and rests upon them. The case in this is the same as with each particular man; his spiritual things, which pertain to his thought and will, inflow into his natural things, which pertain to his sensations and actions, and in these they terminate and subsist; if man were not in possession of them, that is, if he were without these boundings and ultimates, his spiritual things, which pertain to the thoughts and affections of his spirit would dissolve away, like things unbounded, or like those which have no foundation: and it happens, moreover, when a man passes from the natural into the spiritual world, which takes place when he dies, that then, since he is a spirit, he no longer subsists on his own basis, but upon the common basis, which is mankind. He who knows not the mysteries of heaven, may believe, that angels subsist without men, and men without angels; but I can asseverate from all my experience of heaven, and from all my discourse with the angels, that no angel or spirit subsists apart from man, and no man apart from spirits and angels, but that there is a mutual and reciprocal conjunction. From this, it may now be seen that mankind and the angelic heaven make one, and subsist mutually from, and interchangeably with each other, and thus that the one cannot be removed from the other.

10. That mankind is the Seminary of heaven, will appear from a subsequent article, in which it will be shewn, that heaven and hell are from maukind, and that therefore mankind is the seminary of heaven. It will be further shewn in what is to follow, that as heaven has been formed of the human race, from the first creation until now, so it will be formed and enlarged from the same source hereafter. It is indeed possible that the human race on one earth may perish, which comes to pass when they separate themselves entirely from the Divine, for then man no longer has spiritual life, but only natural, like that of beasts; and when man is such, no society can be formed, and held bound by laws, since without the influx of heaven, and thus without the divine government, men would become insane, and rush unchecked into every wickedness, the one against the other. But although mankind, by separation from the Divine, were to perish on one earth, which however is provided against by the Lord, yet still they would continue on other earths; for that there are earths in the universe to some hundreds of thousands, may be seen in the little work, "Of the Earths in our Solar System called Planets, and of the Earths in the Starry Heaven." It was declared to me from heaven, that the human race on this earth would have

perished, so that not one man would have existed on it at this day, if the Lord had not come into the world, and on this earth assumed the Human, and made it Divine; and also, unless the Lord had given to this earth such a Word as might serve for a basis to the angelic heaven, and for its conjunction with mankind; that the conjunction of heaven with man is by the Word, may be seen in the work on HEAVEN and HELL, n. 303 to 310. But that such is the

case can be comprehended only by those who think spiritually, that is, by those who through the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity are conjoined with heaven, for they alone are able to think spiritually.

11. That the extension of heaven, which is for angels, is so immense, that it cannot be filled to eternity, appears from what has been said in the work on HEAVEN and HELL, On the immensity of heaven, n. 415 to 420: and That they are but few respectively of whom heaven is at present formed, in the little work on the EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE, n. 126.

That the perfection of heaven increases according to plurality, results from its form, according to which its associations are disposed in order, and its communications flow, for it is of all forms the most perfect; and in proportion to the increase of numbers in that most perfect form, there is given a direction and consent of more and more to unity, and therefore a closer and a more unanimous conjunction; the consent and the conjunction derived from it increase by plurality, for every thing is there inserted as a mediate relation between two or more, and what is inserted confirms and conjoins. The form of heaven is like the form of the human mind, the perfection of which increases according to the increase of truth and good, from whence are its intelligence and wisdom. The form of the human mind, which is in heavenly wisdom and intelligence, is like the form of heaven, because the mind is the least image of that form; hence it is, that on all sides there is a communication of the thoughts and affections of good and truth in such men, and in angels, with surrounding societies of heaven; and an extension according to the increase of wisdom, and thus according to the plurality of the knowledges of truth implanted in the intellect and according to the abundance of the affections of good implanted in the will; and therefore in the mind, for the mind consists of the intellect and the will. The human and angelic mind is such, that it may be enlarged to eternity, and as it is enlarged, so it is perfected; and this is especially the case, when man is led by the Lord, for he is then introduced into genuine truths, which are

implanted in his intellect, and into genuine goods, which are implanted in his will; for the Lord then disposes all things of such a mind into the form of heaven, until at length it is a heaven in the least form. From this comparison, which is a true parallel, it is evident, that the plurality of the angels perfects heaven. Moreover, every form consists of various parts; a form which does not consist of the various, is not a form, for it has no quality, and no changes of state; the quality of every form results from the arrangement of various things within it, from their mutual respectiveness, and from their consent to unity, by virtue of which every form is considered as one thing; such a form, in proportion to the multitude of the various things arranged within it, is the more perfect, for every one of them, as before observed, confirms, corroborates, conjoins, and so produces perfection. But this is still more plain from what has been shewn in the work on HEAVEN and HELL, especially where it treats on the following subject, That every society of heaven is a heaven in a lesser form, and every angel a heaven in the least form. n. 51 to 58; and also in the article, Of the form of heaven, according to which associations and communications-have place there, n. 200 to 212; and On the wisdom of the angels of heaven. n. 265 to 275.

13. That every Divine work has respect to Infinity and Eternity, is evident from many things which exist both in heaven and in the world: in neither of them is there ever given any one thing exactly similar to, or the same as, any other: no two faces are either alike or identical, nor will be to eternity; in like manner the animus of one is never altogether like that of another; wherefore there are as many faces and as many animi, as there are men and angels; there is never given in any one man [in whom yet there are innumerable parts which constitute his body, and innumerable affections which constitute his animus,] any one thing quite alike to, or identical with any one thing in another man; hence it is that every one leads a life distinct from the life of another. The same order exists in the whole and in every part of nature: that such infinite variety is in each, and in all, is because they all originate from the Divine, Who is Infinite; hence there is a certain image of Infinity every where, to the end, that the Divine may regard all things as his own work, and at the same time that all things, as his work may have respect to the Divine. A familiar instance may serve to illustrate the manner in which every thing in nature has respect to Infinity and Eternity; any seed, be it the produce of a tree, or of corn, or of a flower,

is so created, that it may be multiplied to Infinity, and endure to Eternity; for from one seed are produced many, five, ten, twenty, to a hundred, and from each of these again as many more; such fructification from one seed continuing but for a century, would cover the surface not only of one, but of myriads of earths; the same seeds are so created, that their durations may be eternal; hence it is evident, that the idea of Infinity and Eternity is contained in them; and the like is true in all other cases. The angelic heaven is the end for which all things in the universe were created, for it is the end on account of which mankind exists, and mankind is the end regarded in the creation of the visible heaven, and the earths included in it; wherefore that Divine work, namely, the angelic heaven, primarily has respect to Infinity and Eternity, and therefore to its multiplication without end, for the Divine Himself dwells within it. Hence also it is clear, that the human race will never cease, for were it to cease, the Divine work would be limited to a certain number, and thus its respectiveness to Infinity would perish.

THAT HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM MANKIND.

14. It is altogether unknown in the christian world, that heaven and hell are from mankind; for it is believed that angels were created at the beginning, and that heaven was formed of them; and, that the devil or satan was an angel of light, who becoming rebellious, was cast down with his crew, and that this was the origin of hell. The angels are greatly astonished at such a faith in the christian world, and still more, that nothing at all is there known of heaven, when yet it is a primary subject of doctrine in the church; and since such ignorance prevails, they are rejoiced in heart that it has now pleased the Lord to reveal to men many things concerning heaven, and also concerning hell, and by this means, as far as possible, to dissipate the darkness which daily increases, because the church has come to its end: wherefore they wish me to declare from them, that there is no one in the universal heaven, who was created an angel from the first, nor any devil in hell who was created an angel of light, and then cast down, but that all both in heaven and in hell are from the human race; in heaven those who had lived in the world in heavenly love and faith, and in hell those who had lived in hellish love and faith; and that it is hell in the whole complex, which is called the devil

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and satan; that the hell behind, which is the abode of evil genii, is the Devil, and the hell in front, which is the abode of evil spirits, is Satan. What the one hell is, and what the other, may be seen in the work on HEAVEN and HELL, towards the end. The angels said, that the christian world have conceived such a belief about those in heaven and hell, from certain passages in the Word no otherwise understood than according to the sense of the letter, and not illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine from the Word; when yet the sense of the letter of the Word, if the genuine doctrine of the church does not shine before it, divides the mind into various opinions; whence come ignorance, heresies, and errors.

15. Another cause of such a belief in the man of the church is, that he believes that no one can go to heaven or to hell before the time of the last judgment, of which he has conceived this opinion that the visible world is then to perish, and to become extant anew, and that then the soul will return into its body, and that their conjunction will again enable man to live as man. This belief involves another about the angels, that they were created from the beginning; for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from mankind, when it is believed that no man goes to either till the end of the world. But in order that man may be convinced that it is not so, it has been granted me to have fellowship with angels, and also to speak with those who are in hell, and this now for many years, sometimes continuously from morning till evening, and thus to be instructed concerning heaven and hell; to the end that the man of the church may no longer remain in his erroneous belief, about a resurrection at the day of judgment, about a state of the soul in the interval, as well as about angels, and about a devil; which belief, since it is a belief of the false, induces darkness; and with those who think of such things

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That the hells, or the infernals, taken collectively, are called the devil and satan, n. 694. That they who have been devils in the world, become devils after death. n. 968.

d That the doctrine of the church must be from the Word. n. 3464, 5402, 6832, 10763, 10765. That the Word cannot be understood without doctrine. n. 9021, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582. That true doctrine is a lamp to those who read the Word. n. 10401. That genuine doctrine must come from those who are in illustration from the Lord. n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105. That they who dwell in the literal sense of the Word without doctrine, can arrive at no understanding of divine truths. n. 9409, 9410, 10582. And that they are led into many errors. n. 40431. The difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the Word, and those (who teach and learn) only from the literal sense of the Word. n. 9025