Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 1505

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1505. I have also been informed about the way in which these spheres, which in the next life become so perceptible to the senses, are acquired. So that this information can be stated and understood, let a person be taken as an example who has adopted a high opinion of himself and of his superiority over others. Eventually he is permeated by a disposition and so to speak natural condition which are such that wherever he goes and there sees others and talks to them he is regardful of himself. At first the disposition exists manifestly, but after that does not, so that he is not aware of it; but it still reigns, not only in every detail of his affection and thought, but also in every detail of his bodily gestures and every detail of his utterances. People can see this in others, and it is such that it produces in the next life a sphere that is perceived, though only as often as the Lord allows. The same applies with other affections, and therefore just so many spheres exist as there are affections and combinations of affections, which are countless. The sphere is so to speak a person's image projecting outside of himself, and is in fact an image of all that resides within him. But that which is manifested in a visible or perceptible form in the world of spirits is merely something general, whereas in heaven the particular facets of the person's character are known. But nobody except the Lord alone knows the individual details of a person's character.


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