NEUOFFENBARUNGInfluences of the spirits during the procreation of human beings (15 March 1847)
1. You have already been told so much about the nature of man, his soul and spirit, that you, so to speak, already know almost most of what concerns the whole nature of man; also the procreation has already been shown to you in the most manifold way. It only remains to show you the influence of the spirits, which they have in the procreation of man.
2. As far as the material procreation is concerned, it differs little or not at all from the common animal procreation; the difference lies more in the interior.
3. The soul must be naturally already before the procreation completely there, that is, it must unite all substantial specifica in itself, which are otherwise distributed in the whole universe, and be supplied to it from all sides.
4. Such a perfect substantial specifical-compendium is then already the soul; only the specifica in it are in a certain way chaotically intermixed, so that one could say at most: Before conception, the soul is a knot, a so-called Gordian knot, which must first be untangled in order to reach a form. The untangling of this knot begins with the act of procreation, because there this Gordian knot of the soul is driven into the womb and enveloped.
5. Within this envelopment, the corresponding intelligences begin to recognize each other, to approach each other, and to take hold of each other; but in order to be able to do this, the spirits provide them with light in their envelopment, in which light these substantial specific intelligences recognize each other, separate themselves, then approach each other, take hold of each other, and unite – and all this through the compulsion of the will of those spirits to whom this business is entrusted. but these spirits are what you call guardian spirits, and are angels and great angels who all have influence; and there is no man who does not have at least three guardian spirits, two angels and a great angel, over whom a Seventh still watches, whom you already know well.
6. These guardian spirits and angels are around the newly conceived soul from the moment of conception, and constantly take care of it's proper formation.
7. Once the soul has received the human form again in it's envelopment, then corresponding specifica are supplied to it from the mother's womb; the soul finally uses these specifica for it's own firmer bonding of it's intelligences.
8. Once this has happened, other and new specifica already flow out of the mother's womb into the place of the new incarnation in the mother's womb; these are already used for the formation of the nerves; the nerves are, in a certain sense, cords and strings which the soul can take hold of everywhere, and attracted in order to be able to give the following body every possible movement precisely through these cords and strings.
9. If the nerves are finished in their bases and connections, then already again new properties follow their flow. These are arranged for the formation of the viscera; and if the main viscera are represented in the first organic bases, then they are connected immediately with the main nerves.
10. After this work, the complete formation of the intestines begins with somewhat different specifications. But since most of the nerves converge in the head, mainly in the back head, in which the soul also has it's head, the formation of the head begins simultaneously with the formation of the viscera, which is the most corresponding image of the soul, because all intelligence of the soul is
concentrated in the head through certain main emissions; and because the eyes are the most perfect symbol of intelligence, the head and especially the eyes will be the first to be seen; for in the eyes, all the emanations of the individual intelligences of the soul flow through each other, and by this very flowing through each other, they form the natural power of sight of the soul, by means of which it can see the outer world inside itself.
11. When the soul has finished this work with the help of the will of the spirits, it is again supplied with new elements; from these, all kinds of things of the human body are then already ordered. There is no need of making or creating here; the substances create itself, if only the orderly way is indicated to it. And so here flesh, cartilage, muscles, tendons and bones are formed, and each takes hold by itself, what belongs to one and the same; Only the direction would be missed and therefore also the form, if the spirits did not show the right way to the intelligence specimens through their wise willpower, which can even happen sometimes, when the mother, who carries such a child in herself, sometimes goes to hell in her mind, where then, of course, my good spirits and angels cannot provide full active company. The consequence of such misfortune is usually a miscarriage, or sometimes even an infant from hell, which the so-called common people call a changeling; – therefore it would be advisable for every mother to behave as Christianly virtuous as possible during pregnancy.