2231. About the effect of singing on spirits

Again I was allowed to find out what effect singing has on spirits, and indeed, a still deeper effect than before [2090, 2108]. For this time it was not their bodies that were soothed, but their mental imagery, as I was allowed to see by a spiritual mental image. For the sweetness of the singing joined in with their mental imagery in a wonderful way. This was the case even with those of the spirits who were trying to resist, displeased at first, but eventually giving in to the effect of the singing as it diffused itself throughout their mental imagery and so into their thoughts. As a result they were softened to such a point, that they almost fell into ecstasy, for as a restful silence came over them, they said they had never felt such pleasantness and had not believed it existed. They seemed to me to have fallen into a deep sleep from which they had not yet awakened. Some, on awakening, said that they had experienced heavenly bliss, like those awakening from the sweetest dream. Such is the effect of singing, when the Lord grants that it be imparted to spirits.