I have heard
that the infernal spirits neither see nor feel these things, because
when they are in them they are as in their own atmosphere, and thus
in the delight of their life; and this for the reason that these
things correspond to the evils and falsities in which they are, fire
corresponding to hatred and revenge, smoke and soot to the falsities
therefrom, flame to the evils of the love of self, and a mist or
thick cloud to falsities from that love.
586. I have also been permitted to look into the hells and to see
what they are within; for when the Lord wills, the sight of a spirit
or angel from above may penetrate into the lowest depths beneath and
explore their character, notwithstanding the coverings. In this way I
have been permitted to look into them. Some of the hells appeared to
the view like caverns and dens in rocks extending inward and then
downward into an abyss, either obliquely or vertically. Some of the
hells appeared to the view like the dens and caves of wild beasts in
forests; some like the hollow caverns and passages that are seen in
mines, with caverns extending towards the lower regions. Most of the
hells are threefold, the upper one appearing within to be in dense
darkness, because inhabited by those who are in the falsities of
evil; while the lower ones appear fiery, because inhabited by those
who are in evils themselves, dense darkness corresponding to the
falsities of evil, and fire to evils themselves.
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