Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 4949

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4949. There are quite a number with dwelling-places beneath the soles of the feet to whom I have talked occasionally. I have seen some of them trying to work their way up from there, and I have also been allowed to have a sensation in my body of their attempts to do so. They reached as far as my knees, but then they sank down. This is what the representation involving the physical senses is like when any have the desire to move up from their own dwelling-places to higher ones, like those described here who had the desire to come up to the dwelling-places of those in the province of the knees and thighs. I was told that these are the kind of people who despised others in comparison with themselves, which is also the reason why they wish to rise up from where they are, not only through the foot into the thigh but also if possible above the head. But for all that, they sink down. In a way they are stupid, for that kind of arrogance blots out and smothers the light of heaven and therefore intelligence. This explains why the sphere which surrounds them looks like a thick sediment.


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