24. Whither will the soul pass when she shall have left the body?
She will not go where there is nothing suitable to receive her. She
could not pass into what is not naturally disposed to receive her,
unless there be something that would attract a soul that had lost her
prudence. In this case, the soul remains in whatever is capable of
receiving her, and follows it whither that (receptive matter) can exist
and beget. Now as there are different places, it is necessary that
the difference (of the dwellings in which the souls come to dwell)
should be derived from the disposition of each soul, and of justice
which reigns above beings. No one indeed could escape the punishment
which unjust actions deserve. The divine law[138] is inevitable,
and possesses the power of carrying out the judgments (according to
its decrees). The man who is destined to undergo a punishment is,
in spite of himself, dragged towards that punishment, and is driven
around[139] by a movement that never stops. Then, as if wearied of
struggling against things to which he desired to offer resistance, he
betakes himself to the place that is suitable to him, and thus by a
voluntary movement undergoes involuntary suffering. The law prescribes
the greatness and duration of the punishment. Later, as a result of
the harmony that directs everything in the universe, the end of the
punishment endured by the soul coincides with the soul's receiving
strength to leave those places.