5950. About the Profane
The profane have their own hells in the west, far-off toward the south there, at a great depth. When they become profane they are no longer human beings because in heaven's light they appear like burnt skeletons. On this account they are not spoken of either in the feminine or in the masculine gender, but in the neuter, thet 1. By degrees they lose human life, and they become like larvae, and they appear to themselves to flit about in the air, at one moment as women, at another as men, then as small children, in different forms. One woman was seen flitting about in this way, and at these times she is thinking nothing, for she is in an infernal fantasy. This is origin of her appearance. She was also seen as a man with a face turning black, in darkness. So too the faces of profane men gradually darken.
Footnotes:
1. An archaic spelling of the Swedish word meaning ԩt"
5950. THE PROFANE.
The profane have their hells in the west, a great way off, towards the south, deep down there. When they become profane, they are no longer men for they appear, in the light of heaven, as scorched mummies; wherefore, they are not spoken of in the feminine or masculine gender, but in the neuter, that. 1By degrees, they lose human life and become like specters, and appear to themselves to flit in the air, now as females, now as males, now as infants, in different forms. One female was seen flitting about in this manner; and at such times she has not a vestige of thought, for she is in infernal phantasy, whence she so appears. She was also seen as a man with a blackish face, in the dark. In this manner, likewise, the face of the profane is by degrees darkened.
Footnotes:
1. The English word itself occurs in the original here.
5950. De Prophanis
Profani inferna sua habent in occidente procul versus meridiem ibi, profunde; quando prophani fiunt, non amplius sunt homines, nam apparent in luce coeli ut sceleta adusta, quare nec nominantur in genere faeminino nec masculino, sed in neutro, thet; 1
per gradus amittunt vitam humanam, et fiunt sicut larvae, et apparent sibi volitare in aere, jam sicut faeminae, jam sicut mares, jam sicut infantes, in aliis formis, una visa est ita volitare, et tunc nihil cogitationis habet, est enim in infernali phantasia, unde ita apparent; visa etiam est sicut vir nigricante facie, in obscuro, ita quoque obscuratur per gradus facies prophanorum.
Footnotes:
1. h.e. det (orthographia antiqua suecica) = id (vox suecica)