275. (3) The three degrees of the natural mind which is a form of and image of hell are opposed to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which is a form of and image of heaven. We have previously shown that there are three degrees of the human mind called natural, spiritual and celestial, and that the human mind consisting of these degrees looks upward to heaven and spirals in that direction. It can be seen from this that when the natural mind looks downward and spirals in the direction of hell, it likewise consists of three degrees, and that each of its degrees is opposed to a degree of the mind which is a heaven. [2] The fact of this has become apparent to me from things I have seen in the spiritual world, namely the following: That there are three heavens, and these distinguished according to three degrees of height. That there are also three hells, with these, too, distinguished according to three degrees of height, or rather of depth. That the hells are opposed to the heavens in each and every particular. Moreover, that the lowest hell is situated opposite to the highest heaven, that the intermediate hell is situated opposite to the intermediate heaven, and that the highest hell is situated opposite to the lowest heaven. The same is the case with the natural mind that is in the form of hell. For spiritual forms are the same in the greatest and least of their occurrences. The heavens and hells are situated opposite to each other in the manner described for the reason that their loves stand thus opposed. [3] Love toward the Lord and a consequent love for the neighbor form the inmost degree in the heavens, while love of self and love of the world form the inmost degree in the hells. Wisdom and intelligence arising from their loves form the intermediate degree in the heavens, while foolishness and irrationality arising from their loves and appearing as wisdom and intelligence form the intermediate degree in the hells. The determinations arising from their two prior degrees, then, being either stored in the memory as knowledge or turned in the body into action, form the outmost degree in the heavens, while determinations arising from their two prior degrees, becoming either matters of knowledge or matters of action, form the outmost degree in the hells. [4] How the goods and truths of heaven are turned into evils and falsities in the hells, thus into their opposite, can be seen from the following experience. I once heard that a Divine truth flowed down from heaven into hell, and I was told that as it descended, it was changed on the way by degrees into falsity, so that on reaching the lowest hell it was turned into the complete opposite. It was apparent from this that the hells stand in accordance with degrees in opposition to the heavens in respect to all their goods and truths, and that goods and truths become evils and falsities by flowing into forms that have been turned into something contrary to them. For as people know, everything flowing in is perceived and sensed in accordance with its recipient forms and their states. [5] The fact that these forms have been turned into something opposite became apparent to me also from the following experience. I was given to see the hells in their situation relative to the heavens, and the people there appeared upside-down, with their heads extending down and their feet up. But I was told that still they appear to themselves to stand upright upon their feet, a circumstance that may be compared with that of people on the opposite side of the earth. From these attestations of experience it can be seen that the three degrees of the natural mind which in its form and image is a hell are opposed to the three degrees of the spiritual mind, which in its form and image is a heaven.