existed.  But the spirits from that earth esteemed them as nothing, calling them marble images; and then they related that they have more magnificent things belonging to them, which are their sacred temples, built not of stone but of wood.  When it was objected that these were still earthly objects, they replied that they were not earthly, but heavenly, because when they gaze upon them they have not an earthly but a heavenly idea; believing that after death they should also see like objects in heaven.

151.  They then represented their sacred temples before the spirits of our Earth, who declared that they had not seen anything more magnificent; and as they were also seen by me, I can therefore describe them.  They are constructed of trees not cut down, but growing in the place where they first took root.  They said that on that earth there are trees of a wonderful size and height; these they set in rows from the first, so that they may form porticos and colonnades; and by cutting and pruning, they fit and prepare the tender shoots, so that as they grow they may interlace and join together so as to form the groundwork and floor of the temple to be constructed, and to rise at the sides to form the walls, and above to bend into arches to form the roof.  In this manner they construct the temple with admirable art, raised high above the ground.  They also prepare an ascent into it by successive branches of the trees, extended from the trunk and firmly connected together.  Moreover, they adorn the temple without and within in various ways, by disposing the foliage into forms:  thus they build entire groves.  But it was not permitted me to see the character of these temples within:  I was only told that the light of their sun is let in by apertures amongst the branches, and is transmitted here and there through crystals, by which means the light falling upon the walls is varied in colours like those of the rainbow, especially blue and orange, of which they are fondest.  Such are their architectural works, which they prefer to the most magnificent palaces of our Earth.

152.  They said further, that the inhabitants do not dwell in high places, but on the earth in lowly cottages, for the reason that high places are for the Lord who is in heaven, and lowly places for men who are on earth.  Their cottages were also shown me.  They were oblong, having within along the walls a continuous couch, on which they lie one behind another.  On the side opposite to the door is a rounded alcove, before which is a table, and behind the table a fire-place, by which the whole chamber is lighted.  In this fire-place, there is not a burning fire, but a luminous wood, which gives out as much light as the flame of a common fire does.  They said that in the evening these logs of wood appeared as if they had in them the fire of live coals.

153.  They said that they do not live as societies, but as households by themselves; and that they are societies when they meet for worship; that on these occasions those who teach walk within the temple, and the rest in the porches at the sides; and that at their meetings they experience interior joys, arising from the sight of the temple, and from the worship celebrated therein.