1681. And then I portrayed to them our earth's magnificent palaces, which our spirits were admiring, but those spirits did not think much of because they were made of stones and the like, which they call monstrous, because they were marble imitations. They said that on their earth, there were even more magnificent things, and they displayed them to the spirits of our earth, who said they had not ever seen anything more magnificent. Some of them, but which were not so magnificent, were displayed to me only, privately; more I was not allowed to see, lest they should stick in my memory.
But there are their temples, in which they worship the Lord, made of tall trees that they said were very high, which they position in a way that they spread their thick limbs round about. Then they bend, train, prune, cut and stretch them so as to create palaces, all joined together by arcades, with beautiful entry halls passing from one arched dwelling into another, very spacious. They develop almost the whole forest in this manner. There are galleries lengthwise and across, with arched entry halls and doorways. When one comes in, it is as if there are walkways over the whole forest. But the inside was not visible to me, only the doors, and the fact that the inside was formed of arched tree branches thus elegantly arranged.
They also fashion magnificent stairways sloping up-wards from the earth, then lay them with tree branches, thus combining use and decor, for after having climbed them, they worship the Lord on their knees.
The trees visible underneath, from which these fine mansions are formed, are in groups of four, and they train the branches spreading out in every direction to serve as floor, as doorways, as walls furnished with doors, and as roofs, through which the light of the sun penetrates and provides illumination. The branches on the ground and about the doors they strip to make them brighter.
In the walkways below, the outside decorations were thoroughly admired by our spirits, and in describing them they said that nothing more magnificent exists, that they are beyond description. Two or three were shown separately, which were colored. They particularly love a beautiful, clear sky blue, which extremely delights their minds. Besides these, there were the colors dark orange, and also a little shining white.
However, these spirits live only at ground level, not in the heights, which are sacred to them. They very much praise and prize their buildings, and value them above all else; for they love their own architecture and the simplicity of their own homes.
1681. And when I represented to them the magnificent palaces of our earth, which our spirits admired, but those spirits thought little of because they were of stone and such materials, which they call monsters, being mere marble semblances, they remarked that there were still more magnificent ones among them, which they represented before the spirits of our earth, who said that they had never seen anything more magnificent. Some of them, but not the most magnificent, were represented, but only in a very partial manner, to me; more was not granted lest it should inhere in my memory. But they have temples in which they worship the Lord, made with tall trees, which they said were exceedingly lofty, and which they so dispose as to make the thick branches spread wide on every side around. These branches they bend, train, prune, lop, and extend in such a manner as to form palaces in a kind of series, by means of arches with beautiful entrances, one arched recess being joined to another, and so on through a large extent of space. In this manner a whole forest is formed, as it were, [into palaces,] with porticoes long and broad, and with arched entrances and doorways. The visitors upon coming thither find the forest all laid out in walks, of which, however, the more interior portions were not shown to me, except that I perceived the folding-doors or gates [valvas] and the overarchings, and that everything was effected by the beautiful disposition of the branches of trees. Splendid elevated grades or terraces are also formed, which lead upward by a winding ascent. Arranging and conjoining thus the branches of trees, they adapt them both to purposes of use and of ornament, and when they have mounted [to the highest parts] they then fall upon their knees and worship the Lord. The trunks of the trees below, on which these structures rest, stand four and four [four on either side (?)], and of these they dispose the branches this way and that, some for the flooring, some for the doorways, some for the walls, which are also furnished with doors, and some for the roofs, through which the rays of the sun penetrate and give light, while those that support the floor and those around the doors are stripped of bark in order to appear of a whiter hue. The walks underneath and the external adornings were such as inspired our spirits with the deepest admiration, and they described them as being of a magnificence that surpassed description. Two or three of them were shown separately. These were colored, as they [the inhabitants] are greatly enamoured of anything that reflects a bright and beautiful sky color. But beside this there were obscure golden colors, mixed with a slight infusion of white. Their habitations, however, are on the earth, and not on these elevated stagings, which serve them as holy places. Accordingly they commend, and value, and prefer to all others their own architectural arts, and the simple style of building conformed to them.
1681. Cumque iis repraesentabam nostrae telluris magnifica palatia, quae nostri spiritus admirabantur-sed 1
spiritus illi non ea aestimabant, quia ex lapidibus et similibus, quae vocant monstra, quia simulachra marmorea-narrabant 2
, quod magnificentiora sint apud eos, quae repraesentabant coram spiritibus nostrae telluris, qui dicebant, quod magnificentius nihil viderint, aliqua eorum, sed ea quae non ita magnifica erant, particulatim modo mihi repraesentabantur, plura non concedebatur, ne scilicet memoriae meae inhaererent; sed sunt eorum templa, in quibus adorant Dominum, sunt arbores procerae, quas dicebant esse admodum altas, quas ita disponunt, ut ramos suos crassos circumquaque diffundunt, quos ita adplicant, adsuescunt, putant, secant, et extendunt, ut palatia forment, et quidem continua, per arcus, et pulchros introitus, ab uno arcuato 3
habitaculo in alterum, et sic per multum spatii, sic ut integram quasi sylvam ita forment, porticus sunt in longum et in latum, cum arcuatis introitibus et ostiis; sic ut dum intus veniant, sint quasi ambulacra super totam sylvam, sed interiora non mihi patuerunt, praeter valvas, et quod arcuata essent, omnia per ramos arborum ita concinnata; gradus etiam a terra formant magnificos, qui oblique sursum tendunt, applicantes sic arborum ramos, conjunguntque ad usum et ad decorem, postquam per eos ascenderint, super genubus adorant Dominum; arbores infra, ex quibus haec aedificia, sunt quatuor et quatuor, inde undequaque ramos sparsos ineptant, qui inservituri solo, et qui valvis, et qui parietibus, qui valvati sunt, et tectis, per quae quoque lux solis penetrat, et dat lumen, qui in solo et circum valvas, [eos] abradunt, ut candidiora sint; quae infra sunt ambulacra, ornamenta externa sunt talia, ut perquam admirati sint ea spiritus nostri, et descripserunt, quod nihil magnificentius, et quod excedant descriptionem, duo aut tria separatim ostensa, colorata 4
erant, cumprimis amant coeruleum nitidum pulchrum, hoc eorum [animum] summopere delectat, praeterea erant colores orantii {a} obscuri, praeter paucum coloris candidi; sed ii non habitant nisi super terra, non in altis, quae iis sancta sunt: sic architectonica eorum collaudant, et aestimant, ut praeferant omnibus, nam suam architecturam, et suarum domorum simplicitatem amant.
Footnotes:
1. The Manuscript has admirabantur, sed
2. The Manuscript has marmorea; narrabant
3. The Manuscript has arcuati
4. The Manuscript has colorati