4243. There are societies that live amicably among themselves, so that they may be called societies of friendship. They do not love other angelic spirits in like manner, wherefore there is not among them a love towards others greater than that which they bear to their companions. When these came above me, as soon as I began to read something of what is contained in the book of Genesis, all delight and the life thence was taken from me, and what was left had scarce any vitality, but was, as it were, a mere cheerless inanimate something, from which I inferred that the spirits were not good, and that having found an occasion of evil they had, as it were, deformed a multitude of things that occurred in my reading, and left them not only void of delight, but sadly marred, so that it displeased me as something of no moment and of no coherency, causing me almost to conceive disgust towards it. When I perceived and felt sensibly that all delight was stolen from what I was reading, it was given to speak with those angelic spirits, and I related to them the circumstance, and how the matter stood, and they replied that it was no pleasure to them that I was thus affected, that they did not know me in the matter, nor what transpires with man, but as soon as they perceive anything delightful they seize upon it and rejoice among themselves. Being good spirits, I admitted their excuse, but I was informed that they were societies of friendship acting with due sincerity towards each other, but that they did not, like the angels, love others above themselves.