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.
THE THIRD EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
148. There appeared some spirits at a distance, who were unwilling
to approach. The reason was, that they could not be together with the
spirits of our Earth who were then about me. From this I apperceived
that they were from another earth; and I was told afterwards that they
were from a certain earth in the universe; but where that earth is,
was not made known to me. These spirits, unlike the spirits from our
Earth, were absolutely unwilling to think about their body, or even
about anything corporeal and material; hence it was that they were
unwilling to approach; yet, after the removal of some of the spirits
of our Earth, they drew nearer, and spoke with me. But then there
was a sense of anxiety arising from the collision of the spheres; for
spiritual spheres surround all spirits and societies of spirits[cc];
and since they emanate from the life of the affections and the
consequent thoughts, therefore where the affections are contrary
collision takes place, and hence arises anxiety. The spirits of our
Earth related, that they dare not even approach them; since, on their
approach, they are not only seized with anxiety, but also appear to
themselves as if they were bound hand and foot with serpents, from
which they cannot be freed till they have departed. This appearance
takes its origin from correspondence; for the spirits of our Earth,
in the Grand Man, have relation to external sense, consequently to the
corporeal Sensual, and this Sensual is represented in the other life
by serpents[xx].
[Footnote xx: The external Sensual of man in the spiritual world is
represented by serpents, because it is in the lowest [parts], and
relatively to the more interior things in man, lies on the ground, and
as it were creeps; and on this ground they were called serpents who
reasoned from that Sensual, nos. 195-197, 6398, 6949.]
149. As the spirits of that earth are such, they appear in the eyes
of other spirits, not in a distinct human form, as others do, but as
clouds, in most cases like a dusky cloud, with the fair human colour
interspersed; but they said, that within they are fair, and that when
they become angels, this duskiness is changed into a beautiful blue;
which was also shown me. I asked whether, during their life as men in
the world, they had entertained such an idea respecting their bodies.
They replied that the men of their earth make no account of their
bodies, but only of the spirit in the body, because they know that the
spirit will live for ever, but that the body must perish. They said
also, that many on their earth believe that the spirit of the body has
existed from eternity, and that it was infused into the body when they
were conceived; but they added, that now they know that it is not so,
and that they repent of having ever been in so false an opinion.
150. When I asked them whether they would like to see any objects on
our Earth, informing them that it was possible to do so through my
eyes (see above, no. 135), they answered first, that they could not,
and afterwards, that they would not, because the things that they
would see would be only earthly and material things, from which they
remove their thoughts as much as possible. But nevertheless, there
were represented before them magnificent palaces, resembling those
on our Earth possessed by kings and princes; for such things can
be represented before spirits, and, when they are represented, they
appear exactly as if they existed. But the spirits from that earth
esteemed them as nothing, calling them marble images; and then they
related that they have more magnificent things belonging to them,
which are their sacred temples, built not of stone but of wood. When
it was objected that these were still earthly objects, they replied
that they were not earthly, but heavenly, because when they gaze upon
them they have not an earthly but a heavenly idea; believing that
after death they should also see like objects in heaven.
151. They then represented their sacred temples before the spirits
of our Earth, who declared that they had not seen anything more
magnificent; and as they were also seen by me, I can therefore
describe them. They are constructed of trees not cut down, but growing
in the place where they first took root. They said that on that earth
there are trees of a wonderful size and height; these they set in rows
from the first, so that they may form porticos and colonnades; and by
cutting and pruning, they fit and prepare the tender shoots, so that
as they grow they may interlace and join together so as to form the
groundwork and floor of the temple to be constructed, and to rise at
the sides to form the walls, and above to bend into arches to form
the roof. In this manner they construct the temple with admirable art,
raised high above the ground. They also prepare an ascent into it by
successive branches of the trees, extended from the trunk and firmly
connected together. Moreover, they adorn the temple without and within
in various ways, by disposing the foliage into forms: thus they build
entire groves. But it was not permitted me to see the character of
these temples within: I was only told that the light of their sun is
let in by apertures amongst the branches, and is transmitted here
and there through crystals, by which means the light falling upon the
walls is varied in colours like those of the rainbow, especially blue
and orange, of which they are fondest. Such are their architectural
works, which they prefer to the most magnificent palaces of our Earth.
152. They said further, that the inhabitants do not dwell in high
places, but on the earth in lowly cottages, for the reason that high
places are for the Lord who is in heaven, and lowly places for men
who are on earth. Their cottages were also shown me. They were oblong,
having within along the walls a continuous couch, on which they lie
one behind another. On the side opposite to the door is a rounded
alcove, before which is a table, and behind the table a fire-place, by
which the whole chamber is lighted. In this fire-place, there is not
a burning fire, but a luminous wood, which gives out as much light as
the flame of a common fire does. They said that in the evening these
logs of wood appeared as if they had in them the fire of live coals.
153. They said that they do not live as societies, but as households
by themselves; and that they are societies when they meet for worship;
that on these occasions those who teach walk within the temple, and
the rest in the porches at the sides; and that at their meetings they
experience interior joys, arising from the sight of the temple, and
from the worship celebrated therein.
154. In respect to Divine worship, they said that they acknowledge
a God under the Human Form, consequently our Lord; for all who
acknowledge the God of the universe under the Human Form are accepted
and led by our Lord: the rest cannot be led, because they think apart
from a form. They added, that the inhabitants of their earth
are instructed about the things of heaven by a certain immediate
intercourse with angels and spirits, into which they may be brought by
the Lord more easily than others, because they reject corporeal
things from their thought and affection. I asked what becomes of those
amongst them who are evil. They told me that on their earth no wicked
person is allowed to exist; but if any one thinks and does evil, he
is reprimanded by a certain spirit, who threatens him with death if he
persists in doing so; and if he persists, he dies by a swoon; and that
by this means the men of that earth are preserved from the contagion
of evils. A certain spirit of this character was also sent to me:
he spoke with me as if with those [evil ones]: he moreover inflicted
something of pain in the region of my abdomen, saying that this is
what he does to those who think and do evil, and that he threatens
them with death if they persist. I was also told that they who profane
holy things are grievously punished; and that before the punishing
spirit comes, there appears to them in vision the gaping mouth of
a lion, of a livid colour, which seems as if it would swallow their
head, and tear it asunder from the body, whence they are seized with
horror. They call the punishing spirit the devil.
155. As they were desirous to know how the case is on our Earth in
regard to revelation, I told them that it is effected by means of
writing and preaching from the Word, and not by immediate intercourse
with spirits and angels; and that what is written can be published by
printing, and thus be read and comprehended by whole societies, and
that thus the life can be amended. They were exceedingly surprised
that such an art, utterly unknown elsewhere, could exist on our
Earth; but they comprehended that on this Earth, where corporeal
and terrestrial things are so much loved, Divine things could not
otherwise inflow from heaven and be received; and that it would be
dangerous for such beings to converse with angels.
156. The spirits of that earth appear above, in the plane of the head,
towards the right. All spirits are distinguished by their situation
relatively to the human body; and this is a consequence of the
universal heaven corresponding with all things of man[f]. These
spirits keep themselves in that plane, and at that distance,
because their correspondence is not with the externals, but with the
interiors, belonging to man. Their action is upon the left knee, above
and a little below, with a certain vibration very sensibly felt. This
is a sign that they correspond with _the conjunction of natural things
and heavenly things_.
THE FOURTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND
INHABITANTS.
157. I was conducted to yet another earth which is in the universe
beyond our solar system, which was effected by changes of the state
of my mind, consequently as to the spirit; for, as has already been
repeatedly observed, a spirit is conducted from place to place no
otherwise than by changes of the state of his interiors, which changes
appear to him in all respects as advancements from place to place, or
as journeyings. These changes lasted continuously for about ten hours
before I came from the state of my life to the state of their life,
thus before I arrived there as to my spirit. I was conveyed towards
the east, to the left, and seemed to be gradually elevated from
a horizontal plane. I was also permitted to observe clearly the
progression and advance from my former place, till at length those
from whom I had departed no longer appeared; and in the meantime I
spoke on various subjects with the spirits who were with me. A certain
spirit was also with us who, during his life in the world, had been
a prelate and a preacher, as well as a very pathetic writer. From
my idea concerning him, my spirit-companions supposed he was more
a Christian at heart than the rest; for in the world an idea is
conceived and a judgment formed from the preaching and writing,
and not from the life, if this is not manifest; and if anything
inconsistent appears in the life, it is nevertheless excused; for the
idea or thought and perception concerning any one draws everything to
its side.
158. After this I observed that I was, as to my spirit, in the starry
heaven, far beyond our solar system; for this can be observed from the
changes of state and the consequent apparent continued progression,
which had lasted nearly ten hours. At length I heard spirits
conversing near some earth, which also I afterwards saw. When I had
come near them, after some conversation they said that strangers
sometimes come to them from other places, who converse with them
concerning God, and confuse the ideas of their thought. They also
pointed out the way by which they came, from which it was perceived
that they were of the spirits of our Earth. On being questioned then
as to the confusion caused in their ideas, they said it arose from
those spirits saying that they ought to believe in a Divine Being
distinguished into three persons, whom they nevertheless call one
God; and on examining the idea of their thoughts, it is exhibited as
a trine, not continuous hut discrete, with some as three persons
conversing with each other, and with some as two seated together, one
near the other, and a third listening to them and going from them;
and although they call each person God, and have a different idea
concerning each, they still say there is but one God. They complained
exceedingly, that they had thrown them into a confusion of ideas, by
thinking of three and speaking of one, when nevertheless one ought to
think as one speaks, and speak as one thinks. The spirit who in the
world had been a prelate and a preacher, and who was also with me,
was then examined as to the character of the idea he entertained
respecting one God and three persons: [and it was found that] he
represented to himself three gods, which, however, made one by
continuity. He, however, exhibited this Three in One as invisible
because it was Divine; and while he was exhibiting this, it was
perceived that he was then thinking only of the Father, and not of the
Lord, and that his idea concerning the invisible God was no other but
as of nature in its first principles, from which idea it resulted that
the inmost of nature was his Divine, so that he might easily be led
from this to acknowledge nature as God. It is to be borne in mind,
that the idea which any person entertains on any subject is, in
the other life, exhibited to the life, and through it every one is
examined as to the character of his thought and perception on matters
of faith; and that the idea of the thought concerning God is the chief
of all, for through it, if genuine, conjunction is effected with the
Divine, and consequently with heaven. They were afterwards questioned
concerning the nature of their idea respecting God. They replied that
they did not conceive of an invisible God, but of a God visible under
the Human Form; and that they knew this not only from an interior
perception, but also from the fact, that He has appeared to them as a
Man. They added that if, according to the idea of some strangers, they
were to conceive of God as invisible, consequently without form and
quality, they would not be able to think about God at all, inasmuch as
such an invisible [being] does not fall into any idea of thought. On
hearing this, it was given me to tell them that they do well to think
of God under the Human Form, and that many on our Earth think in like
manner, especially when they think of the Lord; and that the ancients
thought in no other way. I then told them about Abraham, Lot, Gideon,
Manoah and his wife, and what is related of them in our Word, namely,
that they saw God under the Human Form, and acknowledged Him, thus
seen, to be the Creator of the universe, and called Him Jehovah, and
this also from an interior perception; but that at the present day
that interior perception is lost in the Christian world, and only
remains with the simple who are in faith.
159. Previous to this conversation, they had believed that our company
also consisted of those who want to confuse them by the idea of three
in relation to God; wherefore, on hearing what was said, they were
affected with joy, and said that God, whom they then called the Lord,
had also sent some to teach them concerning Him; and that they are
unwilling to admit strangers who disturb them, especially with the
idea of three persons in the Divinity, knowing as they do that God
is One, consequently that the Divine is One, and does not consist of
three in unanimity, unless they are disposed to think of God as of an
angel, in whom there is an Inmost of life which is invisible, and from
which he thinks and is wise; an External of life, which is visible
under a human form, from which he sees and acts; and a Proceeding
of life, which is the sphere of love and of faith from him; for from
every spirit and angel there proceeds a sphere of life by which he is
known at a distance[cc]; and as to the Lord, that that Proceeding of
life from Him is the Divine itself which fills and constitutes the
heavens, because it proceeds from the very Esse of the life of love
and of faith. They said that in this and in no other manner can they
perceive a trinity and unity together. On hearing this, it was given
me to say that such an idea of a trinity and unity together agrees
with the angelic idea concerning the Lord, and that it is from the
Lord's own doctrine concerning Himself. For He teaches that the Father
and Himself are One; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father;
that he who seeth Him seeth the Father; and he who believeth in
Him believeth in the Father and knoweth the Father; also that the
Comforter, whom He calls the Spirit of Truth, and likewise the Holy
Spirit, proceeds from Him, and does not speak from Himself but from
Him, by which Comforter is meant the Divine proceeding. I was further
permitted to tell them that their idea concerning a trinity and unity
together agrees with the Esse and Existere of the Lord's life when He
was in the world. The Esse of His life was the Divine Itself, for He
was conceived of Jehovah, and the Esse of every one's life is that
of which he is conceived; the Existere of life from that Esse is the
Human in a form. The esse of the life of every man, which he has
from his father, is called the soul, and the existere of life thence
derived is called the body. Soul and body constitute one man. The
likeness between them resembles the likeness between that which is
in endeavour and that which is in the resulting act, for an act is
endeavour acting, and thus the two are one. Endeavour in man is called
the will, and endeavour acting is called action; the body is the
instrumental, by means of which the will, which is the principal,
acts, and in acting the instrumental and principal are a one. Such is
the case with soul and body. And such is the idea which the angels in
heaven have concerning soul and body: hence they know that the Lord
made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, which to Him was
the Soul from the Father. Neither is the faith which is received
throughout the Christian world in opposition to this idea, for it
teaches, that "_Although Christ is God and Man, yet He is not two, but
one Christ;... yea, He is altogether One by unity of Person; for as
body and soul are one man, so also God and man are one Christ_"[yy].
As there was such a union or such a oneness in the Lord, therefore He
rose again, not only as to the Soul, but also as to the Body, which He
glorified in the world, which is not the case with any man; on which
subject He also instructed His disciples, saying, "_Feel Me and see,
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have_" [(Luke
xxiv. 39)][zz]. This was clearly understood by those spirits, for
such truths fall into the understanding of angelic spirits. They then
added, that the Lord alone has power in the heavens, and that the
heavens are His; to which it was given me to answer, that this also
is known to the Church on our Earth from the mouth of the Lord Himself
before He ascended into heaven; for He then said, "_All power is given
unto Me in heaven and on earth_" [(Matt, xxviii. 18)].
[Footnote yy: From the Creed of Athanasius.]
[Footnote zz: Immediately after death, man rises again as to his
spirit; and he is in the human form, and he is a man as to all things
in general and particular, nos. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, 8991, 10594,
10597, 10758. Man rises again only as to the spirit, and not as to
the body, nos. 10593, 10594. The Lord alone rose again as to the body
also, nos. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825.]
160. I afterwards conversed with those spirits concerning their earth;
for all spirits can do this when their natural or external memory is
opened by the Lord; for this they carry with them from the world, but
it is not opened except at the Lord's good pleasure. Respecting their
earth, from which they had come, the spirits then said that when leave
is given them, they appear to the inhabitants, and converse with
them, as men; and that this is effected by their being let into their
natural or external memory, and consequently into such a thought
as they had been in when they lived in the world; and that on such
occasions the inhabitants have their interior sight or the sight of
their spirit opened, by which they see the spirits. They added, that
the inhabitants know no otherwise than that they are men of their
earth, and only apperceive they are not when they are suddenly removed
from their sight, I told them that the same thing also happened on our
Earth in ancient times, as, for instance, to Abraham, Sarah, Lot, the
inhabitants of Sodom, Manoah and his wife, Joshua, Mary, Elizabeth,
and the prophets generally; and that the Lord appeared in like manner,
and they who saw Him knew no otherwise than that He was a man of the
earth, till He revealed Himself. But that at the present day this
rarely happens; the reason is, lest men by such things should be
compelled to believe; for compelled faith, such as is the faith
which enters by means of miracles, does not inhere, and would also be
hurtful to those with whom faith may be implanted by means of the Word
in a state without compulsion.
161. The spirit, who had been a prelate and a preacher in the world,
entirely disbelieved that any other earths existed besides our own,
because he had thought in the world that the Lord was born on this
Earth alone, and that without the Lord none could be saved; wherefore
he was reduced into a state similar to that into which spirits are
reduced when they appear on their own earth as men (which state has
been treated of just above); and thus he was let into that earth,
so that he not only saw it, but also conversed with the inhabitants
there. This done, a communication was by this means granted me also,
so that I likewise saw the inhabitants, and also some objects on that
earth (see above, no. 135). There appeared then four kinds of men, but
one after the other in succession; the first I saw were clothed; the
second were naked, of a human flesh colour; the next were naked, but
with flame-coloured bodies; and the last were black.