Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 1.djvu/174

 that the hells are said to be in thick darkness; and that thick darkness signifies falsities derived from evil, such as are in hell.

From an inspection of those monstrous forms of spirits in hell,—which, as was said, are all forms of contempt of others, of menace against those who do not pay them honor and respect, and of hatred and revenge against those who do not favor them,—it was made manifest that, in general, they were all of them forms of self-love and the love of the world; and that the evils whereof they are specific forms, derive their origin from these two loves.

I have also been told from heaven, and it has been proved to me by much experience likewise, that these two loves,—namely, self-love and the love of the world,—rule in the hells, and likewise make the hells; and that love to the Lord and love toward the neighbor rule in the heavens, and likewise make the heavens; also that the two former loves which are the loves of hell, and the two latter which are the loves of heaven, are diametrically opposite to each other.

At first I wondered why it was that self-love and the love of the world are so diabolical, and that they who are in those loves are such monsters to look upon; since in the world little thought is given