1672. They are upright spirits, and therefore called virtues, allowing injustices to be brought upon themselves without any desire for revenge or punishment. They flee the moment they come upon spirits who are thinking about their bodies, for they do not like to think at all, nor to hear anything, about their own body. So their societies do not fit in with the societies of other spirits, and [if they are associated] an anxiety arises. In fact, it is so great that I myself had a feeling of anxiety that I sensed had arisen because they are incompatible. Then from afar, they spoke with me.
1672. 1.2. I asked whether they walk upright, or whether they creep like worms; they replied that they do walk upright. And when I said, how can they walk upright without feet- which was asked so as to recall an image of their life on their earth - they did not like to hear about having had feet. I asked whether they had been born from a father and mother; they said they had been born. I asked whether they had human faces; they said that they certainly had faces, and now they are saying they have beautiful faces, and cannot stand hearing they are thought to be without a face; but still they insisted that they were without a body. And when I portrayed them as worms, which, after shedding their coverings, emerged as nymphs, they loved the idea, almost wanting to be the same.
This leads me to conclude that they had been clothed with a body, but in life had so scorned their bodies as to regard them as dung, and as worm exuviae, and had longed to shed them so as not to be burdened with them. Thus they had lived as spirits during life [on earth], and then had died. From this also there arose anxiety among spirits who had loved their bodies, and it seems probable that they had been born on the planet Jupiter, and that some of them are like that.
1672. 1.3. They acknowledge our Lord, just as the spirits of Jupiter, and worship Him Alone, and because of this call themselves upright.
1672. 1.4. The reciprocal aversions caused the anxiety which I felt. Spirits of our earth turn away from them at their first approach because those spirits are averse to thoughts about bodies; and the aura where the spirits of our earth are is filled with them. That an aura of this kind is created by thoughts, see above [1672]: from the running together of contrary auras, there is aversion, and then from aversion, anxiety. Hence also the portrayal of snakes around them from our spirits, which, when their arms are bound by them, they shake off with annoyance.
But as I write these words, they do not like to hear the idea of arms, either, again showing that they had been clothed with a body, but had had such great aversion to their own bodies. 1748, 23 March. Likewise, that they were equipped with loins and feet, for snakes appeared around their loins, and so on.
1672. They are upright to such a degree as to be called probities, and they suffer the infliction of injuries without any desire of revenge or redress. They flee as soon as ever they approach to spirits who think of their bodies, for no one of them is willing to think of his own body, or to hear anything respecting it, wherefore their societies do not agree with the societies of other spirits, whence an anxiety exists, and of such a nature that I partook of it; I perceived, too, that it arose from the circumstance of the disagreement now spoken of. These societies afterwards spoke to me from a greater distance.
1672 1/2. (I asked of them whether they walked erect or crept like worms; to which they replied that they walked erect. When I inquired how they could do this without feet, requesting at the same time that they should recall the idea which they had [on this subject] during their earthly life. I found that they were unwilling to hear anything of their having had feet. I then inquired whether they were not born of a father and mother. They said they were born. I asked whether they had human faces; they certainly had faces, and again they were handsome, nor could they bear to hear that I thought of them as without faces, but they still insisted that they were without a body, and when I would represent them as worms divested of their exuviae), (and emerging as nymphae, this they liked, and would fain have the case to have been thus. I was thence able to conclude that they had been clothed with a body, but that in their lifetime they had so despised their bodies as to hold them as vile filth, and as the exuviae of worms, and that they wished to be divested of them, because they were clogs, and that they had died after having lived as spirits during their lifetime; and also that hence arose the anxiety among them in relation to spirits that loved their bodies. It seems probable, therefore, that they were born on the planet Jupiter, where some are this character.)
1672 1/3. (They acknowledge our Lord like the spirits of Jupiter, and worship Him alone, whence they say that they are upright.)
1672 1/4. (The anxieties which I perceived were caused by reciprocal aversions. The spirits of our earth are averse to them at their first approach by reason of their repugnance to all thoughts concerning bodies - thoughts with which the sphere of the spirits of our earth is filled, for such a sphere is formed from thoughts (see above), and aversion arises from the concurrence of contrary spheres, and from aversion, anxiety. Thence, also, originate the representation caused by our spirits of serpents twined around them, which they endeavor to throw off as a troublesome annoyance from the arms encircled in their folds. But while I write these things, they do not wish to have anything said which implies the idea of arms; and this again indicates that they were once possessed of a corporeal investment, but that they held their bodies in extreme aversion. - 1748, March 23. In like manner that they were furnished with loins and feet, for serpents appeared about their loins, etc.)
1672. Probi sunt, sic ut probitates appellantur, et patiuntur sibi injurias inferre, absque ulla cupidine vindicandi aut retribuendi; aufugiunt utprimum veniunt ad spiritus, qui de corporibus suis cogitant, nam de corpore suo nihil volunt cogitare, nec quicquam audire, quare non congruunt societates eorum societatibus aliorum spirituum, inde enim anxietas existit, et quidem talis, ut in anxietate essem, quam percepi inde ortam, quia disconveniunt; e longinquo dein mecum loquuti sunt.
1672a. Quaesivi an recti ambulent, aut sicut vermes repant, dicebant, quod erecti ambulent, cumque dicere 1
, quomodo erecti ambulare possint absque pedibus, quaesitum, ut inde revocaretur idea vitae eorum in tellure eorum, 2
non audire volebant se pedes habuisse; quaerebam, annon nati a patre et matre, dicebant se natos esse, quaerebam, an facies humanas haberent, dicebant quod omnino facies habeant, et nunc, quod pulchras, nec sustinebant audire, quod cogitare 1
eos esse sine facie, sed usque insistebant quod essent sine corpore, cumque repraesentarem eos sicut vermes, qui exuviis 3
suis exuti, sicut nymphae emergerent, hoc amabant, et quasi volebant quod tales fuerint. Exinde concludere possum, quod fuerint corpore induti, sed quod in vita ita contemserint sua corpora, ut pro fimo, et vermicularibus exuviis habuerint, et quod desideraverint iis exui, quin impedimenta essent, et quod sic vixerint sicut spiritus in vita, et sic mortui fuerint; inde quoque anxietas inter spiritus, qui amarunt sua corpora, orta: et videtur verosimile, quod in tellure Jovis nati sint, et quidam eorum tales sint.
1672b. Agnoscunt Dominum nostrum, sicut spiritus Jovis, et Ipsum Solum adorant, inde probos esse dicunt.
1672c. Aversiones reciprocae causabantur anxietatem quam percepi; spiritus nostrae telluris aversantur illos, ad primum eorum adventum, quia ii aversantur cogitationes de corporibus, quibus sphaera ubi nostrae telluris spiritus, repleta est, nam talis sphaera formatur ex cogitationibus, vide prius [1672]; ex concursu sphaerarum contrariarum, aversatio sic ex aversatione anxium; inde quoque repraesentationes serpentum circum eos, a nostris spiritibus, quos, dum iis ligantur brachia, cum molestia excutiunt, sed cum haec scribo, nec volunt audire brachiorum ideam, quod iterum indicat, eos corpore indutos fuisse, sed corpora sua in tantum aversatos fuisse. 1748, 23 Martius. Similiter quod lumbis instructi pedibus, nam serpentes apparebant circum lumbos sic porro.
Footnotes:
1. sic manuscript; vide praefationem hujus editionis sub capite "Idiosyncrasies"
2. The Manuscript has eorum; sed
3. The Manuscript has exuviis