on his back, and the two thus approached me. Their faces appeared not
unhandsome, but longer than those of other spirits. In stature they
were like boys of seven years old, but of more robust frame; so that
they were dwarfs. I was told by the angels that they were from the
Moon. The one who had been carried by the other came to me, applying
himself to my left side under the elbow, and from thence he spoke,
saying, that when they utter their voice they thunder in this manner;
and that by so doing they strike with terror the spirits who would
do them harm, and put some to flight, so that they go safely wherever
they please. In order that I might know for certain that the sound
they make was of this kind, he retired from me to some others, but not
quite out of sight, and thundered in like manner. They showed to me,
moreover, that their voice, being sent forth from the abdomen after
the manner of an eructation, thus resounded like thunder. It was
perceived that this arose from the circumstance, that the inhabitants
of the Moon do not, like the inhabitants of other earths, speak from
the lungs, but from the abdomen, and thus from some collection of air
therein; the reason of which is, that the Moon is not surrounded with
an atmosphere of the same kind as that of other earths. I was informed
that the spirits of the Moon, in the Grand Man, have relation to the
ensiform or xiphoid cartilage to which the ribs are attached in
front, and from which descends the _linea alba_, which is the point of
attachment of the abdominal muscle.

112. It is known to spirits and angels, that there are inhabitants
even in the Moon, and likewise in the moons or satellites which are
about the earth Jupiter and the earth Saturn. Even those who have not
seen spirits who are from them, and spoken with them, entertain
no doubt that there are human beings upon them, for they, too, are
earths, and where there is an earth, there is man; for man is the end
for the sake of which an earth exists, and nothing has been made by
the Supreme Creator without an end. It may be evident to anyone who
thinks from reason in any degree enlightened that the end of creation
is the human race, in order that there may exist a heaven from it.

THE REASONS WHY THE LORD WILLED TO BE BORN ON OUR EARTH, AND NOT ON
ANY OTHER

113. There are several reasons, about which I have received
information from heaven, why it pleased the Lord to be born, and to
assume the Human,