57. When the inhabitants of that earth lie in bed, they turn their faces forwards or into the chamber, but not backwards or towards the wall. This was told me by their spirits, who said that the cause was that they believe that they thus turn their face to the Lord, but that if they turn it backwards they turn it away from Him. The like has sometimes happened to myself when in bed, but I had not previously been aware of its origin.

58. They take pleasure in prolonging their repasts, not so much from delight in feeding as from delight in conversing then. When they sit at table, they do not sit on chairs or benches, nor on raised seats of turf, nor on the grass, but on the leaves of a particular tree. They were not willing to say of what tree the leaves were; but when I guessed at several, they at last assented when I named the fig tree. They informed me besides, that they do not prepare their food to please the palate, but chiefly for the sake of use; they added that to them the food which is wholesome is savoury. A conversation took place on this subject among the spirits, and it was urged that it would be well for man to observe this rule, for thus he would ensure having a sound mind in a sound body. It is otherwise with those with whom the taste rules: the body hence becomes diseased, at least it becomes inwardly feeble, consequently so does the mind; for the mind comports itself according to the interior state of the recipient parts of the body, as sight and hearing do according to the state of the eye and ear; hence the folly of placing all the delight of life in luxury and pleasure; from this too comes dulness in such things as belong to thought and judgment, and acuteness in such as belong to the body and the world. By this man acquires the likeness of a brute animal, with which indeed such persons not inappropriately compare themselves.

59. Their dwellings were also shown me. They are lowly dwellings constructed of wood; but within they are lined with bark or cork of a pale blue colour, and the walls and ceiling are spotted as with stars, to represent the heaven; for they are fond of picturing the visible heaven with its constellations in the interiors of their houses, the reason being that they believe the constellations to be the abodes of the angels. They have tents also, which are rounded off above and extended in length, spotted likewise within with stars on a blue ground. They retire into these in the day-time, to prevent their faces suffering from the heat of the sun. They bestow much care on the fashioning of these tents of theirs, and on keeping them clean. In them they also take their repasts.

60. The horses of our Earth, when seen by the spirits of Jupiter, appeared to me smaller than usual, although they were pretty robust and tall; which appearance arose from the idea those spirits had concerning the horses on that earth. They informed me that among them there are also horses like ours, though much larger, but that they are wild or in the woods, and that when they come in sight they strike terror into them, although they are quite harmless; they added that their fear of them is innate or natural. This gave me occasion to think of the cause of that fear. For in the spiritual sense, a horse signifies the Intellectual formed from scientifics[aa]; and as they are afraid of cultivating the Intellectual by worldly sciences, from this comes an influx of fear. That they do not care for scientifics, which are of human erudition, will be seen in the following pages.

Footnote aa: [(return) ]

The horse signifies the Intellectual, nos. 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6400, 6534, 7024, 8146, 8148. And the "White Horse" in the Apocalypse denotes the understanding of the Word, no. 2760.

61. The spirits of that earth are not inclined to associate with the spirits of our Earth, because they differ in disposition and manners. They say that the spirits of our Earth are cunning, and are quick and clever in the contrivance of evils, and that they know and think little about what is good. Moreover, the spirits of the earth Jupiter are much wiser than the spirits of our Earth; they also say of ours that they talk much and think little, and that therefore they cannot interiorly perceive many things, and that they cannot even perceive what good is. They conclude from this that the men of our Earth are external men. It was also once permitted the evil spirits of our Earth to act by their wicked arts, and to infest the spirits of Jupiter who were with me. The latter endured them for a very long time, but at length confessed that they could do so no longer, and that they believed that there could not be worse spirits, since they so perverted their imagination, and also their thought, that they seemed to themselves as it were bound, and incapable of being extricated from this bondage, and set at liberty, except by Divine aid. While I read from the Word some passages on the subject of our Saviour's Passion, some European spirits uttered dreadful scandals, with the intention of seducing the spirits of Jupiter. Inquiry being made as to who they were, and what their profession in the world had been, it was ascertained that some of them had been preachers, and many of them were of those who call themselves Members of the Society of the Lord, or Jesuits. I remarked that these, during their life in the world, by their preachings on the subject of the Lord's Passion, had been able to move the common people to tears. I also added the cause, that in the world they had thought one way and spoken another, thus that they had entertained one sentiment in their hearts and professed another with their lips; but that now they are not allowed to speak thus deceitfully, for, on becoming spirits, they are compelled to speak exactly as they think. The spirits of Jupiter were exceedingly astonished that there could be such a variance between the interiors and exteriors belonging to a man, that is to say, that it should be possible to speak one way and think quite another way, which would be impossible for them. They were surprised to hear that many who are from our Earth even become angels, and that they are of quite a different heart. They had supposed that all on our Earth were like those [evil ones who were then present], but they were told that many are not of this character, and that there are also some who think from good, and not, like these, from evil, and that those who think from good become angels. In order that they might know that this was the case, there came from the heaven of angels from our Earth choirs, one after another, who glorified the Lord together with one voice, and with harmony[bb]. These choirs affected the spirits of Jupiter who were with me, with such intense delight, that they seemed to themselves as it were caught up into heaven. This glorification by the choirs lasted about one hour. The delights which they experienced from this were communicated to me, and I was enabled to feel them sensibly. They said they would relate this occurrence to those of them who were elsewhere.

Footnote bb: [(return) ]

It is called a choir when many spirits speak at once and unanimously, concerning which see nos. 2595, 2596, 3350. In their speech there is harmony, concerning which see nos. 1648, 1649. By means of choirs in the other life an inauguration into unanimity is effected, no. 5182.

62. The inhabitants of the earth Jupiter place wisdom in thinking well and justly on all things that occur in life. This wisdom they imbibe from their parents from childhood, and it is successively transmitted to posterity, and goes on increasing from the love they have for it as existing with their parents. Of the sciences, such as exist on our Earth, they know nothing whatever, nor have they any desire to know. They call them shades, and compare them to clouds which come between [the earth and] the sun. They were led into this idea concerning the sciences by the conduct of some who had come from our Earth, who boasted in their presence that they were wise by reason of the sciences. The spirits from our Earth, who thus boasted, were such as placed wisdom in such things as are matters of the memory only, as in languages, especially the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, in the noteworthy publications of the learned world, in criticism, in bare experimental facts, and in terms, especially philosophical ones, and other similar things, not using them as means for becoming wise, but making wisdom to consist in those very things. Such persons, in consequence of not having cultivated their rational faculty by the sciences as means, in the other life have little perception, for they see only in terms and from terms, and, for those who see in this way, those things are as little formless masses, and as clouds before the intellectual sight (see above, no. 38); and those who have been conceited of their learning from this source perceive still less. But those who have used the sciences as means of invalidating and annihilating the things that belong to the church and to faith, have entirely destroyed their Intellectual, and see in the dark like owls, seeing falsity for truth and evil for good. The spirits of Jupiter, from intercourse with such persons, concluded that the sciences occasion shade and blindness; it was told them, however, that on this Earth the sciences are means of opening the intellectual sight, which is in the light of heaven; but because of the dominion of such things as belong to merely natural and sensual life, the sciences, to those [who are such], are means of becoming insane, that is to say, of confirming themselves in favour of Nature against the Divine, and in favour of the world against heaven. The sciences, they were further informed, are in themselves spiritual riches, and those who possess them are like those who possess worldly riches, which likewise are means of performing uses to oneself, one's neighbour, and one's country, and are also means of doing evil to them. They are, moreover, like dress, which serves for use and adornment and also for gratifying pride, as with those who would be held in honour for that alone. The spirits of the earth Jupiter understood this perfectly; but they were surprised that, being men, they should stand still in the means, and prefer to wisdom itself such things as only lead to it; and that they did not see, that to immerse the mind in these, and not raise it above them, is to becloud and blind it.

63. A certain spirit ascending from the lower earth came to me, and said that he had heard the things that I had spoken to the other spirits, but did not understand anything of what had been said about spiritual life and its light. Being asked whether he desired to be instructed on the subject, he answered that he had not come with that intention, from which I could conclude that such subjects did not come within his comprehension. He was exceedingly stupid. It was stated by the angels that, when he lived a man in the world, he had been among the most celebrated for his learning. He was cold, as was sensibly felt from his breath; which was a sign that he had no spiritual, but merely natural light (lumen); consequently that by means of the sciences he had not opened but closed up for himself the way to the light (lux) of heaven.

64. As the inhabitants of the earth Jupiter acquire intelligence for themselves by a different way from that followed by those of our Earth, and as, besides, they are of a different natural disposition in consequence of their life, they cannot be together long, but either shun them or remove them. There are spheres, which are to be called spiritual spheres, which continually emanate, nay, pour forth, from every spirit; they flow from the activity of the affections and the consequent thoughts, consequently from the very life[cc]. All consociations in the other life take place according to the spheres; things that are in agreement are conjoined according to the agreement, and things that disagree are removed according to the disagreement. The spirits and angels who are from the earth Jupiter have relation, in the Grand Man, to the IMAGINATIVE [PART] OF THOUGHT, and thus to an active state of the interior parts; while the spirits of our Earth have relation to the various functions of the exterior parts of the body, and when these desire to have the dominion, the active or imaginative [part] of thought from the interior cannot flow in. Hence the oppositions between the spheres of the life of the two.