19. [19.] I was in the spirit, and it was granted me then to wander through a rather remarkable city inhabited by the Dutch. All the streets in the city appeared to be roofed over and the wooden gates in the streets shut, so that no one could wander around without permission from some official. But afterward I was granted to speak with magistrates who dwelled in the center of the city, by whom I was examined to discover where I came from and what I wanted; and when they understood that I had come only to look around, in order to make known to their kinsmen who were still in the world what their lot was like and the nature of their dwelling-places,* they then began to tell me many things. In particular they told me that those who lived there were among the prudent and intelligent of that nation; that there are many such cities, distinguished according to the inhabitants' affections for and perceptions of truth emanating from good; and that they were in the world of spirits, from which, after spending some time there, they are elevated into heaven, where they are introduced into societies and become angels. They told me, too, that the city is a double or triple city, one city existing beneath others, and when a person descends by stairways, he comes into a new city in which dwell people who differ in their affections. They said that their streets were everywhere roofed over because from the surrounding rocks, which are at a somewhat higher elevation, they are sometimes watched by evil people who are able mentally to pervert minds and to induce inharmonious appetites, and that they know how to bind thoughts, if they should ever penetrate them, causing their victims to be held in a state of anxiety and feeling as though bound, and this even to the point of desperation-a phenomenon which I also had personally demonstrated to me. * Cf. John 14:2, "In My Father's house are many dwelling-places; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."