58.⑶迄今为止，他们在灵界的住处在哪里。前面（48节）说明，在灵界，对所有民族和人民的排列如下：聚集在中心的，是被称为改革宗的新教徒；围绕这中心区域的是天主教徒；天主教徒之外是伊斯兰教徒；最后是不同的外邦人或异教徒。由此明显可知，天主教徒构成离中心的改革宗最近的那一圈。其原因在于，那些享有来自圣言的真理之光的人在中心，享有这光的人也享有天堂之光，因为天堂之光来自神性真理，而圣言就包含这神性真理。天堂之光来自神性真理（参看HH126-140节），圣言就是神性真理（参看HH303-310节）。此外，光从中心向周边散发，并给予光照。正因如此，天主教徒离中心最近，因为他们也有圣言，并且属其教会等级的成员阅读圣言，尽管他们的平信徒无从读它。这就是为何在灵界，天主教徒在那些享有来自圣言的真理之光的人周围获得住处。
现在我需要说一说在他们的住处被彻底摧毁，并变成荒场之前，他们的居住方式是什么样。大多数天主教徒住在南部和西部，但也有少数住在北部和东部。住在南部的，是那些在世时比其他人更聪明，并且坚信自己的宗教信仰的神职人员。许多贵族和富人也住在那里。这些人不是住在地面上，而是住在地下，因为他们害怕强盗，并在入口处设了警卫。此外，那个地区有一座很大的城市，几乎从东延到西，甚至稍稍伸入西部，离新教徒所住的中心区域非常近。无数的人或灵人逗留在那座城市。城里到处是大教堂和修道院。神职人员把他们利用各种手段所能搜刮来的财宝运到城里，藏在自己的地窖或地下室中。这些地窖建得如此精巧，以至于除了他们自己外，没有人进得去，因为它们被布置成了迷宫。神职人员心系这个宝库，满怀信心地以为它永远不会被摧毁。我见过这些地窖，惊讶于它们建造的技巧和无限延伸。许多自称耶稣会士的人住在那里；他们与住在周围的富人建立友好关系。在该地区的东部有一个议会所在之地，神职人员在那里开会商议如何扩大他们自己的权力，如何使百姓继续盲目顺从（参看56节）。天主教徒在南部地区的居住情况就是这些。
住在北部的，是那些不那么聪明，也不那么坚信自己的宗教信仰的人，因为他们的洞察力很微弱，并且他们活在盲目的信仰中。那里的人数没有南部那么多。其中大多数人住在一座大城市，该城同样从东延到西，稍稍伸入西部。城里也到处是大教堂和修道院。城的最东边有许多持不同宗教信仰的人，以及一些新教徒。城外那片地区的一些地方也被天主教徒占据。
住在东部的，是那些在世时最大快乐在于统治，同时享有一种属世之光的人。他们出现在那里的山上，但只在朝北的那一面，不在朝南的那一面。朝北的角落有一座山，他们把一个精神错乱的疯子安置在山顶上。通过一种在灵界众所周知，但在尘世不为人知的思维交流方式，天主教的领袖们能驱使他发出他们想要的任何命令，宣称他是真正以人的形式显现的天堂之神，从而将一切神性敬拜都指向他。他们想出这种手段是为了使平信徒顺从，因为平信徒想要离弃他们的偶像崇拜。
以赛亚书（14:13）中所说的“北方极处的聚会之山”就是指这座山；那里（以赛亚书14:12）的“路西弗”是指那些住在山上的人。因为来自东边巴比伦团伙的人拥有比其他人更大的光；事实上，这光是他们用诡计为自己得来的。我甚至看见一些人正在建造一座高塔，塔顶直达天使所住的天堂，但这只是他们阴谋的一个代表。在灵界，阴谋在远处的人眼前会呈现为对那些正在策划阴谋的来说并非实际存在的许多事物。在灵界，这种事很常见。这种表象使我得知下面这句话是什么意思：
一座塔顶通天的塔，因此那地方名叫巴别。（创世记11:1-10）
天主教徒在东部地区的居住情况就是这些。
在西部，住在前面的是天主教中那些生活在黑暗时代的人，一代在一代之下。前面朝北的整片土地可以说都被挖空了，到处是修道院。可以看到他们的入口穿过带盖的洞穴。人们从这些洞穴出入，很少与那些生活在后来时代的人交谈。早期的这些人具有不同的性情，也没有那么恶毒，因为在他们的时代还没有与新教徒的争辩；因此，他们没有那么多由仇恨和报复所引发的欺诈和恶意。在这片土地之外的西部地区有许多大山，那里住着最邪恶的人；他们从心里否认神性，然而口头上却比谁都宣称信神，并且崇拜祂的行为比其他人更虔诚。住在那里的人想出无法形容的恶毒伎俩，将平信徒置于他们暴政的枷锁之下，还强迫其他人屈服于这种枷锁。我未被允许描述这些伎俩，因为它们太可怕了。总的来说，它们就是《天堂与地狱》一书（580节）所提到的那些。启示录中提到的“七座山”就是指他们所住的山，经上以一个坐在朱红色兽上的女人来描述住在这山上的人本身：
我看见一个女人坐在朱红色的兽上。那兽有七头十角，满了亵渎的名号。在她额上有名写着说，奥秘哉，大巴比伦，作地上的淫乱和一切可憎之物的母。那七头就是女人所坐的七座山。（启示录17:3，5，9）
就内义而言，“女人”表示教会，在反面意义上，如此处，表示一种亵渎的宗教；“朱红色兽”表示对属天之爱的亵渎；“七座山”表示对权力的一种亵渎之爱。天主教徒在西部地区的居住情况就是这些。
他们之所以照不同地区居住，是因为在灵界，所有人都被带到对应于其情感和爱的那个地区，就在该地区境内的某个地方；没有人被带到其它任何地方。对此，详情可参看《天堂与地狱》一书论述天堂的四个方位的章节（141-153节）。
总而言之，这些巴比伦人的所有商讨都集中于不仅统治天堂，还统治全地，目的就是占领天堂和大地，通过天堂占领大地，通过大地占领天堂。为实现这个目的，他们不断策划并推出新法令和新教义。他们在来世仍做这样的努力，和在世时一样，因为每个人在世上如何，死后仍旧如何，尤其在宗教信仰方面。我被允许听见他们的一些大主教正在酝酿一个教义，旨在规范普遍民众。它由许多不同条款组成，但这些条款都倾向于同一个目的，就是他们可以取得掌管天地的权柄，甚至到了他们要拥有一切权柄，主没有任何权柄的地步。后来这些条款在旁观者面前宣读，当宣读完毕时，只听见有声音从天而降，说，这些条款来自最深的地狱，尽管听众没有意识到这一点。事实也证明了这一点：一群魔鬼从那地狱上来，看上去漆黑可怕；他们用牙齿，而不是用手撕碎了这个教义，然后把它带回他们的地狱。目睹这一切的普通人都惊骇不已。
58. 3. Which part of the spiritual world they were living in until recently. I mentioned in 48 above what the original locations in the spiritual world of all the religions and peoples looked like, as follows: the people called Protestants appeared gathered in the central area; surrounding this central area were the people from the Catholic religion; beyond them were the Muslims; and finally there were the people of the various other religions. This shows that the Catholics constituted a ring immediately surrounding the Protestants, who were in the central area. The reason for this proximity is that the people in the central area are in the light of truth from the Word, and people who are in the light of truth from the Word are in heaven's light. This is because heaven's light comes from divine truth, and the Word is what contains that truth. On heaven's light coming from divine truth, see Heaven and Hell 126-140; and on the Word being divine truth, see Heaven and Hell 303-310. The light that is in the center radiates outward toward the circumference and illuminates it. The people from the Catholic religion immediately surround the central area, then, because they too have the Word and because it is read by members of their ecclesiastical hierarchy, although not by their laity. So this is why Catholic people in the spiritual world have homes near those who are in the light of truth from the Word.
[2] Now I need to need to say what their life was like before their homes were completely destroyed and laid waste.
Most of the Catholics lived in the southern and the western regions-relatively few were in the northern and the eastern regions.
The ones who lived in the south were [clergy] who in the world had been more clever than others and who had firmly convinced themselves of their religious principles. Among them also lived many of the nobility and the wealthy; these did not live above ground there but lived underground for fear of robbers, stationing guards at the entrances. There was a vast city in that region, one that stretched almost all the way from east to west and even extended a little into the west itself, situated close to the central area where the Protestants lived. Millions of people (or spirits) were living in that city. It was full of cathedrals and monasteries. The clergy would bring into the city all the treasures they had been able to accumulate and would hide them away in their own basements or else in underground vaults. These vaults were constructed in such a way that no one but they could get in-they were laid out in the form of a maze. 1The clergy set their hearts on this treasure hoard, and were convinced it would never be destroyed to all eternity. I have seen the vaults; I was amazed at the skill with which they had been constructed and endlessly extended. Many of those who call themselves members of the Society of Jesus were there; they cultivated friendly relationships with the wealthy who lived in the surrounding areas. 2
On the eastern side of that region there was a place of council, where clergy would meet to discuss how to extend their own power and how to keep the common people in blind obedience, as noted in 56 above. All of this concerns the Catholic dwelling places in the southern region.
[3] The Catholics who lived in the north were the ones who were not as clever and were less firmly convinced of their religious principles because the sight of their minds was dull, which meant that they were people of blind faith. The population there was not as great as in the south. Most of them lived in a major city that reached from the border with the east toward the west, and even a little way into the west itself. This city too was full of cathedrals and monasteries. On its eastern edge there were many people of various different religions, including some Protestants. A few places in that region but outside the city were also occupied by Catholics.
[4] The Catholics who lived in the east were the individuals of that denomination who had taken the greatest delight in being in power in the world and also possessed some earthly enlightenment. In the spiritual world, they appeared on mountains, but only on the side of them that faced north. None at all were on the side that faced south. 3On the border of the northern region there was a mountain, and on top of it they stationed a person who was spiritually deranged. By means of a form of thought-communication well known in the spiritual world but unknown on earth, Catholic leaders were able to inspire him to issue any commands they wished, proclaiming that he was the actual God of heaven in human form, and directing all divine worship toward him. They invented this device to keep the laity obedient, since the latter kept trying to distance themselves from the idolatrous worship the leaders promoted. [5] This is the mountain meant by “the mountain of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north” in Isaiah 14:13; the people on that mountain are the ones meant by “Lucifer” (Isaiah 14:12), since the ones from the Babylonian crew on the east were the ones who had the most light-a light they in fact skillfully procured for themselves. I have even seen some who were building a tower to reach all the way to heaven, where the angels live; but this was just a representation of their schemes. In the spiritual world schemes are presented to the eyes of people who are at a distance as things that are not actually happening for the ones who are doing the scheming. This is quite common there. 4This particular sight made it possible for me to know the meaning of the tower whose head was in heaven, so the place was called “Babel” (Genesis 11:1-10). This is what Catholics were doing in the eastern region.
[6] The west, toward the front, was inhabited by people from that religion who had lived during the Dark Ages 5-many of them lived underground there, one generation beneath another. A whole tract toward the front, facing north, had apparently been hollowed out underneath and was full of monasteries. You could see their entrances, through caves with covers over them. The people went out and in through these caves, but rarely talked with those who had lived in later ages. These earlier people were of a different disposition and not so evil minded, because in their times there were no Protestants to fight with, so they had not engaged in so much trickery and malice prompted by hatred and vengefulness.
In a western region beyond this tract there were many mountains where the most vicious of these people lived, ones who at heart denied the Divine and yet surpassed all others in their verbal professions of reverence and their devout behavior. The people who lived there devised unspeakably horrible methods of keeping the laity under the yoke of their tyranny, and of coercing others as well to submit to that yoke. I am not free to describe these methods, because they were horrendous; but they were like the schemes described in very general terms in 580 of Heaven and Hell. [7] The mountains they lived on are meant by the seven mountains mentioned in the Book of Revelation, and the people themselves are described there as the woman sitting on a scarlet beast, as follows:
I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. She had a name written on her forehead: “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Fornications and of the Abominations of the Earth.” The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. (Revelation 17:3, 5, 9)
In the inner meaning, a woman means the church; in an opposite sense, as here, a woman means a profane kind of religion. The scarlet beast means the profanation of heavenly love, and the seven mountains mean a profane love of power. So this is how Catholics were living in the western region.
[8] The reason Catholics live in several different regions is that in the spiritual world we are all taken to the region, and the place within that region, that corresponds to our own feelings and loves. No one is taken anywhere else. For more on this point, see the chapter that deals with the four quarters in heaven, in Heaven and Hell 141-153.
[9] In general, all the deliberations of the people of this Babylon focus on ruling not only over heaven but over the entire earth as well, with the aim of taking possession of both heaven and earth, using their stake in each to help them conquer the other. To accomplish this they are constantly thinking up and coming out with new rules and new edicts. They work at this in the other life much the way they did in the world, since we are all the same kinds of people after death as we were in the world, especially in regard to our religion. It was granted me to hear some of their leaders coming up with edicts that were designed to be normative for the common people. There were many separate articles, but they all had the same aim: to increase the leaders' power over the heavens and over the earth, to the point where they would have all the power, and the Lord would have none. These edicts were later read before lay people who were present, and when the reading ended, they heard a voice from heaven saying that though the leaders had not realized it, the content had been dictated by the lowest hell. This was confirmed, too, by the fact that a crew of demons came up from that hell, pitch black and dreadful, snatched these edicts away not with their hands but with their teeth, and carried them back down into their hell. The lay people who saw this were shocked.
Footnotes:
1. The reference to a mazelike vault recalls the Vatican, on which Swedenborg commented in his travel diary of November 20, 1738: “I was in the Vatican and saw the paintings of Raphael and of all others. . . . It is said to contain twelve thousand rooms, but I do not believe that there are more than a thousand; still, it contains twenty courts . . .” (Tafel 1877, 127). [SS]
2. The “Society of Jesus,” also known as the Jesuits, is a Roman Catholic monastic order founded in 1540 by Ignatius Loyola (1491-1556). Its members were nicknamed “Jesuits” in the order's early years because of their allegedly overfrequent use of the name “Jesus”; the nickname was at first derogatory but was later accepted and interpreted in a more positive sense. They zealously raised funds for their many colleges, and for this purpose they did, as Swedenborg says here, “cultivate friendly relationships with the wealthy.” They also ran economically successful missions overseas (compare note 2 in Other Planets 169). For these and other reasons they were accused of greed by their critics. On taunts leveled against the Jesuits in contemporary Protestant Sweden, see Helander 2004, 332-334. [RS, JSR]
3. In Swedenborg's spiritual topography, facing north means facing away from the direction of greater light toward the direction of greater darkness-that is, away from greater enlightenment in the truth and either toward lesser enlightenment and the darkness of ignorance or toward outright falsity. For more on the meaning of the south-north axis in the spiritual world, see Secrets of Heaven 3708, 9642, 10189; Heaven and Hell 148-150; Divine Love and Wisdom 121. For references to passages on the four quarters of the compass in the spiritual world, see note 1 in Last Judgment 48. [LSW]
4. For other examples of spirits and their schemes appearing differently from a distance than they do to the spirits themselves, see Supplements 83; Revelation Unveiled 417, 601, 611, 655, 835; Marriage Love 500, 505, 510, 512; True Christianity 13, 45, 312, 333, 441. [LSW]
5. The term Dark Ages can be traced back to the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374), who lamented what he regarded as the inferiority of Late Latin literature to that of the classical period. In standard historiography, it was once widely used to denote the period of social disintegration in western Europe that followed the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 C.E. It is most commonly applied to the period 500-1000 C.E. Because of its prejudicial quality, it fell into disuse among scholars in the twentieth century. Swedenborg may be using the term loosely to mean the period before the Reformation of the sixteenth century, when the Catholic Church was dominant in western Europe. [GFD, RS]
58. Where in the spiritual world their dwellings have been up to now. I said above (48) that the arrangement of all the nations and peoples in the spiritual world were seen to be as follows. In the centre were seen gathered those called the Reformed; around this centre those of the Roman Catholic religion, beyond them the Mohammedans, and in the last place the different heathens. This will show that the Roman Catholics made up the circle nearest to the Reformed in the centre. They occupy this position because the centre is occupied by those who enjoy the light of truth coming from the Word; and those who enjoy that light also enjoy the light of heaven, since the light of heaven comes from Divine truth, and it is the Word which contains this. For the light of heaven coming from Divine truth see HEAVEN AND HELL 126-140, and for the Word being Divine truth (303-310). The light spreads outwards from the centre and gives illumination. This is why those of the Roman Catholic religion are in the circle closest to the centre; for they have the Word, and it is read by those in religious orders, though not by the people. This is the reason why the Roman Catholics in the spiritual world were given their dwellings surrounding those who enjoy the light of truth coming from the Word.
[2] I shall now relate how they lived before their dwellings were utterly destroyed and turned into a desert. Most of them lived in the south and the west, only a few in the north and the east. Those who lived in the south were those who were more intelligent than the rest and had convinced themselves of their religious belief; and there too lived a large number of nobles and wealthy people. They did not live above ground there, but underground for fear of robbers, with guards at the entrances. In that quarter there was a large city, extending almost from the east to the west of it, and also a short distance into the west, occupying the position nearest to the centre where the Reformed were. That city was the home of tens of thousands of people or spirits. It was full of churches and monasteries. The ecclesiastics also brought together into that city all the precious objects they were able to amass by various devices, and hid them there in their cells and underground crypts. These crypts were so elaborately constructed that no one else could find their way in, since they were entered circuitously as in a maze. Their heart was in the treasures heaped up there, and they were confident that they could never be destroyed. I visited the crypts and was surprised to see how cunningly they were contrived and how they could be enlarged without limit. Most of those belonging to what they call the Society of Jesus were there, and they kept up friendly relations with the wealthy who were all round them. In that quarter there was towards the east a Council chamber, where they deliberated about extending their power and about methods of keeping the people in blind obedience (on this see above 56). So much for their dwellings in the southern quarter.
[3] In the north were living those who were less intelligent and had less convinced themselves of their religious belief, because their powers of perception were dim and they lived in blind faith. There was not such a large number there as in the south. Most of them were in a large city extending in length from the eastern corner towards the west, and a short distance into the west. This city too was full of churches and monasteries. On its extreme eastern edge were many from different religions including some of the Reformed. A few districts in that quarter outside the city were also occupied by Roman Catholics.
[4] In the east lived those of them whose chief delight in the world had been in ruling; and they enjoyed a natural kind of illumination. They were to be seen in the mountains there, but only on the side facing north, not on the other side facing south. In the corner towards the north there was a mountain, on the summit of which they placed someone out of his mind, whom they could influence to give any orders they wished by a method of sharing thoughts well known in the spiritual world, but unknown in the natural. They gave it out that he was the God of heaven Himself appearing in human form, and thus secured Divine worship for him. This was because the people wanted to abandon their idolatrous worship, so they had thought up this means of holding them to their obedience.
[5] That is the mountain meant in Isaiah (Isaiah 14:13) by the mountain of meetings on the sides of the north; those who live in the mountains are meant by Lucifer there (Isaiah 5:12). For those of the Babylonian crowd who were in the east had more illumination than the rest, but it was artificial illumination they had contrived for themselves. Some were to be seen building a tower intended to reach heaven where the angels are; but this was only a representation of their designs. For designs are presented in the spiritual world by many things visible to those standing a way off, though they are not really produced among the people devising them. This is a common event there. By means of this appearance I was given to understand the meaning of the tower, the top of which was in heaven, from which the place was called Babel (Genesis 11:1-10). So much for their dwellings in the east.
[6] In the west towards the front lived those of that religion who had lived during the Dark Ages, most of them underground, one generation beneath another. The whole front region, which faces north, was as if hollowed out and filled with monasteries. Their entrances were through caves with covers over them. They went in and out through these caves, but rarely talked with those who had lived in later centuries since they differed in character. They were not so malicious, because in their time there had been no struggle with the Reformed, so they did not have such cunning and malice arising from hatred and a desire for vengeance. In the western quarter beyond that region there were many mountains inhabited by the most malicious of this people, who denied the Divine at heart, although their oral confession and their pious gestures displayed a more pious attitude than that of the rest. The people there had thought out unspeakable schemes to keep the common herd obedient to their rule, and to force others to submit to it. I am not allowed to describe those schemes because they are unspeakable, but there is a general account of their nature in HEAVEN AND HELL 580.
[7] The mountains where they lived are what is meant in the book of Revelation by the seven mountains, and those who lived there are meant by the woman mounted upon the scarlet beast in this passage:
I saw a woman mounted on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names and having seven heads and ten horns. She had a name written on her forehead, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of whoredoms and abominations of the earth. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits. Revelation 17:3, 5, 9.
Woman in the internal sense means the church; here in the contrary sense a profane religious system. The scarlet beast means the profanation of heavenly love; and the seven mountains the profane love of ruling. So much for the dwellings of those in the west.
[8] The reason why their homes are in different quarters is that all in the spiritual world move to a quarter and a place within the quarter corresponding to their affections and loves, and none can go anywhere else; on this see the discussion of the four quarters of heaven in HEAVEN AND HELL 141-153.
[9] Generally speaking all the deliberations of these Babylonian people have the tendency to establish their rule not only over heaven, but also over all the earth, and so to possess heaven and earth, earth by means of heaven and heaven by means of earth. To achieve this they continually think out and devise new rules and new teachings. They labour to produce the same kind of results in the other life as in the world, for each individual remains after death such a person as he was in the world, especially as regards his religious belief. I was allowed to listen to some of their prelates deliberating about a doctrine to serve as a standard for the ordinary people. It contained a number of paragraphs, but they were all intended to seize control over the heavens and lands upon earth, claiming all power for themselves and allowing none to the Lord. These doctrinal statements were later read to those present upon which they heard a voice from heaven declaring that, although they were unaware of it, these statements had been dictated from the deepest hell. To prove this a crowd of devils of the blackest and foulest appearance came up from that hell, and tore the statement away from them, not with their hands, but with their teeth, and carried it down to their hell. The ordinary people who witnessed this were thunderstruck.
58. III. Where their habitations in the spiritual world have hitherto been. It was said above (48), that all the nations and peoples in the spiritual world were seen to be as follows: collected in the middle appeared those who are called the Reformed; around this middle, those of the Papal religion; the Mohammedans, beyond them; and lastly the various Gentiles. Hence it may appear that the Papists formed the nearest circumference around the Reformed in the center. The reason of this is that they who are in the light of truth from the Word are in the center, and they who are in the light of truth from the Word are also in the light of heaven, for the light of heaven is from the Divine truth, and the Word is that in which this is. That the light of heaven is from the Divine truth, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell (126-140); and that it is the Divine truth (303-310), Light, moreover, proceeds from the center towards the circumferences, and illuminates. Hence it is that the Papists proximately surround the center, for they have the Word, and it is also read by those of the ecclesiastical order, though not by the people. This is the reason why the Papal nation in the spiritual world have obtained habitations around those who are in the light of truth from the Word. Their manner of dwelling, before their habitations were utterly destroyed, and made into a desert, shall now be told. The greatest part of them dwelt in the south and in the west; but some in the north and in the east. In the south dwelt those who had excelled others in talent in the world, and had confirmed themselves in their own religion. Great numbers of the nobility and the rich also dwelt there. They did not dwell upon the earth there, but under it, from dread of robbers, guards being placed at the entrances. In that quarter, moreover, there was a great city, extending nearly from east to west, and somewhat into the west, situated very near the center where the Reformed were. Myriads of men or spirits tarried in that city. It was full of temples and monasteries. The ecclesiastics also carried into it all precious things which they were enabled by their various artifices to scrape together, and they hid them in its cells and subterranean crypts, which were so elaborately formed, that no one besides themselves could enter, for they were disposed around in the form of a labyrinth. On the treasures there amassed, in the full confidence that they could never be destroyed, they had set their hearts. When I saw those crypts I was amazed at the art displayed in constructing them, and enlarging them without end. The most of those who call themselves of the society of Jesus were there, and cultivated amicable relations with the rich who dwelt round about. Towards the east in that quarter was the council where they consulted on the enlargement of their dominion, and on the means of keeping the people in blind obedience (see above, 56). This concerning their habitations in the southern quarter. In the north, dwelt those who less excelled in ability, and had less confirmed themselves in their own religion, because they were in an obscure faculty of discerning and thence in blind faith. The multitude was not so great there as in the south. Most of them were in a great city extending lengthwise from the angle of the east to the west, and also a little into the west. It also was full of temples and monasteries. On its outmost side which was near the east there were many of various religions, and also some of the Reformed. A few places, moreover, beyond the city in that quarter, were occupied by the Papists. In the east dwelt those who had been in the greatest delight of ruling in the world, and at the same time in somewhat of natural light. They appeared there on mountains, but only in the quarter which faces the north; there were none in the other part which faces the south. In the angle towards the north, there was a mountain, on the top of which they had placed a certain one of unsound mind, whom, by communications of the thoughts, which are known in the spiritual, but unknown in the natural world, they were enabled to inspire to command anything they chose. And they gave out that he was the very God of heaven, appearing under a human form, and thus paid him Divine worship. They did this, because the people were desirous of receding from their idolatrous worship, wherefore, they devised it as a means of keeping them in obedience. That mountain is meant in Isaiah (14:13) by "the mountain of assembly in the sides of the north," and those on the mountains are there meant by "Lucifer" (vers. 12); for such of the Babylonish crew as dwelt in the east, were in greater light than others, which light also, they had prepared for themselves by artifice. There also appeared some who were building a tower, which should reach even to heaven where the angels are, but this was only representative of their machinations; for machinations are presented in the spiritual world, before the eyes of those who stand at a distance, by many things which yet do not exist actually with those who are in the machinations: this is a common thing there. By this appearance it was given me to know what was signified by:
The tower whose head should be in heaven, whence the place was called Babel (Genesis 11:1-10).
These things are concerning their habitations in the east. In the west, in front, dwelt those of that religion who lived in the dark ages, for the most part underground, one posterity beneath another. The whole tract in front which looked to the north, was, as it were, excavated, and filled with monasteries. The entrances to them lay through caverns covered by roofs, through which they went out and in. They rarely spoke with those who lived in the following ages, being of a different disposition, and not so malicious; for as, in their times, there was no contention with the Reformed, there was therefore less of the craft and malice from hatred and revenge. In the western quarter beyond that tract, were many mountains, on which dwelt the wickedest of that nation, who in heart denied the Divine and yet orally professed their belief in Him, and adored Him with gestures more devoutly than others. They who were there, devised nefarious arts to keep the common people under the yoke of their sway, and also to force others to submit to that yoke: these arts it is not allowed to describe, they are so heinous. In general they are such as are mentioned in the work on Heaven and Hell (580). The mountains on which they dwelt, are meant in the Apocalypse by "the seven mountains," and those who were there are described by the woman sitting upon the scarlet beast:
I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads, and ten horns: she had on the forehead a name written, mystery, Babylon the great, mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth: the seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth (Revelation 17:3, 5, 9).
By "a woman" in the internal sense, is meant the church, here in the opposite sense, a profane religion; by "the scarlet beast," the profanation of celestial love; by "the seven mountains," the profane love of ruling. These are concerning their habitations in the west. The reason why they dwell distinct according to quarters is, because all in the spiritual world are carried into that quarter, and into that part of it, which corresponds to their affections and loves, and no one to any other place; concerning which see the work on Heaven and Hell, where it treats of the four quarters of heaven (141-153). In general, all the consultations of the Babylonish race tend to this, that they may dominate, not only over heaven, but over the whole earth, and thus that they may possess heaven and earth, obtaining each by means of the other. To effect this, they continually devise and hatch new statutes and new doctrinals. They make the same endeavor also in the other life as they made in the world, for every one after death is such as he was in the world, especially as to his religion. It was granted me to hear certain of the primates consulting about a doctrine, which was to be a rule for the people: it consisted of many articles, but they all tended to this; that they might obtain dominion over the heavens, and the earth, and that they might have all power for themselves, and the Lord none. These doctrinals were afterwards read before the bystanders, and thereupon a voice was heard from heaven, declaring, that they were dictated from the deepest hell, though the hearers did not know it; which was further confirmed by this; that a crowd of devils from that hell, of the blackest and direst appearance, ascended, and tore those doctrinals from them, not with their hands, but with their teeth, and carried them down to their hell. The people who saw it were astounded.
58. ((iii.)) Ubinam habitationes eorum hactenus fuerunt in mundo spirituali.- Dictum est supra (48), quod ordinationes omnium gentium et populorum in mundo spirituali ita visae sint, ut sequitur: in medio collecti apparuerunt qui Reformati vocantur; circum hoc medium illi qui a Pontificia religione; ultra illos Mahumedani, ultimo variae Gentes. Inde constare potest, quod Pontificii peripheriam proximam circum Reformatos, qui in medio, fecerint: quod illi proximam, est causa, quod in medio sint qui in luce veri ex Verbo sunt; et qui in luce veri ex Verbo sunt, illi etiam in caeli luce sunt, nam lux caeli est ex Divino vero, ac Verbum est in quo illud; quod Lux Caeli sit ex Divino Vero, videatur in opere De Caelo et Inferno 126-140; et quod Verbum sit Divinum Verum (303-310); a medio etiam procedit lux versus peripherias, ac illuminat. Inde est, quod proxime circum medium sint qui e Pontificia religione, nam Verbum habent, et quoque legitur ab illis qui e regimine ecclesiastico sunt, tametsi non a populo: haec causa est, quod Pontificia gens in spirituali mundo circum illos qui in luce veri ex Verbo sunt, habitationes suas nacta sit. Nunc dicetur, quomodo habitaverunt antequam habitationes eorum prorsus destructae sunt, ac desertum factae. Maxima pars habitavit in meridie et occidente, aliqua modo in septentrione et oriente. In meridie habitaverunt, qui prae ceteris in mundo polluerunt ingenio, et se confirmaverunt in suo religioso; et simul ibi habitaverunt nobiles et divites multo numero; habitaverunt non supra terram ibi, sed sub terra ob timorem pro latronibus, custodias ponentes ad introitus. In illa plaga etiam erat magna urbs, cujus extensio erat paene ab oriente ibi ad occidentem, et quoque paulo in. occidentem, sita proxime ad medium ubi Reformati. In illa urbe myriades hominum seu spirituum commorabantur; plena erat templis et monasteriis; ecclesiastici etiam omnia pretiosa, quae per varias artes potuerunt corradere, in illam urbem contulerunt, et in cellis suis et cryptis subterraneis, recondiderunt; quae cryptae ita elaboratae erant, ut nemo praeter illos intrare posset; erant in labyrinthi formas circumductae. In thesauris ibi congestis cor eorum erat, ac fiducia ne usquam in aeternum destruerentur: visae mihi sunt, et miratus artem condendi illas, et ampliandi absque fine. Plerique ex illis qui se vocant e societate Jesu ibi erant, et cum divitibus, qui circum circa erant, amica consortia fovebant. Versus orientem in illa plaga erat synedrium, ubi consultabant de amplificatione dominii sui, ac de modis continendi populum in caeca obedientia (de quo supra, 56): haec de habitationibus illorum in plaga meridionali. In septentrione habitabant illi qui minus polluerunt ingenio, et minus se confirmaverunt in suo religioso, ex eo quod in obscura facultate perspiciendi fuerint, et inde in caeca fide. Ibi non tanta erat multitudo ut in meridie plerique ex illis erant in magna urbe, in longum extensa ab angulo orientis ad occidentem, et quoque paulum in occidentem. Illa etiam plena erat templis et monasteriis. In extremo ejus latere, quod prope orientem, erant plures ex varia religione, et quoque aliqui ex Reformatis: pauca etiam loca a Papali gente occupata erant in illa plaga ultra urbem. In oriente habitaverunt, qui in maximo jucundo imperandi in mundo ex illa gente fuerunt, et quoque in aliquo naturali lumine; apparuerunt ibi in montibus, sed modo in plaga illa quae spectat ad septentrionem; non autem aliqui in altera parte quae spectat ad meridiem. In angulo ad septentrionem erat mons, in cujus capite quendam mentis non compotem posuerunt, quem ad jubendum quodcunque vellent, per communicationes cogitationum, in mundo spirituali notas sed in mundo naturali ignotas, inspirare potuerunt, vulgantes quod ille esset ipse Deus caeli apparens sub forma humana, et sic illi Divinum cultum addixerunt; et hoc ex causa, quia populus recedere volebat a cultu eorum idololatrico, quare excogitabant id medium ut contineretur in obedientia: ille mons est qui intelligitur apud Esaiam (cap. 14:13) per "montem conventus in lateribus septentrionis;" et illi qui in montibus ibi per "Luciferum" (vers. 12); nam qui ex Babylonica turba in oriente fuerunt, in lumine fuerunt prae reliquis, quod lumen etiam sibi arte pararunt. Visi etiam sunt qui turrim aedificabant, quae pertingeret usque in caelum, ubi angeli; sed hoc modo repraesentativum eorum machinationum erat; machinationes enim sistuntur in mundo spirituali per plura coram oculis eorum qui e longinquo stant, quae tamen non actualiter existunt apud illos qui in machinationibus sunt; hoc commune est ibi: per illam apparentiam usque datum mihi est scire quid significatur per Turrim cujus caput esset in caelo, unde locus Babel dictus est (Genesis 11:1-10):
Haec de habitationibus eorum in oriente. In occidente habitaverunt anterius illi qui ex ea religione in saeculis obscuris vixerunt, plerique sub terris ibi, una propago sub altera. Totus tractus anterior, qua spectat septentrionem, erat quasi excavatus, et impletus monasteriis; introitus ad illos patebant per antra supra operta tegmine; per illa exibant et intrabant, sed raro locuti sunt cum illis qui in sequentibus saeculis vixerunt, alio enim genio erant, et non tam malitiosi, quia illis temporibus nulla contentio fuit cum Reformatis, inde nec tanta astutia et malitia ex odio et vindicta. In occidentali plaga ultra illum tractum erant plures montes, super quibus erant malitiosissimi ex illa gente, qui corde negabant Divinum, et tamen id ore sanctius reliquis profitebantur et gestu adorabant. Illi, qui ibi erant, nefandas artes excogitaverunt, ut sub jugo imperii sui tenerent vulgus, et quoque alios cogerent ad se submittendum illi jugo: artes illas describere non licet, quia nefandae sunt; erant quales in genere memorantur in opere De Caelo et Inferno (580). Montes super quibus erant, sunt qui in Apocalypsi intelliguntur per "septem montes," et illi qui ibi describuntur per "mulierem insidentem bestiae coccineae," his verbis:
"Vidi mulierem insidentem bestiae coccineae, plenae nominibus blasphemiae, habenti capita septem, et cornua decem;... habebat in fronte nomen scriptum, Mysterium, Babylon magna, mater scortationum et abominationum terrae:... septem capita sunt septem montes, super quibus mulier sedet" (cap. 17:3, 5, 9):
Per "mulierem" in sensu interno intelligitur ecclesia; ibi in opposito sensu religiosum profanum; per "bestiam coccineam" profanatio amoris caelestis; et per "septem montes" profanus amor imperandi: haec de habitationibus eorum in occidente. Causa, quod secundum plagas distincti habitent, est quia omnes in mundo spirituali feruntur in plagam et in locum plagae, qui correspondet eorum affectionibus et amoribus, et nullus alio, de quibus videatur in opere De Caelo et Inferno, ubi actum est de quatuor plagis caeli (141-153). In genere, omnes consultationes Babylonicae hujus gentis eo tendunt, ut dominentur non modo super caelum, sed etiam super omnem terram, sic ut possideant et caelum et terram, per illud hanc, et per hanc illud; ut id obtineant, continue nova statuta et nova doctrinalia excogitant et excludunt. Simile quod in mundo etiam moliuntur in altera vita, nam unusquisque post mortem talis est qualis fuit in mundo, imprimis quoad religiosum. Datum est mihi audire quosdam ex primoribus consultantes de doctrina, quae populis esset pro norma. Articuli plures erant, sed omnes tendebant eo, ut imperium super caelos et super terras aucuparent; et quod illis omnis potestas esset, et nulla Domino. Illa doctrinalia postea legebantur coram adstantibus, et cum lecta sunt audiverunt vocem e caelo, quod illa dictata fuerint ex profundissimo inferno, tametsi id nesciebant; quod etiam confirmabatur per id, quod turba diabolica ex illo inferno, quae aspectu nigerrima et dirissima erat, ascenderet, ac doctrinalia illa non manibus sed dentibus ab illis evelleret, ac deferret in suum infernum: populus, qui videbat, obstupescebat.