Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 815

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815. As for those who delight in hating and consequently in getting revenge to such an extent that they are not satisfied with destroying the body, but also desire to destroy the soul, which however the Lord has redeemed, they are sent down by way of a most gloomy hollow towards the lowest parts of the earth, to a depth that accords with the degree of their hatred and consequent desire for revenge. They are there stricken with great terror and horror, and at the same time they are held in their desire for revenge; and as this increases they are sent down further still. Subsequently they are sent to a place beneath Gehenna where large and dreadful snakes with big fat bellies are seen, as vivid as if they were real, by whose bites they are afflicted, which they feel intensely. Such things are felt keenly by spirits, for such things answer to their lives in the way that bodily things answer to the lives of people who are dwelling in the body. During this time they live with dreadful delusions, which continue with them for ages, till at length they no longer know that they have been human beings. Their life, which they have acquired from such hatred and desire for revenge, can be eliminated in no other way.


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