997. THERE ARE SPIRITS WHO KNOW NO OTHERWISE THAN THAT THEY ARE MEN: ALSO THAT THEY ARE THE SOULS OF OTHERS While they are with man, spirits in general know no otherwise than that they are men, as I know by the confirmation of manifold and frequent experience. Moreover, they sometimes know no otherwise than that they are those men concerning whom there is discussion and thought. They put on, as it were, the entire personality of such individuals, whether alive or dead, and they so confirm themselves that, when the real man or real soul is afterwards discovered, they are affected with shame. There are also some who, when a spirit is present and thinking, suppose that they themselves are that spirit, so that they utter his thoughts. Such a spirit is then under the persuasion that it is himself. He likewise utters the man's thoughts as if they were the thoughts of the more subtle spirits, who are silent and are only thinking. Thus other spirits can be imbued with the persuasion that they are such persons, or some others, for they do not know whence this is.