In fact, it
is said that the interiors of those that have confirmed themselves
against the Divine and in favor of nature become bony, and their
heads down to the nose appear callous like ebony, which is a sign
that they no longer have any perception. Those of this description
are immersed in quagmires that appear like bogs; and there they are
harassed by the fantasies into which their falsities are turned.
Their infernal fire is a lust for glory and reputation, which prompts
them to assail one another, and from an infernal ardor to torment
those about them who do not worship them as deities; and this they do
one to another in turns. Into such things is all the learning of the
world changed that has not received into itself light from heaven
through acknowledgment of the Divine.
355. That these are such in the spiritual world when they come into
it after death may be inferred from this alone, that all things that
are in the natural memory and are in immediate conjunction with the
things of bodily sense (which is true of such knowledges as are
mentioned above) then become quiescent; and only such rational
principles as are drawn from these then serve for thought and speech.
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