EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE.
THE EARTH OR PLANET JUPITER, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE EARTH OR PLANET MARS, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE EARTH OR PLANET SATURN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE EARTH OR PLANET VENUS, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
EARTHS IN THE STARRY HEAVEN.
THE FIRST EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS: FROM THINGS HEARD AND SEEN.
THE SECOND EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE THIRD EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE FOURTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
THE FIFTH EARTH IN THE STARRY HEAVEN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
EARTHS IN THE UNIVERSE.
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 racea,
and that they are near their own earthsb,
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
spiritc,
and is in company with spirits as to his interiorsd;
wherefore he whose interiors are opened by the Lord, is able to speak
with them, as man with mane.
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
earthsf.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.