THE EARTH OR PLANET SATURN, AND ITS SPIRITS AND INHABITANTS.
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97. The spirits from that earth appear in front at a considerable distance, below, in the plane of the knees, where that earth itself is; and when the eye is opened thither, a multitude of spirits come into view, who are all from that earth. They are seen on this side of that earth, and to the right of it. It has been given me to speak with them also, and thereby to know of what character they are relatively to others. They are well-disposed, and they are modest; and as they esteem themselves little, therefore also in the other life they appear small.
98. They are extremely humble in worship, for in worship they esteem themselves as nothing. They worship our Lord, and acknowledge Him as the only God. The Lord also appears to them at times under an angelic form, and thus as a Man, and at such times the Divine shines forth from His face, and affects the mind (animus). The inhabitants also, when they come of age, speak with spirits, by whom they are instructed concerning the Lord, and how He ought to be worshipped, and also how they ought to live. When any desire to lead astray the spirits who are from that earth, and to draw them away from faith in the Lord, or from humiliation towards Him, and from uprightness of life, they say they wish to die. On these occasions there appear in their hands small knives, with which they seem to desire to strike their breasts. On being questioned why they do so, they say that they would rather die than be drawn away from the Lord. The spirits of our Earth sometimes mock at them on this account, and assail them with reproaches for acting so; but their reply is, that they are well aware that they do not kill themselves, but that this is only an appearance flowing forth from the will of their mind (animus) rather to die than be drawn away from the worship of the Lord.
99. They said that sometimes spirits from our Earth come to them and ask them what God they worship, their answer to whom is, that they are insane, and that there can be no greater insanity than to ask what God any one worships, when yet there is but one God for all in the universe; and that still more insane are they in not saying that the Lord is that One only God, and that He governs the whole heaven, and consequently the whole world, since He who governs heaven must also govern the world, because the world is governed by means of heaven.
100. They said that on their earth there are some who call the nocturnal light (lumen), which is great, the Lord, but that these are separated from the rest, and are not tolerated by them. That nocturnal light (lumen) comes from the great ring which encircles that earth at a distance, and from the moons which are called the satellites of Saturn.
101. They related that another kind of spirits, who go in troops, frequently come to them, desiring to learn how things are with them, and that by various methods they elicit from them whatever they know. They said of these spirits, that they are not insane, except in this particular, that they desire to know so much for no other use than that simply of knowing. They were afterwards instructed that these spirits are from the planet Mercury, that is, from the earth nearest the sun, and that they are delighted with knowledges alone, and not so much with the uses from them.
103. Furthermore, the spirits of that earth gave me information concerning the inhabitants, the nature of their consociations and other particulars. They said that they live divided into families, every family apart from the others; thus, a man (vir) and wife with their children; and that these, when they unite in marriage, are separated from the house of the parents, and have no further care about it; wherefore the spirits from that earth appear in pairs. That they are little solicitous about food and raiment; that they live on the fruits and pulse which their earth produces; and that they are lightly clothed, being girt with a coarse skin or coat, which keeps out the cold. Further, that all on that earth know that they shall live after death; and that on this account they have no care for their body, except so far as is necessary for the sake of the life which they say is to endure and to serve the Lord; that for this reason also they do not bury the bodies of the dead, but cast them away, and cover them with branches of trees from the forest.
104. Being questioned concerning that great belt which appears from our Earth to rise above the horizon of that planet, and to vary its positions, they said, that it does not appear to them as a belt, but only as a snowy something in the sky in various directions.