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Doc. 86.] 313
SWEDENBORG TO BENZELIUS.
irrevocably destroyed ; the centrifugal and centripetal forces,
as well as everything else by which our elementary substance is
held together, would lose their direction. Everything would then
in a moment be dispersed into its least particles, which might
well be called a fire; for if our vortex is gone, then everything
below is gone, down to the very centre of the earth, and every
thing above, even to our zenith ; there would no longer be any
compression, no longer any gravity; not even the hardest
diamond could continue in its form ; for it is kept in its form
by the pressure of the ether towards the centre, which is
effected by the vortex ofthe earth. Wherefore, the fire by which
our planet is to be destroyed, may be caused either by its draw
ing nearer to the sun, or by all matter, all bodies, or all the
elements, being in an instant dissolved into their least particles.
With regard to the place of the damned (Tð dam
natum ) being in the sun, I have exactly the opposite idea ;
it seems to me rather to be the place of the blessed (Tě
beatum ). My reasons are the following: first, that the sun
is the centre of the whole of our planetary system, and that
motion, with the existence of everything in the solar vortex,
derives its origin from the above -named centre; secondly, that
above, or the heaven of the planets, is towards the sun ; so
that any ascent in the solar vortex is towards the sun, but
below is towards the extremities of the vortex, towards Saturn
and Tartarus; thirdly, that the principal light and splendour
are in the sun, and on the other hand, darkness and other
terrors are at the greatest distance from it, where the sun
can scarcely be seen; fourthly, but the principal reason seems
to be, because the most refined air, and the most subtle es
sence which exists in the least elements, are in the sun: for
the nearer we draw to the sun, the finer everything becomes,
and in its centre we should probably find such a degree of
refinement and subtlety, that the particles would be almost
without any composition, when they would also lay aside the
name of matter, as well as of form , gravity, and other pro
perties which belong to compound particles. It seems also
probable, that in the greatest refinement, there would likewise
be the most refined existence ; that God, and the angels, that
a something which has nothing material in its substance,
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