6816. The spirits belonging to Mercury are altogether different from those who belong to our planet, for spirits belonging to our planet are not so interested in real things but in material, worldly, bodily, and earthly matters. This being so, spirits belonging to Mercury cannot stay together with spirits belonging to our planet; and therefore whenever they meet them they run away. For the spiritual spheres that emanate from both kinds are virtual opposites. Spirits belonging to Mercury openly declare that they like what can be extracted from material things but that they have no wish to look at the outer casing, only at real things stripped of their casing, that is, what lies within.