Spiritual Diary, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1758], tr. by Bush, Smithson and Buss [1883-9] at sacred-texts.com

Spiritual Diary

They then spoke also in such a manner that the face did not speak at the same time, or did not concur by a corresponding motion throughout, as before, but the face remained to my observation quiescent, and then they spoke in my brain, so that the brain was moved in like manner [as the face had been], which motion or convibration, however, I could not so distinctly feel, but it was a speech by ideas still more continuous, so that from many there resulted one idea, thus continuous, and yet it was intelligible to me.

They afterwards spoke in such a manner that I understood nothing, while the angels understood it far better than I [could possibly have done], for it was by means of a most delicate aura, which I plainly perceived, although what was said was of too great tenuity for me to comprehend. They speak thus with the men of their earth who are almost angels. I remember to have heard elsewhere a similar speech, but what was said I could not learn, although some that were with me said that they could understand it well; this is therefore a speech still more interior.

These different kinds of speech have somewhat the quality of fluid substances, the first resembling water, the second a fluid rarer than water, the third like a thin atmosphere, and the fourth as a most delicate aura, which transcends human apprehension.

The spirit who was with me at my left side occasionally interposed a remark, saying, that he did not understand their speech, because it was so interior, and yet he spoke from time to time, and, according to his wont, chided me for dealing so gently with them, for they were spirits of this earth, who gave vent to certain things which were displeasing and vexatious, on which account I was appealed to to put a stop to them, but I replied to him that spirits of this character were indeed from our earth, but that I had nothing to do with them.

Afterwards, this same spirit who had thus chided me, observed that he could understand what they said, but he then came into a state in which he had the requisite perception; but he was then removed to my left ear, into which he poured his discourse more rapidly than before.

From this it may be inferred how the case is in the universal heaven, and the whole orb of the earth, viz. that before the approach of angels a spirit is dispatched to prepare the way, to inspire [a salutary] fear, and to admonish that the angelic visitants be courteously received; and moreover, that such messenger-spirit often speaks somewhat harshly, saying that he does not understand what the angels may communicate, though he is afterwards reduced to a better state, and then says that he does understand, that he is continually present, and continually preparing the mind, and endeavoring to avert whatever may be unkind or unbecoming. Hence it may appear that in the universal heaven, and the whole world, the custom obtains of a forerunner being employed, and that John the Baptist acted in this capacity as an announcer of the Lord's Advent, and that the case was the same with John in respect to the Lord as it was with this spirit in respect to the angels, to wit, that John also was in doubt from not understanding what the Lord declared, as we read, and that being afterwards better instructed, his mind was opened to receive it, as was the case with the spirit who was in contact with my ear. The similarity holds, too, in regard to the discourses of our Lord, which were such as to contain things more and more interior, as we read in the Evangelist John, until at length he uttered things which they could not understand, from being still more interior, and which, therefore, were brought into close resemblance with what appeared to me as atmospheres and auras, as described above. Still there was at the same time an external speech insinuated through an external way. - 1728, March 23.

THE SPEECH OF THE SPIRITS OF JUPITER WITH ME BY MEANS OF THE LIPS AND THE GUMS OF THE TEETH. Spirits of the earth Jupiter, but of a different class from the former, also spoke with me, but in a different manner, to wit, by the tongue and the lips, so that the sound entered through the lips, thus by another way than that made use of in discourse with the angels.

They spoke, moreover, through my gums, so that the gums and teeth perceived it almost with a sense of pain. There was a peculiar constriction, and so manifestly sensible, that although the teeth did not actually ache, yet it came but little short of it. They said, indeed, that this kind of speech among them constringed the teeth in such a way as to cause a sensation of pain, and that it was the speech of spirits who had not yet become angels, consequently of those who had recently come into the other life. The sound of the speech, as was manifestly apparent, flowed in through another way, to wit, through the Eustachian tube.

Those who were with me in the first instance were desirous of being called angels, because their speech was of this character, but it was shown them that this attenuated and almost imperceptible kind of speech could be made use of by evil spirits, for it is, in fact, their thought, which this class of spirits employ for perverting other spirits, and also for perverting the thoughts of men, as they repeatedly endeavored to do with me. But there is this difference, that the spirits of our earth are not able to determine their speech into the face.

But inasmuch as the spirits of the earth Jupiter spoke concerning the Lord, and worshipped Him only, it was said that they could be considered no otherwise than as angels; wherefore, as it now occurs to me, they constitute the heaven of spirits, but not the world of spirits.

Moreover, an angel spoke with me through spirits, which was done from the interior towards the exterior; this was observed by the spirits of the earth Jupiter, that thus they might know that the speech, as long as spirits are the speakers, is by a way from the exterior, while the speech of angels is by a way from the interior. - 1748, March 23. Angels act from the interior, while I perceive [the operation]; it is by the motion of the lips, but still from the interior. It is also from the interior when the left eye is effected, but this I do not perceive.

THAT THE MEMORY OF MAN REMAINS UNIMPAIRED IN THE OTHER LIFE. Souls in the other life seem, indeed, to themselves to have lost the memory of particulars, or the corporeal memory, in which merely material ideas inhere, because they are unable to excite anything from that memory, while yet the full faculty of perceiving and speaking remains as in the life [of the body]. But this is owing to the fact that the Lord has so ordained that the soul shall not be able to draw forth anything from that memory, as then it would excite the same things as it did in the former life, and would live in like manner, and so could not be perfected. Still that memory remains, not, however, as active, but as passive, and it can be excited by others; for whatever men may have done, seen, or heard in their lifetime, when they are spoken of to them with a like idea, then they at once recognize them, and know that they have said, seen, or heard such things which has been evinced to me by such abundant proofs that I could, in confirmation, fill many pages with them. As such, then, is the state of the case, it appears that spirits retain all their memory of particulars, so that they lose nothing, only that, for the causes above mentioned, they cannot draw anything from it, as they are now led onward into [their interior] life, and thus no longer act from their [externals]. Souls are not at all aware but that they speak from their own memory, and do, in fact, sometimes thus speak, as I have heard, but then it is from the interior memory, through which the things in their corporeal memory are excited; and how they can thus speak, and even preach, is a matter for investigation at another time. They confessed, however, that they had lost the memory of particular [or material] things, at which they were indignant. It was only given them to remember those things which they could excite from my memory. Spirits also do the same, and thus speak in a manner suitable to their own life, the life which they have contracted from the life in the body, for they can excite nothing else; [but this they do] with variety according to the state of life in which they are, which state is induced by the societies they are conjoined to, as they then speak in an altered manner. As spirits speak from the life of their loves, and that life appears sufficiently manifest, many things can thus be excited by other spirits which they recognize, and thus what they have said, seen, and heard is excited [indirectly] in their own memory. But all these things are directed to the Lord alone. - 1748, March 23.

CONCERNING THE PUNISHMENT OF LASCIVIOUSNESS. There was a certain spirit in a medium altitude above my head who in his lifetime had lived lasciviously and yet had been at the same time an assiduous reader of the Word. I heard respecting him what his quality had been during his life, namely, that he had been in the delight of variety, so as to have cherished no constant love towards any, but spent his time in brothels, having intercourse with their inmates, and yet afterwards rejecting each of them in turn. As a consequence, he had defrauded many, making no distinction whether those with whom he had to do were married or unmarried. In this way be divested himself of all love truly conjugial, as also of the desire of having children; and as he eventually came to do what he did without rebuke of conscience, he thence acquired that unnatural habit, or, as I may say, contracted an unnatural nature.

His punishment was after this fashion: in a region above the head, at a moderate height, and in full view of spirits and angels, he was driven towards an extended rope, upon coming in contact with which he stooped his head in order to pass under, when he was immediately caught by the back, and fastened to the rope, and then made to revolve round it like a linen garment, till at length I saw one of his feet adhering to the rope, and the whole front of his person, from head to foot, exposed to the view of spirits and angels, and thus was made to rotate, conspicuous to all around, and meanwhile racked with shame and pain.

Being afterwards released, he came to my right side, and spoke with me, saying that he had been of such a character in his lifetime, but still making the acknowledgment with shame, so as scarcely to dare to look up, or to be willing to leave my side. He said he was so terribly bruised that he did not see how he could hold together, and yet he spoke modestly, and with evident tokens of penitence, in view of what his life had been, so that he did not suffer the same excruciating tortures with others who had lived that kind of lascivious life. - 1748, March 23.

CONCERNING THE THINGS SITUATED ON THE LEFT AND ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BRAIN. That the contents of the left side of the brain correspond to the right portions of the body, it was given me to know by experience; for spirits acted upon the left side of the brain, and a sensation was derived thence into the right nostril and into the palm of the right hand, and it was also said that such was the derivation.

Spirits of the planet Jupiter said, moreover, that it was the intellectual principle on the right side of the cerebrum, just above the temple, into which the operation flowed, and to which also, from some unknown cause, I at such times applied my hand. [From this it is to be inferred] that the right part of the brain is the seat of the intellectuals, and the left of affections, while in the body the case is the reverse, for the left eye is appropriated to intellectuals and the right to the affections. - 1748, March 23.

CONCERNING SPIRITS FROM ANOTHER EARTH WHO ARE ALTOGETHER UNWILLING TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAVE EVER BEEN POSSESSED OF A BODY. There is a class of spirits who have, during their bodily life, so despised the body that they come to regard it with hatred, nor can they bear to hear it said that they were once clothed with a body. There were some in this region who spoke with me, and said that they were not altogether willing to come hither, as they suppose that here are those who are clothed with a body, and by such they are contumeliously treated, as they are perpetually thinking of bodies, and represent the former as corporeal like themselves, whence ensues an appearance as if they represented serpents, and projected them towards the others, whom they [the serpents] approach, but not so as to fasten their fangs upon them, or to prevent their being easily cast off. Still they sometimes cause them to twine round each of their arms, while they, with uneasy promptings, aim to get rid of them. When I inquired into the reason of all this, they replied that the spirits of our earth cause them all this trouble, because they think themselves corporeal and call themselves men, but these spirits do not regard themselves in this light, wherefore their thoughts are dissonant, and hence the kind of representations spoken of.

The spirits above mentioned said that they had never been clothed with a body, nor did they appear to themselves in a bodily form, but rather in that of a cloud, in which the human form was scarcely discernible. Certain spirits were thus occasionally represented to me, to wit, as white clouds, with a rude and hardly perceptible resemblance to the human form. When I asked them the cause of this, they said they did not know; for they were unwilling to admit that they had ever been corporeal. I was hence persuaded, especially as they spoke well of the spirits of the earth Jupiter, that they were, in fact, from thence, inasmuch as the inhabitants of that earth despise their bodies, and would fain live as spirits on their earth, and not as invested with a body, wherefore they call those bodies worms, or the food of worms, and because they thus think, and that thought insinuates itself into the ideas of spirits, therefore the above-mentioned serpentine ideas [so to call them] were formed.

But whether they may not have been from one of the satellites of Jupiter, which, like [our] moon, are surrounded by a different kind of atmosphere [from their primary], and thus that these spirits are a different kind of creatures in such a little world, and possessed of another kind of bodies, I am not sure, though they intimated to me something of the kind; for as I could not have an idea of any sort of men except such as live on earths surrounded by atmospheres, therefore, although ignorant of the positive fact, yet I would not decidedly reject the supposition, for corporeal forms are governed entirely by the state of the atmospheres, and many other things pertaining to the earths in which they dwell. - 1748, March 23.

They said that they rarely came to the spirits of this region, or to others who think much of their bodies, but that they live to themselves, and that being fewer than others they cannot, like other spirits, represent to themselves that they were ever in such a body.

They are upright to such a degree as to be called probities, and they suffer the infliction of injuries without any desire of revenge or redress. They flee as soon as ever they approach to spirits who think of their bodies, for no one of them is willing to think of his own body, or to hear anything respecting it, wherefore their societies do not agree with the societies of other spirits, whence an anxiety exists, and of such a nature that I partook of it; I perceived, too, that it arose from the circumstance of the disagreement now spoken of. These societies afterwards spoke to me from a greater distance.

((I asked of them whether they walked erect or crept like worms; to which they replied that they walked erect. When I inquired how they could do this without feet, requesting at the same time that they should recall the idea which they had [on this subject] during their earthly life. I found that they were unwilling to hear anything of their having had feet. I then inquired whether they were not born of a father and mother. They said they were born. I asked whether they had human faces; they certainly had faces, and again they were handsome, nor could they bear to hear that I thought of them as without faces, but they still insisted that they were without a body, and when I would represent them as worms divested of their exuviae)), (((and emerging as nymphae, this they liked, and would fain have the case to have been thus. I was thence able to conclude that they had been clothed with a body, but that in their lifetime they had so despised their bodies as to hold them as vile filth, and as the exuviae of worms, and that they wished to be divested of them, because they were clogs, and that they had died after having lived as spirits during their lifetime; and also that hence arose the anxiety among them in relation to spirits that loved their bodies. It seems probable, therefore, that they were born on the planet Jupiter, where some are this character.))) 1672 1/3. ((They acknowledge our Lord like the spirits of Jupiter, and worship Him alone, whence they say that they are upright.)) 1672 1/4. ((The anxieties which I perceived were caused by reciprocal aversions. The spirits of our earth are averse to them at their first approach by reason of their repugnance to all thoughts concerning bodies - thoughts with which the sphere of the spirits of our earth is filled, for such a sphere is formed from thoughts (see above), and aversion arises from the concurrence of contrary spheres, and from aversion, anxiety. Thence, also, originate the representation caused by our spirits of serpents twined around them, which they endeavor to throw off as a troublesome annoyance from the arms encircled in their folds. But while I write these things, they do not wish to have anything said which implies the idea of arms; and this again indicates that they were once possessed of a corporeal investment, but that they held their bodies in extreme aversion. - 1748, March 23. In like manner that they were furnished with loins and feet, for serpents appeared about their loins, etc.))

((Their opinion during the life of the body had been that they had existed as spirits from eternity, on which account they were very backward to receive the conviction flowing from the fact that they were born, insisting that they had been spirits from eternity. But being still pressed by the conviction that the fact was not so, inasmuch as they would by no means deceive any one, they said that they now knew that they had not existed from eternity, but were born like others, but that they had [somehow] imbibed that opinion of their having been eternally spirits, and thus infused into bodies, just as certain persons on our earth [run into the same conceit]. Still so upright are they that the indications of their penitence for having entertained such an opinion moved me much, seeing that they now know that they were not from eternity, as the Lord alone is from eternity. - 1748, March 23.))

((When certain ones [of these spirits] approached me my face grew hot, which is also a sign of their presence; otherwise they remain at a very considerable distance in the plane of the head, in front towards the right, over against the right side of the forehead.))

(A certain chiding spirit came to me, but in a different manner from those who were of the spirits of the earth Jupiter, and taking his stand at my side addressed me in that position; but still he seemed to hover somewhat above the head, about the region of the fontinel (the fount of pulsation), and spoke with me. He was able to explore the minuter things [of my mind or memory], and to bring them forth, and that too in a skilful connection, so that he would restrain [even my own] restraining thought, nor did he withdraw himself thence. He brought forth the things which he discovered [in my memory], and chided me on account of them. Some things he was not permitted to produce; what he did produce were such things as he supposed to be mine, and for which he regarded me as the responsible cause. After having conversed with him for some time, it was given me to understand that he was one of the spirits of those of whom I am now speaking, who in their lifetime were chiders of their fellow-men, though doing it in a subtle manner. From hence I was able to conclude that the men of that region or planet were distinguished by very profound thought, and that consequently this kind of chiding took place, wherefore it was granted to me to speak in like manner. He would fain also in a similar way become an angel; but when I remarked that it was not angelical to search only into a man's evils to the neglect of his goods, and without an attempt to excuse his evils, he still insisted that this was done for the sake of reformation, and therefore was a good; and when he heard me say that that was not angelical, he replied that neither was it angelical to speak thus with him and to detect his evils, to which when I answered that this was nothing more than declaring the fact as it showed itself to be, inasmuch as I did not inquire into his evils, but he disclosed them himself and I had only said what had come from him, he was then unwilling to remain any longer, being still pleased, however, that I should say that he might become an angel, provided he would not set his heart so much upon the fact of his becoming one - this produced an exhilarating effect upon him, concerning which also [we] held some further conversation together.)

((It was moreover shown to me what kind of form those spirits of the better class possessed, namely, that they were like a black cloud with something of white and human interspersed, destitute of any definite shape, as is usually the case with a radiated cloud. They said that they were white inwardly; then, that they hoped to become angels; then, that this black color would be turned into a beautiful azure, a specimen of which of most splendid hue was shown to me, and from the whole I concluded that they were from that region, or from that earth.))

(The spirits in question wondered when I said that the things [seen and heard by me] were written, and could thus be published to the world, so that by the writing alone they could be made known to many thousands. They remarked that such an art was not permitted, supposing it might prove magical. But when I replied to them that such an art existed in our earth, familiar to every one, and therefore lawful; and moreover that there was a necessity for it, inasmuch as there is no one, to my knowledge, on this earth with whom spirits converse, as they do in other earths, and therefore men could not be reformed through this medium; [and when I further remarked] that though the inhabitants of our earth know from revelation that there is a heaven, that there are spirits and angels, and that there is a life after death, yet that very few believe these truths, because they have not the privilege of conversing with those in the other life, - then they were satisfied and [o] 1677-1 persuaded that for those in this earth such communication was necessary, but not for them in their earths, as they are instructed in various ways by angels. These things from the [o] above are their words, written down from their own mouth or thought.)

(((I inquired of them whether they could see objects through my eyes. They replied that they did not see; and when I again pressed them for a true answer, they said that they did not wish to see such things, because they were material, and that they strongly withdrew their vision from them, that they might not see what they did not know.)))

(I spoke farther with them respecting their offspring, and they said they had at most but three or four children; that the house of each was separate from that of every other; and that they were content to live in small chambers, of which one was represented to me. It was of beautiful architecture, having in a kind of rotunda a hearth that supplied light to the whole apartment, in which was a table. Their sleeping-places are at the sides, where there is one single bed continuously extended, like a wall, where they lie one after another. There was a cover-lid of an obscurely golden color.)

(The light in the rotunda was like a living flame rising to a considerable height. They informed me that it was not a burning, but only a shining, fire, and that they have such species of woods among them as when cut and disposed on the hearth diffuse around them a kind of lucid flame. In lucidity and color it resembled our flame, so that I took it to have been a burning flame, which gave light to the whole chamber. Two pieces of wood were represented to me in which there was this kind of light. The appearance was as if they formed a fire of coals, or as if there were a mere fiery something glowing within, and which shone through. Such sticks of wood are cut and placed upon the hearth, and from them the luminousness originates.)

And when I represented to them the magnificent palaces of our earth, which our spirits admired, but those spirits thought little of because they were of stone and such materials, which they call monsters, being mere marble semblances, they remarked that there were still more magnificent ones among them, which they represented before the spirits of our earth, who said that they had never seen anything more magnificent. Some of them, but not the most magnificent, were represented, but only in a very partial manner, to me; more was not granted lest it should inhere in my memory. But they have temples in which they worship the Lord, made with tall trees, which they said were exceedingly lofty, and which they so dispose as to make the thick branches spread wide on every side around. These branches they bend, train, prune, lop, and extend in such a manner as to form palaces in a kind of series, by means of arches with beautiful entrances, one arched recess being joined to another, and so on through a large extent of space. In this manner a whole forest is formed, as it were, [into palaces,] with porticoes long and broad, and with arched entrances and doorways. The visitors upon coming thither find the forest all laid out in walks, of which, however, the more interior portions were not shown to me, except that I perceived the folding-doors or gates [valvas] and the overarchings, and that everything was effected by the beautiful disposition of the branches of trees. Splendid elevated grades or terraces are also formed, which lead upward by a winding ascent. Arranging and conjoining thus the branches of trees, they adapt them both to purposes of use and of ornament, and when they have mounted [to the highest parts] they then fall upon their knees and worship the Lord. The trunks of the trees below, on which these structures rest, stand four and four [four on either side (?)], and of these they dispose the branches this way and that, some for the flooring, some for the doorways, some for the walls, which are also furnished with doors, and some for the roofs, through which the rays of the sun penetrate and give light, while those that support the floor and those around the doors are stripped of bark in order to appear of a whiter hue. The walks underneath and the external adornings were such as inspired our spirits with the deepest admiration, and they described them as being of a magnificence that surpassed description. Two or three of them were shown separately. These were colored, as they [the inhabitants] are greatly enamoured of anything that reflects a bright and beautiful sky color. But beside this there were obscure golden colors, mixed with a slight infusion of white. Their habitations, however, are on the earth, and not on these elevated stagings, which serve them as holy places. Accordingly they commend, and value, and prefer to all others their own architectural arts, and the simple style of building conformed to them.

((I inquired of them how it was as to those among them who were evil, for they, as it was said, are an upright class of spirits. They replied that it is not permitted to anyone to be bad; and that if anyone does think or speak badly, he is first rebuked by a certain spirit, who says to him that if he repeats the offence he will die, and he does die in a fainting fit if he is again guilty of that which is thus prohibited. In this manner the people are preserved from the contagion of evils. A certain spirit of this class was present, speaking with me as with those to whom he then administered rebuke, and addressed me in a similar manner, [and I observed that] he induced upon a part of the abdomen)) (some degree of pain, as was usually the case with them, to each one of whom the rebuker is accustomed to relate whatever of evil he had thought or done, and to punish him with pain in the bowels, saying to him that if he does thus again he will die, (:which with us corresponds to remorse of conscience, for with those who speak with spirits there are manifest pains:) and one said that they die in a fainting or swooning fit [per deliquium], and that they became such spirits as torture, chide, and admonish men. He was at the back of my head, and thus spoke in a kind of undulatory way. - 1748, March 25.)

CONCERNING CONJUGIAL LOVE, AND [THE LOVE] OF PARENTS TOWARDS CHILDREN. Whence the origin of love truly conjugial, whence the love of parents towards children, and the [perhaps] still greater love towards grandchildren, no one has hitherto known, when yet, as there is something celestial in those loves, [knowledge respecting them] ought to come from heaven, and thus to flow, as a universal principle, into the minds of all. Nothing of this nature can be without a cause in the inmosts and the supreme, nor could anything by any means exist without a cause in the inmosts and the supreme; for what is there without a cause and a principle of being? [In this case] the principle is manifest, to wit, the Lord's love towards the universe of creatures, as well angels and spirits as men, as being of Him, whence that love in itself is compared to conjugial love, and is predicated of the Lord as the bridegroom and husband, and of the Church as the bride and wife. Apart from the Lord's love towards all and each of His creatures, and His manifest influx into the inner and inmost of human minds, there never could exist any conjugial love, consequently any love of good, which is in various ways derived from conjugial love. In like manner, unless the Lord loved all and each as a father his children, and the inmost heaven from the Lord, as a mother her infants, there would by no means exist any storge [or parental affection]. The greater love or storge towards grandchildren cannot be a matter of self-origination; wherefore love descends; it comes from the source now indicated. - 1748, March 25.

CONTINUATION CONCERNING SPIRITS WHO ARE UNWILLING TO ADMIT THAT THEY HAVE LIVED IN THE BODY. SPIRITS OF ANOTHER EARTH. ((I inquired of them how they could so value and love the things by which they were surrounded, such as houses and buildings formed of trees, when yet they were so averse to corporeal things that they could have no interaction with such as were intent upon the interests of their bodies. They hesitated somewhat, scarcely knowing what to answer, but at length replied that the objects above mentioned are their celestial things, and that in their heaven they are delighted with similar things, for in the life of the body they had taken pleasure in these arboreal structures rising upwards from the earth as being celestial, because they knew there were such things in heaven. Since, moreover, they are not carried away, like the inhabitants of our earth, by any earthly loves, such as the love of possessions, wealth, fine mansions, pomps, luxurious living, and splendid garments; and since, too, they are not affected by the number of societies, as they live every family by itself, therefore they cannot value and love anything else than objects of the above kind, from whence it is not to be inferred that they place an undue estimate upon their bodies. - 1748, March 25.

Since, therefore, they had no other pleasures in life than such as are now mentioned, and inasmuch as they hoped, during their lifetime, for similar though more perfect enjoyments [in the life to come], it is not surprising if they are delighted in these things, and prize and love them. Similar but more perfect things are represented to them in their heaven, concerning which some said that they knew that their joy was not essentially in those things, but in the things that flowed from them, and are in them; and, moreover, that they held in aversion bodily things, even their own bodies; whence again it was evident to me that my anxiety, as in a former case, arose from the mutual aversion subsisting between those spirits and ours, as has been already intimated.))

(((Their action was into the region of the left knee, above, and a little below, with a certain undulation or vibration quite sensible, from which I concluded that they do not love those corporeal things which pertain to the sole of the foot, but [simply] natural things; for that kind of movement above the knee, and midway of the thigh upwards, signifies that which is celestial, because thus are celestial and natural things conjoined; so that there are those in whom celestial and natural things are conjoined, as there are others in whom spiritual and natural things are conjoined. - 1748, March 25.)))

(When the men of that earth are punished on account of evils, there appears to them a mouth with open jaws [rictus], as wide as that of a lion, but of a dark and livid color, at the sight of which they shudder, dreading that it should be either heard or seen. They call him the devil who punishes those, and those only, who in some way profane holy things. - 1748, March 25. Such an open-jawed mouth, on approaching, seems to swallow the head, tear in it from the body, which is reported among them to be attended with extreme pain.)

CONCERNING THOSE WHO CONSTITUTE THE PROVINCE OF THE DURA MATER There were a number of spirits above me at a medium distance overhead, about the region of the cerebrum, who acted by a sort of common pulsation, which was at first a reciprocal undulation, as it were, downwards and upwards with a certain cool kind of breathing upon my forehead. Their motion, as I have remarked, was a kind of reciprocal one, such as I have sometimes experienced from a multitude of spirits. From this species of up and down motion, I could infer that they were not of the more interior class, as their movement is that of gyres.

These same spirits afterwards exhibited a flaming light, quite resplendent, under the left side of the chin [:hak:], 1689-1 then under the left eye, but more obscurely, then above the eye, but still not clearly, notwithstanding the light was of a flaming brightness, though not white. Spirits are accustomed thus to exhibit certain kinds of lights.

When I afterwards held my left hand on the left part of the cranium or head, I perceived also an undulating pulse under the palm of the hand with the up and down motion.

When I inquired who they were, they were unwilling to speak; it was said they did not speak willingly, and when driven to it that they were still averse, saying that thus it would be detected of what quality they were. I perceived that those were of this character who constituted the province of the dura mater, which is a common integument, or rather a substratum, in the brain, of those things which are celestial and spiritual; for although the dura mater is extended over, and thus appears above, yet it is not overlaid but underlaid in respect to those things, since it comprises [tenet] the exteriors of the brain, while spiritual and celestial things [occupy] the interiors.

Those that constitute the province of the dura mater were such in the life of the body as neither thought nor spoke of spiritual things, but were such as never supposed the existence of anything but what was natural, and even considered that which is spiritual and celestial to be natural, nor was it possible for them, by reason of the crassitude of their interiors to have any other idea. Still they did not confess it; and if driven to confess what idea they had of spiritual and celestial things, they could say no otherwise than that it was a certain natural something; they went no further. At the same time they attend divine worship, and pray, and sing; [in a word,] those who constitute the province of the dura mater are not among spirits, but among genii, wherefore their motion corresponds to the pulsation of the heart.

There were afterwards others who also caused a pulsation, but not up and down, but transversely, which I was enabled to perceive by the hand. Then again there were others [who produced the same effect], not so reciprocally, but more fully, so that the pulsation filled the hollow of the hand. Others again there were whose pulsation projected itself from one finger to another, thus by leaps [subsultim]; and these were perceived above the head, while the former [operated] within, thus with variety. I was not well instructed as to who they were, unless that they are such as speak and think somewhat of spiritual and celestial things, but only from the external senses, or from the experience of these senses, understanding in fact nothing else. In hearing I had an impression as if from the female sex, wherefore these constitute the province of the external skin of the head; for the more they reason from the bodily senses respecting spiritual and celestial things, the more exterior do they become. - 1748, March 25.

CONCERNING THE PUNISHMENT OF LASCIVIOUSNESS. (((((There are those who in the life of the body indulge in lascivious thoughts, giving habitually a lascivious turn to what others converse about, even when the subject is holy. Such a habit is wont to prevail with young men, when their minds, by reason of their age, are occupied with such things; but when the same thing occurs with adults and old men, namely, the turning everything they hear into this direction, or revolving it over [in their thoughts], these undergo such a punishment [as I am about to describe].)))))

((((For they do not cease to have similar ideas in the other life, which because they reign, and thus cause that whatever is heard to be turned into lasciviousness, and because their thoughts go forth into representations, and whatever they see they turn into obscene representations, that stand forth before other spirits, causing them great offence,)))) (((((((therefore the angels are averse to such things, and abominate them, while these [filthy] representations fall upon the simple-minded, who are taken wholly by surprise by them.)))))))

((((((There is a punishment [appointed for such] which I saw, and grieved at beholding it. A certain offender, I know not who he was, was thrown down into a horizontal posture, in the presence of the spirits whom he had thus wounded and scandalized, and was made to revolve with a quick motion like a roller, from left to right, and then transversely in another position, and so on in almost every posture, and so as to be apparent to all. Sometimes he was clothed with garments with which he would fain conceal himself because such had been his character in his lifetime, and again he was half naked. In this manner he was turned horizontally towards several quarters and made to revolve in full view of spirits, till a degree of shame was inspired into him, which appeared from the circumstance of his not wishing to be divested of his clothes. Again he was made to rotate in a different manner, to wit, from the head to the feet as if round an axis, being violently whirled round not with his length parallel to the axis, but transversely or perpendicularly to it. He was then subjected again to a horizontal motion back and forth from left to right, and right to left; then again with extreme pain towards the right, like a hinge, with resistance, for two forces are then acting, one roundwise and the other backwards, so that he was violently forced towards the part to which he was made to revolve; and as he was thus acted upon by two forces, and yet driven in one direction, the result was a kind of rending asunder accompanied with excruciating pain. The punishment thus evolved itself from the offence, and thence also the phantasy, which flows as a consequence from the crime, thus being an image of it, which is wonderful.

He afterwards withdrew himself elsewhere, where he was ashamed of attempting to speak any more [the spirits meantime] tempting him by various methods, to see whether he would continue to indulge in the same kind of thoughts, but as he is then in the memory of his shame and pain he takes it were, in his own estimation, though they know where he is. - 1748, March 26.))))))

This punishment was seen towards the front at almost a middle distance, in the plane of the right eye.

CONCERNING THE QUARTERS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. It is wonderful that in the world of spirits, and also in the heavens, everything that takes place, and all the genera and species of things, wherever they may be, maintain their own quarters without ever changing them; so that while any spirit or any angels appear, or anything occurs, it takes place, in regard to each, in its own fixed quarter. These quarters have respect to the human body. When it is known where [spirits] are relatively to the body, it may be known who they are, and of what quality; and although dissimilar things may exist in the same quarter, yet from other signs it may be known what and of what quality they are, and that too without mistake. Thus wherever the lake is, wherever Gehenna, wherever unclean spirits are, or those who are in the ton, or who constitute the colon [there certain quarters are to be recognized], and so in all other particulars.

So also in regard to distances in the [different] quarters, which are so certain as never to be subject to mistake.

Footnotes

1677-1 This symbol is a circle with a dot in the center of it.

1689-1 A Swedish word for chin.