At last we came to a region smaller than the others, and peopled with only a few souls. Now I speak comparatively. Remember, I'm the Devil. I spend a lot of time in Heaven and Hell. So when I saw a few, this is to make a picture that is manageable to your mind. For the sake of exposition, let's say a million or more. But I speak of great numbers. Don't doubt.
And these souls absolutely astonished me by their radiance, their tranquility, and the degrees of knowledge which they had attained and retained. First of all, almost every one of them had a full human shape. That is, they had realized their original forms or perhaps ideal forms in the invisible. They looked like angels! They were invisible men, women, and children, and they had about them accoutrements that had been dear in life. Some of them were brand new and had come from death thoughtful and seeking and ready for the mysterious. Others had learned all in Sheol over centuries of watching and fearing to lose their individuality, no matter how terrible things did appear. But all were intensely visible! And anthropomorphic, though of course they were diaphanous, as all spirits are; and some were paler than others; but all essentially could be seen clearly by others and themselves.
We went amongst them, expecting to be snubbed, but we realized immediately that these souls saw us differently than the others. They saw everything differently. They were more attuned to the subtleties of the invisible because they had accepted its condition totally. If I wished to be what I was, let me be it, they thought, and they judged us very seriously on how well we succeeded in being these tall creatures, winged and long haired and dressed in flowing robes. Within moments of our arrival, we felt happiness around us. We felt acceptance. We felt a total lack of resistance and a daring curiosity. They knew we were not human souls. They knew because they had reached a point where they could see this! They could see a lot about every other soul they looked at. And they could see a great deal of the world below.
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And these souls absolutely astonished me by their radiance, their tranquility, and the degrees of knowledge which they had attained and retained. First of all, almost every one of them had a full human shape. That is, they had realized their original forms or perhaps ideal forms in the invisible. They looked like angels! They were invisible men, women, and children, and they had about them accoutrements that had been dear in life. Some of them were brand new and had come from death thoughtful and seeking and ready for the mysterious. Others had learned all in Sheol over centuries of watching and fearing to lose their individuality, no matter how terrible things did appear. But all were intensely visible! And anthropomorphic, though of course they were diaphanous, as all spirits are; and some were paler than others; but all essentially could be seen clearly by others and themselves.
We went amongst them, expecting to be snubbed, but we realized immediately that these souls saw us differently than the others. They saw everything differently. They were more attuned to the subtleties of the invisible because they had accepted its condition totally. If I wished to be what I was, let me be it, they thought, and they judged us very seriously on how well we succeeded in being these tall creatures, winged and long haired and dressed in flowing robes. Within moments of our arrival, we felt happiness around us. We felt acceptance. We felt a total lack of resistance and a daring curiosity. They knew we were not human souls. They knew because they had reached a point where they could see this! They could see a lot about every other soul they looked at. And they could see a great deal of the world below.