Earths In Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets, and Earths In The Starry Heaven Their Inhabita | Page 6

I was unable to apperceive what they observed.
Immediately afterwards, I heard them say that the matter was thus and
thus. With regard to the things which I had seen in the heavens and in
the world of spirits, they said that they knew them before. I perceived
that a multitude of spirits who were consociated with them, was behind,
a little to the left, in the plane of the occiput.

22. At another time I saw a multitude of such spirits, but at some little
distance from me, in front a little to the right, and they spoke with me
from thence, but through intermediate spirits; for their speech is as
quick as thought, which does not fall into human speech, except by
means of other spirits; and what surprised me, they spoke in a body,
and yet as promptly and rapidly as possible. Their speech, being of
many together, was apperceived as undulatory, and, what was
remarkable, it glided towards my left eye, although they were to the
right. The reason was, that the left eye corresponds to the knowledges
of things abstracted from material things, thus to such as belong to
intelligence, while the right eye corresponds to such as belong to
wisdom[m]. With the same promptness with which they spoke, they
perceived the things that they heard, and formed their judgment upon
them, saying of one thing that it was so, and of another that it was not
so, their judgment being as it were instantaneous.
[Footnote m: The eye corresponds to the understanding, because the
understanding is the internal sight, and the sight of things immaterial,
nos. 2701, 4410, 4526, 9051, 10569. The sight of the left eye
corresponds to truths, consequently to intelligence; and the sight of the
right eye corresponds to the goods of truth, consequently to wisdom, no.
4410.]
23. There was a spirit from another earth, who was well qualified to
converse with them, being a prompt and rapid speaker, but who
affected elegance in his discourse. They instantly formed their
judgment concerning whatever he spoke, saying of one thing that it was
too elegantly, of another that it was too learnedly expressed; so that the
only thing they attended to was, whether they heard from him anything
which was not known to them before, rejecting thereby such things as
obscured the subject, which are chiefly affectations of elegance in
expression and of erudition; for these hide the things themselves and in
their place substitute expressions, which are the material forms of
things; on these the speaker keeps his mind (_animus_) fixed, and
wants to draw attention to his expressions rather than their meaning, by
which the ears of his auditors are more affected than their minds
(_mens_).
24. The spirits of the earth Mercury do not tarry in one place, or among
assemblies of the spirits of one system, but wander through the

universe. The reason is that they have reference to the memory of
things, which requires to be continually enriched; therefore it is granted
them to wander about, and everywhere acquire knowledges. If, while
travelling in this manner, they meet with spirits who love material, that
is, corporeal and terrestrial things, they shun them, and betake
themselves to where they do not hear such things. From this it may
appear that their mind (_animus_) is elevated above sensual things, and
thus that they are in interior light (_lumen_). This it was also given me
actually to perceive when they were near me and were speaking with
me. I observed then that I was withdrawn from sensual things to such a
degree, that the light (_lumen_) of my eyes began to grow dull and
dim.
25. The spirits of that earth go about by companies and phalanxes, and
when assembled together they form as it were a globe. They are joined
together in this manner by the Lord in order that they may act as a one,
and that the knowledges of each may be communicated to all, and the
knowledges of all to each, as is the case in heaven[l]. That they wander
through the universe in quest of the knowledges of things, was made
manifest to me also from this fact, that once, when they appeared very
remote from me, they spoke with me from thence, and said that they
were then gathered together, and were going beyond the sphere of this
system into the starry heaven, where they knew there were such as had
no concern about terrestrial and corporeal things, but about things
elevated above them, with whom they desired to be. It was stated that
they themselves do not know whither they are going, but that under the
Divine auspices they are conveyed to where they may be instructed
concerning such things as they had previously