951. People who considered themselves saintly during bodily life are in an underground region in front of the left foot. ¹ There it sometimes seems to them that they have shining faces — an effect that stems from their picture of sainthood. The outcome for them, however, is that they remain there in the grip of a strong urge to climb to heaven, which they think is up high. Their desire swells and is gradually transformed into anxiety, which increases beyond all measure, until at last they acknowledge that they are not saints.

When released from there, they are allowed to smell their own stench, which is disgusting.

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947. Genesis 9

The Hells (Continued): A Different Set Than Those Already Mentioned ¹

THERE are some dishonest people who think they can get anything they want by trickery and schemes, and whose success at this kind of fraud during bodily life has confirmed them in their belief. They see themselves as living in a kind of vat called Hell's Cask, off to the left. ² The vat has a lid, and outside it on a pyramid-shaped stand is a globe that they believe to be the universe, which they watch and control, or so it seems to them.

The ones who preyed on the innocent stay there for centuries. I was told that some have remained there for twenty centuries now.

When they are released, their hallucinations cause them to imagine that the universe is a globe, which they walk around and trample underfoot, believing themselves gods of the universe.

I have seen them several times and talked with them about their fantasy, but since they thought the same way in the world, they cannot be weaned from it.

I have also perceived on occasion how subtly, how craftily they can twist another's thinking, instantly redirect that person's thoughts, and substitute other ideas. They are so sly about it that it was hard to tell they were the ones doing it — and the way they do it is quite incredible. As this is their nature, they are barred from all contact with people on earth, for they inject quantities of venom so secretly and stealthily that no one can tell they have done it.

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