Souls of the dead carry with them from the body all of its characteristics - even to the point that they think they are in the body, dressed in clothes, and so on - and also its desires, such as an appetite for eating, and so on, so that the characteristics of the body are inscribed upon the souls. The nature which they carry with them from the world and the body, they keep, but in the course of time it passes over into a kind of oblivion, so that they think they have put it off altogether, especially when they have become angels - this for the reason that they have been gifted with the ability to receive the mercy of God the Messiah. Then because of their accepting that ability, their former nature seems to be erased from memory, when nevertheless it remains. For if it should please God the Messiah to take back His gift, and to place the angel back in his former life, then that soul becomes exactly as it had been before, when leaving the body - so every soul can be told that they lose nothing, and that nothing has been taken from them - but then they become wild animals and devils. 1747, the 11th day of December.