126、从宇宙中所看到的众多星座，谁都能自己证实多元世界的存在。在学术界，众所周知，每颗恒星都像一轮在自己本位的太阳，因为它像我们世界的太阳在其本位那样保持固定不变；它的距离使它看上去很小，就像一颗星星。由此可知，和我们世界的太阳一样，它也有围绕它的行星，也就是星球。我们的眼睛之所以看不到这些行星，是因为它们距离太过遥远，还因为它们只有自己恒星的光，这光无法再反射到我们这里。具有众多星座、如此浩瀚的星空还能服务于其它什么目的呢？宇宙创造的目的就是人，以便一个天使天堂能从人而来。在无限创造者的眼里，来自一个星球的人类，以及天使所组成的天堂何等微不足道，因为对祂来说，成千上万个星球都不够。
可以计算一下，假如宇宙中有一百万个星球，每个星球上有三亿人，在六千年内生育两百代人，并且给每个人或灵人三立方米的空间，那么人或灵人全都加起来，其总数连这个星球的千分之一的空间都填不满，恐怕不会超过环绕木星或土星的一个卫星的空间；而卫星的空间在宇宙当中几乎辩认不出来，因为肉眼几乎看不见这些卫星。这对宇宙的创造者来说又算得了什么呢？即便他们充满整个宇宙，祂也不会满足，因为祂是无限的。
我曾与天使谈论这个话题，他们说，他们也认为与创造者的无限相比，人类实在太稀少了；不过，他们不是出于空间，而是出于状态来思考的。按照他们的观念，极尽所能想象出来的无数星球对主来说，仍如同没有。不过，我在下文将凭直接经历描述星空中的诸星球。由此也明显可知我的灵如何能到这些地方旅行，而我的身体仍留在原处。
126. Anyone can conclude that there are many solar systems from the fact that we can see so many stars in the universe. It is common knowledge in the learned world that each star is a sun in its own region, remaining fixed the way the sun of our planet does in its own position, and only their great distance from us makes stars appear small. So we may conclude that like our sun, each star has planets around it that are worlds. 1We cannot see them with our eyes because they are at a vast distance from us and because the light they have from their star is not strong enough to be reflected all the way to us.
What other use could there be for such a huge expanse of space and so many stars? After all, the purpose of the creation of the universe is humankind and, through humankind, a heaven of angels. If the human race and the resulting angelic heaven came from just one planet, how would that satisfy an infinite Creator, for whom a thousand planets or even millions would not be enough?
[2] I once calculated that if there were a million planets in the universe, with three hundred million (300,000,000) people on each planet, and two hundred generations over six thousand years, 2and if each individual or spirit were given a space of three cubic ells, 3then the total of all these people or spirits gathered into one place would not fill the space 4of a thousandth part of this planet-perhaps the space, then, of one of the moons of Jupiter or of Saturn. This would be an almost invisibly small space in the universe-we can scarcely see those moons with the naked eye. What would this be for the creator of the universe, for whom it would not be enough if the whole universe were full? The Creator is, after all, infinite.
[3] I discussed this with angels and they said they have a similar idea of the meager extent of the human race in comparison to the infinity of the Creator, although they think of it in terms of states rather than of space; to their minds, no matter how many millions of planets one could ever imagine, they would still be absolutely nothing compared to the Lord.
But the source of the material that follows about extrasolar planets is [not theory or imagination but] my own personal experience. Among other things the accounts will show how my spirit traveled to those planets while my body stayed where it was.
Footnotes:
1. On the history of knowledge and speculation to Swedenborg’s time about stars and planets outside the solar system, see the introduction, pages 85-90. [Editors]
2. Swedenborg is apparently taking 300 million as an arbitrary figure to represent the average population of each generation on the planets in his calculation. The figure six thousand for the period of years, however, is probably not entirely arbitrary: it is the figure Swedenborg usually uses for the duration of the world since creation (see Marriage Love 29, 39, 182:5; True Christianity 693:5). It agrees roughly with the total of the intervals of time in biblical history, as analyzed by various scholars in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, with the addition of the years since the final events recorded in the Bible. Of the many chronologers who attempted to determine this sum, perhaps the most notable is James Ussher (1580-1656), whose conclusions were published in his influential seventeenth-century work Annals of the Old Testament (Ussher 1650-1654). [SS]
3. An ell is an old measure that may have originally been based on the length from the tips of the fingers, or from the wrist, to the elbow or the shoulder (see the Oxford English Dictionary, under “ell”). The “standard” ell varied from region to region in Swedenborg’s time, but if the old English ell of 45 inches (1.25 yards), or 1.143 meters, is taken as an example, three cubic ells would be 158.20 cubic feet (5.86 cubic yards), or 4.48 cubic meters-approximately the volume of the passenger and cargo space of a large automobile. [SS]
4. Apparently by “space” in this sentence, Swedenborg means “volume,” since he has indicated the volume of three cubic ells required by each person, rather than the square area of living space each would require. This reading is further supported by comparison with the parallel passages Spiritual Experiences (= Swedenborg 1998-2013) 1114, Secrets of Heaven 9441, and Heaven and Hell 417:6. In Spiritual Experiences 1114 in particular, Swedenborg explicitly considers how much room would be available for a similarly large number of people if “the space to the center of the planet were counted as living-space” and even “if the universe were filled [with people] from one end to another.” [SS]
126. Anyone can establish for himself the existence of many worlds from the large number of stars to be seen in space. It is well known in the learned world that each star is in its own region like a sun, keeping its fixed position as the sun of our world does its; it is its distance which makes it appear as small as a star. It follows that like our sun it has planets round it, which are worlds. These are invisible to our eyes because of their immense distance, and because they shine only with light reflected from their own star, which again cannot reach us here. What other purpose can such a vast sky with so many constellations serve? Man is the purpose for which the universe was created, so that he should people heaven with angels. And in the eyes of an infinite Creator, how insignificant would the human race be, and the heaven composed of angels from one world, seeing that a thousand, or even tens of thousands of worlds would not be enough for Him.
[2] It has been calculated that if there were a million worlds in the universe, and three hundred million human beings in each world, and two hundred generations in six thousand years, and if each human being or spirit were given a space of three cubic metres, 1the total number of people or spirits, if all added together, would still not occupy a thousandth part of the volume of this world, but perhaps the volume of one of the satellites of the planets Jupiter or Saturn. Such a volume would be beneath notice on the scale of the universe, since these satellites are barely visible to the naked eye. How insignificant would this be to the Creator of the universe, who, being infinite, would not be satisfied even if they filled the whole universe?
[3] I talked with angels on this subject, and they said that they shared a similar idea about the small size of the human race compared with the infinite size of the Creator; but their thinking was in terms of states, not space. In their opinion as many myriads of worlds as could ever be imagined would still be as nothing to the Lord. However, I shall in what follows report on the worlds in the starry sky from direct experience. This will show how my spirit was able to travel to such places, while my body remained in its own place.
Footnotes:
1. [An approximation; the original uses a word meaning ell. -TR.]
126. That there are many worlds, may be evident to every one, from there being so many constellations visible in the universe; and it is known in the learned world that every fixed star is like a sun in its place; for it remains fixed like the sun of our earth in its place; and that the distance makes it appear small in form like a star. Consequently that like the sun of our world, it has round it planets, which are earths; and the reason that these do not appear to our eyes, is their being at such an immense distance, and having only the light of their star, which cannot be reflected again as far as here. For what other purpose is there so great a heaven with so many stars? For the end of the creation of the universe is man, that from man there may be an angelic heaven. What would the human race, and thence an angelic heaven, from one earth, be for the Infinite Creator, for Whom a thousand earths, nay, tens of thousands, would not be enough? By calculation it appears that if there were a million earths in the universe, and men on every earth to the number of three hundred millions, and two hundred generations in six thousand years, and if to each man or spirit were given the space of three cubic ells, the whole number of so many men or spirits, collected into one body, would still not fill the space of the thousandth part of this earth, thus perhaps not more than the space of a single satellite around the planet Jupiter or Saturn; which would be a space scarce discernible in the universe, for a satellite is hardly visible to the naked eye. What is this to the Creator of the universe? to Whom there would not be enough if the whole universe should be filled, for He is Infinite. On these matters I have spoken with angels, who said that they have a similar idea of the fewness of the human race in comparison with the infinity of the Creator, although they do not think from spaces, but from states; and that according to their idea, earths to the number of as many myriads as could be conceived by thought, would still be as nothing at all to the Lord. But in what now follows, the earths in the starry heavens shall be described from experience itself; from which it will also be evident how I was transferred thither as to my spirit, my body remaining in its place.
126. Quod plures Mundi sint, unicuivis constare potest ex eo, quod lot Sidera in universo appareant; et notum est in erudito Orbe, quod unumquodvis Sidus sit instar Solis in suo loco, manet enim fixum sicut Sol nostrae telluris in suo; et quod distantia faciat ut appareat in parva forma sicut Stella: consequenter quod similiter ac Sol nostri mundi circum se habeat planetas, quae sunt tellures; et quod hae non appareant coram nostris oculis, est ex immensa distantia, et ex luce solum ex sua stella, quae lux non iterum potest usque huc reflecti. Ad quid aliter tantum Coelum cum tot Astris? Finis enim creationis universi est homo, ut ex homine sit Coelum angelicum; quid pro Infinito Creatore foret Genus humanum, et inde Coelum angelicum ex una Tellure, pro Quo non satis essent mille Tellures, imo nec myriades? Calculus initus est, si forent 1,000,000 Tellures in Universo, et in unaquavis Tellure homines numero 300,000,000, seu 300 Milliones, et 200 generationes intra 6000 annos, et cuique homini seu spiritui daretur spatium 3 ulnarum cubicarum, quod numerus tot hominum seu spirituum in unam summam collectus non usque impleret spatium millesimae partis hujus Telluris, ita forte spatium unius satellitis circum Planetam Jovis vel Saturni, quod foret spatium in universo parvitatis inconspicuae, nam satelles coram nudo oculo vix apparet: quid hoc pro Creatore Universi, Cui non satis foret si totum Universum foret impletum, est enim Infinitus. De his cum Angelis loquutus sum, qui dixerunt, quod illi similem ideam de paucitate Generis humani respective ad Infinitatem Creatoris habeant, sed usque quod illi non ex spatiis, sed ex statibus, cogitent, et quod secundum eorum ideam Tellures numero tot myriadum, quot usquam cogitari possent, usque prorsus nihil forent ad Dominum. Verum de Telluribus in Coelo Astrifero in nunc sequentibus ex ipsa experientia dicetur; ex qua etiam constabit, quomodo translationes illuc quoad spiritum meum, manente corpore in suo loco, factae sunt.