5981. Among hellish spirits and genii foul and disgusting sights sometimes occur, which are in effect the kinds of thoughts an evil person has and utters. In order that such sights may not drive the angels completely away, they are perceived by the angels as things less awful than they really are. To enable me to know how the angels perceived such things I was given angelic perception when foul sights appeared. It was such that I had no feeling at all of horror, for what I saw had been turned into something less awful. I cannot describe it, only compare it to a sharp-cornered and prickly object that has had the corners and points removed from it. This is the kind of way that foul and disgusting things among hellish spirits and genii are made much less so among angels.
