Earths In Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets, and Earths In The Starry Heaven Their Inhabita | Page 8

for the human race is the seminary of heaven; and that spirits are altogether such as to their affections and inclinations as they had been when they lived as men in the world, for every one's life follows him[n]. This being the case, the genius of the men of every earth may be known from the genius of the spirits who are from it.
[Footnote n: Every one's life remains with him and follows him after death, nos. 4227, 7440. The externals of life are kept closed after death, and the internals of life are opened, nos. 4314, 5128, 6495. All things in general and particular of thought are then made manifest, nos. 4633, 5128.]
31. Since the spirits of Mercury in the Grand Man have relation to the memory of things abstracted from material things, therefore when any one speaks to them of terrestrial, corporeal, and merely worldly things, they are absolutely unwilling to hear; and if they are forced to hear of those things, they transmute them into others, and for the most part into contrary things, so as to avoid them.
32. In order that I might know for certain that such was their genius, it was allowed to represent to them meadows, fallow-lands, gardens, woods, and streams. To represent such things is to exhibit before another in imagination those things which, in the other life, appear to the life. But they instantly transmuted them; they darkened the meadows and fallow-lands, and by representations filled them with snakes; the streams they turned black, so that the water no longer appeared limpid. When I asked why they did so, they said they did not want to think of such things, but of realities, which are the knowledges of things abstracted from terrestrial things, especially of such as exist in the heavens.
33. I afterwards represented to them birds both large and small, such as exist on our Earth; for in the other life such things can be represented to the life. On seeing those birds represented, they at first wanted to change them, but they afterwards were delighted with them, and became quiet; the reason was, that birds signify the knowledges of things, and the perception of this fact then flowed in[o]; they therefore abstained from transmuting them, and so from turning away the ideas of their memory. Afterwards it was permitted me to represent before them a very pleasant garden full of lamps and lights; they then paused and their attention was fixed, because lamps with lights signify truths (_veritates_) which shine from good[p]. From this it was evident that they could be detained in the consideration of material things, provided only that the signification of those things in the spiritual sense were insinuated at the same time; for the things which belong to the spiritual sense are not abstracted from material things to the same extent, inasmuch as they are representative of these.
[Footnote o: Birds signify rational things, intellectual things, thoughts, ideas, and knowledges, nos. 40, 745, 776, 778, 866, 988, 993, 5149, 7441. And this with variety according to the genera and species of the birds, no. 3219.]
[Footnote p: Lamps with lights signify truths (_veritates_) which shine from good, nos. 4638, 9548, 9783.]
34. Moreover, I spoke with them about sheep and lambs, but they were not willing to hear of such things, because they were perceived by them as terrestrial things; the reason was, that they did not understand what innocence is, which lambs signify; this was apperceived from the circumstance that, on my saying that lambs, when represented in heaven, signify innocence[q], they said that they did not know what innocence was, but only knew it by name: the reason is, that they are affected with knowledges only, but not with uses, which are the ends of knowledges, consequently they are unable to know, from internal perception, what innocence is.
[Footnote q: Lambs in heaven, and in the Word, signify innocence, nos. 3994, 7840, 10132.]
35. Some of the spirits of the earth Mercury came to me, being sent by others, in order that they might hear what was going on near me. These were told by one of the spirits of our Earth, to tell their [friends] not to speak anything but what was true, and not, as they were wont, to present opposite things to their questioners; for that if any of the spirits of our Earth were to do so, he would be punished. But immediately the company from which those spirits had been sent forth, and which was at a distance, made answer, that if they must be punished on that account, they must all be punished, inasmuch as, from continual practice, they could not do otherwise. They said that when they speak with the men of their own earth, they also do likewise, not, however,