Clippings

In the first century of the Christian era, the bold atheist Wang Ch’ung denied that the Phoenix was of a distinct species. He said that just as a serpent could change into a fish, and a rat change into a tortoise, and just as the stag, in times of general prosperity, was transformed into a unicorn, so the goose took the form of the Phoenix. He attributed this mutation to the “propitious liquid” which, 2,356 years before the Christian era, had made the garden of Yao, one of the exemplary emperors, grow vermilion grass. As one can see, Wang Ch’ung’s information was faulty — or rather, excessive.

In the underworld there is an imaginary building called the Tower of the Phoenix.

During the last twenty-five years of his scholarly life, the eminent philosopher and man of science Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) made his home in London. As the English are a taciturn people, Swedenborg fell into the habit of conversing with demons and angels. He was even allowed by God to visit the underworld and chat with its inhabitants.

[According to Swedenborg:]

In Heaven, the rich continue to be richer than the poor, since they are accustomed to wealth. In Heaven, objects, furniture, and cities are more concrete and complex than they are on our earth; colors are more varied and more vidid. Angels of English descent are drawn toward politics; Jews, to the jewel trade; Germans carry books about with them that they consult before answering a question. Since Muslims are in the habit of worshipping Mohammed, God has provided them with an Angel who pretends to be the Prophet. The pleasures of Paradise are withheld from the poor in spirit and all ascetics, because they would not understand them.