4285. The whole world of spirits is becoming and has become worse and worse
I thought to myself, under the guidance of angels, about a certain evil that had befallen me, which the spirits almost unanimously attributed to me. I wondered how it could be possible, for I was of the opinion that some misfortune was threatening me. Then I wondered how it could be that I was the cause of it, when yet I knew that I am not in the least led by myself, but to evil by evil spirits, and to good by the Lord through the angels, and this in the very least things of all, there being not the minutest detail in which I am not led. This I knew from multiple experience of long duration.
In this I have been the more confirmed by the fact that before this evil occurred, many societies, composed of 30, 50, 100, 200 [spirits] had told me that it had been they who thus thought, willed, did, and flowed in, and this was asserted by societies round about me, one after another. Moreover, also the worst spirits were present when it happened, about whom it was said that worse ones could not possibly exist. Then angels declared through spirits that they could not resist me or compel me to do something [that I did not will], for there is such an equilibrium that everyone is held in a balance, so as to be carried along as weightless. While I had these thoughts, and the cause of the evil was still being attributed to me, so that it made me unhappy,
[2] I was inspired to ponder on how this could happen, whether perhaps I had been such from my previous life that it could not turn out differently, thus that it was foreseen, and so to speak predestined, and that I had meanwhile been guided in the meantime, as all people and spirits normally are, through delights, and through hopes, to happiness, and this for a long time, as happens in the other life, and yet it was foreseen that they would become unhappy.
Finally it was given me to see that the Lord bends everything toward good, but that the world of spirits is so evil, that it is turned into evil, and is becoming worse and worse, so that the balance is shifted to their side, and that since the world of spirits is such, it cannot happen otherwise than that mankind becomes worse through the world of spirits flowing in. The worse the world of the spirit is, the less strong is the good flowing in from the Lord, and the less mankind is able to be bent to goodness. The world of spirits as a whole is just as each spirit and man in particular. When it is worse, then it receives less of goodness, and the less evil can be bent to good, the world of spirits being like a general receiving vessel, a spirit, and man, being like a particular vessel.
4285. THAT THE WHOLE WORLD OF SPIRITS MAY BECOME AND HAS BECOME WORSE AND WORSE.
Under the guidance of the angels I thought concerning a particular evil which had befallen me, and which spirits, with almost one consent, attributed to me. I thought with myself how this could be, as I was of the opinion that some misfortune was likely to result to me from it, and yet I was greatly nonplussed to see how it could come from this source and how I could be the cause of it, when, at the same time, I knew that I was not in the least particular led by myself but that I was led to evil by evil spirits, and to good by the Lord through the angels, and that too in the minutest things, so that nothing so insignificant can be named that I am not thus led in it, as I have learned by the multiplied experience of many years. In this I have been the more confirmed from the fact that prior to this occurrence many societies, consisting of from 30 to 50, or 100 or 200 spirits, have assured me that it was they who thus thought, willed, did, and inflowed; and this was asserted by societies round about me one after another. To this I may add, that some of the very worst spirits were present with me, of some of whom it was said that there could not be worse, and yet of whom the angels said through spirits that they could not resist their influence nor compel me in a contrary direction; such being the equilibrium, and everyone being kept in it, so that the balance shall not incline on either side. When I reflected upon all this, and that yet the cause of the evil should be charged upon me, rendering me unhappy, it was given me to ponder how this could be, whether it were possibly owing to the life I had formerly led, which prevented its being otherwise, or whether it were foreseen and thus, as it were, predestinated, and yet that I was led in the meantime, as all men and spirits are wont to be, through delights and through hope, to a kind of felicity which may endure for a considerable time in the other life, when yet it is foreseen that such may be eventually unhappy - all this, I say, I weighed, but at length it was given me to see that the Lord turns everything to good, but that the world of spirits is so bad that it turns everything to evil, and becomes itself worse and worse, so that the equilibrium preponderates on their side; and seeing the world of spirits is such, it cannot be but that man himself should become worse by means of its influx; for so much as the world of spirits is worse, so much less avails the influent good from the Lord, and so much less can man be bent to good. The state of the world of spirits in the whole is as that of every spirit and man in part; the worse either becomes, the less good is received, and the less can evil be bent to good; the world of spirits is as a general receiving vessel, while man and spirit is as a particular vessel.
4285. Quod totus mundus spirituum pejor et pejor fiat et factus
Mecum cogitavi ductus ab angelis, de quodam malo quod mihi contigit, quod spiritus fere unanimiter in me derivabant: cogitavi quomodo fieri posset - quia eram in ea opinione, quod mihi immineret inde infortunium - cum cogitavi unde id existere posset, quod ego in causa essem, cum tamen nossem quod ne hilum ducar a me, ad malum a malis spiritibus, ad bonum a Domino per angelos, et hoc in omnium minimis, sic ut tam minimum non detur, quo non ductus sim, hoc a diutina et multiplici experientia - et hoc eo magis antequam hoc factum, quod plures societates, constantes a 30, 50, 100, 200, dixissent mihi, quod ii essent qui ita cogitarent, qui vellent, qui fecissent, qui influerent, et hoc circumcirca me societates una post alteram, praeter quod pessimi quoque aderant cum factum, de quibus dictum quod pejores nusquam dari possent, tum quod angeli per spiritus dicerent, quod non potuissent resistere seu agere me ad aliud faciendum, quia tale aequilibrium est, et unusquisque tenetur in aequilibrio, ut feratur sicut nihil - cum talia cogitavi, et usque derivaretur in me causa mali, quare infelix redderer, cogitare datum, unde hoc fieri posset, num forte inde quod talis a vita anteacta fuerim, ut non aliter posset existere, sic quod praevisum sit, et sic quasi praedestinatum, et ductus interea, sicut solent omnes homines et spiritus per jucunda, per spes ad felicitatem, et hoc diu, ut fit in altera vita, et usque praevisum quod infelices fierent: tandem videre mihi datum, quod Dominus omne in bonum flectat, sed quod mundus spirituum tam malus sit, ut vertatur in malum, et fiat pejor et pejor, sic ut aequilibrium sit ab eorum parte, et cum talis mundus spirituum, quod non aliter fieri possit, quam quod homo fiat pejor, per mundum spirituum, influentem, quo pejor mundus spiritus, eo minus valet bonum influens a Domino, et eo minus potest homo flecti ad bonum. Se habet mundus spirituum in toto, sicut quivis spiritus et homo in parte, cum pejor tunc minus recipit bonum, et minus malum flecti potest in bonum, mundus spiritum est sicut vas commune recipiens, spiritus et homo est sicut vas particulare.