134. Heaven's warmth, like heaven's light, is different in different places. It has one nature in the heavenly kingdom and another in the spiritual kingdom. It also differs in each community, not only in intensity but in quality. It is more intense and pure in the Lord's heavenly kingdom because the angels there accept more divine good. It is less intense and pure in the Lord's spiritual kingdom because the angels there accept more divine truth. In each community, it varies depending on people's receptivity. There is also warmth in the hells, but it is unclean. ¹

The warmth in heaven is meant by sacred and heavenly fire, and the warmth of hell by profane fire and hellfire. Both refer to love: heavenly fire to love for the Lord and love for one's neighbor, and hellfire to love for oneself and love of the world and all the craving that is associated with these loves. ²

The fact that love is warmth of a spiritual origin can be seen from the way we grow warm in proportion to our love, even becoming inflamed and heated in proportion to its intensity and quality, with its full heat evident when we are attacked. This is why it is usual to talk about inflaming, heating up, burning, boiling, and kindling when we are talking about either the affections of a good love or the cravings of an evil love.

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3340. Existing as the opposite of that light is thick darkness, and as the opposite of that warmth is coldness. Within that thick darkness and that coldness dwell those in hell. Their thick darkness is the product of the falsities in which they are immersed, and their coldness the product of evils. And the further away they are from truths the thicker is their darkness; and the further away they are from good the more intense is their coldness. When one is allowed to see into the hells where such beings exist the very dark mist in which they live is visible. And when there is any exhalation from that mist the insane ideas flowing from falsities, and the forms of hatred from evils, are detected. They are also provided sometimes with a light, but this is the feeble light from an ignis fatuus, which however goes out on them and becomes thick darkness as soon as they look at the light of truth. In addition they are sometimes provided with warmth, but this warmth is like that of a filthy bathhouse, which however turns into coldness with them as soon as they detect any hint of good. A certain spirit was sent into that dark mist which envelops those in hell so that he might discover for himself what it is like with those who are there. But the Lord protected him by means of angels. From there he spoke to me and said that the maniacal rage against what is good and true, and above all against the Lord, was so great that he was astounded that it could ever be withstood. For those in hell were breathing out nothing else but all kinds of hatred, revenge, and murder, and doing so with such vehemence that they wanted to destroy everybody throughout the universe. Consequently if the Lord was not constantly driving back that rage the entire human race would perish.