AC 9701. Something shall now be said about the Internal and the External Man.

AC 9702. They who have only a general idea about the Internal and the External Man, believe that it is the Internal Man which thinks and wills, and the External Man which speaks and acts; because to think and to will are internal, and from these to speak and act is external.

AC 9703. But be it known that it is not only the Internal Man that thinks and wills, but also the External; yet in one way when they are conjoined, and in another when they are separated.

AC 9704. When a man thinks intelligently and wills wisely, he thinks and wills from the Internal Man; but when he does not think intelligently and will wisely, he does not think and will from the Internal Man. Consequently, when a man thinks well about the Lord and about what belongs to the Lord, and when he thinks well about the neighbor and what belongs to the neighbor, and when he also wills well to these, he then thinks and wills from the Internal Man. But when a man thinks evilly in regard to these, and bears them ill will, he then does not think and will from the Internal Man. To think well is from the faith of truth, and to will well is from the love of good; but to think evilly is from the faith of what is false, and to will evilly is from the love of what is evil.

AC 9705. In a word, in so far as a man is in love to the Lord and in love toward the neighbor, so far he is in the Internal Man, and thinks and wills and also speaks and acts from it; but in so far as a man is in the love of self and in the love of the world, so far he is in the External Man, and in so far as he dares, he also speaks and acts from it.

AC 9706. The reason is that man has been created according to the image of heaven and the image of the world; the Internal Man according to the image of heaven, and the External Man according to the image of the world. Wherefore to think and will from the Internal Man is to think and will from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord; but to think and will from the External Man is to think and will from the world, that is, through the world from self.

AC 9707. It has been so provided and ordained by the Lord that in so far as a man thinks and wills from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, so far his Internal Man is opened: the opening is unto heaven, even unto the Lord Himself. Therefore, on the other hand, in so far as a man thinks and wills from the world, that is, through the world from self, so far the Internal Man is closed, and the External Man is opened: the opening is unto the world and unto self.

AC 9708. In order that the External Man may be reduced into order, it must be made subordinate to the Internal Man, and it is made subordinate when it obeys. So far as this is effected, so far the External Man also is wise. This is meant by the old man with its evil affections needing to die in order that the man may become a new creature.

AC 9709. Those with whom the Internal Man has been closed, do not know that there is an Internal Man, neither do they believe that there is a heaven and an eternal life. And wonderful to say they nevertheless suppose that they think more wisely than others; for they love themselves and what belongs to them, and these they worship. It is otherwise in the case of those with whom the Internal Man has been opened toward heaven unto the Lord, for these are in the light of heaven, thus in illumination from the Lord; whereas the former are not in the light of heaven, but in the light of the world, and thus in illumination from self. Those who are illumined from self, and not from the Lord, see falsity as truth and evil as good.

AC 9790. It has also been granted me to see some of the inhabitants of a lower class. They were seen in a garment such as is worn by rustics in Europe. There was also seen a man with his wife. She appeared of handsome figure and becoming mien, as did likewise the man. But I was surprised at his grand style of walking, with steps as it were haughty, while on the other hand the woman walked with a lowly gait. The angels said that such is the custom on that earth, and that the men who are like this are loved, because they are nevertheless good. It was said further that they are not allowed to have more wives than one, because this is contrary to the laws.

AC 9791. A man who is in the spirit, when allowed to do so by the Lord, can look at what occurs in the earth to which he is near; for in the other life there is no space, thus no distance between those who are in a similar state (n. 9579-9581). What I have just mentioned took place in the same way as with the spirits of some of the earths in our solar system, to whom it was given by the Lord to see through my eyes many things in our earth, as already stated in several places.

AC 9792. The woman who was seen had a wide garment in front of her bosom, behind which she could hide herself. It was so made that she could insert her arms, and clothe herself with it, and so go away. The lower part of it could be drawn up; and when drawn up and applied to the body, it appeared like a stomacher, such as is worn by the women of our earth. But the same garment served the man also for a covering, and he was seen to take it from the woman and apply it to his own back, loosening the lower part, which then flowed down to his feet like a gown, and in this manner he walked clad.

AC 9793. Afterward I spoke with spirits who were from that earth, and told them many things about our earth; as that there are sciences here which do not exist elsewhere, such as astronomy, geometry, mechanics, physics, chemistry, medicine, optics, and philosophy; besides arts which also are unknown elsewhere, as the art of ship-building, of casting metals, of writing on paper, and of printing what is written, and thus of communicating it to all in the whole earth, and of preserving it to posterity for thousands of years; and that it has been so done with the Word, which is from the Lord, and that therefore the revealed Word remains unchanged in this earth (n. 9350-9360).

AC 9794. Lastly there was shown me the hell of those who are from that earth. Those who were seen from it excited the greatest terror. I would not venture to describe their monstrous faces. Sorceresses also were seen there who practice direful arts; they appeared clad in green, and excited horror.

AC 9795. The second earth that was seen in the starry heaven will be described at the end of the following chapter.