Earths In Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets, and Earths In The Starry Heaven Their Inhabitants, And The Spirits And Angels There by Emanuel Swedenborg

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155. As they were desirous to know how the case is on our Earth in
regard to revelation, I told them that it is effected by means of
writing and preaching from the Word, and not by immediate intercourse
with spirits and angels; and that what is written can be published by
printing, and thus be read and comprehended by whole societies, and
that thus the life can be amended. They were exceedingly surprised
that such an art, utterly unknown elsewhere, could exist on our
Earth; but they comprehended that on this Earth, where corporeal
and terrestrial things are so much loved, Divine things could not
otherwise inflow from heaven and be received; and that it would be
dangerous for such beings to converse with angels.

156. The spirits of that earth appear above, in the plane of the head,
towards the right. All spirits are distinguished by their situation
relatively to the human body; and this is a consequence of the
universal heaven corresponding with all things of man[f]. These
spirits keep themselves in that plane, and at that distance,
because their correspondence is not with the externals, but with the
interiors, belonging to man. Their action is upon the left knee, above
and a little below, with a certain vibration very sensibly felt. This
is a sign that they correspond with _the conjunction of natural things
and heavenly things_.

THE FOURTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND
INHABITANTS.

157. I was conducted to yet another earth which is in the universe
beyond our solar system, which was effected by changes of the state
of my mind, consequently as to the spirit; for, as has already been
repeatedly observed, a spirit is conducted from place to place no
otherwise than by changes of the state of his interiors, which changes
appear to him in all respects as advancements from place to place, or
as journeyings. These changes lasted continuously for about ten hours
before I came from the state of my life to the state of their life,
thus before I arrived there as to my spirit. I was conveyed towards
the east, to the left, and seemed to be gradually elevated from
a horizontal plane. I was also permitted to observe clearly the
progression and advance from my former place, till at length those
from whom I had departed no longer appeared; and in the meantime I
spoke on various subjects with the spirits who were with me. A certain
spirit was also with us who, during his life in the world, had been
a prelate and a preacher, as well as a very pathetic writer. From
my idea concerning him, my spirit-companions supposed he was more
a Christian at heart than the rest; for in the world an idea is
conceived and a judgment formed from the preaching and writing,
and not from the life, if this is not manifest; and if anything
inconsistent appears in the life, it is nevertheless excused; for the
idea or thought and perception concerning any one draws everything to
its side.

158. After this I observed that I was, as to my spirit, in the starry
heaven, far beyond our solar system; for this can be observed from the
changes of state and the consequent apparent continued progression,
which had lasted nearly ten hours. At length I heard spirits
conversing near some earth, which also I afterwards saw. When I had
come near them, after some conversation they said that strangers
sometimes come to them from other places, who converse with them
concerning God, and confuse the ideas of their thought. They also
pointed out the way by which they came, from which it was perceived
that they were of the spirits of our Earth. On being questioned then
as to the confusion caused in their ideas, they said it arose from
those spirits saying that they ought to believe in a Divine Being
distinguished into three persons, whom they nevertheless call one
God; and on examining the idea of their thoughts, it is exhibited as
a trine, not continuous hut discrete, with some as three persons
conversing with each other, and with some as two seated together, one
near the other, and a third listening to them and going from them;
and although they call each person God, and have a different idea
concerning each, they still say there is but one God. They complained
exceedingly, that they had thrown them into a confusion of ideas, by
thinking of three and speaking of one, when nevertheless one ought to
think as one speaks, and speak as one thinks. The spirit who in the
world had been a prelate and a preacher, and who was also with me,
was then examined as to the character of the idea he entertained
respecting one God and three persons: [and it was found that] he
represented to himself three gods, which, however, made one by
continuity. He, however, exhibited this Three in One as invisible
because it was Divine; and while he was exhibiting this, it was
perceived that he was then thinking only of the Father, and not of the
Lord, and that his idea concerning the invisible God was no other but
as of nature in its first principles, from which idea it resulted that
the inmost of nature was his Divine, so that he might easily be led
from this to acknowledge nature as God. It is to be borne in mind,
that the idea which any person entertains on any subject is, in
the other life, exhibited to the life, and through it every one is
examined as to the character of his thought and perception on matters
of faith; and that the idea of the thought concerning God is the chief
of all, for through it, if genuine, conjunction is effected with the
Divine, and consequently with heaven. They were afterwards questioned
concerning the nature of their idea respecting God. They replied that
they did not conceive of an invisible God, but of a God visible under
the Human Form; and that they knew this not only from an interior
perception, but also from the fact, that He has appeared to them as a
Man. They added that if, according to the idea of some strangers, they
were to conceive of God as invisible, consequently without form and
quality, they would not be able to think about God at all, inasmuch as
such an invisible [being] does not fall into any idea of thought. On
hearing this, it was given me to tell them that they do well to think
of God under the Human Form, and that many on our Earth think in like
manner, especially when they think of the Lord; and that the ancients
thought in no other way. I then told them about Abraham, Lot, Gideon,
Manoah and his wife, and what is related of them in our Word, namely,
that they saw God under the Human Form, and acknowledged Him, thus
seen, to be the Creator of the universe, and called Him Jehovah, and
this also from an interior perception; but that at the present day
that interior perception is lost in the Christian world, and only
remains with the simple who are in faith.

159. Previous to this conversation, they had believed that our company
also consisted of those who want to confuse them by the idea of three
in relation to God; wherefore, on hearing what was said, they were
affected with joy, and said that God, whom they then called the Lord,
had also sent some to teach them concerning Him; and that they are
unwilling to admit strangers who disturb them, especially with the
idea of three persons in the Divinity, knowing as they do that God
is One, consequently that the Divine is One, and does not consist of
three in unanimity, unless they are disposed to think of God as of an
angel, in whom there is an Inmost of life which is invisible, and from
which he thinks and is wise; an External of life, which is visible
under a human form, from which he sees and acts; and a Proceeding
of life, which is the sphere of love and of faith from him; for from
every spirit and angel there proceeds a sphere of life by which he is
known at a distance[cc]; and as to the Lord, that that Proceeding of
life from Him is the Divine itself which fills and constitutes the
heavens, because it proceeds from the very Esse of the life of love
and of faith. They said that in this and in no other manner can they
perceive a trinity and unity together. On hearing this, it was given
me to say that such an idea of a trinity and unity together agrees
with the angelic idea concerning the Lord, and that it is from the
Lord's own doctrine concerning Himself. For He teaches that the Father
and Himself are One; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father;
that he who seeth Him seeth the Father; and he who believeth in
Him believeth in the Father and knoweth the Father; also that the
Comforter, whom He calls the Spirit of Truth, and likewise the Holy
Spirit, proceeds from Him, and does not speak from Himself but from
Him, by which Comforter is meant the Divine proceeding. I was further
permitted to tell them that their idea concerning a trinity and unity
together agrees with the Esse and Existere of the Lord's life when He
was in the world. The Esse of His life was the Divine Itself, for He
was conceived of Jehovah, and the Esse of every one's life is that
of which he is conceived; the Existere of life from that Esse is the
Human in a form. The esse of the life of every man, which he has
from his father, is called the soul, and the existere of life thence
derived is called the body. Soul and body constitute one man. The
likeness between them resembles the likeness between that which is
in endeavour and that which is in the resulting act, for an act is
endeavour acting, and thus the two are one. Endeavour in man is called
the will, and endeavour acting is called action; the body is the
instrumental, by means of which the will, which is the principal,
acts, and in acting the instrumental and principal are a one. Such is
the case with soul and body. And such is the idea which the angels in
heaven have concerning soul and body: hence they know that the Lord
made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, which to Him was
the Soul from the Father. Neither is the faith which is received
throughout the Christian world in opposition to this idea, for it
teaches, that "_Although Christ is God and Man, yet He is not two, but
one Christ;... yea, He is altogether One by unity of Person; for as
body and soul are one man, so also God and man are one Christ_"[yy].
As there was such a union or such a oneness in the Lord, therefore He
rose again, not only as to the Soul, but also as to the Body, which He
glorified in the world, which is not the case with any man; on which
subject He also instructed His disciples, saying, "_Feel Me and see,
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have_" [(Luke
xxiv. 39)][zz]. This was clearly understood by those spirits, for
such truths fall into the understanding of angelic spirits. They then
added, that the Lord alone has power in the heavens, and that the
heavens are His; to which it was given me to answer, that this also
is known to the Church on our Earth from the mouth of the Lord Himself
before He ascended into heaven; for He then said, "_All power is given
unto Me in heaven and on earth_" [(Matt, xxviii. 18)].

[Footnote yy: From the Creed of Athanasius.]

[Footnote zz: Immediately after death, man rises again as to his
spirit; and he is in the human form, and he is a man as to all things
in general and particular, nos. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, 8991, 10594,
10597, 10758. Man rises again only as to the spirit, and not as to
the body, nos. 10593, 10594. The Lord alone rose again as to the body
also, nos. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825.]

160. I afterwards conversed with those spirits concerning their earth;
for all spirits can do this when their natural or external memory is
opened by the Lord; for this they carry with them from the world, but
it is not opened except at the Lord's good pleasure. Respecting their
earth, from which they had come, the spirits then said that when leave
is given them, they appear to the inhabitants, and converse with
them, as men; and that this is effected by their being let into their
natural or external memory, and consequently into such a thought
as they had been in when they lived in the world; and that on such
occasions the inhabitants have their interior sight or the sight of
their spirit opened, by which they see the spirits. They added, that
the inhabitants know no otherwise than that they are men of their
earth, and only apperceive they are not when they are suddenly removed
from their sight, I told them that the same thing also happened on our
Earth in ancient times, as, for instance, to Abraham, Sarah, Lot, the
inhabitants of Sodom, Manoah and his wife, Joshua, Mary, Elizabeth,
and the prophets generally; and that the Lord appeared in like manner,
and they who saw Him knew no otherwise than that He was a man of the
earth, till He revealed Himself. But that at the present day this
rarely happens; the reason is, lest men by such things should be
compelled to believe; for compelled faith, such as is the faith
which enters by means of miracles, does not inhere, and would also be
hurtful to those with whom faith may be implanted by means of the Word
in a state without compulsion.

161. The spirit, who had been a prelate and a preacher in the world,
entirely disbelieved that any other earths existed besides our own,
because he had thought in the world that the Lord was born on this
Earth alone, and that without the Lord none could be saved; wherefore
he was reduced into a state similar to that into which spirits are
reduced when they appear on their own earth as men (which state has
been treated of just above); and thus he was let into that earth,
so that he not only saw it, but also conversed with the inhabitants
there. This done, a communication was by this means granted me also,
so that I likewise saw the inhabitants, and also some objects on that
earth (see above, no. 135). There appeared then four kinds of men, but
one after the other in succession; the first I saw were clothed; the
second were naked, of a human flesh colour; the next were naked, but
with flame-coloured bodies; and the last were black.

162. While the spirit who had been a prelate and a preacher was with
those who were clothed, a woman with a very pretty face appeared. She
was simply attired; her robe hung gracefully behind her, and was also
drawn over her arms, and she wore a beautiful head-dress, in the form
of a chaplet of flowers. That spirit was greatly delighted at the
sight of this virgin; he spoke to her, and also took her by the hand;
but, apperceiving that he was a spirit, and not of that earth, she
hurried hastily away from him. Afterwards there appeared to him on the
right several other women, who had the care of sheep and lambs, which
they were then leading to a watering-trough, into which water was led
by means of a trench from some lake. They were similarly clothed, and
had shepherds' crooks in their hands, by which they led the sheep and
lambs to drink; they said the sheep went whichever way they pointed
with their crooks: the sheep which we saw were large, with woolly
tails, broad and long. The faces of the women, when seen nearer, were
full and beautiful. Some men were also seen; their faces were of a
human flesh colour, like that of the men of our Earth, but with this
difference, that the lower part of the face, instead of being bearded,
was black, and the nose more of a snowy-white than of a flesh colour.
Afterwards the spirit who, as already mentioned, had been a preacher
in the world, was led further on, but reluctantly, because he was
still thinking about that woman with whom he had been delighted, as
was evident from the circumstance that there still appeared something
of his shadow in the former place. He then came to those who were
naked. They were seen walking together by twos, husband and wife, girt
with a girdle about the loins, and some sort of covering around the
head. That spirit, when he was with them, was led into the state in
which he had been in the world when he was disposed to preach, and
then he said he would preach before them the Lord crucified; but they
said they would not hear such a thing, because they did not know what
it was, but that they knew that the Lord lives. He then said he would
preach the Lord living; but this too they refused, saying that they
apperceived in his speech something not heavenly, because it had much
respect to himself, and his own fame and honour; and that they could
hear from the tone of voice whether what was said came from the heart
or not; and that, as he was of such a character, he was unable to
teach them; wherefore he was silent. During his life in the world he
had been extremely pathetic, so that he could deeply move his hearers
to holiness; but this pathetic manner had been acquired by art, thus
from self and the world, and not from heaven.

163. They said, moreover, that they have a perception whether the
Conjugial is with those of their clan who are naked; and it was shown
that they perceive this by virtue of a spiritual idea concerning
marriage, which idea being communicated to me was to the effect, that
a likeness of the interiors was formed by the conjunction of good and
truth, consequently of love and faith, and that from that conjunction
descending by influx into the body conjugial love comes into
existence. For all things which belong to the mind (_animus_) are
exhibited in some natural form in the body, consequently in the form
of conjugial love, when the interiors of two mutually love each other,
and from that love also desire to will and to think the one as the
other, and thus to be together and be conjoined as to the interiors
which are of the mind (_mens_). Hence the spiritual affection, which
is of the minds, becomes natural affection in the body, and clothes
itself with the sense of conjugial love. The spiritual affection
which is of the minds is the affection of good and truth, and of their
conjunction; for all things of the mind, or of the thought and will,
have relation to truth and good. They also said that it is quite
impossible for the Conjugial to exist between one man and several
wives, since the marriage of good and truth, which pertains to the
minds, can exist only between two.

164. After this, the spirit already spoken of came to those who were
naked, but whose bodies were flame-coloured; and lastly, to those who
were black, some of whom were naked and some clothed; but the latter
and the former dwelt in a different part of the same earth; for a
spirit may be led in an instant to places far asunder on an earth,
since he does not proceed and advance like man through spaces, but
through changes of state (see above, nos. 125, 127)[ss].

165. I lastly conversed with the spirits of that earth concerning
the belief of the inhabitants of our Earth on the subject of the
resurrection, in that they cannot conceive that men come into the
other life immediately after death, and then appear as men as to the
face, the body, the arms, the feet, and all the external and internal
senses; still less that they are then clothed in garments, and have
mansions and dwelling-places; and that the sole reason of this is that
most persons here think from the sensuals which belong to the body,
and therefore believe in the existence of nothing but what they see
and touch; and that few of them can be withdrawn from external sensual
things to interior things, and thus be elevated into the light of
heaven, in which such things are perceived. Hence it is, that they can
have no idea of their soul or spirit as of a man, but as of wind, or
air, or a breath without form, in which there is yet something vital.
This is the reason why they do not believe they shall rise again till
the end of the world, which they call the Last Judgment, when the
body, though mouldered into dust, and scattered by every wind, will be
brought together again and conjoined to its soul or spirit. I added,
that it is permitted them to believe this, since those who, as was
said, think from external sensual things, can conceive no otherwise
than that the soul or spirit cannot live as a man in a human form,
unless it receive again that body which it carried about in the world;
wherefore, unless it were asserted that the body will rise again, they
would reject from their heart as incomprehensible the doctrine of
the resurrection and of eternal life. But nevertheless this thought
concerning the resurrection has this advantage with it, that it leads
them to believe in a life after death, a consequence of which belief
is, that when they lie on a sick bed, and do not, as theretofore,
think from worldly and corporeal things, thus not from sensual
things, they then believe that they shall live immediately after their
decease; they then also speak of heaven, and of the hope of a life
there immediately after death, quite apart from their doctrinal
concerning the Last Judgment. I related further, that sometimes it had
been matter of surprise to me, that when those who are in faith speak
of a life after death, and of their friends and relatives who are
dying or dead, and do not at the same time think about the Last
Judgment, they believe that they will live or are living as men
immediately on their decease. But as soon as thought concerning the
Last Judgment flows in, this idea is changed into the material idea
concerning their earthly body, that it is again to be conjoined to
their soul; for they do not know that every man is a spirit as to his
interiors, and that this it is which lives in the body and in each of
its parts, and not the body which lives of itself; and that it is the
spirit of every one from which his body has its human form, and which,
consequently, is principally the man, and in a similar form, but
invisible to the eyes of the body, yet visible to the eyes of spirits.
Hence also, when the sight of a man's spirit is opened, which is
effected by the removal of the bodily sight, angels appear as men: in
this manner angels appeared to the ancients, as recorded in the
Word. I have also sometimes spoken with spirits, with whom I had been
acquainted when they lived as men in the world, and I have asked
them whether they had any inclination to be clothed again with their
earthly bodies, as they used to think would be the case. But they fled
far away at the very idea of such a conjunction, being smitten with
amazement that, while in the world, they should have thought in
this manner under the influence of so blind a belief, devoid of all
understanding.

166. Moreover, on that earth I saw the dwellings of the inhabitants:
they were lowly houses, extended in length, with windows at the sides,
according to the number of the rooms or chambers into which they were
divided. The roof was arched, and there was a door on each side at
the end. They told me that they were built of earth, and covered with
turf; and that the windows were formed of filaments of grass woven
together in such a manner that the light shone through. I also saw
little children; and the inhabitants told me that their neighbours
come to them, especially for the sake of the little children, that
they may be in company with other children in the presence and under
the direction of their parents. There also appeared fields becoming
white with standing crops that were at that time nearly ripe for
harvest. The seeds or grains of that corn were shown me, and they were
like grains of Chinese wheat: I was also shown some bread made from
it, which was in small square loaves. There also appeared plains
of grass adorned with flowers; also trees laden with fruit like
pomegranates; also shrubs, which were not vines, but still produced
berries from which they prepare wine.

167. The sun of that earth, which is to us a star, appears there
flaming, in size almost a fourth part of our sun. Their year is about
two hundred days, and each day fifteen hours, relatively to the length
of days on our Earth. The earth itself is one of the least in
the starry heaven, being scarcely five hundred German miles in
circumference. The angels stated these particulars from a comparison
made with things of the like kind on our Earth, which they saw in
me, or in my memory. Their conclusions were formed by angelic ideas,
whereby are instantly known the measures of spaces and times, in a
just proportion relatively to spaces and times elsewhere. Angelic
ideas, which are spiritual, in such calculations immensely surpass
human ideas, which are natural.

THE FIFTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.

168. I was led to yet another earth in the universe beyond our solar
system, and on this occasion also by changes of state continued for
nearly twelve hours. In company with me were several spirits and
angels from our Earth, with whom I conversed during this voyage or
progression. I was carried at times obliquely upwards and obliquely
downwards, continually towards the right, which in the other life is
towards the south. In two places only did I see spirits, and in one I
spoke with them. During this journey or progression I was permitted
to observe how immense was the Lord's heaven, which is designed for
angels and spirits; for from the parts uninhabited I was enabled
to conclude that it was so immense that, supposing there were many
myriads of earths, and on each earth as great a multitude of human
beings as on our own, there would still be a place of abode for them
to eternity, and it would never be filled. This I was enabled to
conclude from a comparison made with the [inhabited] extent of the
heaven which is about our Earth and designed for it, which extent was
so small relatively, as not to equal one ten-thousand-thousandth part
of the extent uninhabited.

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