Afterlife: A Guided Tour of Heaven and Its Wonders - Swedenborg ...

Hell
For us human beings, spiritual warmth is the warmth of
life, because as already noted it is essentially love. This
love is what fire means in the Word. Heavenly fire means
love for the Lord and love for our neighbor, and hellish fire
means love for ourselves and love of the world.
Hellish fire or love has the same source as heavenly fire
or love, namely heaven’s sun or the Lord. However, it is
changed into hellfire by the people who receive it, for all
inflow from the spiritual world varies depending on how
it is received or depending on the forms into which it
flows. The same thing happens with the warmth and light
from the world’s sun. Warmth flowing from this source
into woods and flower beds produces vegetation and
pleas ant, soft aromas. The same warmth flowing into
manure or carrion produces decay and foul stenches. Sim -
i larly, light from the same sun on one object produces
lovely, charming colors, while on another it produces ugly
and unpleasant ones. It is the same with the warmth and
light from heaven’s sun, which is love. When that warmth
or love flows into good recipients, like good people and
spir its or angels, it makes their goodness fertile; whereas
when it flows into evil people it has the opposite effect.
Their evils either stifle it or distort it. Similarly, when
heav en’s light flows into the true perceptions of good will,
it yields intelligence and wisdom; but when it flows into
malicious distortions, it changes there into insanity and
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