166. I also saw their homes on that planet. They were long low houses, with windows on the sides corresponding to the number of rooms into which they were divided. The roof was rounded, and there were doors at each end. I was told that these were homes made of earth, with sod roofs and windows made of fine grass woven together in such a way that light could shine through. 1
I saw children, too; the spirits said that neighbors would come to visit especially for the sake of the children, so that they could play with other children under the watchful eye of the parents.
I also saw fields that were turning white with grain almost ready for harvest. I was shown some seeds or grains of that harvest, which were like the grains of Chinese wheat. 2 I was also shown some bread made from it, which was small, in square pieces.
In addition to this, I saw grassy fields with flowers there, as well as trees with fruits like pomegranates, and also bushes they had instead of grapevines that bore berries from which they made wine.
Footnotes:
1. For the rough sketch Swedenborg made of one of these houses in Spiritual Experiences 4832:9, see figure 4. Lang 2004, 35-36, points out the similarity between the drawing and an Algonquin longhouse. In Secrets of Heaven 10769, Swedenborg adds the information that these houses are “in the form of the tents common among ancient peoples.” [SS]
2. Swedenborg had a keen interest in the flora of other lands (Sigstedt 1981, 237-242) and may well have been acquainted with some of the varieties of wheat developed in China by his era. If such is his reference here, the distinctive nature of the grain may not be ascertainable. A conjecture can be made that he means rice; and if so, the description of the grain as “Chinese” is historically correct: most experts agree that the domestication of rice occurred in China over eight thousand years ago. However, rice was known in the ancient Mediterranean world, and there was a perfectly good Greek and Latin word for it, oryza, which Swedenborg could have used here if that was what he intended. Indeed, his failure to use it goes far toward ruling out the conjecture, particularly considering his thorough command of classical Latin and Neo-Latin vocabulary. Another conjecture is that he intended wheat that has been “puffed” by any of various processes. Puffed wheat is associated with China in certain Swedish names for such products today, but it is not clear how far back that association extends. [SÅH, SS, RS]
