The Earth
THE SPIRITUAL EARTH
- Chapter 52 -
The law of the division of the soul
It has already been partially indicated, when the mineral and plant kingdoms were described, how telluric specifica continuously ascend in countless amounts which seize, unite, and order themselves in accordance with the will of the spirits that are placed above them. And, in a manner of speaking, all phenomena on Earth are each a part of Satan's soul.
His division is in such a state in accordance with a secret law, that Satan himself becomes the first accomplice to his dissolution. Through his power, he wants to free his soul, and give her her former expansion or scope. That is why, internally, he burns continuously in his compressed, telluric, specific soul. Through this continuous burning, he wants to change seemingly firm matter back into a fully subtle substance. This effort will be allowed under orderly restriction, and for this purpose the organism of this Earth is so set up, and put in such an order, that the evil spirit must remain as continually and equally active in his perseverance.
He labors under the illusion that he has almost entirely liberated his imprisoned soul through this activity, and that is why he constantly ejects psychic specifica from the interior of the Earth. He knows little or nothing about the fact that these specifica are intercepted by mighty spirits and put in order in new consummate human forms.
The specifica that come from that place are, of course, of a purely hellish kind and are fundamentally evil. That is why they must ascend through an immense number of levels of creatures, and thoroughly ferment before they are suited to the organization of a human body and a human soul. The hellish attributes of these specifica show themselves clearly in the many beings which precede the human being. Observe the poisonous nature of almost all metals, the toxins in plants, the poison in animals, the great rage, especially in the carnivorous animals, and the horrible treachery of poisonous vermin - and the hellish wickedness of these creatures will not escape you. Yes, even among human beings this purely hellish attribute expresses itself in a very high degree, so much so that frequently there is little or no difference between many human beings and the Prince of Darkness.
This purely hellish evil was, through the descent of the mightiest specificum, the "Word of God," first exposed to a new fermentation by which the hellish evil is being changed into heavenly good. But this does not occur all at once.
The specifica in the essential soul of a human being are indeed already heavenly pure, when she has been penetrated by the spirit. However, the body or the flesh of a human being is still evil in all its parts, still hellish. That is why this flesh must endure many humiliating trials, until it gradually becomes an assimilative part of the soul, which had already become pure at an earlier time.
This is why the body must die, in order to dissolve. The body must pass over in all its parts into all kinds of worms and, as such, again die and dissolve, and, following that, pass over into countless infusoria. These infusoria enter into the being of plants. The plants then decompose into various states: partially in earth, partially in fire, partially in the stomachs of animals. This continues until the last atom be dissolved and free; with some human beings this takes several centuries, and with some of the more conceited - those fools who love their flesh - even many thousands of years, until the bodies they leave behind have met with total dissolution. The essential, pure hellish yeast of every body will remain imputrescible for all times as Satan's most essential main belonging, so that he will remain with a lasting body. Whatever of the soul's substance may adhere to it, no matter how small, will be taken and incorporated in the soul of a human being.
That is how the whole soul of Satan will be gradually resurrected through many human beings, of which each and every one is more consummate than the entire earlier great spirit, that is, Satan. That each soul may receive a complete divine proportion, God will implant in her a new spirit from out of Himself. The soul may, through this process, become an entirely new being. This is the new creation which is altogether newly formed in the fire of divine love. The old creation will relapse into her dust and her unconsciousness grows continuously larger and will become more solid, and then will become the foundation of the new creation.