§589 equilibrium 359
[ 2 ] There is an infi nite variety to everything evil just as there is to
everything good. People do not grasp this if they have only simplistic
concepts of particular evils like contempt, hostility, hatred, vengefulness,
deceit, and the like; but they should realize that each of these contains so
many distinctive forms, each of which also contains distinctive or partic-
ular forms, that a whole volume would not be adequate to list them. The
hells are so clearly arranged according to the distinctive features of every-
one’s evil that nothing could be more defi nitely and clearly arranged.
We can gather from this that they are beyond counting, some near each
other and some far removed according to the general, specifi c, and par-
ticular differences of their evils.
[ 3 ] Further, there are hells below hells. Some communicate by traffi c
to and fro, many by emanations, all in strict accord with the affi nities of
each genus and species of evil with others.
I have been given some knowledge of the number of the hells from
the fact that they are underneath every mountain, hill, and cliff, every
plain and valley, and that they stretch out there far and wide and deep.
In short, it is as though the whole heaven and the whole world of spirits
are hollowed out with one continuous hell under them. So much for the
number of the hells.
The Equilibrium between Heaven and Hell
589
F
OR anything to happen, there needs to be an equilibrium of every-
thing involved. If there is no equilibrium, there is no action and
reaction, because the equilibrium occurs between two forces, one acting
and the other reacting. The state of rest arising from equal agents and
reagents is called an equilibrium.
In the natural world there is equilibrium throughout, in general in
the atmospheres, the lower layers of which react and resist to the extent
that the upper layers act and bear down. In the natural world there are
also states of equilibrium between warmth and cold, light and darkness,
dry and wet. Their median blend is the balance point. There is also an