In the spiritual world, there are no physical units of space or corre-
sponding units of time. Yet there appear to be. Apparent space and time
follow the different states of mind that spirits and angels go through
there. The units of spiritual time and space match the desires of their will
and the resulting thoughts in their intellect. Apparent space and time,
then, are real—they are predictably determined by one’s state of mind.
[ 2 ] The general opinion on the state of souls after death, as well as of
angels and spirits, is that they have no extension—they are not in space
or time. This has led to the saying about souls after death that they are in
limbo, and that spirits and angels are ghosts, which are thought of as
ether, air, breath, or wind.
In fact, souls after death are substantial people who live together
like people in the physical world, only with units of space and time
that are determined by their states of mind. If the spiritual universe—
destination of souls and home of angels and spirits—lacked its own
space and time then it could be passed through the eye of a needle or
compressed onto the tip of a single hair. This would be possible if there
were no substantial extension there. Since there is substantial extension
there, however, angels live among each other with clear and distinct
boundaries, in fact with even clearer boundaries than people on earth
do, where there is material extension.
Time in the spiritual world is not marked by days, weeks, months,
and years, because the sun there does not seem to rise and set or to swing
across the sky. It stands still in the east, halfway between the horizon and
the point directly overhead. Because everything that is physical in our
world is substantial in the spiritual world, there are units of space there. I
will say more on this topic in the part of this chapter that deals with cre-
ation [§§ 75 – 80 ].
[ 3 ] From what I have just said, you can see that there are space and
time limitations on each and every thing in both worlds; and that peo-
ple have limitations not only to their bodies but even to their souls. The
same goes for spirits and angels.
From all the above we can draw the conclusion that God is infinite or
without limits. As Creator, Shaper, and Maker of the universe, he gave
everything a limit or a boundary. He did so by means of the sun that sur-
rounds him. That sun consists of the divine essence that goes out as a
sphere around him. In that sun and from it, the first limitedness occurs.
Things are increasingly limited the closer they are to the lowest level of
singke
(singke)
#1