up within their hell, and are not let out. They have reference also to the fatal tubercles of the head within the skull. It was said that they rush within the skull, and thence by continuity even into the spinal marrow; but it is an appearance that the spirits themselves rush in, they being carried out by a way which corresponds to those spaces in the body, which is felt as if the incursion were within. This is the effect of correspondence.
There is a certain kind of spirits, who, in consequence of their desire to have dominion, and to be the sole rulers over all others, with a view to that end excite among others enmities, hatreds, and combats. I have witnessed the combats, and have been surprised; and on my asking who they were, I was told that they are spirits of the above description, and that they excite such things in consequence of their intention to rule alone, according to the maxim, Divide and rule. It was also granted me to converse with them, and they immediately said that they governed all; but it was given me to answer them, that they were insane if they seek to establish their rule by such means. Their speech was with the rapidity of a current, because in the life of the body they had excelled in elocution. I was instructed that they are such as have reference to the thick phlegm of the brain, which by their presence they deprive of every principle of life, and induce torpor, whence come obstructions, from which arise several diseases, and also numbness. It was observed that they were totally void of conscience, and that they made human prudence and wisdom to consist in exciting enmities, hatreds, and intestine combats, for the sake of bearing rule.
Those who despise and ridicule the Word in the letter, and especially those who despise and ridicule those things of the Word which are in a deeper sense, consequently also the doctrinals which are derived from the Word, and at the same time are not principled in any love towards their neighbour, but in the love of
