Spiritual Experiences (Buss) n. 5692

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5692. THE CUNNING AND DECEITFUL IN THE OTHER LIFE. THEIR HELLS. The cunning and deceitful dwell, for the most part, in the western quarter; and, there, partly upon high mountains, and partly in the plain, according to the phantasies arising from their self-love. Those who practiced cunning and deceit in secret are invisible to others, because they think in themselves, and so remove the interiors from the body, thus from the observation of others. There were such, in great number, upon the mountains in the western quarter, in various places; they were also invisible to me, but still they were discovered. They are discovered, when, as to their ideas, they are let into the body, or the external sensual; and then they are able to speak courteously and do whatsoever they wish: even if it be falsity and evil itself, to confirm it so that it may appear like truth and good. Such are against the Divine, and make nothing of those things which are of the Church. In themselves they are sensual; they are also serpents, but more poisonous than others, and vipers: such, too, in the light of heaven, they appear. All and every single one of them are congregated in their places and in their heights there, according to the nature of their deceit and cunning; but their lot is, that they become more stupid than any others, because their interiors are filled with hidden and thus profound cunnings and deceits: wherefore, also, the most cunning and the most deceitful are near the north in that quarter, where the most stupid are. Such are their hells.


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