Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 2128

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2128. The idea of a Last Judgement as it took place before the eyes of the evil, such as I have witnessed two or three times, has been as follows: When the spirits around me had so amalgamated into destructive communities that they were in the ascendancy and did not allow themselves, by the law of equilibrium which order ensures, to be controlled in such a way that they did not vex other communities excessively or begin to do them harm from their superior strength, a sizable squadron of spirits then appeared on the scene from the quarter in front, slightly to the right and above. As they approached a tumultuous sound was heard, as if coming in waves and roaring. When they heard it the spirits were filled with dismay and terror, and confusion resulted. At that point the spirits within those communities were scattered, one this way and another that, so that they melted away from one another and did not know one anothers' whereabouts. While all this was taking place it seemed to those spirits just as if it was a Last Judgement accompanied by the destruction of all things. Some uttered lamentations, others in terror lost heart so to speak; in short, a sense of doom like that of a final reckoning was seizing them all.

[2] The sound of those approaching from the quarter in front was heard by them in different ways. To some it was the sound of armed cavalry, to others something else, all depending on their state of fear and the delusions this aroused in them. I myself perceived it as a continuous rumbling coming in waves, and indeed of many doing so simultaneously. I was informed by those near me that squadrons like these arrive on the scene from that quarter when communities have, as has been stated, been harmfully grouped together in this manner. They know, I was told, how to break them up and part them one from another, and at the same time how to strike terror into them, so that their one thought is to take flight. I was further informed that by means of disbandments and dispersals all spirits are then brought back into order by the Lord, and also that such activity is meant in the Word by 'the east wind'.


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