5852. The evil spirits present with a person do indeed belong in the hells, yet when they are present with him they are not in hell but have been summoned from there. The place where they are while present with him lies midway between heaven and hell and is called the world of spirits, which has often been mentioned before now. In that world called the world of spirits there are good spirits as well, and these too are present with a person. Into that world people also come immediately after death, and having stayed there for a while they are then either banished to the lower earth, or sent down to hell, or raised up to heaven, the life that people have led being the determining factor in every case. That world serves as the upper boundary of the hells, which are closed or opened there at the Lord's good pleasure; and that world also serves as the lower boundary of heaven. It is therefore an intervening region that marks off heaven from hell. From all this one can see what the world of spirits is. While the evil spirits present with a person are in that world they are not subject to any hellish torment but enjoy the delights typical of self-love and love of the world, as well as the delights gained from all the pleasures for which the person himself has a liking; for they are present in the whole of the person's thought and the whole of his affection. But when they are sent back to their own hell they return to the state that was theirs previously.