352 HEAVEN and HELL §577
from evil itself is doing so on the basis of everything implicit in evil. [ 2 ] It
was different while they were living in the fl esh because then the evil of
their spirits was under the restraints that apply to all because of the law,
or because of money, position, reputation, and their fears of losing these
things. So the evil of their spirits could not break out and show itself in
its true colors. Further, the evil of their spirit then lurked hidden by veils
of outward integrity, honesty, fairness, and affection for what is true and
good, qualities that such people presented and simulated in their speech
for worldly reasons. All the while, the evil remained so hidden and veiled
that they themselves scarcely knew that there was so much malice and
craft in their spirits, that they were therefore intrinsically the very devils
they would become after death when their spirits would come into their
own and display their own nature.
[ 3 ] The kind of malice that surfaces then defi es all belief. There are
thousands of things that burst forth from the evil itself then, including
some that are beyond the words of any language to describe. I have been
allowed to learn and even to observe what they are like by many experi-
ences, because the Lord has granted me to be in the spiritual world as
to my spirit while I was in the natural world as to my body. This I can
testify: their malice is so great that scarcely a thousandth part of it can
be described. Further, if the Lord did not protect us we would never be
able to escape from hell; for with each of us there are both spirits from
hell and angels from heaven (see §§ 292 – 293 ). Further, the Lord cannot
protect us unless we acknowledge the Divine and live faithful, thoughtful
lives. Otherwise, we are turning away from the Lord and toward hell-
ish spirits and are therefore in spirit absorbing the same kind of malice.
[ 4 ] Still, the Lord is constantly leading us away from the evils that we
assimilate and attract by associating with these spirits, leading us if not
by the inner restraints of conscience (which we do not accept if we deny
the Divine), then by the outer restraints already listed, the fears of the
laws and their penalties, of the loss of money and the forfeiture of rank
and reputation. People like this can be led away from evils through the
delights of their love and the fear of losing and forfeiting these delights,
but they cannot be led into spiritual virtues. To the extent that they are
led into them, you see, they convert them into guile and craft by pre-
tending to be good and honest and fair-minded with a view to persuad-
ing and deceiving others. This guile is added to the evil of their spirits
and gives it form, lending its own nature to the evil.578 The worst people of all are the ones who have been absorbed in evil
pursuits because of their love for themselves and whose inward behavior