths.
They said, moreover, that they knew of the existence of earths in the
universe exceeding in number some hundreds of thousands; and yet what
is this to the Divine, who is Infinite!
27. The spirits of Mercury, when they were with me while I was writing
and explaining the Word as to its internal sense, and who perceived
what I was writing, said that the things which I wrote were very
gross, and that almost all the expressions appeared as material. But
it was given to reply, that the men of our Earth nevertheless look
upon the things that have been written, as subtle and elevated, and
that many things they do not understand. I added, that very many on
this Earth do not know that it is the internal man that acts on the
external, and causes it to live, and that from the fallacies of the
senses they persuade themselves that the body has a life of its own,
and that in consequence the evil and unbelieving are in doubt as to a
life after death. Also, that that in man which is to live after death
they do not call the spirit but the soul; and that they dispute about
what the soul is and where its abode is, and believe that the material
body, although dispersed to all the winds, must be again conjoined to
it, in order that man may live as a man; besides many other things of
the same kind. When the spirits of Mercury heard these things, they
asked whether such men could become angels. To this it was given to
answer that those who have lived in the good of faith and charity
become angels, and that then they are no longer in external and
material things, but in internal and spiritual things; and that when
they come into this state, they are in a light superior to that in
which the spirits from Mercury are. In order that they might know that
this was so, an angel who had come into heaven from our Earth, and who
had been such while he lived in the world, was allowed to speak with
them; which circumstance will be detailed below [at no. 37].
28. Afterwards there was sent me by the spirits of Mercury a long
paper of an irregular shape, consisting of several papers stuck
together, which appeared as if printed with types such as are used on
this Earth. I asked whether they had such among them; but they said
they had not, but that they knew that there were such printed papers
on our Earth. They were not willing to say more; but I perceived that
they thought that the knowledges on our Earth were on papers, and not
so much within the man himself, thus derisively insinuating that the
papers, so to speak, knew more than the man. But they were instructed
as to the real state of the case. After some time they returned, and
sent me another paper, which also appeared printed with types like
unto the former one; not, however, like it, stuck together and untidy,
but symmetrically shaped and neat: they said they had been further
informed that on this Earth there were such papers, and books made of
them.
29. From the facts that have now been stated, it clearly appears, that
spirits retain in the memory the things that they see and hear in the
other life, and that they are equally capable of being instructed as
when they were men in the world, consequently, of being instructed in
those things that are of faith, and thereby of being perfected. The
more interior spirits and angels are, the more promptly and fully do
they imbibe, and the more perfectly do they retain [what they hear],
and as this [capacity remains] for ever, it is evident that wisdom
is continually growing with them. With the spirits of Mercury, the
science of things is continually growing, yet not therefore wisdom,
because they love knowledges, which are means, but not uses, which are
ends.
30. Furthermore, the character of the genius of the spirits who are
from the planet Mercury may still further appear from the following
facts. It must be known that all spirits and angels without exception
were once men, for the human race is the seminary of heaven; and that
spirits are altogether such as to their affections and inclinations
as they had been when they lived as men in the world, for every one's
life follows him[n]. This being the case, the genius of the men of
every earth may be known from the genius of the spirits who are from
it.
[Footnote n: Every one's life remains with him and follows him after
death, nos. 4227, 7440. The externals of life are kept closed after
death, and the internals of life are opened, nos. 4314, 5128,
6495. All things in general and particular of thought are then made
manifest, nos. 4633, 5128.]
31. Since the spirits of Mercury in the Grand Man have relation to the
memory of things abstracted from material things, therefore when
any one speaks to them of terrestrial, corporeal, and merely worldly
things, they are absolutely unwilling to hear; and if they are forced
to hear of those things, they transmute them into others, and for the
most part into contrary things, so as to avoid them.
32. In order that I might know for certain that such was their genius,
it was allowed to represent to them meadows, fallow-lands, gardens,
woods, and streams. To represent such things is to exhibit before
another in imagination those things which, in the other life, appear
to the life. But they instantly transmuted them; they darkened the
meadows and fallow-lands, and by representations filled them with
snakes; the streams they turned black, so that the water no longer
appeared limpid. When I asked why they did so, they said they did
not want to think of such things, but of realities, which are the
knowledges of things abstracted from terrestrial things, especially of
such as exist in the heavens.
33. I afterwards represented to them birds both large and small,
such as exist on our Earth; for in the other life such things can be
represented to the life. On seeing those birds represented, they at
first wanted to change them, but they afterwards were delighted
with them, and became quiet; the reason was, that birds signify the
knowledges of things, and the perception of this fact then flowed
in[o]; they therefore abstained from transmuting them, and so from
turning away the ideas of their memory. Afterwards it was permitted
me to represent before them a very pleasant garden full of lamps and
lights; they then paused and their attention was fixed, because lamps
with lights signify truths (_veritates_) which shine from good[p].
From this it was evident that they could be detained in the
consideration of material things, provided only that the signification
of those things in the spiritual sense were insinuated at the same
time; for the things which belong to the spiritual sense are not
abstracted from material things to the same extent, inasmuch as they
are representative of these.
[Footnote o: Birds signify rational things, intellectual things,
thoughts, ideas, and knowledges, nos. 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988,
993, 5149, 7441. And this with variety according to the genera and
species of the birds, no. 3219.]
[Footnote p: Lamps with lights signify truths (_veritates_) which
shine from good, nos. 4638, 9548, 9783.]
34. Moreover, I spoke with them about sheep and lambs, but they were
not willing to hear of such things, because they were perceived
by them as terrestrial things; the reason was, that they did
not understand what innocence is, which lambs signify; this was
apperceived from the circumstance that, on my saying that lambs, when
represented in heaven, signify innocence[q], they said that they did
not know what innocence was, but only knew it by name: the reason is,
that they are affected with knowledges only, but not with uses, which
are the ends of knowledges, consequently they are unable to know, from
internal perception, what innocence is.
[Footnote q: Lambs in heaven, and in the Word, signify innocence, nos.
3994, 7840, 10132.]
35. Some of the spirits of the earth Mercury came to me, being sent by
others, in order that they might hear what was going on near me. These
were told by one of the spirits of our Earth, to tell their [friends]
not to speak anything but what was true, and not, as they were wont,
to present opposite things to their questioners; for that if any of
the spirits of our Earth were to do so, he would be punished. But
immediately the company from which those spirits had been sent
forth, and which was at a distance, made answer, that if they must be
punished on that account, they must all be punished, inasmuch as, from
continual practice, they could not do otherwise. They said that when
they speak with the men of their own earth, they also do likewise,
not, however, with any intention to deceive, but to inspire the desire
of knowing; for when they present opposite things, and conceal things
in a certain manner, the desire of knowing is excited, and thus from
the zeal of exploring those things, the memory is perfected. I also,
on another occasion, spoke with them on the same subject, and, as
I knew that they spoke with the men of their earth, I asked in what
manner they instructed their inhabitants. They said that they do not
instruct them fully as to how a matter is, but keep insinuating some
apperception of it, in order that from this the desire of exploring
and of acquiring knowledge may be nourished and grow; for if they were
to answer all their questions, the desire would perish. They added,
that they suggest opposites for this reason also, that the truth
(_veritas_) may afterwards appear the better; for all truth appears
from relation to its opposites.
36. It is their custom not to tell another what they know, but still
they want to learn from all others what is known to them. With their
own society, however, they communicate everything, insomuch that
what one knows all know, and what all know each one in the society
knows[l].
37. Inasmuch as the spirits of Mercury abound in knowledges, they are
in a certain kind of conceit; hence they imagine that they know so
much that it is almost impossible to know more. But it was told them
by the spirits of our Earth, that they do not know much but little,
and that the things which they do not know are comparatively infinite;
and that the things which they do not know, are, relatively to those
they do know, as the waters of the largest ocean to those of a very
small fountain; and further, that the first step towards wisdom
consists in knowing, acknowledging, and perceiving that what one
knows, is, compared with what one does not know, so little as hardly
to be anything. In order that they might know that it is so, it was
granted that a certain angelic spirit should speak with them, and tell
them generally what they knew and what they did not know, and that
there were infinite things which they did not know, and that eternity
would not suffice for their acquiring even a general knowledge of
things. He spoke by means of angelic ideas much more readily than they
did, and as he disclosed to them what they knew and what they did not
know, they were struck with amazement. Afterwards I saw another angel
speaking with them, who appeared at some height towards the right; he
was from our Earth. He recounted very many things which they did not
know; and afterwards he spoke with them by means of changes of state,
which they said they did not understand. He then told them that every
change of state, and also every smallest part of such change, contains
infinite things. When they heard this, as they had been conceited on
account of their knowledges, they began to humble themselves. Their
humiliation was represented by the sinking downwards of the compact
body (_volumen_) which they formed (for that company appeared at the
time as a compact body, in front towards the left, at a distance,
in the plane of the region below the navel); but the compact body
appeared as it were hollowed in the middle, and raised at the sides;
an alternating motion was also observed therein. They were also told
what that signified, that is, what they thought in their humiliation,
and that those who appeared elevated at the sides were not as yet in
any humiliation; and I saw that the compact body was separated, and
that those who were not in humiliation were sent back towards their
earth, the rest remaining.
38. There once came some spirits of Mercury to a certain spirit from
our Earth, who, during his life in the world, had been most celebrated
for his learning,--he was Christian Wolf--desiring to receive
information from him on various subjects. But when they perceived that
what he said was not elevated above the sensual things of the natural
man, because in speaking he thought of honour, and wanted, as in the
world (for in the other life every one is like his former self),
to connect various things into series, and from these again and
continually to deduce others, and so form several chains of such,
which they did not see or acknowledge to be true, and which therefore
they declared to be chains which neither cohered in themselves nor
with the conclusions, and called them the obscurity of authority, they
ceased to question him, inquiring only _what this was called and what
that_. And because he answered these questions also by material ideas,
and not by any that were spiritual, they departed from him. For in the
other life every one speaks spiritually, or by spiritual ideas, so far
as in the world he had believed in God; and materially, so far as he
had not believed. As an opportunity here offers, I may relate how the
case is, in the other life, with the learned who acquire intelligence
by their own meditation kindled by the love of knowing truths for
the sake of truths, thus for the sake of uses apart from worldly
considerations; and how the case is with those who acquire
intelligence from others without any meditation of their own, as is
the practice of those who desire to know truths merely for the purpose
of acquiring a reputation for learning, and of thereby attaining
honour or gain in the world, and consequently not for the sake of
uses apart from worldly considerations. I may here relate a certain
experience concerning men of this character. There was apperceived a
certain sound penetrating from beneath near the left side as far as
the left ear: I observed that there were spirits who were attempting
to force their way there, but I could not ascertain of what character
they were. When they had forced their way, however, they spoke with
me, saying that they were logicians and metaphysicians, and that they
had immersed their thoughts in such [sciences] without any other
end than that of acquiring a reputation for learning, and thus of
attaining to honours and wealth: they lamented that they now led a
miserable life, because they had studied these sciences for no other
end, and thus had not cultivated their Rational by means of them.
Their speech was slow and muffled. In the meantime there were two
conversing above my head, and when I asked who they were, I was told
that one of them was of the highest distinction in the learned world,
and it was given me to believe that he was Aristotle. Who the other
was, was not stated. He was then let into the state in which he had
been when he lived in the world, for every one can easily be let into
the state of life which he had had in the world, since every state
of his life remains with him. I was surprised to find that he applied
himself to the right ear, and he spoke there, hoarsely, indeed, but
still sensibly. From the purport of what he said I apperceived that he
was of quite a different genius from those Schoolmen who first arose,
namely, that he hatched what he wrote from his own thought, and from
the same source produced his philosophical system, so that the terms
which he invented, and applied to subjects of thought, were forms of
expression by which he described interior things; also that he was
excited to such pursuits by a delight of the affection, and by a
desire of knowing the things that belonged to the thought and the
understanding; and that he followed obediently whatever his spirit
had dictated. This was the reason he applied himself to the right ear,
differently from his followers, who are called Schoolmen, and who do
not proceed from thought to terms, but from terms to thoughts, thus by
a contrary way; and many of them do not even proceed to thoughts, but
stick fast entirely in terms, their application of which, when they
make any, being to confirm whatever they want to, and to invest
falsities with an appearance of truth, according to their eagerness
to persuade. Consequently for them philosophy is rather a means of
becoming foolish than a means of becoming wise; and therefore they
have darkness instead of light. Afterwards, I conversed with him
on analytical science, saying that a little child, in half an hour,
speaks more philosophically, analytically, and logically, than he
could describe in a volume, because all things of human thought and
consequently of human speech are analytical, and the laws thereof are
from the spiritual world; and that he who wants to think artificially
from terms is not unlike a dancer who wants to learn to dance from
a knowledge of the motory fibres and muscles; if he were to keep
his mind (_animus_) fixed on that knowledge whilst dancing, he would
hardly be able to move a foot, and yet, without that knowledge, he
sets in action all the motory fibres that are scattered throughout the
whole of his body, and, in due measure, the lungs, diaphragm, sides,
arms, neck, and all the other parts, to describe all which volumes
would not suffice; and that the case is just like this with those who
want to think from terms. He approved of these observations, and
said, that if one learns to think in that way one proceeds in inverted
order: adding, that if any one wants to be foolish, he has only to
proceed in that way; and that one should constantly think of use, and
from what is interior. He next showed me what idea he had had of the
Supreme Deity. He had represented Him to himself as having a human
face, and encompassed about the head with a radiant circle; but he now
knew that the Lord is Himself that Man, and that the radiant circle is
the Divine [proceeding] from Him, which inflows not only into heaven
but also into the universe, disposing and ruling both. He added, that
He who disposes and rules heaven, disposes and rules the universe
also, because the one cannot be separated from the other. He also
said, that he believed in only one God, whose attributes and qualities
men distinguished by names as numerous as the gods they worshipped.
A woman appeared to me who stretched out her hand, desiring to stroke
his cheek. When I expressed my surprise at this, he said, that while
he was in the world such a woman had often appeared to him, and as it
were stroked his cheek, and that her hand was beautiful. The angelic
spirits said that such women sometimes appeared to the ancients, and
that they called them Pallases; and that the one who appeared to him
was from spirits who, when they lived as men in the ancient times,
were delighted with ideas and indulged in thoughts, but without
philosophy; and as such spirits were with him, and were delighted with
him because he thought from what is interior, they representatively
exhibited such a woman to his view. Lastly, he told me what idea he
had had concerning the soul or spirit of man, which he called Pneuma,
namely, that it was an invisible vital [principle], like something
of the ether. He said that he knew his spirit would live after death,
since it was his interior essence, which cannot die, because it can
think; and moreover that he could not think clearly concerning it,
but only obscurely, because he had not possessed any knowledge on the
subject except from himself, with a little also from the Ancients.
Aristotle, it may be remarked, is among sane spirits in the other
life, but many of his followers are among the foolish.
39. I once saw that some spirits of our Earth were with some spirits
of Mercury, and I heard them conversing with one another; and on this
occasion the spirits of our Earth asked them, among other things, in
whom they believed. They replied that they believed in God. But when
they inquired further concerning the God in whom they believed, they
would not say, since it is their custom not to give direct answers
to questions. Then the spirits from the earth Mercury, in their turn,
asked the spirits from our Earth in whom they believed. They said that
they believed in the Lord God. The spirits of Mercury then said they
perceived that they believed in no God, and that they had contracted
a habit of professing belief with the mouth when yet they do not
believe. (The spirits of Mercury have an exquisite perception, in
consequence of their continually exploring, by means of perception,
what others know.) The spirits of our Earth were of the number of
those who in the world had made profession of faith according to the
doctrine of the church, but still had not lived the life of faith;
and those who do not live the life of faith, in the other life have
no faith, because it is not in the man[r]. On hearing this they were
silent, because, by an apperception then given them, they acknowledged
that the case was so.