7479. I have talked to some from that planet about what people there believe. They said that people there believe that they have nothing within themselves except what is filthy and from hell, and that anything good is the Lord's. Indeed they went further than that, saying that left to themselves they are devils but that the Lord pulls them out of hell and constantly holds them back from it. They were astonished that I had so many evil spirits around me and also that these talked to me. But I was led to reply that they were allowed to be there in order that I might get to know what they were like and why they were in hell, and to know that their character and lot was due to the life they lived. I was also led to say that a number of these evil spirits were people whom I had been acquainted with when they lived in the world, during which time they had been appointed to high office yet had set their hearts on the world and nothing else. But, I added, no evil spirit, not even the most hellish, could ever do me harm since I was under the Lord's constant protection.