661．在此，我补充两个记事。记事一：
在灵界靠近东方的北部较高地区，有教导孩子、年轻人、成人以及老人的地方。所有死去的婴孩都被送到这些地方，并在天堂接受教育。从尘世新来、想要了解天堂和地狱的所有人同样被派到这里。该地区紧靠东方，以便所有人能通过主的流入被教导，因为主是东方，就在那里的太阳中，这太阳是来自祂的纯粹的爱。因此，那太阳的热本质上是爱，它的光本质上是智慧。这些东西被主通过那太阳呼入那些根据自己的接受力受教的人里面，他们的接受力取决于对智慧的热爱程度。经过一段时间的学习，变得聪明者就被送走，这些人被称为主的门徒。一出来，他们首先去往西方，没有留在那里的人前往南方，有的穿过南方到达东方，他们就这样被引入社群，该社群就是他们将被赐予住所的地方。
有一次，当沉思天堂和地狱时，我开始想了解各自状态的共性。我知道一个人若知道共性，随后也能理解细节，因为后者包含在前者里面，如同部分包含在整体中。因着这种渴望，我朝与东方接壤的北部地区望去，这里是教导之地所在的地方，我沿着向我打开的一条路走到那里，来到年轻人所在的一所学院。我走到正教导他们的高级教师跟前，问他们是否知道关于天堂和地狱的共性。他们说：“关于它们，我们知道得不多；但如果我们朝向东方注目于主，必受到启示，然后就会知道。”
他们这样做了，然后说：“地狱有三个共性，但它们与天堂的共性截然相反。地狱的共性是这三种爱：出于我爱的控制爱，出于尘世之爱的占有他人财物之爱，以及淫欲之爱。与之相反的天堂共性也是三种爱：出于用之爱的控制爱，出于藉财物成为用之爱的拥有财物之爱，以及真正的婚姻之爱。”他们说完这番话，我向他们祝安，然后返回家中。当我到家后，从天堂传出声音对我说：“检查上面和下面的这三种共性，然后我们必在你手里看见它们。”他们说“在你手里”，是因为人以觉知检查的东西在天人看来就象写在手上。这就是为何启示录说他们在额上与手上受记号的原因（13:16；14:9；20:4）。
此后，我检查了地狱的第一个普遍之爱，即出于我爱的控制爱，然后检查了与它相对的天堂普遍之爱，即出于用之爱的控制爱；我不被允许只检查这一个而不检查另一个，因为若离开另一个爱，觉知就无法觉察这一个爱，它们是对立面。所以，为了获得对二者的觉察，它们有必要摆在一起进行对照，就象一张美丽标致的脸，若在它旁边放一张丑陋畸形的脸，就会越发清楚。在我研究出于我爱的控制爱期间，我蒙允许觉察到，这爱位居地狱之首，因此是处于最深地狱者所体验的爱；出于用之爱的控制爱位居天堂之首，因此是处于最高天堂者所体验的爱。
出于我爱的控制爱位居地狱之首，是因为出于我爱控制就是出于人的自我控制，而人的自我生来全然是恶，邪恶本身与主势不两立。结果，人越是进入那恶，就越是否认主和教会圣事，越是敬拜自己和大自然。我请求拥有那恶的人，务必将它从自己身上纠察出来，然后就会看见它。这爱还有这一性质，即假如放松检查，任其恣意妄为，它会一步一步向前冲，直到发展到极致。即便如此，它仍未有停下来的意思，但是，若没了进一步向前的可能，它会感觉悲痛，满腹牢骚。
在政客身上，这爱攀升得如此之高，以至于他们想作国王和皇帝，如有可能，还想统治世间万物，被冠以王中之王，帝中之帝的头衔。而在神职人员身上，这爱同样上升到想要成为神的地步，如有可能，还想统治天堂万物，获得众神之神的头衔。下文将看到，这两类人内心都不承认神。但另一方面，那些出于用之爱想要控制之人，并不想通过自己操控，而只想通过主，因为用之爱来自主，就是主自己。这类人将高官厚禄仅仅看作发挥作用的手段，他们将用远置于高官厚禄之上，而其他人则将高官厚禄远置于用之下。
当我深思到这一点时，主通过一个天人向我发话说：“你必看见，必亲眼见证地狱之爱的样子。”然后左边的地面突然裂开了，我看见一个魔鬼从地狱上来，头上戴着一顶方帽，拉到前额，直到眼睛上，满脸脓包，就象发了高烧一样，眼神凶狠，胸口向外高高突起；嘴里喷出似火炉冒出的烟雾；他的腰着了火；他没有脚，取而代之的是没有肉的脚踝；全身散发出一股恶臭污秽的热气。一看见他，我吓得毛骨悚然，大声叫喊：“不要靠近；告诉我你从哪里来？”
他用刺耳的声音回答说：“我来自下面的世界，住在一个两百人的社群里，这社群是所有社群中最高贵的。在那里，我们所有人都是帝中之帝，王中之王，公爵中的公爵，王子中的王子。没有一个人只是一个皇帝，或一个国王、公爵、王子。我们坐在权力的宝座上，从那里向全世界及更远的地方发号施令。”我对他说：“难道你不明白，你们妄想的显赫头衔使你们发疯了吗？”“你怎么能说出这样的话？”他回答道，“这正是我们看上去的样子，我们的同伴也承认这一点。”听到这里，我不想再说什么，他已经疯了，因为他的妄想导致了他的疯狂。我蒙允许知道，这魔鬼在世时只是某户人家的管家。那时他在灵里如此傲慢，以至于与自己相比，他藐视全人类，并沉迷于这种幻想，即他比国王，甚至皇帝还要高贵。这种骄傲使得他否认神的存在，认为一切教会圣事皆毫无价值，只是被用来糊弄愚蠢大众。最后，我问他：“你们这两百人互相吹捧要到几时呢？”他说：“永远；但我们当中那些因否认我们的显赫头衔而折磨他人者都沉到下面去了。因为我们被允许自夸，但不能伤害任何人。”我又问：“你知道那些沉没者的命运吗？”他说他们下到某个监牢，在那里被称为低贱中的低贱，是最低贱的，并被迫作苦役。然后我对该魔鬼说：“小心点，免得你也沉下去。”
此后，地面又裂开了，但这次是右边，我看见另一个魔鬼升上来，他头上戴着一种主教法冠，这法冠缠绕着蛇一样的线圈，它的头部从顶端翘起。他的脸从前额到下巴长满大麻风，两只手也是；他的腰部裸露，象煤烟一样黑，发出仿佛从壁炉透出的暗火；而他的脚踝就象两条毒蛇。第一个魔鬼一看到他，就跪下来敬拜。我问他为什么。他说：“他是天地之神，全能者。”然后我问另一个魔鬼：“你对此有何话说？”他回答：“我能说什么呢？我拥有天堂和地狱的所有权柄；所有灵魂的命运都掌握在我手里。”我再问：“这一位是帝中之帝，他怎能如此降尊屈卑，你怎能接受他的敬拜？”他回答说：“他依然是我的仆人；在神眼里，皇帝算什么？我右手握有逐出教会的雷霆。”
然后我对他说：“你怎会如此疯狂？你在世时只不过是一个普通的牧师；因为你幻想有几把钥匙，从而拥有捆绑和释放的权柄，所以你激动你的灵到了这种疯狂的地步，致使你现在以为你是神自己。”听到这番话，他勃然大怒，赌咒发誓说他就是神，主在天堂没有任何权柄，“因为”，他说：“祂已把它全交到我们手上了。只要我们一发令，天堂和地狱就得乖乖服从。如果我们把人发送到地狱，魔鬼就会即刻接受他，就象天人接受我们发送到天堂的人一样。”我继续问他：“你们的社群有多少人？”他说：“三百人；我们全都是神，但我是众神之神。”
之后，这二者脚下的地裂开了，他们深深沉到自己的地狱中。我蒙允许看到，他们的地狱下面就是囚犯工厂，伤害他人者皆沦落至此。因为凡在地狱者皆被允许保持自己的妄想，并以此为荣耀，但不能伤害他人。这就是地狱里的人，因为那时人在灵里，灵与身体分离后，会享有完全的自由，以根据其情感和由此产生的思维行动。
后来我又蒙允许观察他们的地狱。帝中之帝和王中之王所在的地狱充满污秽，他们自己看似各种野兽，有一双愤恨的眼睛。我也观察了另一个地狱，即众神与众神之神所在之地，在该地狱会看到被称为夜枭和鸮鸟的不祥夜鸟在他们周围飞舞。他们的妄想在我眼前呈现出这样的图像。这些经历清楚表明政客和神职人员的我爱，其各自性质如何。后者想要成为神，而前者想要成为皇帝。假如让这些爱放任自流，它们就会渴望这一切，并执着追求之。
看完这些可悲与恐怖的景象后，我环顾四周，见不远处有两位天人正在交谈。一位身穿羊毛长袍，长袍发出耀眼的紫光，里面罩一件闪光的亚麻短衣；另一位同样身穿猩红色的衣服，头戴主教冠冕，冠冕右边镶嵌着几颗红宝石。我上前向他们致安，恭敬地问道：“你们为何在这下面？”他们回答说：“遵照主的吩咐，我们从天堂被派到这里，是要和你谈谈关于那些出于用之爱想要控制之人的幸福状态。我们是主的敬拜者；我是一个社群的君主，他是社群的大祭司。”
君主说，他是社群的仆人，因为他通过发挥作用而服务于它。另一个则说，他是那里的教会牧师，因为他为服务他们的灵魂而供职于圣事。他们二人恒常喜悦，这喜悦源自主赐给他们的永恒快乐。他们说，在他们的社群，一切皆灿烂辉煌，因黄金与宝石而光芒万丈，因宫殿与花园而壮丽辉煌。他说：“这是因为我们控制他人的爱并非源自我爱，而是源自发挥作用之爱。由于这爱出自主，所以天堂的一切善用皆灿烂辉煌。并且由于我们社群的所有人都分享这爱，所以那里的大气由于它采自太阳火焰的光而显得金光灿灿，这火焰对应于那爱。”
当他们说这番话时，环绕他们的这类气场显为可见，我能从中闻到一种馨香，正如我告诉他们的那样。我请求他们就刚才所说的发挥作用之爱再说点什么。因此，他们继续说：“我们所享有的头衔是我们曾追求的东西，但仅仅为了能更充分地发挥作用，并更广泛地推广它们。我们也有很多荣誉，但我们接受它们不是为了我们自己，而是为了社群的利益。我们那些属普通民众的兄弟和同伴，几乎意识不到我们头衔的荣誉并不在我们里面，或我们所发挥的作用并非出自我们。但我们能分辩清楚；我们觉得头衔荣誉在我们之外，它们就象我们所穿的衣服一样。但我们所发挥的作用来自我们里面发挥作用之爱，这爱来自主，它从通过用而与他人的分享中得其幸福。我们凭经验知道，我们出于用之爱发挥作用到什么程度，那爱，及其使分享得以实现的智慧就会增长到什么程度。但我们把用留给自己，不与他们分享到什么程度，我们的幸福就会远离到什么程度。然后用就象食物被滞留在胃里，而不是被输送至全身以滋养它及其各个部位；但若它仍不消化，就会引起恶心呕吐。总之，整个天堂从头至尾无非是用的容器。除了实际的爱邻行为，用还能是什么？除了此爱，还有什么能将天堂凝聚起来？”
听到这里，我问道：“人如何分清他是出于我爱发挥作用还是出于用之爱发挥作用？每个人，无论好坏，都能发挥作用，并且这样做也是出于某种爱。假如世上有一个仅由魔鬼组成的社群，还有一个仅由天人组成的社群，在我看来，被我爱之火和自我荣耀的显赫驱使的魔鬼社群所发挥的作用，会与天人社群的一样多。那么谁能知道这些用源自哪种爱和源头呢？”对此，两位天人是这样回答的：“魔鬼为了自己及其名声发挥作用，以便他们可以名利双收。但天人发挥作用不是出于这些原因，而是出于用之爱，为了用的缘故。没人能区分这两类用，但主能。凡信主并避恶如罪者，皆出于主发挥作用。但是，凡不信主且不避恶如罪者，皆出于自己且为了自己发挥作用。这就是魔鬼和天人所发挥作用之间的区别。”说完这番话，这两位天人离开了；从远处看，他们象以利亚一样乘上烈火战车，被送往自己的天堂。
661. 在此, 我补充两个记事。 记事一:
在灵界靠近东方的北部较高地区, 有教导孩子, 年轻人, 成人以及老人的地方。 所有死去的婴孩都被送到这些地方, 并在天堂接受教育。 从尘世新来, 想要了解天堂和地狱的所有人同样被派到这里。 该地区紧靠东方, 以便所有人能通过主的流入被教导, 因为主是东方, 就在那里的太阳中, 这太阳是来自祂的纯粹的爱。 因此, 那太阳的热本质上是爱, 它的光本质上是智慧。 这些东西被主通过那太阳呼入那些根据自己的接受力受教的人里面, 他们的接受力取决于对智慧的热爱程度。 经过一段时间的学习, 变得聪明者就被送走, 这些人被称为主的门徒。 一出来, 他们首先去往西方, 没有留在那里的人前往南方, 有的穿过南方到达东方, 他们就这样被引入社群, 该社群就是他们将被赐予住所的地方。
有一次, 当沉思天堂和地狱时, 我开始想了解各自状态的共性。 我知道一个人若知道共性, 随后也能理解细节, 因为后者包含在前者里面, 如同部分包含在整体中。 因着这种渴望, 我朝与东方接壤的北部地区望去, 这里是教导之地所在的地方, 我沿着向我打开的一条路走到那里, 来到年轻人所在的一所学院。 我走到正教导他们的高级教师跟前, 问他们是否知道关于天堂和地狱的共性。 他们说: “关于它们, 我们知道得不多; 但如果我们朝向东方注目于主, 必受到启示, 然后就会知道。 ”
他们这样做了, 然后说: “地狱有三个共性, 但它们与天堂的共性截然相反。 地狱的共性是这三种爱: 出于我爱的控制爱, 出于尘世之爱的占有他人财物之爱, 以及淫欲之爱。 与之相反的天堂共性也是三种爱: 出于用之爱的控制爱, 出于藉财物成为用之爱的拥有财物之爱, 以及真正的婚姻之爱。 ”他们说完这番话, 我向他们祝安, 然后返回家中。 当我到家后, 从天堂传出声音对我说: “检查上面和下面的这三种共性, 然后我们必在你手里看见它们。 ”他们说“在你手里”, 是因为人以觉知检查的东西在天人看来就象写在手上。 这就是为何启示录说他们在额上与手上受记号的原因 (启示录13:16; 14:9; 20:4)。
此后, 我检查了地狱的第一个普遍之爱, 即出于我爱的控制爱, 然后检查了与它相对的天堂普遍之爱, 即出于用之爱的控制爱; 我不被允许只检查这一个而不检查另一个, 因为若离开另一个爱, 觉知就无法觉察这一个爱, 它们是对立面。 所以, 为了获得对二者的觉察, 它们有必要摆在一起进行对照, 就象一张美丽标致的脸, 若在它旁边放一张丑陋畸形的脸, 就会越发清楚。 在我研究出于我爱的控制爱期间, 我蒙允许觉察到, 这爱位居地狱之首, 因此是处于最深地狱者所体验的爱; 出于用之爱的控制爱位居天堂之首, 因此是处于最高天堂者所体验的爱。
出于我爱的控制爱位居地狱之首, 是因为出于我爱控制就是出于人的自我控制, 而人的自我生来全然是恶, 邪恶本身与主势不两立。 结果, 人越是进入那恶, 就越是否认主和教会圣事, 越是敬拜自己和大自然。 我请求拥有那恶的人, 务必将它从自己身上纠察出来, 然后就会看见它。 这爱还有这一性质, 即假如放松检查, 任其恣意妄为, 它会一步一步向前冲, 直到发展到极致。 即便如此, 它仍未有停下来的意思, 但是, 若没了进一步向前的可能, 它会感觉悲痛, 满腹牢骚。
在政客身上, 这爱攀升得如此之高, 以至于他们想作国王和皇帝, 如有可能, 还想统治世间万物, 被冠以王中之王, 帝中之帝的头衔。 而在神职人员身上, 这爱同样上升到想要成为神的地步, 如有可能, 还想统治天堂万物, 获得众神之神的头衔。 下文将看到, 这两类人内心都不承认神。 但另一方面, 那些出于用之爱想要控制之人, 并不想通过自己操控, 而只想通过主, 因为用之爱来自主, 就是主自己。 这类人将高官厚禄仅仅看作发挥作用的手段, 他们将用远置于高官厚禄之上, 而其他人则将高官厚禄远置于用之下。
当我深思到这一点时, 主通过一个天人向我发话说: “你必看见, 必亲眼见证地狱之爱的样子。 ”然后左边的地面突然裂开了, 我看见一个魔鬼从地狱上来, 头上戴着一顶方帽, 拉到前额, 直到眼睛上, 满脸脓包, 就象发了高烧一样, 眼神凶狠, 胸口向外高高突起; 嘴里喷出似火炉冒出的烟雾; 他的腰着了火; 他没有脚, 取而代之的是没有肉的脚踝; 全身散发出一股恶臭污秽的热气。 一看见他, 我吓得毛骨悚然, 大声叫喊: “不要靠近; 告诉我你从哪里来? ”
他用刺耳的声音回答说: “我来自下面的世界, 住在一个两百人的社群里, 这社群是所有社群中最高贵的。 在那里, 我们所有人都是帝中之帝, 王中之王, 公爵中的公爵, 王子中的王子。 没有一个人只是一个皇帝, 或一个国王, 公爵, 王子。 我们坐在权力的宝座上, 从那里向全世界及更远的地方发号施令。 ”我对他说: “难道你不明白, 你们妄想的显赫头衔使你们发疯了吗? ”“你怎么能说出这样的话? ”他回答道, “这正是我们看上去的样子, 我们的同伴也承认这一点。 ”听到这里, 我不想再说什么, 他已经疯了, 因为他的妄想导致了他的疯狂。 我蒙允许知道, 这魔鬼在世时只是某户人家的管家。 那时他在灵里如此傲慢, 以至于与自己相比, 他藐视全人类, 并沉迷于这种幻想, 即他比国王, 甚至皇帝还要高贵。 这种骄傲使得他否认神的存在, 认为一切教会圣事皆毫无价值, 只是被用来糊弄愚蠢大众。 最后, 我问他: “你们这两百人互相吹捧要到几时呢? ”他说: “永远; 但我们当中那些因否认我们的显赫头衔而折磨他人者都沉到下面去了。 因为我们被允许自夸, 但不能伤害任何人。 ”我又问: “你知道那些沉没者的命运吗? ”他说他们下到某个监牢, 在那里被称为低贱中的低贱, 是最低贱的, 并被迫作苦役。 然后我对该魔鬼说: “小心点, 免得你也沉下去。 ”
此后, 地面又裂开了, 但这次是右边, 我看见另一个魔鬼升上来, 他头上戴着一种主教法冠, 这法冠缠绕着蛇一样的线圈, 它的头部从顶端翘起。 他的脸从前额到下巴长满大麻风, 两只手也是; 他的腰部裸露, 象煤烟一样黑, 发出仿佛从壁炉透出的暗火; 而他的脚踝就象两条毒蛇。 第一个魔鬼一看到他, 就跪下来敬拜。 我问他为什么。 他说: “他是天地之神, 全能者。 ”然后我问另一个魔鬼: “你对此有何话说? ”他回答: “我能说什么呢? 我拥有天堂和地狱的所有权柄; 所有灵魂的命运都掌握在我手里。 ”我再问: “这一位是帝中之帝, 他怎能如此降尊屈卑, 你怎能接受他的敬拜? ”他回答说: “他依然是我的仆人; 在神眼里, 皇帝算什么? 我右手握有逐出教会的雷霆。 ”
然后我对他说: “你怎会如此疯狂? 你在世时只不过是一个普通的牧师; 因为你幻想有几把钥匙, 从而拥有捆绑和释放的权柄, 所以你激动你的灵到了这种疯狂的地步, 致使你现在以为你是神自己。 ”听到这番话, 他勃然大怒, 赌咒发誓说他就是神, 主在天堂没有任何权柄, “因为”, 他说: “祂已把它全交到我们手上了。 只要我们一发令, 天堂和地狱就得乖乖服从。 如果我们把人发送到地狱, 魔鬼就会即刻接受他, 就象天人接受我们发送到天堂的人一样。 ”我继续问他: “你们的社群有多少人? ”他说: “三百人; 我们全都是神, 但我是众神之神。 ”
之后, 这二者脚下的地裂开了, 他们深深沉到自己的地狱中。 我蒙允许看到, 他们的地狱下面就是囚犯工厂, 伤害他人者皆沦落至此。 因为凡在地狱者皆被允许保持自己的妄想, 并以此为荣耀, 但不能伤害他人。 这就是地狱里的人, 因为那时人在灵里, 灵与身体分离后, 会享有完全的自由, 以根据其情感和由此产生的思维行动。
后来我又蒙允许观察他们的地狱。 帝中之帝和王中之王所在的地狱充满污秽, 他们自己看似各种野兽, 有一双愤恨的眼睛。 我也观察了另一个地狱, 即众神与众神之神所在之地, 在该地狱会看到被称为夜枭和鸮鸟的不祥夜鸟在他们周围飞舞。 他们的妄想在我眼前呈现出这样的图像。 这些经历清楚表明政客和神职人员的我爱, 其各自性质如何。 后者想要成为神, 而前者想要成为皇帝。 假如让这些爱放任自流, 它们就会渴望这一切, 并执着追求之。
看完这些可悲与恐怖的景象后, 我环顾四周, 见不远处有两位天人正在交谈。 一位身穿羊毛长袍, 长袍发出耀眼的紫光, 里面罩一件闪光的亚麻短衣; 另一位同样身穿猩红色的衣服, 头戴主教冠冕, 冠冕右边镶嵌着几颗红宝石。 我上前向他们致安, 恭敬地问道: “你们为何在这下面? ”他们回答说: “遵照主的吩咐, 我们从天堂被派到这里, 是要和你谈谈关于那些出于用之爱想要控制之人的幸福状态。 我们是主的敬拜者; 我是一个社群的君主, 他是社群的大祭司。 ”
君主说, 他是社群的仆人, 因为他通过发挥作用而服务于它。 另一个则说, 他是那里的教会牧师, 因为他为服务他们的灵魂而供职于圣事。 他们二人恒常喜悦, 这喜悦源自主赐给他们的永恒快乐。 他们说, 在他们的社群, 一切皆灿烂辉煌, 因黄金与宝石而光芒万丈, 因宫殿与花园而壮丽辉煌。 他说: “这是因为我们控制他人的爱并非源自我爱, 而是源自发挥作用之爱。 由于这爱出自主, 所以天堂的一切善用皆灿烂辉煌。 并且由于我们社群的所有人都分享这爱, 所以那里的大气由于它采自太阳火焰的光而显得金光灿灿, 这火焰对应于那爱。 ”
当他们说这番话时, 环绕他们的这类气场显为可见, 我能从中闻到一种馨香, 正如我告诉他们的那样。 我请求他们就刚才所说的发挥作用之爱再说点什么。 因此, 他们继续说: “我们所享有的头衔是我们曾追求的东西, 但仅仅为了能更充分地发挥作用, 并更广泛地推广它们。 我们也有很多荣誉, 但我们接受它们不是为了我们自己, 而是为了社群的利益。 我们那些属普通民众的兄弟和同伴, 几乎意识不到我们头衔的荣誉并不在我们里面, 或我们所发挥的作用并非出自我们。 但我们能分辩清楚; 我们觉得头衔荣誉在我们之外, 它们就象我们所穿的衣服一样。 但我们所发挥的作用来自我们里面发挥作用之爱, 这爱来自主, 它从通过用而与他人的分享中得其幸福。 我们凭经验知道, 我们出于用之爱发挥作用到什么程度, 那爱, 及其使分享得以实现的智慧就会增长到什么程度。 但我们把用留给自己, 不与他们分享到什么程度, 我们的幸福就会远离到什么程度。 然后用就象食物被滞留在胃里, 而不是被输送至全身以滋养它及其各个部位; 但若它仍不消化, 就会引起恶心呕吐。 总之, 整个天堂从头至尾无非是用的容器。 除了实际的爱邻行为, 用还能是什么? 除了此爱, 还有什么能将天堂凝聚起来? ”
听到这里, 我问道: “人如何分清他是出于我爱发挥作用还是出于用之爱发挥作用? 每个人, 无论好坏, 都能发挥作用, 并且这样做也是出于某种爱。 假如世上有一个仅由魔鬼组成的社群, 还有一个仅由天人组成的社群, 在我看来, 被我爱之火和自我荣耀的显赫驱使的魔鬼社群所发挥的作用, 会与天人社群的一样多。 那么谁能知道这些用源自哪种爱和源头呢? ”对此, 两位天人是这样回答的: “魔鬼为了自己及其名声发挥作用, 以便他们可以名利双收。 但天人发挥作用不是出于这些原因, 而是出于用之爱, 为了用的缘故。 没人能区分这两类用, 但主能。 凡信主并避恶如罪者, 皆出于主发挥作用。 但是, 凡不信主且不避恶如罪者, 皆出于自己且为了自己发挥作用。 这就是魔鬼和天人所发挥作用之间的区别。 ”说完这番话, 这两位天人离开了; 从远处看, 他们象以利亚一样乘上烈火战车, 被送往自己的天堂。
661. To these points I will add the following memorable occurrences.
The first memorable occurrence. In the upper northern region of the spiritual world, on the eastern side of that region, there are separate places of instruction for teenagers, for young adults, for adults, and also for old people. All who die as little children and are brought up in heaven are taken to these places; so are all new arrivals from the physical world who want to learn about heaven and hell.
This area is situated toward the east so that all the people there can be instructed by an inflow from the Lord, since the Lord is the east because he is in the sun there. That sun is pure love from him. The heat from that sun, in its essence, is love; and the light from that sun, in its essence, is wisdom. Through that sun the Lord inspires the people who are there with this love and wisdom. The more they love becoming wise, the more receptive they are; and the more receptive they are, the more inspired they become.
After their period of instruction is over, those who have developed an understanding are called disciples of the Lord and are sent forth from there. They are sent first to the west. Those who do not stay in the west then move on to the south. Some move on through the south to the east and become part of communities there, where their homes will be.
[2] On one occasion, when I was meditating on heaven and hell, I felt a growing desire to have a universal concept of the state of each one, because I know that someone with a universal understanding can make sense of details, because the details are part of that overall picture.
With this desire in my heart, I turned my attention toward the area on the eastern side of the northern region where those places of instruction are. A way there then opened up to me, and I went along it. I came into one college, where there were young adults. I went up to the senior faculty who taught there and asked them whether they know what the universal characteristics of heaven are, and what the universal characteristics of hell are.
They replied that they know very little about them, but added, "If we look toward the Lord in the east, we will be enlightened and will know the answer. "
[3] They did so and said, "There are three universal characteristics of hell. They are the complete opposites of the universal characteristics of heaven. The universal characteristics of hell are the following three loves: a love for power that comes from loving ourselves; a love for possessing other people's wealth that comes from loving the world; and promiscuous love. The universal characteristics of heaven are the following three loves, which are the opposites of the loves just mentioned: a love for power that comes from loving to be useful; a love for possessing worldly wealth that comes from loving to do useful things with it; and true marriage love. "
Once they had said that and I had wished them peace, I left there and went home.
When I was home again, a voice from heaven said to me, "Reflect on these three universal characteristics above and the three below, and then we will see them on your hand. "
They said "on your hand" because everything that we reflect on with our intellect appears before the angels as if it was written on our hands. This is why the Book of Revelation says that people would receive a mark on their forehead or on their hand (Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4).
[4] I then engaged in a reflection on the first universal love in hell, the love for power that comes from loving ourselves. Then I considered the universal love in heaven that is its opposite, the love for power that comes from loving to be useful. I was not allowed to consider the one love without considering the other, because the intellect does not accurately perceive the one love in the absence of the other, since they are opposites. Therefore in order to perceive them both, they have to be set side by side, one against the other. We have more appreciation for the beauty and symmetry of a nice face when we see it next to an ugly, misshapen face.
As I considered the love for power that comes from loving ourselves, I was given an awareness that this is the most profoundly hellish love and that it exists among those who are in the lowest hell. I could also see that a love for power that comes from loving to be useful is the most profoundly heavenly love and that it exists among those who are in the highest heaven.
[5] A love for power that comes from loving ourselves is profoundly hellish because of its origin: it arises from self-centeredness. From birth the self is utterly evil, and what is utterly evil is the complete opposite of the Lord. As a result, the further people progress into that evil love for power, the more they deny God and the holy teachings of the church and instead worship themselves and the material world. If you are involved in this evil, I urge you to examine it in yourself; you will see what I mean.
It is also in the nature of this love that the more the reins on it are let out, which happens when impossibilities no longer block the way, the more it rushes on, one step after another, all the way to the top. It does not end there, either; if there is no higher step, it groans with pain.
[6] In politicians this kind of love rises to the point where they want to be monarchs and emperors. If they could, they would rule over all parts of the world and would be called kings of kings and emperors of emperors. The same kind of love in the clergy rises to the point where they want to be gods. If they could, they would rule over all parts of heaven and would be called gods. (Politicians and clergy of this type do not acknowledge any God at heart, as will be seen in what follows.)
On the other hand, people who want to be in charge because they love being useful actually want the Lord rather than themselves to be in charge, since the love of being useful comes from the Lord and is in fact the Lord himself. People of this type regard high positions as nothing more than means of being useful. They value being useful far more than they value the positions themselves. The people we discussed a moment ago value high positions far more than they value being useful.
[7] As I was meditating on these things, an angel said to me on behalf of the Lord, "In a moment you will see, and be visually convinced of, the hellish nature of that love. "
Then suddenly the ground to the left opened up and I saw a devil rising up from hell. He had a square hat on his head that was pressed down over his forehead to his eyes. His face was covered with a pustular rash as if he had a high fever. His eyes were fierce. His chest protruded misshapenly. He was belching smoke from his mouth as if he was a furnace. His groin was visibly on fire. Where his feet should have been, he had just ankles with bones but no flesh. His body gave off a rotten, filthy heat.
When I saw him I was terrified and shouted to him, "Stay where you are! But tell me, where are you from?"
"I am from below," he answered in a rasping voice. "I live there in a community of two hundred people. It is the single most important community of all. All of us there are emperors of emperors, kings of kings, dukes of dukes, and princes of princes. No one there is just an ordinary emperor, king, duke, or prince. We sit there on thrones above thrones and issue commands to the entire universe and beyond. "
"Are you aware," I asked him, "that your fantasy about ruling the world has made you insane?"
"How can you say such a thing?" he replied. "This is exactly who we see we are, and our colleagues acknowledge it too. "
[8] When I heard that, I no longer wanted to tell him, "You are insane," because his fantasy actually had driven him insane.
Then I was given the knowledge that back when this devil was alive in the world, he was only a caretaker in someone's house; but he had come into such pride in his spirit that he despised the entire human race in comparison with himself. He had also indulged in the fantasy that he was more than a king, and even more than an emperor. That pride had led him to deny God and to consider all the holy teachings of the church as worthless for him, although he did think they had some value for the stupid masses.
Eventually I asked him, "The two hundred of you there, how long are you going to keep up this boasting to each other?"
"Forever," he said. "Although those among us who torture anyone for denying their utter superiority do sink down. We are allowed to boast, but not to harm anyone. "
"Do you know," I asked him, "what happens to the people who sink down?"
"They sink into a kind of prison," he said, "where they are called the lowest of the low, and they have to do work. "
"Take care that you yourself do not sink down," I told him.
[9] After that the ground opened again, this time over to the right. I saw another devil rising up who had something like a bishop's miter on his head that had an imitation snake coiled around it with a menacing head protruding from the top. The skin of this devil's face was covered in leprous lesions from his forehead to his chin, as was the skin on both his hands. His genitals were exposed and were as black as soot, although a burning glow emanated from within them like dark coals in a fireplace. His ankles looked like a pair of vipers.
As soon as the first devil saw him, he got down on his knees and worshiped him.
I asked him why he did that.
"He is the God of heaven and earth," he said, "and he is omnipotent!"
"What do you say to that?" I asked the second devil.
"What should I say?" he replied. "I do have all power over heaven and hell, and the fate of all souls is in my hand. "
I asked the second devil, "How can someone who is an emperor of emperors bow down like that before you, and how can you accept his adoration?"
"He is my servant," he replied. "What is an emperor compared to God? In my right hand I carry the thunderbolt of excommunication. "
[10] Then I said to this second devil, "How can you be this insane? In the world you were only a low-level clergyman. Because you suffered from the fantasy that you had been given the keys, and therefore the power of binding and loosing, you let your spirit get carried away to such a height of madness that you now believe you are God himself. "
Outraged at this, he swore and said, "I am God! The Lord no longer has any power in heaven because he transferred it all to us. We need only to say a word and heaven and hell worshipfully obey us. If we send people to hell, the devils immediately accept them. The angels respond the same way to the people we send to heaven. "
"How many are there," I asked, "in your community?"
"Three hundred," he said. "We are all gods, but I am the god of gods. "
[11] Then the ground opened beneath them both and they sank deep down into their hells.
I was allowed to see that beneath their hells there are workhouses. The devils that cause harm to others fall down into them. All who are in hell are allowed to have their fantasy and even to boast about it, but they are not allowed to harm others.
Why do the people there act this way? Because they are in the spirit, and once the spirit has been separated from its body, it comes into complete freedom to act according to its own feelings and the thoughts they give rise to.
[12] Afterward, I was given a chance to inspect their hells. The hell where there were emperors of emperors and kings of kings was full of filth of every kind. The devils there looked like predatory animals of various kinds, with savage looks in their eyes.
The other hell, where there were gods and the god of gods, was similar. In it, the dreadful night birds mentioned in the Word [Isaiah 13:21-22; 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39] appeared to be flying around them. This is how the images of their fantasies looked to me.
These experiences made clear to me the form that a political type of love for ourselves takes and the form that an ecclesiastical type of it takes. The former induces people to want to be emperors, and the latter, to want to be gods. This is what they want and what they imagine themselves to be, to the extent that the reins on these loves are let out.
[13] After witnessing these depressing and distressing sights, I looked around and noticed two angels, who were standing not far from me, talking to each other. One was wearing a woolen robe of a radiant, flaming red, over a tunic of shining linen. The other was similarly dressed, but in scarlet, and with a miter that had rubies set in it on the right side.
I went up to them and greeted them by wishing them peace. I respectfully asked them, "Why are you down here?"
"We came down from heaven," they replied, "because we received a command from the Lord to tell you about the blissful outcome that awaits people who want to be in charge because they love being useful.
"We both worship the Lord. I am the leader of our community. The other angel here is the highest ranking priest in our community. "
The leader then said that he was a servant of his community, in that he served it by doing useful things for it. The other angel said that he was a minister to the church there, in that by serving the members of the community he was administering holy things that were useful for their souls. They both said that they experienced lasting joys that came from an eternal happiness they felt from the Lord.
"Our community is gleaming and magnificent in every way," they said. "All the gold and precious stones make it gleam. The mansions and parks make it magnificent. Why? We love being in charge because we love being useful, not because we love ourselves. Love for being useful comes from the Lord. Because of the origin they have, all the good and useful things in the heavens have a gleam and a radiance to them. Since this is the type of love that all the members of our community have, the very atmosphere there looks golden, because the light there comes from the warm blaze of the sun, and that warm blaze corresponds to this love of ours. "
[14] When they said that, I noticed a similar atmosphere around them; it smelled beautifully fragrant. I mentioned that to them, and also asked that they say some more about what it is to love being useful.
They went on to say, "We did indeed aspire to the high positions we now hold, but for the sole purpose of being more fully useful and expanding and broadening that usefulness. We are also inundated with honors, and we accept them not for our own sake but for the good of the community. Our friends and companions who make up the wider population of the community hardly realize that the honors that go along with the high positions we hold are not actually ours, or that the useful things we do are not coming from us. But we know. We can actually sense that the honors that accompany these high positions are outside of us. They are like clothing that has been put on us. The useful things we do, though, come from a love for those useful things that is planted in us by the Lord. This love finds its bliss in the shared experiences with others that happen in the course of those useful activities. We know from experience that as we carry out the useful activities we love, our love for them grows, and along with that love comes wisdom about how to involve others. If we hold this usefulness back and do not share it with others, our bliss disappears. Then that plan to be useful becomes like food lodged in our stomach that is not broken down and shared to nourish the body and all its parts but remains undigested and causes nausea.
"Briefly put, heaven in its entirety is nothing other than a framework to contain usefulness of every kind, from the highest to the lowest. What is usefulness if it is not love for our neighbor in action? What else holds the heavens together but that love?"
[15] "How can people know," I asked, "whether they are being useful because they love themselves or because they love being useful? Whether we are good or evil, we all do useful things, and we do useful things because of some love or other. Let's imagine that there is a community in the world that consists of nothing but devils and another community that consists of nothing but angels. I think that the devils would do just as many useful things for their community as the angels would do for theirs, because the devils are on fire with self-love and seek the splendor of their own glory. Who can tell, then, what love inspires our useful actions?"
The two angels answered my question as follows: "Devils do useful things for their own sake and for the sake of their reputation, either to gain a position of greater honor or to make more money. These are not the reasons why angels do useful things, however; angels do useful things because they are useful things to do and because the angels love doing them. People are unable to tell these types of usefulness apart, but the Lord knows the difference. All who believe in the Lord and abstain from evils because they are sins do useful things in response to the Lord. All who do not believe in the Lord and do not abstain from evils because they are sins do useful things in response to themselves and for their own sake. This is the difference between the useful things that devils do and the useful things that angels do. "
After saying that, the angels went away. From a distance they looked like they were riding in a chariot of fire like Elijah and were carried back up to their heaven.
661. 1 At this point I shall insert the following accounts of experiences, of which this is the first.
In the higher northern region of the spiritual world near to the east there are places of instruction for boys. (There are also places for youths, men and old men.) All who died in childhood are sent to these places and are brought up in heaven. Likewise all who are recent arrivals from the world, and want to know about heaven and hell, are sent there. The area is close to the east, so that all may be taught by the inflow from the Lord. For the Lord is the east, being in the sun there, which is undiluted love coming from Him. Hence the heat from that sun is in essence love, and the light from it is in essence wisdom. These are breathed into them by the Lord from that sun; the degree to which this happens is dependent upon their ability to receive it, and this is dependent on their love for being wise. After periods of instruction those who have become intelligent are discharged from there, and these are called the Lord's disciples. On being discharged they go first to the west, and those who do not remain there proceed to the south, some passing through the south to the east. They are admitted to communities where they will be given a home.
[2] Once when I was reflecting about heaven and hell, I began to wish I had a general knowledge of the state of each. I knew that anyone with a general knowledge can afterwards grasp the particulars, since these are contained in the general view, like parts in the whole. So under the influence of that desire I looked towards that region in the north bordering on the east, where the places of instruction were, and went there by a road which was then opened up for me. I went into one college where there were young men, and approaching the senior teachers who were instructing them, I asked whether they knew any general facts about heaven and hell.
They replied that they only knew a little; 'but,' they said, 'if we look eastwards towards the Lord, we shall be enlightened and then shall know.'
[3] They did so, and said: 'There are three general facts about hell, but those about hell are diametrically opposed to those about heaven. The general facts about hell are the three loves: the love of controlling as the result of self-love, the love of possessing other people's goods as a result of love of the world, and scortatory 2 love. The general facts about heaven are the opposite three loves: the love of controlling as the result of being of service, the love of possessing worldly goods as the result of the love of being of service by their means, and truly conjugial love.'
After this conversation I wished them peace, and leaving them went back home. When I was at home, I was told from heaven: 'Examine those three general facts above and below, and then we shall see them on your hand.' They said 'on your hand' because everything a person examines with his understanding appears to the angels as if written on his hands. That is why it is said in Revelation that they had a mark on their forehead and on their hand (Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4).
[4] After this I examined the first general love of hell, the love of controlling as the result of self-love, and then the general love of heaven which is its opposite, the love of controlling as the result of the love of being of service. I was not allowed to examine one love without the other, because the understanding does not perceive one love without the other, since they are opposites. So in order to perceive either, they need to be set opposite, each facing the other. For a pretty or beautiful face shines out when confronted by its ugly and deformed opposite. When I discussed the love of controlling as the result of self-love, I was allowed to perceive that this love is hellish above all others, and so is experienced by those who are in the deepest hell; and the love of controlling as the result of the love of being of service is heavenly above all others, and is experienced by those who are in the highest heaven.
[5] The reason why the love of controlling others as the result of self-love is hellish above all others is that controlling as the result of self-love comes from the self (proprium), and a person's self is from birth sheer evil, and sheer evil is diametrically opposed to the Lord. The more, therefore, these people advance into that evil, the more they deny God and the holy things of the church, worshipping themselves and Nature. I beg those who are possessed by that evil to seek it out in themselves, and then they will see it.
This love is also such that in so far as checks are relaxed, something that happens provided there is no insuperable obstacle, it rushes from one stage to the next until it reaches its acme. Nor does it even stop there, but grieves and groans, if there is no further stage for it to reach.
[6] In the case of politicians this love climbs so high that they want to be kings and emperors, and control, if possible, everything in the world, earning the title of king of kings and emperor of emperors. In the case of clergy the same love rises to the point that they want to be gods and, so far as possible, to control everything in heaven, acquiring the title god of gods 3 . It will be seen in what follows that both these groups of people do not at heart acknowledge any God. On the other hand, those who want to exercise control from a love of being of service are unwilling to exercise control from themselves, wanting it to be from the Lord, since the love of being of service is from the Lord, and is the Lord Himself. These people look upon high offices as nothing but means to be of service. They regard such services as far superior to high office, but the others regard high office as far superior to services.
[7] When I had reached this point in my reflexion, word was sent to me by the Lord through an angel who said: 'Now you shall see and receive visual proof of what that hellish love is like.'
The ground suddenly opened on the left, and I saw a devil coming up from hell. On his head he had a square hat pulled down over his forehead to the eyes, a face covered in spots like those of a raging fever, glowering eyes, and a chest swollen up in the shape of a lozenge 4 . He belched smoke from his mouth like a furnace, his loins were plainly on fire, and in place of feet he had bony ankles devoid of flesh. His body gave off a heat that smelt rotten and filthy. I was terrified by this apparition, and called out: 'Don't come closer. Tell me where you are from.'
'I am from the underworld,' he replied in a hoarse voice, 'and I belong with two hundred others to a community which is the most exalted of all. All of us there are emperors of emperors, kings of kings, dukes of dukes, princes of princes. There is no one there who is merely an emperor, king, duke or prince. There we sit on thrones of thrones, from where we despatch our commands through all the world, and beyond.'
'Don't you See,' I said to him, 'that your imagined pre-eminence has driven you mad?'
'How can you say such a thing,' he replied, 'when this is exactly what we seem to ourselves to be and we are acknowledged by our companions as Such?'
[8] On hearing this I was unwilling to go on telling him he was mad, because his madness was the result of his imagination. I was allowed to know that when that devil lived in the world he had been nothing but the steward of a household. He had then been so haughty in spirit that he despised the whole human race compared with himself, and indulged in the fancy that he was of higher rank than the king or even the emperor. This pride made him deny the existence of God and treat all the holy things of the church as of no value to him, but merely something for the unintelligent populace.
At length I asked him: 'How long are the two hundred of you there going to go on boasting to one another?'
'For ever,' he said. 'But those of us who torture others for denying our pre-eminence sink down below. For we are allowed to boast, but not to harm anyone.'
'Do you know,' I went on to ask, 'what awaits those who sink down below?' He said that they sink into a sort of prison, where they are called lower than the low, the lowliest of all, and there they work. Then I told the devil to take care that he too did not sink down.
[9] After this the ground opened again, but this time on the right, and I saw another devil rising up. He had on his head a sort of mitre with coils wrapped round it like a snake's, but with its peak jutting out. His face was leprous from forehead to chin, and so were both hands. His loins were bare and black as soot with a dull glow of fire as if from a hearth showing through. His ankles were like two vipers.
The first devil on seeing him went down on his knees and worshipped him. I asked him why.
'He is the God', he answered, 'of heaven and earth, and is omnipotent.'
So I asked the other devil: 'What have you got to say to this?'
'What can I say?' he replied. 'I have all power over heaven and hell; the fate of all souls is in my hand.'
'How can he,' I asked again, 'who is emperor of emperors so humble himself, and how can you accept his worship?'
'He is none the less my Servant,' he replied. 'What is an emperor in the sight of God? I hold in my right hand the thunderbolt of excommunication.'
[10] Then I said to him: 'How can you be so crazy? In the world you were only an ordinary clergyman; and because you laboured under the delusion that you had the keys, and so the power to bind and to release, you let your spirit be so far carried away that you have now reached such a pitch of madness as to make you believe that you are God Himself.'
He was annoyed at this and swore that he was, and that the Lord had no power in heaven; 'because,' he said, 'He has transferred it all to us. We need only issue orders, and heaven and hell respectfully obey us. If we send anyone to hell, the devils immediately accept him; and so do the angels when we send anyone to heaven.'
'How many,' I went on to ask, 'are there of you in your community?'
'Three hundred,' he said, 'and all of us are gods; but I am the god of gods.'
[11] After this the ground opened beneath the feet of both, and they sank deep down to their own hells. I was allowed to see, and beneath their hells were prison workshops, into which any who harm others can fall. For everyone in hell is allowed to keep his delusion and to boast about it, but not to do anyone else harm. The reason why people there are like this is that a person is then in his spirit, and the spirit, when it has been separated from the body, enjoys complete freedom to act in accordance with its affections and the thoughts they give rise to.
[12] Later I was allowed to look into their hells. The hell, where the emperors of emperors and kings of kings were, was full of all kinds of filth. They themselves looked like various wild beasts with glowering eyes. It was much the same in the other hell, where the gods and the god of gods were. In that hell were to be seen the ill-omened night birds called ochim and iyim 5 flying around them. Their delusions produced images like this to my sight.
These experiences made it plain what the self-love of politicians and ecclesiastics is like. The latter want to be gods, the former emperors. In so far as the restraints placed on these loves are relaxed, they want this and strive to achieve this.
[13] After seeing these sad and horrifying sights I looked around and saw two angels standing not far from me in conversation. One was dressed in a woollen robe gleaming with flaming purple with a tunic of glistening linen underneath. The other was similarly dressed in red with a mitre which had a few rubies mounted on the right side. I went up to them and greeted them with the word 'peace'. I asked respectfully: 'Why are you down here?'
'We have travelled down here from heaven,' they replied, 'in response to the Lord's instruction that we were to talk to you about the blessed state of those who want to control others because they love performing services. We are worshippers of the Lord; I am the prince of our community, and the other is the chief priest in it.'
The prince said that he was the servant of his community, since he served it by performing services. The other one said that he was the minister of the church there, since his service to them was the administration of holy rites for the service of their souls. They both enjoyed perpetual joys arising from the everlasting happiness the Lord bestows on them. They said that everything in their community was splendid and magnificent, gleaming with gold and precious stones, and magnificent in its palaces and parks. 'The reason,' he said, 'is that our love of controlling others does not arise from self-love, but from the love of performing services. Since this love comes from the Lord, all good services in heaven sparkle and gleam. And since all in our community share this love, the atmosphere there appears golden as the result of the light it receives from the sun's flame. It is this flame-coloured sunlight which corresponds to that love.'
[14] When they said this an atmosphere of this kind became visible around them; and I smelt an aroma from it, as I also told them. I begged them to add a little more to what they had said about the love of performing services. So they went on to say: 'The ranks we enjoy are something we sought, but for no other purpose than to perform services more fully and to spread them over a wider range. We also have honours heaped on us, and we accept them, not for ourselves, but for the good of the community. Our brethren and colleagues who belong to the common people there are hardly aware that the honours of our rank are not in us or that the services we perform do not come from us. But we can tell the difference; we feel that the honours of rank lie outside us, being like clothes in which we dress. But the services we perform come from the love of performing them which is within us coming from the Lord, and this love derives its blessedness by being shared with others by means of services performed. We know by experience that in so far as we perform services as a result of our love for them, so far does that love increase, and wisdom increases with it, as a result of which it is shared. But to the extent that we keep these services to ourselves and do not share them, to that extent our blessedness departs. Then the performing of services becomes like food stored in the stomach instead of being carried around to nourish the body and its parts; but if it remains undigested it causes nausea. In short, the whole of heaven is nothing but a container of services, from first to last. What is a service but the realisation in action of love for the neighbour? And what holds the heavens together but this love?'
[15] On hearing this I asked: 'How can anyone tell whether he is performing services out of self-love or out of a love of service? Everyone, good as well as wicked, performs services and does so at the bidding of some love. Suppose that in the world there were a community composed of none but devils, and another composed of none but angels. It is my opinion that the devils in their community, fired by self-love and resplendent in their self-esteem, would perform just as many services as the angels in their community. Who then can tell what is the love and the origin from which these services come?'
The two angels replied to this speech thus: 'Devils perform services for their own sakes and to get a reputation, so as to be promoted to honours, or to make a profit. But angels do not perform services for these reasons, but for the sake of the services and their love of being of service. No man can distinguish between those services, but the Lord can. Everyone who believes in the Lord and shuns evils as sins performs services at the Lord's bidding. But anyone who does not believe in the Lord, and does not shun evils as sins, performs services for himself and for his own sake. This is the difference between services performed by devils and those performed by angels.'
After saying this the two angels went away; and from a distance they appeared to be travelling in a chariot of fire like Elijah, until they were taken up into their own heaven.
Footnotes:
1. This passage is repeated from Conjugial Love 261-266.
2. A technical term used to mean the love of adultery not regarded as a sin, the opposite of conjugial or marriage love; see Conjugial Love 423.
3. The last two words are added from the parallel passage in Conjugial Love 262-263.
4. It is impossible to be sure exactly what this phrase means.
5. Hebrew words apparently meaning 'howling creatures'.
661. To this I will add two Memorable Relations. First:
In the higher northern quarter near to the east in the spiritual world, there are places of instruction for boys, and for youths, and for men, and also for old men. All who die infants are sent to these places and educated in heaven; likewise all who are newcomers from the world and who wish to know about heaven and hell. This place is near the east, in order that all may be instructed by influx from the Lord; for the Lord is the east, because He is in the sun there, and the sun is pure love from Him; consequently the heat from that sun in its essence is love, and the light from it in its essence is wisdom; and these are inspired by the Lord from that sun into those who are instructed according to their ability to receive, and their ability to receive is according to their love of being wise. When their times of instruction are over, those who have become intelligent are sent away, and these are called disciples of the Lord. First, they are sent away to the west, and those who do not stay there go to the south, and some through the south to the east, and thus they are introduced into the societies where their abodes are to be.
[2] Once, when meditating upon heaven and hell, I began to wish for a universal knowledge of the state of each, knowing that one who knows universals is afterwards able to comprehend the particulars, because the latter are included in the former as parts in the whole. With this desire I looked toward that tract in the northern quarter near the east where the places of instruction were, and by a way then opened to me I went there, and entered into a college where there were young men. I went to the head teachers who were instructing them, and asked them whether they knew the universals relating to heaven and hell.
They said, "We have some little knowledge of them; but if we look toward the east to the Lord, we shall be enlightened and shall know."
[3] This they did, and then said, "The universals respecting hell are three, but they are diametrically opposite to the universals relating to heaven. The universals relating to hell are these three loves, the love of ruling from love of self; the love of possessing the goods of others from love of the world; and scortatory love. The universals relating to heaven opposed to these are the three loves, love of ruling from love of use; love of possessing the goods of the world from the love of being useful by means of them; and true marriage love."
When this had been said, after wishing them peace, I went away and returned home. And when I reached home, it was said to me out of heaven, "Examine those three universals that prevail above and below, and afterward we shall see them on your hand." They said "on your hand" because anything that a man examines with his understanding appears to the angels as if written on the hands; and this is why it is said in the Apocalypse that they received a mark on the forehead and on the hand (13:16; 14:9; 20:4).
[4] After this I examined the first universal love of hell, which was the love of ruling from love of self, and then the universal love of heaven corresponding thereto, which was the love of ruling from the love of uses; for I was not permitted to examine one love apart from the other because the understanding has no perception of one apart from the other, for they are opposites. In order therefore, that a perception of both may be obtained, they must be contrasted one with the other; as a beautiful and well-formed face is brought out more clearly by placing an ugly and deformed face beside it. While I was studying the love of ruling from love of self a perception was given me that this love is in the highest degree infernal, and therefore prevails with those who are in the deepest hell; and that the love of ruling from the love of uses is in the highest degree heavenly, and therefore prevails with those who are in the highest heaven.
[5] The love of ruling from the love of self is in the highest degree infernal, because ruling from love of self is ruling from what is one's own [proprium], and what is one's own is by birth evil itself, and evil itself is diametrically opposite to the Lord; consequently the more men enter into that evil the more they deny God and the holy things of the church, and worship self and nature. Let those, I pray, who are in that evil, examine themselves, and they will see. Moreover, this love is such that so far as loose rein is given it, which is done when no impossibility is in the way, it rushes on from step to step, and even to the most extreme; neither does it stop there, but if no further step is possible it grieves and groans.
[6] With politicians this love so exalts itself that they wish to be kings and emperors, and if possible to rule over all things in the world, and to be called kings of kings and emperors of emperors; while among ecclesiastics the same love so exalts itself that they even wish to be gods, and so far as possible to rule over all the things of heaven and to be called gods. That neither of these in heart acknowledge any God, will be seen in what follows. But on the other hand those who wish to rule from the love of uses, have no wish to rule from themselves but only from the Lord, since the love of uses is from the Lord and is the Lord Himself. Such regard dignities only as means of performing uses; which they place far above dignities, while the others place dignities far above uses.
[7] While I was meditating upon these things it was said to me through an angel from the Lord, "Now you shall see, and it shall be proved to you by sight what that infernal love is."
Then the earth suddenly opened on the left, and I saw a devil coming up out of hell having on his head a square cap pressed down over his forehead even to the eyes, a face covered with pustules like those of a burning fever, his eyes fierce, and his breast swollen out into great prominence; from his mouth he belched smoke as from a furnace; his loins were actually on fire; instead of feet he had ankle bones without flesh; and from his body there exhaled a foul smelling and unclean heat.
At the sight of him I was terrified, and cried out, "Do not come here; tell me where you are from."
He answered hoarsely: "I am from the lower regions, where I live in a society of two hundred, which is preeminent over all other societies. All of us there are emperors of emperors, kings of kings, dukes of dukes, and princes of princes; there is no one there who is merely an emperor, or merely a king, duke, or prince; we there sit on thrones of thrones, and send forth mandates therefrom to all the world and beyond."
I then said to him, "Do you not see that from your hallucination about preeminence you have become insane?"
He answered, "How can you talk so, since we both actually appear to ourselves to be such, and also are acknowledged to be such by our companions?"
[8] On hearing this, I did not care to say again, "You are insane," because he was so from hallucination. It was given me to know that this devil when he lived in the world, was merely the steward of a certain house; and that then he was so elated in spirit, that in comparison with himself he despised the whole human race, and cherished the hallucination that he was nobler than a king or even an emperor. Owing to this pride he had denied God, and regarded all the sacred things of the church as of no moment to him, but as something for stupid common people.
At length I asked him, "How long will you two hundred thus glory among yourselves?"
He said, "Forever; but those among us who torture others for denying our preeminence, sink down; for we are allowed to glory, but not to inflict evil upon anyone."
Again I asked, "Do you know the lot of those who sink down?"
He said that they sink down into a certain prison, where they are called viler than the vile or the vilest, and are compelled to labor.
I then said to him, "Take care then, lest you sink down also."
[9] After this the earth again opened, but at the right, and I saw another devil rising out, upon whose head was a kind of miter bound around as it were with the coils of a snake, with its head standing out from the top. His face was leprous from the forehead to the chin, as were both of his hands also; his loins were bare and as black as soot, while through the blackness a fire like that of a hearth gleamed duskily; his ankles were like two vipers.
When the former devil saw this one he threw himself upon his knees and worshiped him. I asked him why he did so.
He said, "He is the God of heaven and earth; He is omnipotent."
I then asked the other, "What do you say to that?"
He replied, "What shall I say? I have all power over heaven and hell; the fate of all souls is in my hand."
I asked further, "How can this one who is an emperor of emperors so humble himself, and how can you receive his worship?"
He answered, "He is still my servant; what is an emperor in the sight of God? The thunderbolt of excommunication is in my right hand."
[10] I then said to him, "How can you rave so? In the world you were merely an ecclesiastic; and because you labored under the hallucination that you had the keys, and therefore the power to bind and to loose, you have worked up your spirit to such a height of madness that you now believe that you are God Himself."
Being angry at this, be swore that he was God, and that the Lord had no power in heaven "because," he said, "He has transferred it all to us. We need but to command, and heaven and hell reverently obey; if we send anyone to hell the devils at once receive him, as the angels do anyone we send to heaven."
I asked him further, "How many are there in your society?"
He said, "Three hundred; and all of us there are gods, but I am the God of gods."
[11] After this the earth opened beneath the feet of them both, and they sank down deep into their hells; and I was permitted to see that beneath their hells were workhouses, into which those fell who did violence to others. For his own hallucination remains with everyone in hell, and also his glorying therein, but he is not permitted to do evil to another. Such are those in hell, because man is then in his spirit, and when the spirit has been separated from the body it enters into a state of full liberty to act according to its affections and the thoughts therefrom.
[12] After this I was permitted to look into the hells of those spirits; and the hell where the emperors of emperors and kings of kings were, was full of all uncleanness, and they appeared like wild beasts of various kinds with fierce eyes. I looked also into the other hell, where the gods and the God of gods were; and in this the terrible birds of night, called the ochim and ijim appeared, flying around them. Thus did the images of their hallucination appear to me.
From all this it was clear what the political love of self is and what the ecclesiastical love of self is, that the latter makes men wish to be gods and the former to be emperors; and this they wish for and strive after, so far as loose rein is given to those loves.
[13] After these sad and horrible sights, I looked around and saw two angels not far from me, conversing. One was clad in a woolen robe gleaming with a purple glow, with a tunic under it of shining linen; the other in like garments of a scarlet color, with a miter, on the right side of which some sparkling stones were set. I went to them, and with a salutation of peace, reverently asked, "Why are you here below?"
They replied, "We have been sent down here from heaven by the Lord's command to speak with you about the happy lot of those who desire to rule from the love of uses. We are worshipers of the Lord; I am the prince of a society, the other is its high priest."
And the prince said that he was the servant of his society, because he served it by performing uses; while the other said that he was a minister of the church there, because he served them by ministering sacred things for the use of their souls; and that they were both in unceasing joy from the eternal happiness that was in them from the Lord; also that all things in that society were resplendent and magnificent - resplendent with gold and precious stones, and magnificent with palaces and gardens. "This," he said, "is because our love of ruling is not from love of self, but from the love of uses; and as the love of uses is from the Lord, all good uses in the heavens are resplendent and refulgent; and because in our society we are all in that love, the atmosphere there appears golden on account of the light it derives from the flame of the sun, which flame corresponds to that love."
[14] At these words a like sphere appeared to me surrounding them, and a sense of something aromatic came from it, as I also told them, and I begged them to add something more to what they had said about the love of use. And they continued, "The dignities which we enjoy we indeed sought, but for the sole end of being more fully able to perform uses and to extend them more widely. Moreover, we are surrounded by honor, and we accept it not on our own account, but for the good of the society. For our brethren and companions there, who are of the common people, hardly know otherwise than that the honors of our rank reside in us, and thus that the uses we perform are from us. But we feel otherwise; we feel that the honors of our rank are outside of ourselves, and that they are like the garments with which we are clothed; while the uses we perform are from a love of uses that is within us from the Lord, and this love acquires its blessedness from a sharing with others by means of uses. And we know by experience that so far as we perform uses from a love of uses, that love increases, and with it the wisdom by which the sharing is effected; but so far as we retain the uses in ourselves, and do not share them, the blessedness perishes; and then use becomes like food retained in the stomach and not diffused throughout the body to nourish it and its various parts, but remains undigested and causes nausea. In a word all heaven is nothing but a containant of uses from things first to things last. What is use but the actual love of the neighbor? And what keeps the heavens together but this love?"
Having heard this, I asked, "How can anyone know whether he performs uses from love of self or from a love of uses? Every man, both good and bad, performs uses and performs them from some love. Suppose a society in the world consisting of devils only, and another consisting of angels only; and I am of the opinion that the devils in their society, moved by the fire of love of self and the splendor of their own glory, would perform as many uses as the angels in theirs. Who then can know from what love or from what origin uses proceed?"
To this the two angels replied, "Devils perform uses for the sake of themselves and their reputation, in order that they may be exalted to honors, or acquire wealth; but angels perform uses not for such reasons, but for the sake of the uses from love of uses. Man is unable to distinguish these two kinds of uses, but the Lord does. All who believe in the Lord and shun evils as sins, perform uses from the Lord; but all who do not believe in the Lord and do not shun evils as sins, perform uses from, themselves and for their own sake. This is the distinction between the uses performed by devils and those performed by angels."
When this had been said the two angels went away; and at a distance they appeared to be carried in a chariot of fire like Elijah and taken up to their heaven.
661. MEMORABILIA
To the above I shall add the following Memorabilia. The first is as follows. In the higher northern quarter near the east in the spiritual world, there are places of instruction for boys, some for youths, some for men and some for old men. All who have died in infancy are sent to these places, and are educated in heaven; so, too, are all new-comers from the world who desire knowledge respecting heaven and hell. This region is near the east in order that all may be instructed by influx from the Lord. For the Lord is the East, because He is in the Sun there, and this Sun is pure love from Him; therefore, the heat from this Sun in its essence is love, and the light from it in its essence is wisdom. This heat and light are infused into them by the Lord from this Sun, according to their reception of them, and their reception is according to their love of growing wise. After their periods of instruction, those who have become intelligent are sent out, and are called disciples of the Lord. They are sent out first to the west; and those who do not remain there, to the south, and some through the south into the east, and are introduced to the societies where their homes are to be.
[2] Once when meditating about heaven and hell I felt a desire for a universal form of knowledge concerning the state of each, being aware that he who is acquainted with universals may afterwards comprehend particulars, because particulars are contained in universals as parts in a whole. With this desire I looked towards that region in the northern quarter near the east where were the places of instruction; and by a way then opened for me, I went thither and entered one of the colleges, where there were young men. There I went to the head teachers who were giving instruction, and asked them whether they were acquainted with the universals concerning heaven and hell. They replied that they knew something of them, though not much; "But if we look," said they, "towards the east, we shall receive both enlightenment and knowledge."
[3] They did so and then said: "There are three universals of hell, but they are diametrically opposite to those of heaven. The universals of hell are these three loves: the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing the property of others from the love of the world, and scortatory love. The universals of heaven opposite to these are these three loves: the love of ruling from the love of use, the love of possessing worldly goods from the love of performing uses by means of them, and love truly conjugial." When they had said this I departed after paying my respects to them, and returned home. When there, a voice from heaven said to me: "Closely examine these three universals, and we shall then see them on your hand." The phrase "on the hand"" was used because whatever a man examines in his understanding appears to the angels as if inscribed on his hands. This is why it is said in the Revelation that they received a mark on the forehead and on the hand, Revelation 13:16; 14:9; 20:4.
[4] Thereupon I examined the first universal love of hell, namely, the love of ruling from the love of self, and afterwards the universal love of heaven corresponding to it, namely, the love of ruling from the love of uses. I was not allowed to examine the one without the other, because the understanding has no perception of one love without the other, for they are opposites. In order, therefore, that both may be perceived they must be placed in contrast, one against the other; just as a beautiful and handsome face is seen to advantage when an ugly and deformed one is placed in contrast with it. When I was considering the love of ruling from the love of self, it was granted me to see that this love was in the highest degree infernal, and consequently prevails with those who are in the deepest hell; and that the love of ruling from the love of uses is in the highest degree celestial, and consequently prevails with those who are in the highest heaven.
[5] The love of ruling from the love of self is in the highest degree infernal because to rule from the love of self is to rule from the proprium, and man's proprium is by birth evil itself, and evil itself is diametrically opposed to the Lord. Therefore, the deeper men advance in that evil, the more do they deny God and the holy things of the Church, and worship themselves and nature. I entreat those who are in this evil to examine it in themselves, and they will see. This love is such that, if it is unrestrained and no obstacle stands in its way, it rushes on from stage to stage even to the very highest. Even there it does not rest, and grieves and laments if further progress is denied it.
[6] With politicians this love mounts to such a degree that they desire to be kings and emperors; and, if possible, to have dominion over all things in the world, and to be styled king of kings, and emperor of emperors. With the clergy this same love increases till they desire to be gods; and if that were possible, to have dominion over all things in heaven, and to be styled gods. It will be seen in what follows that such men in their heart do not acknowledge any God. Those on the other hand who desire to rule from the love of uses do not desire to rule from themselves but from the Lord, since the love of uses is from the Lord, and is the Lord Himself. Such men regard dignities only as means for performing uses, which they place far above dignities; whereas the others place dignities far above uses.
[7] As I was meditating on these things, an angel from the Lord said to me, "You shall now see with your own eyes and be convinced what the nature of that infernal love is." Then suddenly the earth opened up on the left, and I saw a devil coming up out of hell, having on his head a four cornered cap pulled over his forehead down to his eyes. His face was covered with pimples, like those of a burning fever, his eyes were fierce and his breast puffed out and rotund. From his mouth he belched forth smoke like a furnace, and his loins were all afire; in place of feet his ankle bones devoid of flesh sufficed, and from his body there exhaled a foul and noisome heat. When I saw him I called out in terror, "Come no nearer; tell me where you come from." He replied in a raucous voice, "I am from the lower regions where I live in a society of two hundred, which is pre-eminent over all others. There we are all emperors of emperors, kings of kings, dukes of dukes, and princes of princes. No one there is merely an emperor, or king, duke or prince. We sit there on thrones above thrones, and send forth our mandates to all the world, and beyond." I then said to him, "Do you not perceive that you are insane, deluded by the obsession of pre-eminence?" He replied: "How can you say so, when we, without the shadow of a doubt, see and our associates acknowledge our supremacy?"
[8] On hearing this I refrained from insisting that he was insane, as he was obviously obsessed by his delusion; and I learned that this devil, when in the world had been only the steward in some family. Even then he had been so puffed up in spirit as to despise all men in comparison with himself, and had indulged the delusion that he was more worthy of honor than any king or emperor. In his pride he had denied God, and had considered all the holy things of the Church as of no concern to himself, but only as fit for the stupid multitude. At length I asked him, "How long do you two hundred there continue to glory thus among yourselves?" "For ever," he replied; "but those of us who torture others for denying this supremacy sink underground; for we are allowed to glory, but not to inflict injury upon any one." I asked again, "Do you know what befalls those who sink underground?" He said: "They sink down to a certain prison, where they are called viler than the vile, or the most vile, and there they are set to work." Then I said to him, "Take heed lest you too sink down."
[9] After this the earth opened up again, but towards the right, and I saw another devil rising up, who had on his head a kind of mitre, composed of folds like the coils of a snake whose head rose from the top. His face was leprous from the forehead to the chin, and so were both his hands. His loins were naked and black as smoke, through which fire as from a hearth darkly glowed, and his ankles were like two vipers. When the first devil saw him, he fell on his knees and worshiped him. I asked why he did so, and he replied: "He is the god of heaven and earth, and is omnipotent." I then asked the latter, "What do you say to this?" He answered, "What should I say? I have all power over heaven and hell, and the fate of all souls is in my hand." Again I asked, "How can he who is the emperor of emperors humble himself so, and how can you accept his worship?" He replied, "He is still my slave. What is an emperor in the sight of God? In my right hand is the thunderbolt of excommunication."
[10] Then I said to him: "How can you rave so? In the world you were only a canon; and because you labored under the delusion that you possessed the keys of heaven, and thus the power of binding and loosing, you have worked your spirit up to such a degree of madness that you now believe that you are God Himself." Thereupon, he indignantly swore that he was, and declared that the Lord had no power in heaven, "because," said he, "He has transferred it all to us. We have only to command, and heaven and hell reverently obey. If we send any one to hell, the devils immediately receive him; and so do the angels any one whom we send to heaven." I asked further, "How many are there in your society" He answered, "Three hundred; and all we there are gods, but I am the god of gods."
[11] Thereupon the earth opened under the feet of both, and they sank deep down into their own hells; and it was granted me to see that under their hells were work-houses into which those might be thrown who do mischief to others. For every one in hell is left to the enjoyment of his own delusion and his own vain-glory in it, but he is not allowed to injure another. The reason of this is that man is there in his spirit, and the spirit, when separated from the body, attains full liberty of acting according to his affections and his consequent thoughts.
[12] I was afterwards allowed to look into their hells; and the hell where the emperors of emperors and kings of kings were, was full of all uncleanness, and they themselves seemed like wild beasts of various kinds, with fierce looking eyes. It was the same in the other hell where were the gods and the god of gods. In it appeared the direful birds of night, called ochim and ijim, flying round about them; so appeared to me the images produced by their delusion. In this way was manifested the nature of political and ecclesiastical self-love; the former makes men wish to become emperors, and the latter to become gods; and they continue to aspire after what they wish as far as the reins are given to those loves.
[13] After I had seen these sad and dreadful things, I looked around and saw two angels in conversation, standing not far from me. One wore a woolen cloak resplendent in flaming purple, beneath which was a tunic of fine linen, gleaming white; and the other wore similar garments in scarlet, with a mitre on the right side of which were set some flame-colored jewels. I walked towards them and, greeting them with a salutation of peace, I reverently asked, "Why are you here below?" They replied, "We have come down from heaven to this place at the command of the Lord, to speak with you concerning the happy lot of those who wish to rule from the love of uses. We are worshipers of the Lord; I am a prince in my society, and my companion is high priest there."
The prince also said that he was the servant of his society, because he served it by performing uses. His companion said that he was a minister of the Church there, because in serving them he administered holy things for the uses of their souls; and that they both were in perpetual joys from the eternal happiness which was theirs from the Lord. They said that all things in that society were splendid and magnificent, resplendent with gold and precious stones, and magnificent with palaces and gardens. "This," he said, "is because our love of ruling is not from the love of self, but from the love of uses. As this love is from the Lord, all good uses in the heavens are resplendent and shine brightly; and as all in our society are in this love, the atmosphere there has a golden glow from the Sun's gleaming splendor, which corresponds to that love."
[14] At these words a golden sphere appeared to me to surround them, and from it a perceptible fragrance arose. I mentioned this to them, and begged them to say something more about the love of use. So they continued, and said: "The dignities we enjoy we indeed sought, but only that we might be the better able to perform uses, and thus extend our usefulness. We are also surrounded with honor, and we accept it, not for our own sake but for the good of the society. For our brethren and companions, who are drawn from the common people of the society, suppose that the honor of our dignities is in us, and consequently that the uses we perform are from ourselves. But we know otherwise; we are sensible that the honors attending our stations are outside ourselves, like garments with which we are clothed; but that the uses which we perform are from the love of them, which is within us from the Lord, and this love finds its blessedness from communication with others by means of uses. We know from experience that as far as we perform uses from the love of them, the love increases, and with the love, wisdom from which communication is made possible. On the other hand, as far as we keep uses within ourselves, and do not share them, the blessedness perishes. Then use becomes like food retained in the stomach, and as it is not diffused to act as nourishment for the body and its parts, it remains undigested, and causes sickness. In a word, heaven is comprised of nothing but uses, from first things to last. What is use but practical love of the neighbor? and what holds the heavens together but this love?"
Thereupon I asked, "How can any one know whether he performs uses from the love of self, or from the love of uses? Every man, whether good or bad, performs uses, and he does so from some love. Suppose a society in the world is composed of devils only, and another of angels only. I imagine that the devils in their society, fired by self-love and the splendor of vain-glory, would perform as many uses as the angels in theirs. Can any one know from what love and from what origin the several uses proceed?" To this the two angels replied: "Devils perform uses for the sake of themselves and for the sake of fame, that they may be promoted to honors, or acquire wealth. Angels, however, do not perform uses for those reasons, but for the sake of uses from the love of uses. Man cannot discern the true quality of those uses, but the Lord does. Every one who believes on the Lord, and shuns evils as sins, performs uses from the Lord; but every one who does not believe on the Lord, and who does not shun evils as sins, performs uses from self and for the sake of self. This is the difference between uses performed by devils, and those performed by angels." Having said this the two angels departed, and from afar they appeared to be carried in a chariot of fire, like Elijah, and were thus taken up into their own heaven.
661. His adjiciam haec MEMORABILIA; PRIMUM hoc. In Plaga septentrionali superiore prope ad Orientem in Mundo Spirituali, sunt loca instructionis pro pueris, suntque 1 pro adolescentibus, et sunt pro viris, et quoque pro senibus; in haec loca mittuntur omnes qui Infantes mortui sunt, et educantur in Coelo; similiter in illa omnes qui e Mundo noviter adveniunt, et cognitiones de Coelo et Inferno desiderant: Tractus ille est prope Orientem, ut omnes instruantur per influxum a Domino, Dominus enim est Oriens, quia est in Sole ibi, qui ab Ipso est purus Amor; inde Calor ex illo Sole in sua essentia est Amor, et Lux ex illo in sua essentia est Sapientia; haec inspirantur illis a Domino e Sole illo, ac inspirantur secundum receptionem, et receptio est secundum amorem sapiendi. Post tempora instructionis emittuntur inde illi, qui Intelligentes facti sunt, et hi vocantur discipuli Domini: emittuntur inde primum in Occidentem, et illi qui ibi non manent, in Meridiem, et quidam per Meridiem in Orientem, et introducuntur in Societates, ubi mansiones illorum erunt.
[2] Quondam, cum meditatus sum de Coelo et Inferno, coepi desiderare cognitionem universalem de statu utriusque; sciens quod qui universalia scit, postea possit comprehendere singularia, quia haec sunt in illis, sicut partes sunt in communi. In hoc desiderio spectavi ad Tractum illum in plaga septentrionali prope ad Orientem, ubi Loca instructionis erant, et per viam mihi tunc apertam illuc vadi, ac intravi in unum Collegium, ubi erant viri juvenes; et adivi ibi Archididascalos qui instruebant, et quaesivi illos, num sciant universalia de Coelo et Inferno; et responderunt, quod sciant aliquid parum; sed si spectamus versus Orientem ad Dominum, illustrabimur et sciemus;
[3] et fecerunt ita, et dixerunt, Universalia Inferni sunt tria, sed Universalia Inferni sunt e diametro opposita Universalibus Coeli; Universalia Inferni sunt hi tres Amores, Amor dominandi ex amore sui; Amor possidendi aliorum bona ex amore mundi; et Amor scortatorius: Universalia Coeli illis opposita sunt hi tres amores, Amor dominandi ex amore usus; Amor possidendi bona mundi ex amore faciendi usus per illa; et Amor vere Conjugialis. His dictis, post votivum pacis abii et redii domum. Quum domi eram, dictum mihi est e Coelo, lustra illa tria Universalia supra et infra, et postea videbimus illa in manu tua; dicebatur in manu, quia omnia quae homo intellectu lustrat, apparent Angelis sicut inscripta manibus. Quare dicitur in Apocalypsi, quod Characterem acceperint super fronte et super manu, Apocalypsi 13:16; 14:9; 20:4.
[4] Post haec lustravi Primum Amorem universalem Inferni, qui erat Amor dominandi ex amore sui, et postea illi correspondentem amorem universalem Coeli, qui erat Amor dominandi ex Amore usuum; non enim mihi licuit unum Amorem absque altero lustrare, quia Intellectus non percipit amorem unum absque altero, sunt enim oppositi; quare ut uterque percipiatur, sistentur in opposito, unus contra alterum; facies enim pulchra et formosa elucet ex opposita illi facie impulchra et deformi. Cum ventilavi Amorem dominandi ex amore sui, datum est percipere, quod hic Amor esset summe infernalis, et inde apud illos qui in profundissimo 2 Inferno sunt; et quod Amor dominandi ex amore usuum, esset summe coelestis, et inde apud illos qui in supremo Coelo sunt.
[5] Quod Amor dominandi ex amore sui summe infernalis sit, est quia dominari ex amore sui, est ex proprio, ac proprium hominis a nativitate est ipsum malum, et ipsum malum est e diametro contra Dominum; quapropter illi, quo plus in illud malum progrediuntur, eo plus negant Deum et Sancta Ecclesiae, et adorant se et naturam; illi, qui in illo malo sunt, explorent quaeso id in se, et videbunt: Amor etiam hic talis est, ut quantum ei relaxantur fraena, quod fit dum impossibile non obstat, tantum ruat e gradu in gradum, et usque ad summum; et ibi nec terminatur, sed si non datur gradus superior, dolet et gemit.
[6] Hic Amor apud Politicos ascendit usque ut velint esse Reges et Imperatores, et si possibile, ut dominentur super omnia mundi, et vocari reges regum et imperatores imperatorum; at idem Amor apud Canonicos ascendit, usque ut velint esse dii, et quantum possibile, ut dominentur super omnia Coeli, et vocari dii [deorum]. 3 Quod hi et illi corde non agnoscant aliquem Deum, videbitur in sequentibus. At vicissim illi, qui volunt dominari ex amore usuum, hi non volunt dominari ex se, sed ex Domino, quoniam Amor usuum est ex Domino, et est Ipse Dominus; hi dignitates non aliter spectant, quam media ad faciendum usus; hos ponunt longe supra dignitates, at priores ponunt dignitates longe supra usus.
[7] Cum haec meditatus sum, dictum mihi est per Angelum a Domino, jam jam videbis et confirmaberis ex visu qualis infernalis ille Amor est: et tunc subito aperuit se terra ad sinistrum, et vidi ascendentem ex Inferno diabolum, cui super capite erat pileus quadratus depressus super frontem usque ad oculos, facies plena pustulis sicut ardentis febris, oculi truces, pectus tumens in rhombum; ex ore eructabat fumum sicut furnus, lumbi ei erant plane igniti, loco pedum erant tali ossei absque carne; et ex corpore ejus exhalabatur calor putidus et immundus. Illo viso territus sum, et clamavi ad illum, ne accede, dic unde es; et respondit rauce, sum ex inferis, et ibi in Societate cum ducentis, quae omnium societatum supereminentissima est; ibi omnes sumus imperatores imperatorum, reges regum, duces ducum, et principes principum; non aliquis ibi est nude imperator, neque nude rex, dux et princeps; sedemus ibi super thronis thronorum, et inde mandata in universum orbem, et ultra, emittimus: tunc dixi illi, videsne quod ex phantasia supereminentiae insanias; et respondit, quomodo potes ita loqui, quia nobis prorsus videmur, et quoque agnoscimur a consociis, tales;
[8] hoc audito, non volui adhuc dicere, insanis, quia ex phantasia insanivit: et datum est mihi cognoscere, quod ille diabolus, cum in mundo vixit, fuerit modo curator alicujus domus; et quod tunc in tantum elatus spiritu fuerit, ut prae se omne Genus humanum spreverit, ac indulserit phantasiae, quod dignior esset rege, et quoque imperatore; ex quo fastu negaverat Deum, ac reputaverat omnia sancta Ecclesiae sicuti nihili pro se, sed aliquid pro stupida plebe. Tandem quaesivi illum, vos ducenti ibi, quamdiu gloriamini ita inter vos; dixit in aeternum, sed quod illi e nobis, qui cruciant alios propter negatam supereminentiam, subsidant; licet enim nobis gloriari, sed non alicui malum inferre; quaesivi iterum, scisne qualis sors est subsidentibus; dixit, quod subsidant in quendam carcerem, ubi vocantur viliores vilibus seu vilissimi, et laborant; tunc dixi ad diabolum illum, cave itaque tu, ne etiam subsidas.
[9] Post haec iterum aperuit se terra, sed ad dextrum, et vidi exsurgentem alium Diabolum, super cujus capite erat sicut Cidaris, circumvoluta spiris tanquam colubri, cujus caput e vertice eminuit; facies ei erat leprosa a fronte ad mentum, et quoque utraque manus; lumbi erant nudi et atri sicut fuligo, per quam ignis sicut foci furve transparuit, et tali pedum sicut duae viperae: prior Diabolus hoc viso conjecit se super genua, et adoravit illum; quaesivi, cur ita; dixit, est ille deus coeli et terrae, estque omnipotens; et tunc quaesivi hunc, quid tu dicis ad hoc; respondit, quid dicam, est mihi omnis potestas super Coelum et Infernum; sors omnium animarum est in mea manu; et quaesivi iterum, quomodo potest ille, qui est imperator imperatorum, ita se submittere, et tu adorationem recipere; respondit, est usque meus servus; quid imperator coram Deo; est in dextra mea fulmen excommunicandi:
[10] et tunc dixi illi, quomodo potes ita insanire; fueras in Mundo solum Canonicus, et quia phantasia laborasti, quod tibi fuerint claves, et inde potestas ligandi et solvendi, spiritum tuum in hunc gradum vesaniae evexeras, ut nunc credas quod sis ipse Deus: ad haec indignatus juravit quod sit, et quod Domino non sit aliqua potestas in Coelo, quia omnem transtulerat in nos; non opus habemus, quam ut mandemus, ac Coelum et Infernum reverenter obediunt; si mittimus aliquem in infernum, diaboli statim recipiunt illum, similiter Angeli illum, quem mittimus in Coelum. Quaesivi porro, quot estis in Societate vestra; dixit, trecenti, et omnes ibi sumus dii, ego autem deus deorum.
[11] Post haec aperuit se terra sub pedibus utriusque, et subsiderunt profunde in sua inferna; et datum est videre, quod sub Infernis illorum essent ergastula, in quae deciderent illi, qui damna aliis inferunt; cuivis enim in Inferno relinquitur sua phantasia, et quoque gloriatio in illa, sed non licet malum facere alteri: quod tales sint ibi, est quia homo tunc est in suo spiritu, ac spiritus, postquam separatus est a corpore, venit in plenam libertatem agendi secundum ejus affectiones et inde cogitationes.
[12] Postea datum est inspicere in illorum inferna, ac Infernum, ubi erant imperatores imperatorum ac reges regum, erat plenum omni immunditie, ac illi visi sunt sicut variae ferae truculentis oculis: similiter in altero inferno, ubi erant dii et deus deorum, et in hoc apparuerunt dirae aves noctis, quae vocantur ochim et Ijim, volantes circum illos; imagines phantasiae illorum ita mihi visae sunt. Ex his patuit, qualis est Amor sui Politicus, et qualis est Amor sui Ecclesiasticus, quod hic sit ut velint esse dii, ille autem ut velint esse imperatores; et quod ita velint, et quoque affectent, quantum fraena amoribus istis relaxantur.
[13] Postquam haec tristia et atrocia mihi visa sunt, circumspexi, et vidi duos Angelos non procul a me stantes et colloquentes; unus amictus erat toga lanea fulgente ex flammea purpura, et tunica ex splendente bysso sub illa; alter similibus ex coccino cum cidari, cui aliqui pyropi a dextro latere inserti erant; ad hos accessi, et ex pace salutavi; et reverenter quaesivi, cur vos hic infra estis; et respondebant, demisimus nos huc e Coelo ex mandato Domini ad loquendum tecum de beata sorte illorum, qui volunt dominari ex amore usuum; nos sumus cultores Domini; ego Princeps societatis, alter summus Sacerdos ibi; et dixit Princeps, quod esset servus suae societatis, quia inserviret illi faciendo usus; et alter dixit, quod esset minister Ecclesiae ibi, quia inserviendo illis ministraret sancta ad usus animarum illorum; et quod ambo in perpetuis gaudiis sint ex felicitate aeterna, quae a Domino in illis est; et quod omnia in Societate illa sint splendida et magnifica, splendida ex auro et lapidibus pretiosis, et magnifica ex palatiis et paradisis; causa est, quia amor noster dominandi non est ex amore sui, sed ex amore usuum, et quia amor usuum est a Doctrina de Domino 4 , ideo omnes usus boni in Coelis splendent et fulgent; et quia omnes in nostra Societate in hoc amore sumus, ideo athmosphaera ibi apparet aurea, ex luce ibi quae trahit ex flammeo Solis, ac flammeum Solis correspondet isti amori:
[14] his dictis apparuit etiam mihi similis sphaera circum illos, et sentitum est aromaticum ex illa, quod etiam dixi illis, et petii, ut aliquid plus adjiciant dictis de amore usus; et continuabant dicendo; dignitates, in quibus sumus, quidem ambivimus, sed propter nullum alium finem, quam ut possemus plenius facere usus, et latius extendere illos; et quoque circumfundimur honore, et acceptamus illum, non propter nos, sed propter bonum societatis; confratres enim et consocii, qui ex vulgo ibi sunt, vix sciunt aliter quam quod honores dignitatum nostrarum sint in nobis, et inde quod usus quos facimus, sint e nobis; sed nos aliter sentimus; sentimus quod honores dignitatum sint extra nos, et quod sint sicut amictus quibus investimur, sed quod usus, quos praestamus, sint ex amore illorum intra nos a Domino, et hic amor beatitudinem suam accipit ex communicatione per usus cum aliis; et ab experientia scimus, quod quantum facimus usus ex amore illorum, tantum increscat amor ille, et cum amore sapientia, ex qua fit communicatio; at quod quantum retinemus usus in nobis, et non communicamus, tantum pereat beatitudo; et tunc usus fit sicut cibus reconditus in ventriculo, et non circumsparsus nutrit corpus et ejus partes, sed manet indigestus, ex quo fit nausea: verbo, totum Coelum non est nisi quam continens usus a primis ad ultima: quid usus nisi actualis amor proximi, et quid continet coelos nisi hic amor.
[15] His auditis interrogavi, quomodo potest aliquis scire, num usus faciat ex amore sui, vel num ex amore usuum; omnis homo tam bonus quam malus facit usus, et facit usus ex quodam amore; ponatur quod in Mundo sit Societas composita ex meris diabolis, et societas composita ex meris Angelis; et opinor quod diaboli in sua societate ex igne amoris sui, et ex splendore gloriae suae, facturi sint tot usus, quot Angeli in sua; quis ergo potest scire ex quo Amore, et ex qua origine sunt usus: duo angeli ad haec responderunt, diaboli faciunt usus propter se et propter famam, ut evehantur ad honores, aut lucrentur opes; at Angeli non faciunt usus propterea, sed propter usus ex amore illorum; homo non potest discernere illos usus, sed Dominus discernit illos; omnis qui credit in Dominum, et fugit mala ut peccata, ille facit usus ex Domino; at omnis qui non credit in Dominum, nec fugit mala ut peccata, facit usus ex se et propter se: hoc discrimen est inter usus a diabolis, et inter usus ab Angelis. Duo Angeli his dictis abiverunt, et e longinquo visi sunt vecti in curru igneo sicut Elias, et in Coelum suum sublati.
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