1. ANSWER TO A LETTER WRITTEN TO ME BY A FRIEND. A LETTER FROM EMANUEL
SWEDENBORG TO THE REV. THOMAS HARTLEY.{1}
I rejoice at the friendship which you manifest in your letter; and I thank you
sincerely for both, but especially for your friendship. The praises with which you
overwhelm me, I receive simply as expressions of your love for the truths contained in my
writings; and I refer them, as their source, to the Lord, our Saviour, from whom is
everything true, because He is the Truth Itself (John xiv. 6). I have considered chiefly
the remarks you make at the close of your letter, where you express yourself as follows:
"If, perchance, after your departure from England, your writings should be the
subject of discussion, and occasion should arise for defending you, their author, against
some malignant slanderer, who may wish to injure your reputation by a web of
falsehoods--as those are in the habit of doing who hate the truth--would it not be well
for you, in order to repel such slanderers, to leave with me some particulars respecting
yourself, your degrees in the University, the public offices you have filled, your friends
and relations, the honors which, I am told, have been conferred upon you, and anything
else that might be useful in establishing your good name, so that ill-conceived prejudices
may be removed; for it is our duty to use all lawful means lest the cause of truth should
suffer injury."
After reflecting on this, I have been led to yield to your friendly advice, and will
now communicate to you some particulars of my life, which are briefly as follows:-
I was born at Stockholm on the 29th of January in the year 1689.{2} My father's name
was Jesper Swedberg, who was bishop of West-Gothland, and a man of celebrity in his time.
He was also elected and enrolled as a member of the English Society, for the Propagation
of the Gospel; for he had been appointed by King Charles XII Bishop over the Swedish
churches in Pennsylvania, and also over the church in London. In the year 1710 I went
abroad. I proceeded first to England, and afterwards to Holland, France, and Germany, and
returned home in the year 1714. 1 In the year 1716, and also afterwards I had many
conversations with Charles XII, King of Sweden, who greatly favored me, and in the same
year appointed me to the office of Assessor in the College of Mines, which office I filled
until the year 1747, when I resigned it, retaining, however, the salary of the office
during my life. My sole object in resigning was that I might have more leisure to devote
to the new office enjoined on me by the Lord.
A higher post of honor was then offered me, which I positively declined, lest my mind
should be inspired with pride. In the year 1719, I was ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleanora,
and named Swedenborg; and from that time I have taken my seat among the nobles of the rank
of knighthood, in the triennial sessions of the Diet. I am a Fellow and member, by
invitation, of the Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm; but I have never sought
admission into any literary society in any other place, because I am in an angelic
society, where such things as relate to heaven and the soul are the only subjects of
discourse; while in literary societies the world and the body form the only subjects of
discussion. In the year 1734, I published, at Leipsic, the Regnum Minerale, in three
volumes, folio. In the year 1738 I made a journey to Italy, and staid a year at Venice and
Rome.
With respect to my family connections, I had four sisters. One of them was married to
Eric Benzelius, who subsequently became the Archbishop of Upsal, and through him I became
related to the two succeeding archbishops, who both belonged to the family of Benzelius,
and were younger brothers of Eric. My second sister was married to Lars Benzelstierna, who
became a provincial governor; but these two are dead. Two bishops, however, who are
related to me, are still living; one of them, whose name is Filenius, and who is Bishop of
East Gothland, officiates now as President of the House of the Clergy in the Diet of
Stockholm, in place of the Archbishop, who is an invalid; he married my sister's daughter:
the other, named Benzelstierna, is Bishop of Westmanland and Dalecarlia; he is the son of
my second sister. Not to mention others of my relations who occupy stations of honor.
Moreover, all the bishops of my native country, who are ten in number, and also the
sixteen senators, and the rest of those highest in office, entertain feelings of affection
for me; from their affection they honor me, and I live with them on terms of familiarity,
as a friend among friends; the reason of which is, that they know I am in company with
angels. Even the King and the Queen, and the three princes, their sons, show me great
favor: I was also invited once by the King and Queen to dine with them at their own table,
which honor is generally accorded only to those who are highest in office; subsequently
the Crown Prince granted me the same favor. They all desire me to return home; wherefore,
I am far from apprehending, in my own country, that persecution, which you fear, and
against which in your letter you desire in so friendly a manner to provide; and if they
persecute me elsewhere, it can do me no harm.
But all that I have thus far related, I consider of comparatively little importance;
for it is far exceeded by the circumstance, that I have been called to a holy office by
the Lord Himself, who most mercifully appeared before me, His servant, in the year 1743;
when He opened my sight into the spiritual world, and granted me to speak with spirits and
angels, in which state I have continued up to the present day. From that time I began to
print and publish the various arcana that were seen by me and revealed to me, as the
arcana concerning Heaven and Hell, the state of man after death, the true worship of God,
the spiritual sense of the Word, besides many other most important matters conducive to
salvation and wisdom. The only reason of my journeys abroad has been the desire of making
myself useful, and of making known the arcana that were entrusted to me. Moreover, I have
as much of this world's wealth as I need, and I neither seek nor wish for more.
Your letter has induced me to write all these particulars, in order that as you say
"ill-conceived prejudices may be removed." Farewell; and from my heart I wish
you all the happiness both in this world, and the next; which I have not the least doubt
you will attain, if you look and pray to our Lord. EMAN. SWEDENBORG
@1 Rev. Thomas Hartley, A.M., a friend of Swedenborg, and one of the first receivers of
his doctrines, was a clergyman of the Church of England, and rector of Winwick,
Northamptonshire The letter asking for particulars respecting Swedenborg's life, to which
the above is a reply, was written August 2, 1769 (See Documents Concerning Swedenborg Vol.
I, pp. 3-5, 6-9.--TR.$
@2 The original edition has "1689," which is probably a printer's error.
Swedenborg was born January 29, 1688.--TR. 1 The original edition has "1714,"
but Swedenborg did not return to Sweden until after April, 1715.--TR.$
2. MY EARLY YOUTH. {1}
FROM A LETTER OF SWEDENBORG TO DR. BEYER.
I will now give you an account of my first youth: From my fourth to my tenth year I was
constantly engaged in thought upon God, salvation, and the spiritual affections (passiones
spirituales) of men; and several times I revealed things at which my father and mother
wondered: saying, that angels must be speaking through me. From my sixth to my twelfth
year I used to delight in conversing with clergymen about faith, saying that the life of
faith is love, and that the love which imparts life is love to the neighbor; also that God
gives faith to everyone, but that those only receive it who practice that love. I knew of
no other faith at that time, than that God is the Creator and Preserver of nature, that He
imparts understanding and a good disposition to men, and several other things that follow
thence. I knew nothing at that time of that learned faith which teaches that God the
Father imputes the righteousness of His Son to whomsoever, and at such times, as He
chooses even to those who have not repented and have not reformed their lives. And had I
beard of such a faith, it would have been then, as it is now, above my comprehension.
I remain, with all affection and friendship,
Your most obedient servant and friend,
EMAN. SWEDENBORG
STOCKHOLM, November 14, 1769.
To the Reverend and Most Learned Doctor and Lector
GABRIEL AND. BEYER, Gottenburg.
@1 See Documents Concerning Swedenborg, Vol. II, pp. 278-280.$
Autobiographical statements from Swedenborg's Writings
5. That this is really the ease no one can possibly know except from the Lord.
It may therefore be stated in advance that of the Lord's Divine mercy it has been granted
me now for some years to be constantly and uninterruptedly in company with spirits and
angels, hearing them speak and in turn speaking with them. In this way it has been given
me to hear and see wonderful things in the other life which have never before come to the
knowledge of any man, nor into his idea. I have been instructed in regard to the different
kinds of spirits; the state of souls after death; hell, or the lamentable state of the
unfaithful; heaven, or the blessed state of the faithful; and especially in regard to the
doctrine of faith which is acknowledged in the universal heaven; on which subjects, of the
Lord's Divine mercy, more will be said in the following pages.
59. The reason why the "vegetable and the green of the herb" only are
here described as food for the natural man, is this. In the course of regeneration, when
man is being made spiritual, he is continually engaged in combat, on which account the
church of the Lord is called "militant;" for before regeneration cupidities have
the dominion, because the whole man is composed of mere cupidities and the falsities
thence derived. During regeneration these cupidities and falsities cannot be
instantaneously abolished, for this would be to destroy the whole man, such being the only
life which he has acquired; and therefore evil spirits are suffered to continue with him
for a long time, that they may excite his cupidities, and that these may thus be loosened,
in innumerable ways, even to such a degree that they can be inclined by the Lord to good,
and the man be thus reformed.
In the time of combat, the evil spirits, who bear the utmost hatred against all that is
good and true, that is, against whatever is of love and faith toward the Lord -which
things alone are good and true, because they have eternal life in them-leave the man
nothing else for food but what is compared to the vegetable and the green of the herb;
nevertheless the Lord gives him also a food which is compared to the herb bearing seed,
and to the tree in which is fruit, which are states of tranquillity and peace, with their
joys and delights and this food the Lord gives the man at intervals.
[2] Unless the Lord defended man every moment, yea, even the smallest part of every
moment, he would instantly perish, in consequence of the indescribably intense and mortal
hatred which prevails in the world of spirits against the things relating to love and
faith toward the Lord. The certainty of this fact I can affirm, having been now for some
years (notwithstanding my remaining in the body) associated with spirits in the other
life, even with the worst of them, and I have sometimes been surrounded by thousands, to
whom it was permitted to spit forth their venom, and infest me by all possible methods,
yet without their being able to hurt a single hair of my head, so secure was I under the
Lord's protection. From so many years' experience I have been thoroughly instructed
concerning the world of spirits and its nature, as well as concerning the combat which
those being regenerated must needs endure, in order to attain the happiness of eternal
life. But as no one can be so well instructed in such subjects by a general description as
to believe them with an undoubting faith, the particulars of the Lord's Divine mercy will
be related in the following pages.
68. I am well aware that many will say that no one can possibly speak with
spirits and angels so long as he lives in the body; and many will say that it is all
fancy, others that I relate such things in order to gain credence, and others will make
other objections. But by all this I am not deterred, for I have seen, I have heard, I have
felt.
70. As it is permitted me to disclose what for several years I have heard and
seen, it shall here be told, first, how the case is with man when he is being
resuscitated; or how he enters from the life of the body into the life of eternity. In
order that I might know that men live after death, it has been given me to speak and be in
company with many who were known to me during their life in the body; and this not merely
for a day or a week, but for months, and almost a year, speaking and associating with them
just as in this world. They wondered exceedingly that while they lived in the body they
were, and that very many others are, in such incredulity as to believe that they will not
live after death; when in fact scarcely a day intervenes after the death of the body
before they are in the other life; for death is a continuation of life.
150. The state of man when in his Own, or when he supposes that he lives from
himself, is compared to "deep sleep," and indeed by the ancients was called deep
sleep; and in the Word it is said of such that they have "poured out upon them the
spirit of deep sleep" (Isa. xxix. 10), and that they sleep a sleep (Jer. li. 57).
That man's Own is in itself dead, and that no one has any life from himself, has been
shown so clearly in the world of spirits, that evil spirits who love nothing but their
Own, and obstinately insist that they live from themselves, were convinced by sensible
experience, and were forced to confess that they do not live from themselves. For a number
of years I have been permitted in an especial manner to know how the case is with what is
man's own, and it has been granted to me to perceive clearly that I could think nothing
from myself, but that every idea of thought flows in, and sometimes I could perceive how
and whence it flowed in. The man who supposes that he lives from himself is therefore in
what is false, and by believing that he lives from himself appropriates to himself
everything evil and false, which he would never do if his belief were in accordance with
the real truth of the case.
227. As it is desirable that the origin of perception, internal dictate, and
conscience, should be known, and as at the present day it is altogether unknown, I may
relate something on the subject. It is a great truth that man is governed by the Lord by
means of spirits and angels. When evil spirits begin to rule, the angels labor to avert
evils and falsities, and hence arises a combat. It is this combat of which the man is
rendered sensible by perception, dictate, and conscience. By these, and also by
temptations, a man might clearly see that spirits and angels are with him, were he not so
deeply immersed in corporeal things as to believe nothing that is said about spirits and
angels. Such persons, even if they were to feel these combats hundreds of times, would
still say that they are imaginary, and the effect of a disordered mind. I have been
permitted to feel such combats, and to have a vivid sense of them, thousands and thousands
of times, and this almost constantly for several years, as well as to know who, what, and
where they were that caused them, when they came, and when they departed; and I have
conversed with them.
446. I have discoursed with spirits concerning the common opinion that prevails
among men at the present day, that the existence of the spirit is not to be credited
because they do not see it with their eyes, nor comprehend it by their memory- knowledges
(scientias), and so they not only deny that the spirit has extension, but also that it is
a substance, disputing as to what substance is. And as they deny that it has extension,
and also dispute about substance, they also deny that the spirit is in any place, and
consequently that it is in the human body; and yet the most simple might know that his
soul or spirit is within his body. When I said these things, the spirits, who were some of
the more simple ones, marveled that the men of the present day are so foolish. And when
they heard the words that are disputed about, such as "parts without parts," and
other such terms, they called them absurd, ridiculous, and farcical, which should not
occupy the mind at all, because they close the way to intelligence.
448. I have conversed with many who had been known to me in this life (and this
I have done for a long time-for months and years), in as clear a voice, although an inward
one, as with friends in this world. The subject of our conversation has sometimes been the
state of man after death, and they have wondered exceedingly that during the bodily life
no one knows or believes that he is so to live when the bodily life is over, when yet
there is then a continuation of life, and such a continuation that the man passes from an
obscure life into a clear one, and those who are in faith in the Lord into a life that is
more and more clear.
They have desired me to tell their friends that they are alive, and to write and tell
them what their condition is, even as I had related to themselves many things about that
of their friends here. But I replied that were I to tell their friends such things, or to
write to them about them, they would not believe, but would call them delusions, would
scoff at them, and would ask for signs or miracles before they would believe; and I should
merely expose myself to their derision. And that these things are true, perchance but few
will believe. For at heart men deny the existence of spirits, and even those who do not
deny it are unwilling to hear that any one can speak with spirits. In ancient times there
was no such state of belief in regard to spirits, but so it is now when by crazy
ratiocination men try to find out what spirits are, and by their definitions and
suppositions deprive them of all the senses, and do this the more, the more learned they
desire to be.
449. Hitherto the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy has been known to none.
Those who have thought about them have formed an idea concerning them so general and so
gross as scarcely to amount to any idea at all. What notion they have conceived on the
subject I have been able to learn most accurately from spirits who had recently passed
from the world into the other life; for when left to themselves, as if they were in this
world, they think in the same way. I may give a few examples.
545. But in order that I might know the nature and quality of heaven and of
heavenly joy, for long and often I have been permitted by the Lord to perceive the
delights of heavenly joys, so that as I know them from actual experience I can indeed know
them, but can by no means describe them. However, in order to give some idea of it I may
say that heavenly joy is an affection of innumerable delights and joys that form one
general simultaneous joy, in which general joy, that is, in which general affection, there
are harmonies of innumerable affections that do not come distinctly to perception, but
obscurely, because the perception is very general. Yet I was permitted to perceive that
there are things innumerable within it, in such order as can never be described, these
innumerable things being such as flow from the order of heaven.
Such order exists in every least thing of the affection, all of which together are
presented and perceived as a very general one according to the capacity of him who is the
subject of it. In d word, in every general joy or affection there are illimitable things
ordinated in a most perfect form, and there is nothing that is not alive or that does not
affect even the inmost things of our being, for heavenly joys proceed from inmost things.
I perceived also that the joy and deliciousness came as if from the heart, and very softly
diffused themselves through all the inmost fibers, and so into the congregated fibers,
with such an inmost sense of delight that the fiber is as it were nothing but joy and
deliciousness, and the whole derivative perceptive and sensitive sphere the same, being
alive with happiness. In comparison with these joys the joy of bodily pleasures is like
gross and pungent dust as compared with a pure and gentle breeze.
548. I have sometimes spoken with spirits fresh from the world concerning the
state of eternal life, telling them how important it was for them to know who is the Lord
of that kingdom, and what is the nature and form of its government, just as those in this
world who go into another kingdom are especially interested to know who and of what sort
is the king, what is the nature of the government, and many other things that belong to
the kingdom; and how much more should they be interested in this kingdom, where they are
to live forever. I told them that the Lord alone rules both heaven and the universe, for
He who rules the on must rule the other; and that the kingdom in which they were now is
the Lord's kingdom, the laws of which are eternal truths, all of which are based on the
one great law that men shall love the Lord above all things and their neighbor as
themselves, and now even more than themselves, for if they would be as the angels this is
what they must do.
To all this they could make no reply because in their bodily life they had heard
something of the kind, but had not believed it. They marvelled that there is such love in
heaven, and that it is possible for any one to love his neighbor more than himself, seeing
that they had heard that they were to love their neighbor as themselves. But they were
instructed that in the other life all goods are immeasurably increased, and that the life
in the body is such that men can go no further than loving the neighbor as themselves
because they are in the things of the body, but that when these are removed, the love
becomes purer, and at last angelic, which consists in loving the neighbor more than
themselves. The possibility of such love is evident from the conjugial love that exists
with some persons, who would suffer death rather than let their married partner be
injured; and also from the love of parents for their children, in that a mother will
endure starvation rather than see her infant hunger, and this even among birds and animals
and likewise from sincere friendship, in that perils will be undergone for our friends;
and even from polite and feigned friendship, that would emulate real friendship in
offering the better things to those to whom we wish well, making great professions even
when they do not come from the heart.
And finally its possibility is evident from the very nature of love, which finds its
joy in being of service to others, not for the sake of self but for the love's own sake.
But all this could not be comprehended by those who loved themselves more than others, and
who in the bodily life had been greedy for gain, and least of all by the avaricious.
561. But what are remains? They are not only the goods and truths that a man has
learned from the Lord's Word from infancy, and has thus impressed on his memory, but they
are also all the states thence derived, such as states of innocence from infancy; states
of love toward parents, brothers, teachers, friends; states of charity toward the
neighbor, and also of pity for the poor and needy; in a word, all states of god and truth.
These states together with the goods and truths impressed on the memory, are called
remains, which are preserved in man by the Lord and are stored up, entirely without his
knowledge, in his internal man, and are completely sept rated from the things that are
proper to man, that is, from evils and falsities.
All these states are so preserved in man by the Lord that not the least of them is
lost, as I have been given to know from the fact that every state of a man, from his
infancy to extreme old age, not only remains in the other life, but also returns, in fact
his states return exactly as they were while he lived in this world Not only do the goods
and truths of memory thus remain and return, but also all states of innocence and charity.
And when states of evil and falsity recur-for each and all of these, even the smallest,
also remain and return-then these states are tempered by the Lord by means of the good
states. From all this it is evident that if a man had no remains he must necessarily be in
eternal damnation. (See what was said before at n. 468.)
699. That I might witness the torment of those who are in hell, and
the vastation of those who are in the lower earth, I have at different times been let down
thither. To be let down into hell is not to be carried from one place to another, but to
be let into some infernal society, the man remaining in the same place. But I may here
relate only this experience: I plainly perceived that a kind of column surrounded me, and
this column was sensibly increased, and it was intimated to me that this was the
"wall of brass" spoken of in the Word. {1} The column was formed of angelic
spirits in order that I might safely descend to the unhappy. When I was there I heard
piteous lamentations, such as, O God! O God! take pity on us! take pity on us! and this
for a long time. I was permitted to speak to those wretched ones, and this for a
considerable time. They complained especially of evil spirits in that they desired and
burned for nothing else than to torment them. They were in despair, saying that they
believed their torment would be eternal; but I was permitted to comfort them. @1 Jer. i.
18; xv. 20.$
831. There are women who have lived in the indulgence of their natural
inclinations, caring only for themselves and the world, and making the whole of life and
the delight of life to consist in outward decorum, in consequence of which they have been
highly esteemed in polite society. They have thus, by practice and habit, acquired the
talent of insinuating themselves into the desires and pleasures of others, under the
pretense of what is honorable, but with the purpose of gaining control over them. Their
life therefore became one of dissimulation and deceit. Like others they frequented
churches, but for no other end than that they might appear virtuous and pious; and
moreover they were without conscience, and very prone to shameful acts and adulteries, so
far as these could be concealed. Such women think in the same way in the other life,
knowing not what conscience is, and ridiculing those who speak of it. They enter into the
affections of others, whatever these may be, by simulating virtue, piety, pity, and
innocence, which are their means of deceiving; but whenever outward restraints are
removed, they rush into things most wicked and obscene.
[2] These are the women who become enchantresses or sorceresses in the other life, some
of whom are those called Sirens; and they there become expert in arts unknown in the
world. They are like sponges that imbibe nefarious artifices; and are of such talent that
they quickly put them in practice. The arts unknown in this world which they learn in the
other are these. They can speak as though they were in another place, so that their voice
is heard there as from good spirits. They can as it were be with many at the same time,
thus persuading others that they are as if present everywhere. They can speak as several
persons at the same time, and in several places at the same time. They can turn aside what
flows in from good spirits, even what flows in from angelic spirits, and in divers ways
pervert it instantly in favor of themselves. They can put on the likeness of another, by
the ideas of him which they conceive and fashion. They can inspire any one with an
affection for themselves, by insinuating themselves into the very state of another's
affection. They can withdraw suddenly out of sight, and escape unseen. They can represent
before the eyes of spirits a white flame about the head, which is an angelic sign, and
this before many. They can in divers ways feign innocence, even by representing infants
whom they kiss. They also excite others, whom they hate, to kill them (for they know they
cannot die), and then divulge it and accuse them of murder.
[3] They have called up out of my memory whatever of evil I have thought and done, and
this most skillfully. While I was asleep they have talked with others, just as if from me,
so that the spirits were persuaded of it, thus of things false and obscene. And many other
arts they have. Their nature is so persuasive that no room is left therein for any doubt;
therefore their ideas are not communicated like those of other spirits. And their eyes are
like those ascribed to serpents, seeing and paying attention every way at once. These
sorceresses or sirens are grievously punished, some in Gehenna, some in a kind of court
among snakes; some by wrenchings and various collisions, attended with the greatest pain
and torture. In course of time they are separated from all society and become like
skeletons from head to foot. A continuation of the subject follows at the end of the
chapter.
842. [2] It is the same with one man during temptation and when the commotions
or waters of temptation cease, as it is with man in general, as I have learned by repeated
experience; for evil spirits in the world of spirits sometimes band together in troops,
and thereby excite disturbances until they are dispersed by other bands of spirits, coming
mostly from the right, and so from the eastern quarter, who strike such fear and terror
into them that they think of nothing but flight. Then those who had associated themselves
are dispersed into all quarters, and thereby the societies of spirits formed for evil
purposes are dissolved. The troops of spirits who thus disperse them are called the East
Wind; and there are also innumerable other methods of dispersion, also called "east
winds," concerning which, of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.
When evil spirits are thus dispersed, the state of commotion and turbulence is
succeeded by serenity, or silence, as is also the case with the man who has been in
temptation; for while in temptation he is in the midst of such a band of spirits, but when
they are driven away or dispersed, there follows as it were a calm, which is the beginning
of the disposal of all things into order.
[3] Before anything is reduced into a state of order, it is most usual that things
should be reduced into a confused mass, or chaos as it were, so that those which do not
well cohere together may be separated, and when they are separated, then the Lord disposes
them into order. This process may be compared with what takes place in nature, where all
things in general and singly are first reduced to a confused mass, before being disposed
into order. Thus, for instance, unless there were storms in the atmosphere, to dissipate
whatever is heterogeneous, the air could never become serene, but would become deadly by
pestiferous accumulations. So in like manner in the human body, unless all things in the
blood, both heterogeneous and homogeneous, did continuously and successively Sow together
into one heart, to be there commingled, there would be deadly conglutinations of the
liquids, and they could in no way be distinctly disposed to their respective uses. Thus
also it is with man in the course of his regeneration.
946. I have spoken with spirits concerning the fact that possibly few will
believe in the existence of so many and such wonderful things in the other life, in
consequence of the absence of any but a very general and obscure conception - amounting to
none at all - of the life after death, and in which men have confirmed themselves by the
consideration that they do not see a soul or spirit with their eyes. Even the learned,
although they say there is a soul or spirit, so cleave to artificial words and terms -
which rather obscure or even extinguish the understanding of things than assist it - and
so devote themselves to self and the world, and but rarely to the general welfare and to
heaven, that they believe still less than do sensuous men. The spirits to whom I spoke
marveled that men should be of such a character, seeing that they are well aware of the
existence in nature itself, and in each of its kingdoms, of many wonderful and varied
things about which they are ignorant, as for example those in the internal human ear,
concerning which a book might be filled with things amazing and unheard of, and in the
existence of which every one has faith. But if anything is said about the spiritual world,
from which come forth all things in the kingdoms of nature both in general and in
particular, scarcely any one gives credence to it, on account - as before said - of the
preconceived and confirmed opinion that because it is not seen it is nothing.
968. Certain spirits had brought with them from the world the idea that they
must not speak with the devil, but flee from him. But they were instructed that it would do
no harm at all to those whom the Lord protects, even if they should be encompassed by all
hell, both within and without. This it has been given me to know by much and by marvelous
experience, so that at length I came to have no fear of even the worst of the infernal
crew, to hinder my speaking with them; and this was granted in order that I might become
acquainted with their character. To those who have wondered that I spoke with them, I have
been permitted to say not only that this would do me no harm, but also that the devils in
the other life are such as have been men, and who when they lived in the world passed
their life in hatred, revenge, and adultery, some of them being then pre-eminently
esteemed; nag, that among them are some I had known in the bodily life; and that the devil
means nothing else than such a crew of hell. And furthermore, that men, while they live in
the body, have with them at least two spirits from hell, as well as two angels from
heaven; and that these infernal spirits rule with the evil, but with the good have been
subjugated and are compelled to serve. Thus it is false to suppose that there has been a
devil from the beginning of creation, other than such as were once men. When they heard
these things they were amazed, and confessed that they had held a totally different
opinion in regard to the devil and the diabolical crew.
1110. Those who have assumed righteousness and merit on account of their good
works, and so have attributed the efficacy of salvation to themselves, and not to the Lord
and His righteousness and merit, and have confirmed themselves in this in thought and in
life, in the other world have their principles of falsity turned into phantasies, so that
they seem to themselves to be hewing wood: this is exactly as it appears to them. I have
spoken with them. When they are engaged in their labor, and are asked whether they are not
fatigued, they reply that they have not yet accomplished enough work to be able to merit
heaven. When they are hewing the wood there appears to be something of the Lord under the
wood, thus as if the wood were merit that they are getting. The more of the Lord there
appears in the wood, the longer they remain in this condition; but when that appearance
begins to cease, their vastation is drawing to an end. At length they become such that
they too can be admitted into good societies, but still they long fluctuate between truth
and falsity. Great care is taken of them by the Lord, because they have lived a dutiful
life, and He from time to time sends angels to them. These are they who in the Jewish
Church were represented by the hewers of wood (Josh. ix. 23, 27).
1116. Dwellings were shown me of those who were of the second and third
posterities of this Most Ancient Church. They are magnificent, extending to a great
length, and diversified with beautiful colors of bright crimson and cure blue. For the
angels have most magnificent dwellings, such as cannot be described, as I have often seen.
To their eyes so real is their appearance that nothing can be more real. But whence such
real appearances come, will be shown of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter. They live in an
aura, so to speak, of resplendent pearly and sometimes of diamond-like light. For there
are wonderful auras in the other life, of inexpressible variety. They greatly err who do
not believe that such things exist there, and indefinitely more than any one ever could or
can conceive. They are indeed representative, like the things sometimes seen by the
prophets but yet are so real that they who are in the other life hold them to be real, and
the things which are in the world to be relatively unreal.
1121. I have been informed by sons of the Most Ancient Church concerning the
state of their perception, that they had perception of all things that belong to faith,
almost as have the angels with whom they had communication; for the reason that their
interior man, or spirit, by means also of the internal respiration, was joined to heaven;
and that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor are attended with this; for man is
thus conjoined with angels through their veriest life, which consists in such love. They
said that they had the law written upon them, because they were in love to the Lord and
love toward the neighbor; and such being the case, whatever the laws prescribe was in
agreement with their perception, and whatever the laws forbid was contrary to it. Nor did
they doubt that all laws, human as well as Divine, are founded in love to the Lord and
charity toward the neighbor, and regard these as their fundamental. Wherefore, as they had
this fundamental in them, from the Lord, they could not but know all things that were from
it. They believe too that those who live in the world at this day, who love the Lord and
the neighbor, have also the law written upon them, and are acceptable citizens everywhere
on earth, as the same are in the other life.
1122. I have been further informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church had
most delightful dreams, and also visions, and that it was insinuated into them at the same
time what they signified. Hence their paradisal representations, and many other things.
The objects of the external senses therefore, which are earthly and worldly, were nothing
to them; nor had they any perception of delight in them, but only in what they signified
and represented; and therefore when they looked at earthly objects they did not think
about them at all, but only about the things which they signified and represented, which
were most delightful to them; for they were such things as are in heaven, from which they
see the Lord Himself.
1270. Presently some were let out of that hell; but the Lord made such a
disposition by means of intermediate spirits and angels that they could do me no harm. Out
of that deep they came in front, and appeared to themselves to be working their way toward
the front, as it were through caverns in the rock, and so upward. At last they appeared
from above to the left, in order that from there, and thus from a distance, they might
inflow into me. I was told that they were permitted to inflow into the right side of the
head, but not into the left side; and from the right side of the head into the left side
of the chest; but by no means into the left of the head, for if this occurred I should be
destroyed, because they would then flow in with their persuasions, which are direful and
deadly; whereas if they flowed into the right of the head, and thence into the left of the
chest, it would be by means of cupidities. Such is the case with influx.
[2] Their persuasions are of such a nature that they extinguish all truth and good, so
that those into whom they flow can perceive nothing whatever, and after that cannot think;
and therefore the other spirits were removed. When they began to flow in I fell asleep.
Then while I slept they flowed in by means of cupidities, and this with such violence that
if awake I could not have resisted them. In my sleep I was sensible of the vehemence of
it, which I cannot describe, save that I afterwards remembered that they tried to kill me
by a suffocating afflatus, which was like a terrible nightmare. Then, waking, I observed
that they were near me; and when they perceived that I was awake, they fled away to their
own place above, and flowed in from thence.
[3] When they were there they appeared to me as if they were being wrapped up in a
cloth, such as was spoken of before (n. 964). I thought they were being thus wrapped up,
but it was others whom they were wrapping up. This is effected by means of phantasies; but
yet the spirits against whom they thus work by phantasies know not but that they are
really being wrapped up. It appeared as if those whom they thus wrapped up rolled down a
certain rocky declivity. But those who were thus wrapped up were released and set at
liberty. They were spirits who were unwilling to withdraw, and who were thus preserved by
the Lord, for otherwise they would have been suffocated-although they would have revived
again, but after great suffering. The spirits from that hell then went back by the rocky
declivity; and there was heard from thence a sound of boring, as if many great boring
instruments were at work; and it was perceived that it was from their intensely cruel
phantasies against the Lord that such a sound came. They were afterwards cast down through
dark caverns into their hell beneath the misty rock. While they were in the world of
spirits, the constitution or order of the sphere there was changed. {1}
@1 See Spiritual Diary, n. 3367. [Reviser.]$
1376.CONTINUATION CONCERNING SITUATION AND PLACE, AND ALSO CONCERNING DISTANCE
AND TIME, IN THE OTHER LIFE. I have frequently conversed with spirits concerning the idea
of place and of distance among them-that it is not anything real, but appears as if it
were, being nothing else than their states of thought and of affection, which are thus
varied, and are in this manner presented to view in the world of spirits; but not so much
so in heaven among the angels, since these are not in the idea of place and time, but in
that of states. But the spirits to whom bodily and earthly ideas adhere, do not apprehend
this, for they suppose that the case is exactly as they see it to be. Such spirits can
hardly be brought to believe otherwise than that they are living in the body, and are not
willing to be persuaded that they are spirits; and thus scarcely that there is any
appearance, or any fallacy, in relation to the matter, for they desire to live in
fallacies. Thus do they preclude themselves from the apprehension and acknowledgment of
truths and goods, which are as far as possible from fallacies. It has been shown them many
times that change of place is nothing but an appearance, and also a fallacy of sense. For
there are two kinds of mutation of place in the other life; one is that which has been
spoken of before, when it is laid that all spirits and angels in the Grand Man constantly
keep their own situation therein; which is an appearance. The other is that spirits appear
in a place when in fact they are not there, which is a fallacy.
1378. I have been informed, both by conversation with angels, and by living
experience, that spirits, as spirits, in regard to the organic forms which constitute
their bodies, are not in the place where they are seen, but may be far away, and yet
appear there. I know that they who suffer themselves to be carried away by fallacies will
not believe this, but still the case is so. This has been illustrated to those spirits who
have believed nothing to be true that they did not see with their eyes - even if this were
mere fallacy - by the fact that something similar is exhibited among men in the world.
Take for instance the sound of a speaker's voice coming to the ear of another person: if
the person who hears it did not know to the contrary, by the discriminations of sound,
learned by experience from infancy, and did not see the speaker at a distance, he would
have no other belief than that the speaker was close to his ear.
So with a man who sees remote objects: if be did not at the same time see intervening
objects, and know from them, or judge of the distance by what he knows, he would believe a
distant object to be near his eye. Much more is this the case with the speech of spirits,
which is interior speech; and with their sight, which is interior sight.
[2] And the spirits were told, further, that when plain experience declares a fact,
they ought not to doubt, and still less deny it, on the ground that it does not so appear
to the senses, and that they do not perceive it. For even within the realm of nature there
are many things that are contrary to the fallacies of the senses, but are believed because
visible experience teaches them. For example, the sailing of a ship around the globe: they
who suffer themselves to be carried away by the fallacies of the senses, might believe
that ship and sailors would fall off when they came to the opposite side, and that the
people at the antipodes could never stand upon their feet. Such also is the case with the
subject before us, and with many things in the other life that are contrary to the
fallacies of the senses, and yet are true, - as that man has no life of himself, but from
the Lord; and very many other things. By these and other considerations, incredulous
spirits could be brought to believe that the case is as we have stated it.
1387. I have several times conversed about perception with those in the other
life who, while they lived in the world, had regarded themselves as able to penetrate and
understand all things telling them that angels perceive that they think and speak, and
will and act from the Lord. But still they could not conceive what perception is, but
supposed that if all things were to inflow in this way, they would be bereaved of all
life; because in that case they would think nothing from themselves, or from what is their
own; and in this they had made life to consist; and that in that case it would be another
who was thinking, and not themselves; so that they would be mere organs devoid of life.
But they were told that between having perception, and not having it, the difference of
life is like that between light and darkness; and that men first begin to feel alive when
they receive such perception; for then they live from the Lord, and also have what is
their own, which is given together with all happiness and delight. It was also shown them
by varied experience how the case is with perception, and at the time they acknowledged
the possibility of it; but after a while they again did not know, doubted, and denied.
From this it has been made evident how difficult it is for man to comprehend what
perception is.
1505. I have also been informed how these spheres, which in the other life
become so perceptible to the senses, are acquired. Take as an example one who has formed a
high opinion of himself and of his own pre-eminent excellence. He at last becomes imbued
with such a habit, and as it were with such a nature, that wherever he goes, though he
looks at others and speaks with them, he keeps himself in view; and this at first
manifestly, but afterwards not manifestly, so that he is not aware of it; but still it is
regnant, both in the particulars of his affection and thought, and in those of his bearing
and speech. Men can see this in others. And this is the kind of thing that in the other
life makes a sphere, which is perceived, but no more frequently than the Lord permits. The
same is the case with other affections; and therefore there are as many spheres as there
are affections and combinations of affections, which are innumerable. The sphere is as it
were the man's image extended outside of himself, the image in fact of all things that are
in him. In the world of spirits that which is presented to the view or perception is only
something general; what the man is as to particulars, is known in heaven; but what as to
the least particulars is known to none but the Lord.
1523. That I might know the nature of that light, I have often been conducted
into the abodes of good and of angelic spirits, and have seen both the spirits and the
objects there. I have also seen infants and mothers in light of so great a brightness and
resplendence that there could not possibly be anything brighter.
1628. All the angels have their own dwellings in the places where they are, and
they are magnificent. I have been there, and have sometimes seen and marveled at them, and
have there spoken with the angels. They are so distinct and clearly seen that nothing can
be more so. In comparison with these, the habitations on earth amount to scarcely
anything. They also call those which are on the earth dead, and not real; but their own,
living and true, because from the Lord. The architecture is such that the art itself is
derived from it, with a variety that knows no limit. They have said that if all the
palaces in the whole world should be given them, they would not receive them in exchange
for their own. What is made of stone, clay, and wood is to them dead; but what is from the
Lord, and from life itself and light itself, is living; and this is the more the case that
they enjoy them with all fullness of sense. For the things that are there are perfectly
adapted to the senses of spirits and angels; for spirits cannot see at all by their sight
the things that are in the light of the solar world; but things of stone and wood are
adapted to the senses of men in the body. Spiritual things are in correspondence with
those who are spiritual, and corporeal things with those who are corporeal.
1635. The speech of spirits with me has been heard and perceived as distinctly
as the speech of man with man; indeed, when I have spoken with them while I have been in
company with men, I observed that just in the same way as I heard the men speaking
sonorously, so also did I hear the spirits; insomuch that the spirits sometimes wondered
that others did not hear what they said to me; for as regards the hearing there was
absolutely no difference. But as the influx into the internal organs of hearing is
different from that of speech with men, it could be heard only by myself; to whom of the
Lord's Divine mercy these organs have been opened. Human speech passes in through the ear,
by an external way, by means of the air; but the speech of spirits does not enter through
the ear, nor by means of the air; but by an internal way, into the same organs of the head
or brain. Consequently the hearing is the same.
