roy man, not alone his soul, that
is, his faith and love, but also his body. It is otherwise when
spirits do not talk with man, in which case they are not aware that
what they are thinking and also what they are saying among themselves
is from man; for although it is from man that they talk with one
another, they believe that what they are thinking and saying is their
own, and everyone esteems and loves what is their own. In this way
spirits are constrained to love and esteem man, although they do not
know it. That such is the conjunction of spirits with man has become
so well known to me from a continual experience of many years that
nothing is better known to me.

{Footnote 1} There are angels and spirits with every man, and
by means of them man has communication with the spiritual world
(n. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047, 4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993).
Man without spirits attending him cannot live (n. 5993). Man is
not seen by spirits, even as spirits are not seen by man (n.
5862). Spirits can see nothing in our solar world pertaining to
any man except the one with whom they are speaking (n. 1880).

293. The reason why spirits that communicate with hell are also
associated with man is that man is born into evils of every kind,
consequently his whole life is wholly from evil; and therefore unless
spirits like himself were associated with him he could not live, nor
indeed could he be withdrawn from his evils and reformed. He is
therefore both held in his own life by means of evil spirits and
withheld from it by means of good spirits; and by the two he is kept
in equilibrium; and being in equilibrium he is in freedom, and can be
drawn away from evils and turned towards good, and thus good can be
implanted in him, which would not be possible at all if he were not
in freedom; and freedom is possible to man only when the spirits from
hell act on one side and spirits from heaven on the other, and man is
between the two. Again, it has been shown that so far as a man's life
is from what he inherits, and thus from self, if he were not
permitted to be in evil he would have no life; also if he were not in
freedom he would have no life; also that he cannot be forced to what
is good, and that what is forced does not abide; also that the good
that man receives in freedom is implanted in his will and becomes as
it were his own.{1} These are the reasons why man has communication
with hell and communication with heaven.