170. [170.] 35. Because they have no conjunction with heaven but are wholly conjoined with hell, many of those caught up in faith alone are motivated by a love of ruling, and they are detected by the fact that they look down from societies in heaven to regions below, and when they see people walking there, whether many or few, they direct their thoughts, harass them in various ways, and by inducing delusions cause many enticements to appear to the people to which the people are drawn, their joy being to cast these headlong into the hells. Their character is such that they do not wish to be led but to lead. This is their delight, and because of it they cannot be led by the Lord, for the Lord leads through an affection for useful ends, and they lack this affection. A useful end to them is to have dominion, and therefore they gradually reject the Lord and devote themselves to numerous arts by which they gain dominion. They rely on their own prudence and attribute nothing to Divine providence. Moreover, when given free rein they rush at last into such a state that they think there is no God, and yet have settled in them an intention to rule over heaven and to be there in God's stead. Such a state is inherent in a love of ruling for the sake of self. I saw that one of these was permitted in a small society to organize those who were there. He arranged them just as a spider arranges its web. He placed himself at the center and made paths leading out in every direction, with the decree that the people all look to him. But that society was swallowed up by the hells which lay below. All people of this character wish to enter into heaven, and they ascend to elevated sites where they believe life's delights to be exercises of dominion, when in fact they are useful endeavors. But after they have been examined they are cast down. Some are wanderers who go from one society to another, always seeking to perform administrative functions.