almost separated from corporeal things, into heaven, and could even lead them about there, and show them the magnificent and goodly things there, and also communicate to them their own happinesses and delights.  These times were also known to ancient writers, who called them the Golden, and likewise the Saturnian times.  The reason why these times were such was, as has been stated, that men then lived distinguished into clans, clans into families, and families into households, and every household dwelt by itself; and that it then never entered into any one’s mind (mens) to seize upon another’s inheritance, and thus acquire for himself opulence and dominion:  the love of self and the love of the world were then far away; every one rejoiced in his own, and not less in another’s good.  But in the course of time this scene was changed and totally reversed, when the lust of exercising dominion and of possessing many things invaded the mind (animus).  Then the human race, for the sake of self-defence, gathered themselves into kingdoms and empires; and because the laws of charity and conscience, which had been inscribed upon the heart, ceased to operate, it became necessary, in order to restrain deeds of violence, to enact [external] laws, of which the rewards were honours and gain, and the punishments were the deprivation thereof.  When the state was thus changed, heaven itself became removed from man, and this more and more even to the present ages, when the very existence of heaven and hell is unknown, yea, is even denied by some.  These statements have been made in order to show clearly by the parallel, what is the state of those who are on the earth Jupiter, and whence they have their goodness of disposition and also their wisdom, of which more will be said in the following pages.

50.  By long-continued intercourse with the spirits of the earth Jupiter, it became manifest to me that they were better disposed than the spirits of many other earths.  Their approach when they came to me, their stay with me, and their influx at the time, were so gentle and sweet as to be inexpressible.  In the other life the quality of every spirit manifests itself by an influx, which is the communication of his affection.  Goodness of disposition manifests itself by gentleness and sweetness; by gentleness, because it is afraid to hurt, and by sweetness, because it loves to do good.  I could distinguish very clearly between the gentleness and sweetness of the influx proceeding from the good spirits of our Earth, and the gentleness and sweetness of the influx from the spirits of Jupiter.  They said that when any slight disagreement arises among them, there appears as it were a thin dazzling white ray of light, like that of ordinary lightning or like the little swath which encompasses glittering and wandering stars; but the disagreement among them is soon adjusted.  Glittering stars, which are at the same time wandering signify what is false; but glittering and fixed stars signify what is true; thus the former signify disagreement.[u]