580.  The kind of malice infernal spirits possess is evident from their nefarious arts, which are so many that to enumerate them would fill a volume, and to describe them would fill many volumes.  These arts are mostly unknown in the world.  One kind relates to abuses of correspondences; a second to abuses of the outmosts of Divine order; a third to the communication and influx of thoughts and affections by means of turning towards another, fixing the sight upon another, and by the instrumentality of other spirits apart from themselves, and spirits sent out by themselves; a fourth to operations by phantasies; a fifth to a kind of casting themselves out beyond themselves and consequent presence elsewhere than where they are in the body; a sixth to pretenses, persuasion, and lies.  The spirit of an evil man enters of itself into these arts when he is released from his body, for they are inherent in the nature of the evil in which he then is.  By these arts they torment each other in the hells.  But as all of these arts, except those that are effected by pretenses, persuasions, and lies, are unknown in the world, I will not here describe them in detail, both because they would not be comprehended, and because they are too abominable to be told.

581.  The Lord permits torments in the hells because in no other way can evils be restrained and subdued.  The only means of restraining and subduing evils and of keeping the infernal crew in bonds is the fear of punishment.  It can be done in no other way; for without the fear of punishment and torment evil would burst forth into madness, and everything would go to pieces, like a kingdom on earth where there is no law and there are no penalties.

582.  LXI.  The appearance, situation, and number of the hells.

In the spiritual world, that is, in the world where spirits and angels are, the same objects appear as in the natural world, that is, where men are.  In external appearance there is no difference.  In that world plains and mountains, hills and rocks, and valleys between them are seen; also waters, and many other things that are seen on earth.  And yet all these things are from a spiritual origin, and all are therefore seen by the eyes of spirits and angels, and not by the eyes of men, because men are in the natural world.  Spiritual beings see such things as are from a spiritual origin, and natural beings such things as are from a natural origin.  Consequently man with his eyes can in no way see the objects that are in the spiritual world unless he is permitted to be in the spirit, or after death when he becomes a spirit.  On the other hand, an angel or a spirit is unable to see any thing at all in the natural world unless he is with a man who is permitted to speak with him.  For the eyes of man are fitted to receive the light of the natural world, and the eyes of angels and spirits are fitted to receive the light of the spiritual world; although the eyes of