1. Inasmuch as, by the Divine mercy of the Lord, the
interiors which are of my spirit have been opened in me, and it has
thereby been given me to speak with spirits and angels, not only
with those who are near our Earth, but also with those who are near
other earths; and since I had an ardent desire to know whether
there were other earths, and to know their character and the
character of their inhabitants; it has been granted me by the Lord
to speak and have intercourse with spirits and angels who are from
other earths, with some for a day, with some for a week, with some
for months; and to be instructed by them respecting the earths from
and near which they were, and concerning the life, customs, and
worship of their inhabitants, besides various other things there
that are worthy of note. And since it has been given me to become
acquainted with these matters in this way, it is permitted me to
describe them from the things which I have heard and seen. It is
necessary that it be known that all spirits and angels are from the
human race a, and that they
are near their own earths b,
and are acquainted with what is upon them; and that a man may be
instructed by them, if his interiors are so far opened as to enable
him to speak and be in company with them: for man in his essence is
a spirit c, and is in company
with spirits as to his interiors
d; wherefore he whose interiors are
opened by the Lord, is able to speak with them, as man with
man e. It has now been granted
me to enjoy this privilege daily for twelve years.
Footnote: From
the ARCANA CŒLESTIA: in which
work these and subsequent articles, which are inserted below the
line, are explained and shown.
Footnote a: ()
There are no spirits and angels who are not from the human
race, no. 1880.
Footnote b: ()
The spirits of every earth are near their own earth, because
they are of its inhabitants, and of a similar genius; and they are
meant to be of service to them, no. 9968.
Footnote c: ()
The soul, which lives after death, is the spirit of man,
which in a man is the man himself, and also appears in the other
life in a perfect human form, nos. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622,
4735, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594.
Footnote d: ()
Man, even during his abode in the world, is, as to his
interiors, consequently as to his spirit or soul, in the midst of
spirits and angels who are of such a character as he himself is,
nos. 2379, 3645, 4067, 4073, 4077.
Footnote e: ()
Man is capable of speaking with spirits and angels, and the
ancients on our Earth frequently spoke with them, nos. 67, 68, 69,
784, 1634, 1636, 7802. But at the present day it is dangerous for
man to speak with them, unless he be in a true faith, and be led by
the Lord, nos. 784, 9438, 10751.
2. That there are many earths, and men upon them, and spirits
and angels from them, is very well known in the other life; for in
that life, every one who from a love of the truth and consequent
use desires it, is allowed to speak with the spirits of other
earths, so as to be convinced that there is a plurality of worlds,
and informed that the human race is not from one earth only, but
from numberless earths; and so as to be informed, besides, of what
genius and life they are, and of what character their Divine
worship is.
3. I have sometimes spoken on this subject with the spirits
of our Earth, and it was said that a man of sound understanding may
conclude, from many things which he knows, that there are more
earths than one, and that there are human beings upon them. For it
is an inference of reason, that such huge bodies as the planets
are, some of which exceed this Earth in magnitude, are not empty
bodies, created only to be carried and to rotate around the sun,
and to shine with their scanty light (
lumen ) for the benefit of one earth
only; but that they must needs have a nobler use than this. He who
believes, as every one ought to believe, that the Divine created
the universe for no other end than the existence of the human race,
and of a heaven from it (for the human race is the seminary of
heaven), cannot but believe that wherever there is an earth, there
are human beings. That the planets, which are visible to our eyes,
being within the boundaries of this solar system, are earths, may
be clearly seen from the following considerations. They are bodies
of earthy matter, because they reflect the sun's light (
lumen ), and, when seen through the
telescope, appear, not as stars shining from their flame, but as
earths ( terrae ) variegated
with dark spots. Like our Earth, they are carried round the sun and
advance progressively through the path of the zodiac, which motion
causes years, and seasons of the year, which are spring, summer,
autumn, and winter. They likewise rotate upon their own axis, just
as our Earth does, and this rotation causes days, and times of the
day, that is, morning, mid-day, evening, and night. And moreover,
some of them also have moons, which are called satellites, which
perform their revolutions around their globes in stated times, as
the moon does around ours. The planet Saturn, because it is so very
far distant from the sun, has also a great luminous ring, which
supplies that earth with much, although reflected, light. How is it
possible for any one who is acquainted with these facts, and thinks
from reason, to assert that such bodies are
uninhabited?
4. I have, moreover, spoken with spirits [to the effect] that
men may be led to believe that there are more earths in the
universe than one, by considering the immensity of the starry
heaven with its innumerable stars, each of which, in its own place,
that is, in its own system, is a sun, and like our sun, but differs
in magnitude. Any one who rightly weighs these facts must conclude
that so immense a whole cannot but be the means to an end which is
the final end of creation, and that this end is a heavenly kingdom,
in which the Divine may dwell with angels and men. For the visible
universe, that is, the heaven resplendent with such an innumerable
multitude of stars, which are so many suns, is merely a means for
the existence of earths, and of human beings upon them, from whom a
heavenly kingdom [may be formed]. From these considerations a
rational man cannot but think that a means so immense to an end so
great was not provided for a human race, and a heaven from them,
from one earth only. What would this be to the Divine, who is
infinite, and to whom thousands, yea, myriads, of earths, all
filled with inhabitants, would be but a little thing and almost
nothing!
5. Besides, the angelic heaven is so immense that it
corresponds to each single part in man, myriads [of angels
corresponding] to each member, and organ, and viscus, and to each
affection of them; and it has been given me to know that this
heaven, as to all its correspondences, cannot possibly exist except
from the inhabitants of very many earths
f.
Footnote f: ()
Heaven corresponds to the Lord, and man, as to all things in
general and particular, corresponds to heaven; and hence heaven,
before the Lord, is a Man in a large effigy, and may be called the
Grand or Greatest Man, nos. 2996, 2998, 3624-3649, 3741-3746, 4625.
Concerning the correspondence of man, and of all things pertaining
to him, with the Grand Man, which is heaven, in general, from
experience, nos. 3021, 3624-3649, 3741-3751, 3883-3896, 4039-4055,
4218-4218-4228, 4318-4331, 4403-4421, 4523-4533, 4622-4633,
4652-4660, 4791-4805, 4931-4953, 5050-5061, 5171-5189, 5377-5396,
5552-5573, 5711-5727, 10030.
6. There are spirits whose sole study is the acquisition of
knowledges finding in them their only delight. These spirits are
therefore permitted to wander about, and even to pass beyond this
solar system into others, and procure knowledges. They have stated
that there are earths in immense numbers, inhabited by human
beings, not only in this solar system, but in the starry heaven
beyond it. These spirits are from the planet Mercury.
7. With regard, in general, to the Divine worship of the
inhabitants of other earths: all there, who are not idolaters,
acknowledge the Lord to be the One only God; for they adore the
Divine, not as an invisible Divine, but as visible, for this
reason, besides others, that when the Divine appears to them it is
in the Human Form, as He formerly did to Abraham and others on this
Earth g; and all who adore the
Divine under the Human Form are accepted by the Lord
h. They also say that no one can
worship God rightly, and still less be conjoined with Him, unless
he comprehends Him by some idea, and that God cannot be
comprehended except in the Human Form; and that if He be not thus
comprehended, the interior sight, which is that of the thought,
concerning God, is dissipated, as is the sight of the eye, when
looking into the universe with nothing to limit the view; and that
then the thought cannot but fall into nature, and worship it
instead of God.
Footnote g: ()
The inhabitants of all the earths adore the Divine Being
under the Human Form, consequently the Lord, nos. 8541-8547, 10159,
10736, 10737, 10738. And they rejoice when they hear that God
actually became Man, no. 9361. It is impossible to think of God
except in the Human Form, nos. 8705, 9359, 9972. Man is able to
worship and love that of which he has some idea, but not that of
which he has no idea, nos. 4733, 5110, 5663, 7211, 9167,
10067.
Footnote h: ()
The Lord receives all who are in good, and who adore the
Divine under the Human Form, nos. 9359, 7178.
8. When they were told that the Lord assumed the Human on our
Earth, they pondered for awhile, and then said that it was done for
the salvation of the human race.
