§555 evil & falsity 337
a gift of the Lord’s mercy, so that they do not look as repulsive to each
other as they do to angels. However, this appearance is deceiving, since
the moment a ray of light from heaven is let in, these human forms
turn into the monstrous ones that they are essentially, the forms just
described, because in heaven’s light everything appears as it really is. This
is also why they avoid heaven’s light and dive into their own illumina-
tion, an illumination like that of glowing coals or, in places, like burn-
ing sulfur. This light, though, turns into pure darkness when any ray of
light from heaven fl ows in. This is why the hells are described as being in
gloom and darkness, and why the gloom and darkness mean the kinds of
malevolent distortions characteristic of hell.
Having examined the misshapen forms of spirits in the hells, forms 554
that as noted are all forms of contempt for others, of threats against peo-
ple who do not respect and revere them, and of hatred and vengeance
against people who do not support them, it has become clear to me that
in general they are all forms of love for oneself and the world and that the
evils that give rise to individual forms can all be traced back to these two
loves. I have also been told from heaven, and it has been witnessed to me
by an abundance of experience, that these two loves, love for oneself and
love of the world, do rule in the hells and actually constitute the hells,
and that love for the Lord and love for one’s neighbor rule in the heavens
and actually constitute the heavens. I have also learned that the two loves
that are hell’s loves and the two loves that are heaven’s loves are absolute
opposites.
At fi rst I wondered why love for oneself and love of the world are so 555
diabolic, why people who are absorbed in them look so frightful. After
all, in the world we scarcely give love for ourselves a second thought.
We focus only on that outward infl ation of spirit called pride, which we
believe is the only self-love because it is so visible. Not only that, if love
for oneself does not express itself in pride, then we in the world think it is
the vital fi re that rouses us to work for high position and to do construc-
tive things. We believe that if we saw no prospect of esteem and glory
in these efforts, our spirits would become sluggish. People ask, “Who
would do anything decent or useful or remarkable except to be praised
and respected by others, [openly] or in their thoughts; and where does
this come from except from the fi re of a love for glory and esteem—that
is, for the sake of self?” This is why people in the world do not realize
that in its own right love for oneself is the love that rules in hell and that
makes hell within us.