Heaven and Hell (Harley) n. 580

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580. What kind of malice infernal spirits possess can be confirmed from their nefarious arts, which are so many that to enumerate them would fill a book, and to describe them would fill many books. These arts are mostly unknown in the world. ONE kind relates to abused of correspondences; a SECOND to abuses of the ultimates of Divine order; a THIRD to the communication and influx of thoughts and affections by conversions, by inspections, and by the instrumentality of other spirits apart from themselves, and spirits sent out by themselves; a FOURTH to operations by phantasies; a FIFTH to projections out beyond themselves, and consequent presence elsewhere than where they are in the body; a SIXTH to pretences, persuasion, and lies. The spirit of an evil man comes of itself into these arts when he is released from his body, for they are inherent in the nature of the evil in which he then is. By these arts they torment each other in the hells. But as all of these arts, except those that are effected by pretences, persuasions, and lies, are unknown in the world, I would not here describe them in detail, both because they are not comprehended, and because they are wicked.


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