4395. CONCERNING EXPLORING SPIRITS, [AND] A CERTAIN KIND OF THEM WHO EXCITE THE FILTHY THINGS OF EVIL SPIRITS. There are certain spirits who are impelled by a cupidity of exciting others in order to discover whether they are evil. When they apperceive evil and filthy things, they excite them [with a spirit], especially after he has undergone punishments, recalling those filthy things to see whether the spirit still thinks of them; thus they explore him whether he is such [as he was before]: they recall in this way also profane things, which is done very often. I spoke with them to the effect that they ought not to do thus, because they not only then allure the spirits upon whom they immediately act, but others also, to think thus filthily and profanely, and those, too, such as cannot forthwith recollect themselves, whom they then condemn and wish to punish; besides, that these are not touched with any horror of what is filthy, putting themselves in it without shame, and being thereby not much different from those who are excited. It was said concerning these explorers that they were such as, in the world, were curious in investigating the evils of others for the sake of injuring them. Punishing spirits, however, do not need to explore others thus; they know forthwith and in a moment without such exploration who they were [who did the evil] and where they are, nor does [anything] escape or mislead them, [and I said] that thus there was no necessity by filthy and profane things of exciting filthy and profane things, and thus contaminating the society. For example, if others think some abominable thing against what is holy, and are therefore punished, then such explorers afterwards recall this abominable thing by exploring whether the spirit still thinks it.