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.
THE FIRST EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS:
FROM THINGS HEARD AND SEEN.
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 memory[tt]. 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 spaces[ss].
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: 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
understand[uu].
[Footnote uu: 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.
THE SECOND EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND
INHABITANTS.
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.