79. Among the spirits of Jupiter there are some they call chimney-sweeps, because they dress like them and have a sooty face. I am allowed to describe who they are and what they are like. A spirit of this kind visited me and begged me insistently to intercede on his behalf, so that he could be admitted to heaven. He said he was unaware of having done evil; he had only criticised the inhabitants of his world, adding that after criticising them he had instructed them. He attached himself to my left side below the elbow; and he spoke as it were with a forked tongue. He might well have inspired pity; but I could only reply to him that I could not give him any help, since this was the Lord's alone to give. Nor could I intercede, not knowing whether it was any use or not. But if he deserved it, I told him he could hope. He was then sent back to join the upright spirits from his world. But they said that his nature made it impossible for him to be in their company. However, since he was so keen that he kept begging to be admitted to heaven, he was sent to a community of upright spirits from this world. But they too said he could not stay with them. He appeared black in the light of heaven, though he claimed himself not to be black, but a reddish brown colour.
[2] I was told that the spirits are like this to begin with who are subsequently found a home among those who make up the province of the SEMINAL VESICLES in the Grand Man or heaven. The semen gathers in those vesicles and is clothed in material suitable for preserving the prolific principle of the semen from being dissipated; but this can be shed at the cervix of the uterus, so that what is contained within can serve the purpose of causing conception, that is, of impregnating the ovum. As a result this part of the semen displays an effort and as it were a burning desire to strip itself off, leaving the semen to perform its function. Something similar was to be seen in the case of this spirit. He came to me in rough clothing and repeated that he was burning with desire to reach heaven, and he now began to perceive that he was the kind of spirit who could. I was allowed to tell him that this was perhaps an indication that he would soon be admitted. He was then told by angels to take off his clothes; he was so eager that he got them off quicker than anything. This was a way of picturing the nature of the desire of those in the province answering to the seminal vesicles.
[3] I was told that such spirits, when prepared for heaven, are stripped of their clothes and dressed in shining new ones, and they become angels. They likened them to grubs, which after passing through their humble stage are changed into nymphs and so into butterflies; these then receive a different dress with wings of blue, yellow, silvery or golden colour. Then they are free to fly in the air, as if their own heaven, celebrate marriages and lay eggs, thus ensuring the propagation of their kind. Then at the same time they are assigned as food the sweet and pleasant nectar and fragrance of various flowers.
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