Earths in the Universe · 13 of 14

A Fourth Earth in the Starry Heaven

157.A FOURTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS. I was conducted to still another earth in the universe beyond our solar system, which was effected by changes of the state of my mind, and thus as to the spirit. For, as has been sometimes said before, the spirit is conducted from place to place in no other way than by changes of the state of its interiors, which changes appear to it altogether like movements from place to place, or like journeyings. These changes lasted continuously for about ten hours, before from the state of my life I arrived at the state of their life; thus before I was brought thither as to my spirit. I was borne toward the east to the left, and I seemed to be sensibly elevated above the plane of the horizon. It was also given me to observe very clearly the progression and advance from the place where I had been before, until at length those from whom I departed were no longer in sight. Meanwhile I spoke on various subjects with the spirits who went with me. A certain spirit was also with us, who when he lived in the world had been a primate and a preacher, and likewise a very pathetic writer. From my idea of him the accompanying spirits supposed that in heart he must be eminently a Christian. For in the world an idea is received and a judgment formed from one’s preaching and writings, and not from his life, unless this is conspicuous; and if there appears anything inconsistent in his life, still it is excused; for the idea, or the thought and perception concerning any one, draws everything to its own side.

158.After I had observed that as to my spirit I was in the starry heaven far beyond the world of our sun, for this might be observed from the changes of state and from the apparent continual progression thence, which lasted nearly ten hours, I at length heard spirits speaking near some earth, which was afterward also seen by me. When I came near to them, after some conversation, they said that visitors sometimes come to them from elsewhere, who speak with them about God and confuse the ideas of their thought. They also showed the way by which they come, from which it was perceived that they were of the spirits from our earth. Being then asked wherein their thoughts were confused, they answered that it was by those spirits saying that one must believe in the Divine as distinguished into three Persons, which they still call one God. And when they examine the idea of their thoughts, it is presented as a trine not continuous, but discrete; and with some, as three persons speaking together one to another; and with some, as two seated together, and a third hearkening to them, and then going from them; and though they call each Person God, and have a different idea concerning each, they still call them one God. They complained exceedingly that they confuse them by thinking three and saying one, when yet one ought to think as he speaks, and speak as he thinks. The spirit who in the world had been a primate and a preacher, and was with me, was then examined as to what idea he had concerning one God and three Persons. He represented three Gods, but these as one by continuity, but he presented this trinal one as invisible because Divine; and when he presented this, it was perceived that he then thought only of the Father, and not of the Lord; and that his idea of the invisible God was no other than as of nature in its firsts; from which it resulted that to him the inmost of nature was his Divine, and thus that from this he could be easily led to acknowledge nature as God. It is to be known that in the other life the idea of any one upon any subject is presented to the life; and that by this means every one is explored as to what thought and perception he has concerning matters of faith; and that the idea of the thought concerning God is the chief of them all; for by that, if it is genuine, conjunction is effected with the Divine, and thence with heaven. Being then asked what idea they had of God, these spirits answered that they did not conceive of God as invisible, but as visible under the Human form; and that they know this not only from interior perception, but also from His appearing to them as a Man; adding that if according to the idea of some visitors they should conceive of God as invisible, thus without form and quality, they could not think at all of God, since what is thus invisible does not fall into any idea of thought. On hearing this, it was given me to say to them that they do well to think of God under the Human form; and that many from 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, and 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 as the Creator of the universe, and called Him Jehovah, and this also from interior perception; but that at this day that interior perception has perished in the Christian world, and only remains with the simple who are in faith.

159.Before this was said, they believed that our company also was of those who wished to confuse them by the idea of three concerning God. When therefore they heard these things, they were affected with joy, and said that some were also sent to them by God, whom they then called the Lord, who teach them concerning Him; and that they were not willing to admit visitors who disturb them, especially by the idea of three Persons in the Divinity, since they know that God is one, consequently that the Divine is one, and not a unanimity of three, unless they would think of God as of an angel, in whom the inmost of life is something invisible, from which he thinks and is wise, and the external of life what is visible under the human form, from which he sees and acts, and the proceeding of life that which is the sphere of love and faith from him, for from every spirit and angel proceeds a sphere of life by which he is known at a distance; and as to the Lord, that the proceeding of life from Him is the Divine Itself which fills and constitutes the heavens, because it proceeds from the esse itself of the life of love and faith. They said that in this and in no other way could they perceive a Trine and a One at the same time. On hearing this, it was given me to say that such an idea of a Trine and a One together agrees with the angelic idea of the Lord; and that it is from the Lord’s own teaching concerning Himself; for He teaches that the Father and He are one; that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; that whoso sees Him, sees the Father; and that He who believes in Him, believes in the Father and knows Him; also that the Comforter, by whom is meant the proceeding Divine, and whom He calls the Spirit of truth, as also the Holy Spirit, proceeds from Him, and speaks not from Himself, but from Him. Moreover, that the idea of a Trine and of One at the same time 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 any one’s life is that from which he is conceived; the existere of life from that esse is the Human in form. The esse of every man’s life which he has from his father, is called the soul; and the existere of life therefrom is called the body. The soul and the body constitute one man. The likeness between both is like that between that which is in effort and that which is in the act thence, for the act is the effort acting, and so the two are one. Effort in man is called the will, and effort acting is called action. The body is the instrument, by which the will, which is the principal, acts; and the instrument and the principal in acting are one; thus the soul and the body are one. The angels in heaven have such an idea concerning the soul and the body; and thus they know that the Lord made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, which He had as His soul from the Father. The faith also received everywhere in the Christian world does not dissent from this, for it teaches: “Although Christ is God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ; yea, He is altogether a one and only Person; for as the body and the soul are one man, so also God and Man is one Christ.” Because there was such a union, or such a One in the Lord, He therefore, otherwise than any man, rose not only as to the soul, but also as to the body, which He glorified in the world; concerning which He also instructed His disciples, saying: Handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. These things those spirits well understood, for such things 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 respond that the church on our earth also knows this, 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 in earth.

160.I afterward spoke with those spirits concerning their earth; for all spirits know about their earth when their natural or external memory is opened by the Lord; since they have this with them from the world, but it is not opened except by the good pleasure of the Lord. The spirits then said respecting their earth from which they were, that when leave is given them, they appear to the inhabitants of their earth, and speak with them as men; and that this is done by their being let into their natural or external memory, and thus into such thought as they were in when they lived in the world; and that the inhabitants then have their interior sight, or the sight of their spirit, opened, from which they see them. They added that the inhabitants do not know that they are not men of their earth, and first perceive that they are not, when they are suddenly taken away from their sight. I told them that such was the case on our earth in ancient times, as with Abraham, Sarah, Lot, the inhabitants of Sodom, Manoah and his wife, Joshua, Mary, Elizabeth, and the prophets in general; and that the Lord appeared in like manner, and those who saw Him did not know otherwise than that He was a man of the earth, before He revealed Himself. But that this is rarely done at this day, lest by such things men should be compelled to believe; for a compelled faith, such as is that which enters through miracles, does not remain fixed, and would also be hurtful to those with whom faith might be implanted through the Word in a state not compelled.

161.The spirit who in the world had been a primate and a preacher, did not at all believe that there were any other earths than ours, because he had thought in the world that the Lord was born on this earth only, and that no one has salvation without the Lord. He was therefore reduced to such a state as the spirits are reduced when they appear on their earth as men (see just above), and thus was sent to that earth, so as not only to see it, but also to speak with its inhabitants. When this was done, communication was also thereby granted me, so that I in like manner saw the inhabitants, and some things also upon that earth (see above, n. 135). There then appeared four kinds of men, but one kind after another in succession. First were seen men clothed; next men naked of the color of human flesh; afterward men naked, but with bodies inflamed; and lastly black men.

162.When the spirit who had been a primate and a preacher was with those who were clothed, there appeared a woman of a very beautiful face, dressed in a simple garment, with a tunic that hung gracefully behind her and was brought up over the arms. She had a beautiful headdress, in the form of a chaplet of flowers. That spirit was greatly delighted at the sight of this virgin, and spoke with her, and also took her hand. But as she perceived that he was a spirit, and not of that earth, she hurried away from him. There afterward appeared to him on the right many other women, who were tending sheep and lambs, which they were then leading to a watering trough that was supplied with water by a small ditch from a lake. They were similarly clothed, and held shepherds’ crooks in their hands, by which they guided the sheep and lambs to drink. They said that the sheep went in the way to which they pointed with their crooks. The sheep seen were large, with woolly tails, both broad and long. The faces of the women when seen nearer were full and beautiful. The men were also seen, and their faces were of the color of human flesh, as on our earth; but with the difference, that the lower part of the face, in place of a beard, was black, and the nose more the color of snow than of flesh. Afterward the spirit above mentioned, who had been a preacher in the world, was led on further, but unwillingly, because his thought was still on that woman with whom he was delighted, as was made manifest by somewhat of a shadow from him still appearing in the former place. He then came to those who were naked, and who were seen walking together two and two, being husband and wife, girded with a covering about the loins and a certain covering upon the head. That spirit when with them was led into that state in which he was in the world when he wished to preach, and said that he would preach to them the Lord crucified. But they said that they were not willing to hear any such thing, because they did not know what this meant, but they knew that the Lord lives. He then declared that he wished to preach the Lord living. But this also they refused to hear, saying that they perceived in his speech something not heavenly, because it had much regard to himself, his fame and honor, for they can tell from the very tone of one’s voice whether it is from the heart, or not, and because he was such, he could not teach them. On this he was silent, for in the world he had had much pathetic power, so that he could strongly move his hearers to holiness; but this power had been acquired by art, and thus it was from himself and the world, and not from heaven.

163.They said further, that they have a perception whether the conjugial exists with those of their nation who are naked; and it was shown that they perceive this from a spiritual idea of marriage, which was communicated to me, to the effect that a similarity of interiors is formed by the conjunction of good and truth, thus of love and faith, and from that conjunction flowing down into the body conjugial love exists. For all things of the mind are presented in a certain natural appearance in the body, thus in the appearance of conjugial love, when the interiors of two mutually love each other, and from that love desire also to will and to think the one like the other, and so to be together and to be conjoined as to the interiors which are of the mind. Thus 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 their minds is the affection of good and truth, and their conjunction; for all things of the mind, or of the thought and will, have relation to truth and good. They said also that what is given between one man and several wives is not at all conjugial, since the marriage of good and truth, which is of the minds, can be given only between two.

164.The spirit mentioned above then came to those who were naked, but with bodies inflamed, and at last to those that were black, of whom some were naked, and some clothed; but these different people dwelt in different places on the same earth, for a spirit can be led in a moment to remote parts of an earth, since he does not proceed and is not borne, as a man is, through spaces, but through changes of state (see above, n. 125, 127).

165.At length I spoke with the spirits of that earth about the belief of the inhabitants of our earth concerning the resurrection, that they cannot conceive of men’s coming into the other life immediately after death, and then appearing like men as to face, body, arms, feet, and all the senses, both external and internal; and still less of their being then clothed with garments and having mansions and dwellings. And the reason is that most of them there think from the sensual things which are of the body, and therefore believe in the existence of nothing which they do not see and touch. And few of them can be drawn away from external sensual things to what is interior, and so be elevated into the light of heaven in which such interior things are perceived. Hence it is, that in regard to their soul or spirit they cannot have any idea of it as a man, but as of wind, air, or breath, without form, in which there is yet something vital. This is why they do not believe they are to rise until the end of the world, which they call the Last Judgment; when they believe the body, though fallen into dust and dissipated to all the winds, will be brought back and joined to its soul and spirit. I added that they are permitted to believe this, for the reason that those who think from what is external and sensual, as has been said, can form no other idea than that one’s soul or spirit can live as a man in the human form, only by regaining the body which it bore about in the world. And therefore, unless it were said that this would rise again, they would reject in heart the doctrine of a resurrection and eternal life, as incomprehensible. But still that thought about the resurrection has this use in it, that they believe in a life after death, from which belief it follows that when they lie sick in bed and do not think as before from what is worldly and corporeal, thus not from things sensual, they then believe that they shall live immediately after death. They also speak then about heaven, and about the hope of living there immediately after death, laying aside their doctrine about the Last Judgment. I told these spirits further, that I sometimes wondered that when those who are in faith speak of the life after death, and of their friends who are dying or who have died, and do not at the same time think of the Last Judgment, they believe that they will live as men immediately after death. But this idea, as soon as the thought of the Last Judgment flows in, is changed into a material idea about their earthly body, that it is to be again joined to its soul. For they do not know that every man is a spirit as to his interiors, and that it is the spirit which lives in the body and in all its parts, and not the body of itself; and that it is from the spirit of every one that the body has its human form, and thus it is the spirit which is chiefly 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 takes place by the removal of the sight of the body, angels appear as men. Thus did the angels appear to the ancients, as related in the Word. I have also spoken sometimes with spirits whom I knew when they lived as men in the world, and have asked them whether they wished to be clothed again with their earthly body, as they had once thought. On hearing which, at the mere idea of conjunction with the body they fled away, being struck with amazement that in the world they should have thus thought from blind faith without any understanding.

166.Moreover, their dwellings on that earth were seen by me, and were long low houses, with windows on the sides according to the number of rooms or chambers into which they were divided. The roof was arched, and there was a door on each side at the end. They said that they were built of earth and roofed with sods, and the windows of threads of grass, so woven together that the light shone through. Children were also seen. And they said that their neighbors visited them, especially for the sake of their children, that they might be in company with other children, under the sight and auspices of their parents. There also appeared fields then whitening with the nearly ripened harvest. The seeds or grains of this harvest were shown, and they were like the grains of Chinese wheat. We were shown also loaves made of the grain, which were small in size and square in form. Moreover there also appeared grassy plains, with flowers therein, and trees with fruits similar to pomegranates; also shrubs, which were not vines, yet bearing berries from which wine is prepared.

167.Their sun which to us is a star, appears flaming there, and about one-fourth as large as our own sun. In their year are about two hundred days, and the days of fifteen hours length, as compared with the days on our earth. The earth itself is among the smallest in the starry heavens, being scarcely five hundred German miles* in circumference. This I learned from angels by comparison with such things as they saw in me, or in my memory, in relation to our earth. They formed these conclusions by angelic ideas, by which the measures of spaces and times are immediately known in their just relation to the spaces and times elsewhere. In such comparisons angelic ideas, which are spiritual, immensely exceed human idea which are natural. * Or two thousand English geographical miles.