ght in the world,
much less to the enjoyments of the affections, for they loved what they
found enjoyable. They had believed that each person's lot would be
according to his thoughts from his intelligence, especially according to
thoughts of piety and of faith. But they were answered, that they could
have known, if they wished, that evil of life is unacceptable to heaven
and displeasing to God, but acceptable to hell and pleasing to the devil,
and the other way about, that good of life is acceptable to heaven and
pleasing to God, but unacceptable to hell and displeasing to the devil;
consequently that evil in itself is malodorous and good is fragrant. As
they might have known this if they wished, why did they not shun evils as
infernal and diabolical, but indulge in them merely because they were
enjoyable? Aware now that the enjoyments of evil smell so foully, they
might also know that those full of them cannot enter heaven. Upon this
reply they betook themselves to those who were in similar enjoyments, for
only there could they breathe.

306. From the idea of heaven and hell just given, it may be evident what
the nature of man's mind is. For, as was said, man's mind or spirit is
either a heaven or a hell in least form, that is, his interiors are
nothing other than affections and thoughts thence, distinguished into
genera and species, like the larger and smaller societies of heaven or
hell, and so connected as to act as a unit. The Lord governs them as He
does heaven or hell. That the human being is either heaven or hell in
least form may be seen in the work _Heaven and Hell,_ published at London
in 1758.

307. Now to the subject proposed, that the Lord governs hell by means of
opposites, and those in the world who are evil He governs in hell as to
their interiors but not as to their exteriors. On the first point, that
_the Lord governs hell through opposites,_ it was shown above (nn. 288,
289) that the angels of heaven are not in love and wisdom, or in the
affection of good and thence in thought of truth from themselves, but
from the Lord, likewise that good and truth flow from heaven into hell
where good is turned into evil and truth into falsity because the
interiors of the minds of those in heaven and in hell respectively are
turned in opposite directions. Inasmuch then as all things in hell are
the opposite of all things in heaven, the Lord governs hell by means of
opposites.

[2] The second point, that _the Lor