part of the spiritual world you see ground that is frozen solid and bod-
ies of water frozen solid, with snowdrifts on them. The people who
move to that area are people who had put their intellect to sleep in this
world by giving it no energy for spiritual thinking; as a result they had
no energy for doing anything useful either. They are called the spirits
of the north.
[ 2 ] On one occasion a longing came over me to see a region in the
frigid zone where the spirits of the north live. Therefore I was led in
the spirit to the north all the way to an area where the ground was
completely covered in snow and all forms of water were frozen solid.
It was a Sunday. I noticed that the people (meaning spirits) were
about as tall as people in the world. Because of the cold, they wore a
lion’s skin on their head with the lion’s mouth over their mouth. They
wore leopard skins over their bodies, front and back, down to their
thighs. They wore a bearskin on their feet and lower legs.
I saw many of them riding in carriages. Some were riding in carriages
carved in the form of a dragon with horns sticking out in front. The car-
riages were being drawn by small horses whose tails were cut off. The
horses were charging around like terrifying wild animals. The driver,
holding the reins in his hands, was constantly goading and forcing the
horses on their way.
After a while I saw that the crowds were flocking to a church that I
had not noticed because it was buried in snow. The church caretakers
were heaving the snow aside, digging out access for the arriving wor-
shipers. The worshipers got out of their carriages and entered the church.
[ 3 ] I too was allowed to go in and see the church building from the
inside. It was lit with a great many lamps and lanterns. The altar was
made out of a hewn stone. Behind it hung a plaque with an inscription:
The divine Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are essentially one
God but personally three.
A priest was standing next to the altar. After kneeling three times
before the plaque above it, he eventually ascended the stairs into the pul-
pit with a book in his hand.
The first topic of his sermon was the divine Trinity. He cried out,
“What a great mystery! God most high bore a Son from eternity and
through him brought forth the Holy Spirit. The three of them are con-
nected by their essence but separate in their tasks: assigning, redeeming,
and putting into effect. But if we let our reason examine these points, our
sight will be blinded. We will develop a blind spot like people who stare
§185 the holy spirit & divine action 257