The Earth
THE SPIRITUAL EARTH
- Chapter 31 -
The activities of the spirits in the second region of the air
Let us begin immediately with a question: Is the character of the spirit beings of the second region good or evil? And are they engaged in the ascent or the descent?
This region resembles very much the earthly life of human beings on the Earth's surface. There is a constant coming and going, a banding together of the like-minded. War, murder, imprisonment, defeat, escape, theft and robbery, inflicting evil and doing good - all this you may experience in the second region. It is the actual battlefield of the spirits; that is why the mountains located in this region usually appear ravaged.
The mere sight of these heights indicates how much fighting takes place in this region. Nowhere but in the second region does this freedom prevail; that is why it is the battlefield where the spirits decide either for Heaven or for Hell. The spirit and soul of each human being enter this region immediately after the death of the physical body, where these departed continue to live as they did while on Earth. They enjoy full freedom and, naturally, look for their own kind. That is how the riotous assemblies come about. Once such a group has gathered, its members soon begin to scheme as to how this or that might be obtained, usually through force or trickery.
There are also souls amongst them who will betray a plan of their band to a more powerful band. When these hordes are made aware of the treason that threatens them, they begin to prepare for war. This is noticeable in the natural world through an increase in the formation of clouds. And it does not take long until these embittered opposing armies march against each other. But they are watched by the mighty peace spirits who oversee everything.
The peace spirits descend, take these embittered armies captive, and throw them down to the Earth. There it takes a while until they have gathered enough energy and courage to return to their previous place. Their prison is matter, in which they have been caught again. The peace spirits from the third region are their guards. When, after such a severe reprimand, these spirits humble themselves and seek deliverance and salvation in My name, they will be greeted by the peace spirits again in a friendly manner, and then led to the third region where they will initially be placed at the lowest level. There they will live together with the pure spirits, and there ascend in accordance with their increase of love for Me and My order.
Such an act of satisfaction may be seen by the natural world, and this occurs frequently in the disappearance of clouds in the firmament. When the opposite is the case, that is, when evil spirits band together, dark clouds suddenly form in the firmament, particularly around the high peaks of mountains. This occurrence is caused by the fact that these passionate spirits materialize more and more as the evil attributes rise up closer together within them.
When a spirit is imprisoned by the passion of his soul, he distances himself from Me. The more he turns away from Me, the more material he becomes, until he eventually becomes visible even to the natural world in the corresponding material form of one of his passions. In this condition, he soon becomes too heavy for the second region and is cast down by his own weight. This corresponds with the will of the peace spirits and also with My will. My will causes the actual weight of all bodies. These spirits, rather than humble themselves, frequently remain arrested in matter because of their own evil will, and would rather live in earthly filth, in the dirtiest of animals and in the ugliest of plants. And many examples prove this. These spirits must be kept under constant surveillance so that this kind of riff-raff, having been thrown down to Earth in their wickedness, do not throw themselves on noble fruit and animals. Should this occur, it would utterly ruin the fruit and the animals. It would not take long before there would be plagues among animals, and even the fish in the water would not be spared by them. Most of the epidemic ailments of human beings are a consequence of the activities of such evil spirits; they penetrate the human body and cause it to become ill. A natural death might easily occur thereby, unless special remedies be administered immediately in My name, to which these imps must yield.