Source texts from the books by Jozef Rulof for the article ‘Land of Hatred and Lust and Violence’.
These sources presume the prior reading of the article ‘Land of Hatred and Lust and Violence’.
Built up by hatred
The millions of inhabitants of this sphere are inwardly attuned to hatred and envy:
This dark brown sky, which is lit up by a reddish glow, is the light which this sphere, this land of hatred and envy, possesses.
It’s the light which the millions who live here are tuned in to, within.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In order to give André (Jozef Rulof) an idea of this dark sphere, during an out-of-body experience his spiritual leader Alcar takes him to the border of the Land of Hatred:
We have now reached the border, where the land of hatred begins.
Come, let’s look for a spot on this high hill.’
André looked around.
He made out a large town, right in front of him, in that deep, glowing darkness.
There were many towers, sharply outlined against the red brown sky.
From their viewpoint a splendid, yet also gloomy panorama reached out before them.
‘This big town only knows grief and misery. The people brought it on themselves, because they wanted neither to get to know nor to love God.
Many of them have spent hundreds of years down there, and in all that time haven’t yet felt the urge to seek a purer light.
They live on in the same humdrum they were used to on earth.’
The town stretched right up to the horizon, where André thought he detected a little more light.
‘Can’t this town be sized up in one glance, Alcar?’
‘No, André, it couldn’t be sized up in a thousand years, because it stretches out into infinity.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The Land of Hatred is infinite for the inhabitants who continue to feed their hatred, lust and violence by means of their actions.
The land is finite for the inhabitants who free themselves inwardly from these feelings:
A dark town lay spread out before him.
The spires were sharply outlined in the reddish brown glow, and things in the distance were clearly visible to him.
‘Is this the town which I saw last time, Alcar?’
‘This is the place which I showed to you; but it’s not a town, it’s a country in which you could roam around for thousands of years.
There is no end to it, until they sense their own end.
I told you at the time that this area is infinite, at least for them, because they don’t see where it ends; and they therefore close themselves off within their own condition.
People here live in a dark pool of passion and violence, and they won’t be able to ascend before they have cut the ties that hold their inner self, which entails the development of their love.
They are all guilty of their own unhappiness, because they messed up their earthly life.
They will get to know themselves, which will make them perceive the terrible situation they’re in.
Then a change will be brought about and they will pass on to a different attunement.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The inhabitants of this land continue to live their earthly life in the spirit.
This is why this spiritual land is also defended like an earthly estate:
‘Look, Alcar, there are some spirits over there.’
‘I saw them a while ago, André, but I waited until you saw them.
Quietly stay where you are.
They can’t see us because they aren’t attuned to us.’
‘What kind of spirits are they, Alcar?’
‘These are sentries who guard the entrance to this sphere.
They’re on the look-out for anyone arriving here, and all they’re after is to assault travellers who have lost their way, and then drag them down.
But this can’t happen to us.
This only applies to spirits who are not yet aware of their inner powers and so have not yet developed them.
They can’t see us. But you will understand that one can’t just enter the sphere.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
André wonders what the bottom consists of:
‘Soil, Alcar?’
‘Soil, my son, in its spiritual substance.’
André took it in his hands.
Yes, it was soil. Just as they knew it on earth.
But it was strange and felt very peculiar.
He couldn’t describe it in words.
André looked at his leader who replied: ‘Strange, my son?
There is no life here, no warmth, no love, no sun, nothing of all the things which life offers us.
Likewise this substance has been robbed of all power; because here things have no existential condition, everything is in the same attunement.
Whatever man feels will determine his possession on this side.
I’m sure you feel how sad it is.
Here nothing grows or blooms, because life is unnatural.
They lack the vital juices which make life grow, they have no existence, and that is why everything is barren and cold.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
People’s social status on earth no longer has any value here:
But when someone arrives here who boasts about his former existence, what he used to be, he is scoffed at by everyone.
Down here the person who can influence others and has control over the masses through his powers of concentration is the boss.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Many inhabitants do not even know that they died on earth:
Believe me when I tell you that there are thousands down there who don’t even know that they have died on earth.’
‘They don’t even know they’re dead, Alcar?’
‘That’s right, André, and that certainly proves that people arrive in the spheres in the same soul condition they were in on earth. Afterwards they are brought to the place that corresponds with their inner being.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The inhabitants build up this land like they knew it on earth.
Hatred has penetrated so far into their lives that they build cities from it:
‘What’s that over there, Alcar?
Is that a bridge I see?’
‘You saw correctly, they have bridges here too.’
How was it possible?
A mighty river flowed through the landscape.
They had built a beautiful bridge across.
It was fantastic.
It was like being on earth.
In the life after death he saw a replica of the earth.
But here evil was gathered.
On earth good and evil lived alongside, here attuned beings dwelt in one single condition.
On the far side he saw lots of buildings with turrets that protruded above the houses like ghostly profiles.
It was a capricious image.
There was a certain stillness; man lived here in gloom and ghastly silence.
He sensed the sorrow of life that was being lived here.
Hatred and destruction prevailed all around.
The river gushed past like some mighty ghost, ready to devour him.
Death and doom lurked everywhere.
The monster called hatred lay in deep rest.
But oh, when it awakens.
There before him, erected in a beautiful style, lay the town, the monster itself.
Everything contained hatred.
He shivered.
All this should be destroyed, and the hatred would then cease to exist.
That’s how far hatred had penetrated into life, they even built towns out of it.
It was a mighty land, this Land of Hatred.
No, this was unknown on earth.
Countless things to be made amends for.
Everything would have to be torn down, which would spell a battle against their own will to transform their inner condition into light.
The higher their buildings were, the deeper their sorrow, their misery, and the more intense their urge to hate.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The inhabitants even create art:
André thought he was dreaming.
He saw a beautiful city, erected in an artful way.
He saw beautiful buildings, yet they were adorned with sculptures that depicted horrible scenes.
But everything showed their mindful thinking: the feeling of an artist.
‘How is it possible, Alcar, to be able to create in this darkness?’
‘Nothing is impossible to them; with the exception that they’re unable to enter a higher sphere, and cannot change their darkness into a radiant state.
Their powers are limited.
Here genii dwell, masters of evil.
There’s a saying on earth: ‘The greater the man, the greater the crime’, and that applies here.
Masters in all arts and sciences dwell here.
They shape their feelings with razor-sharp insight, but it’s all for the sake of evil.
Infallible, you would think, but they know that they cannot conquer goodness, which is God.
On earth they didn’t grasp the blessing of their gifts.
Here they can give full vent to their passions.
It shows in everything, it’s their life.
It’s all their own doing.
One day all their concoctions will fall to pieces, their skyscraping buildings are worthless in the spirit, like everything else they possess, like their own life.
Don’t you meet these beings on earth too?
Aren’t people a curse to one another on earth?
Don’t they kill in order to possess?
All these beings who are gathered down here once lived on earth.
Here it hits you, because on earth they can hide behind masks.
Here nothing can be hidden, they’re all naked, this is their attunement in the spirit.
On earth they can conceal themselves, that’s what they have their palaces for, but here they can’t.
There everything is possible, their masks cover up their dark souls.
Here they play their bestial games, yet those who have a higher attunement see and know their inner condition.
Here they live together and return to earth to influence others.
And woe to those who attune to them, they are lost.
When they die there they will be dragged down here and will serve them on this side.
Those on earth who seek the things on high will be helped by higher spirits.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
When André is connected a bit more deeply with this animal-like attunement, he feels the strength of their aura:
André got a terrible shock.
There before him lay a burning city.
The flames leapt up towards heaven in reddish yellow, green and light red colours.
It was demonic.
His heart beat wildly when he saw this ghastly image.
He couldn’t breathe, he thought he would choke.
‘What is that?’
‘No more and no less than the power of their radiance.
Radiance of love, my son, in an animal-like attunement.
Nothing but passion and violence.
It will be clear to you now that a different kind of power is needed to be able to link up with them.
Their blazing glow will destroy those who are unaware of their power.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
André still cannot sustain himself here independently:
I will now link you up with this sphere while I remain within my own condition.
Now focus your powers of concentration intensely, you know how strong their powers are.
Try to hold on.’
At the same moment something terrible welled up inside André.
A terrible fear came over him that it might be the devil himself.
He had no more feelings.
He glided across hills and valleys and it seemed never to end.
He wanted to call for help but it was impossible, he couldn’t utter a word or make any sound.
He resisted with all his might, but to no avail.
He felt himself falling deeper and deeper and he was unable to resist; he sensed that he was near to losing consciousness, and he collapsed.
When he opened his eyes he looked into those of his leader.
‘Feeling a little better, André?
It’s as clear as crystal what happened.
You sensed their powers, they destroyed your concentration.
I let you handle this yourself, so you would feel how terrible their hatred is.
But nothing could have happened, I was watching over you, André.’
‘Where was I, Alcar?
It was just as if I was floating across hills and valleys.
They dragged me along; how terrible these beings are.’
‘You were nowhere at all, André.
We were standing here on the bank of this river. You were gazing in that direction.
The power of their influence forced you into their condition.
So that floating sensation was only the fierceness of their inner attunement.
It was like a vision but it took your breath away.
Everything is simple.
Your powers of concentration were overruled. However, this wouldn’t have been necessary because you possess an attunement which differs from theirs.
I will let you sense various conditions during this journey.
This will enable you to receive a pure impression of these human conditions.
This wandering across hills and valleys also means that you are still connected to your body.
We, my son, are prepared for everything.
You will get to know all these powers.
Come on now, let’s proceed.
It will be clear to you that one cannot simply enter here without further ado.
To be able to work here, to be able to stand up to this requires strong powers of concentration.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Rulers
In the Land of Hatred, Lust and Violence, those who can influence the masses rule:
‘Are there any rulers here too?’
‘They are the ones, my son, who can influence the masses.
The weaker ones must suffer, but they bring that on themselves, because they follow them in everything.
Here you find intellectual prodigies, demons, rulers and masters of evil, and millions of other beings too.
Hundreds, thousands of years go by before they awaken, and they must suffer terribly during all those centuries.
They themselves know of no other life, they perished in their deeply unhappy existence.
For many, wealth on earth meant their downfall.
On earth they held the highest ranks, and then descended into this life, into this darkness.
Beauties of the earth had to exchange their aureole, their gold and emeralds for darkness.
Here they live together like beasts, as disfigured human beings.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In order to allow André to experience how those rulers rule the land, Alcar descends with him into this dark sphere:
Last time we saw everything from within our own attunement; this time we will change over into their condition.
You experienced the transition in the sphere of the earth, yet here everything is much harder, which will soon become clear to you.
Gather all the powers within you so you can stand up to this too.
We will be addressed again; they will force us to accompany them, but in everything we do we will act according to our own powers.
Now we will descend.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
As soon as they show themselves in this sphere, they are apprehended by the guards:
Suddenly he caught: ‘Look, André: our friends; they have already noticed us and they will stop us and ask why we are here.
I will do the talking and the acting, leave everything to me.
You will gather from everything how earthly their life is and that nothing has changed.’
André sensed that they had crossed the threshold of the Land of Hatred.
How different his perception was, compared to his previous journey.
He saw various beings ahead of him who were coming towards them.
Some of them asked them where they wanted to go to.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Alcar knows the customs of this sphere and knows how he has to act to not be recognized by the inhabitants as a higher spirit:
Alcar spoke: ‘We don’t know where we’re going, but we’re trying to find the way to earth.’
‘You don’t know that?’
‘How do we get out of here?’
They all laughed hilariously, it was a sneering of horrible beings.
What did they mean by that?
Surely it was a simple question his leader had asked.
One of them was their spokesman and said: ‘Even if you knew, you still wouldn’t get away from here.
Those who leave for the earth are sent by us; the masters will explain that to you.
Be patient.
Strangers always want to go straight back to the earth.
Don’t you like it here?
You’re not familiar with the laws that prevail here.’
‘That’s right’, Alcar answered, ‘we’re strangers.
What kind of laws were you talking about?’
‘You will get to know soon enough’, and again they started to laugh sarcastically, that their bloodshot eyes protruded out of their heads.
They were all bestialized; their whole being breathed passion and violence.
‘Come along with us and you will soon get to know the way to the earth, but in our way.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In order to reassure André, Alcar speaks to him telepathically, so that the guards cannot overhear their conversation:
André sensed that something terrible was about to happen.
‘Follow me, André’, he caught, ‘and don’t get anxious about anything, let them be.
You will get to know their laws; it can only be done in this way.
It will also become clear to you what their life after death is like.
It’s impossible to become familiar with their lives in any other way, but don’t you worry, I’m taking care.’
André felt calm after the inner conversation with his leader, which the others had neither sensed nor understood.
He sent the thought back to his leader that he would follow him in everything he did.
‘We will go along with them as long as they don’t separate us, but if that’s what they are after, we will return into our own attunement.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The guards bring them to a ruler in evil:
They were led through various streets until they came to a large building which they entered.
They passed through long corridors, until their escort went into a hall where they had to wait.
Everything was beautifully decorated, but in an animal-like design.
It had been built and painted like a house on earth.
He saw colourful scenes with sinister, animal-like representations.
Many beings walked in and out and lived their life; everything seemed quite normal to them.
But they were all demons, devils in human guise, who had lived a terrible life on earth and were still engrossed in it.
These were people filled with a hatred unknown even to wild animals.
What were they supposed to wait for?
A stifling atmosphere overwhelmed them.
The air was oppressive; he sensed the impact of evil.
Alcar told him: ‘We will be taken to their leader, who will ask us a few things.
He will link us up with him, just as he does with everyone who enters this place.
He is a ruler of evil and there are many of his kind here, who exert their influence on the masses and force their will onto them to follow them in their unsavoury doings.
If they refuse, they get a flogging, which you will shortly witness.
But again there is no cause for fear, I’m taking care, my boy.
They call him the ruler over darkness because he knows how to make use of his power, which no being can escape from, as I just told you.
Every being that lives here is assaulted and brought before him.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
When inhabitants wish to remove themselves from the rulers, torment and ill-treatment await them.
Out of fear for that torment, people obey the rulers:
All those who live here have this attunement and if they want to free themselves they must suffer terribly for not subjecting themselves to their will.
Consequently, there are only few who can avoid falling into their hands. Most of them are too weak to overcome their ego, even if it causes them sorrow and grief.
They are tackled with violence, beaten and tortured.
One must have a determined mind to do good, to be able to stand up to all this.
But that’s what their life was like on earth and nothing has changed in this life.
That is why they willingly submit and do what is expected of them.
Everything is like it is on earth; but here only one attunement exists.
They are all bestialized, they are coarse-material beings.
Here evil is gathered; no other attunements could exist in this place.
The rulers demand slaughter and violence from them, even recurrent murder.
If you understood me correctly, André, then this life is even worse than on earth, because on earth you still find people who want goodness to prevail, with whom one can cooperate to fight evil.
But here they follow the one who dominates the masses, because they want to protect themselves and fear torture.
So if a person has already released himself on earth from the evil that he carries within, and can sense and find his way, then he will be happy when he enters life on this side.
Those who do evil on earth will be subjected to the same kind of torture on this side, because they have linked themselves up with it.’
André had been able to follow Alcar in everything and he understood that it was not so easy to get out of this condition.
If they refused to take part in their terrible life, they were flogged and chastised.
All the same, it would be better for them to refuse; they would enter a different sphere after all that misery.
Accordingly, there were many who didn’t shrink from this and they had started a new, spiritual life.
It would be better to refuse on earth already, because on this side they would face the very same situation.
He who didn’t want to take part in destruction on earth was the happy one on the side beyond.
How mighty everything was, how natural life after death.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Beauty is a relative concept:
He saw many women who looked atrocious.
They walked past him and undoubtedly belonged to the one who ruled here.
Their garb was terrible.
They wore merely loud colours, bright green and flaming red, and André was surprised that no milder colours were to be seen.
They were intellectual beings; they had been allowed to study on earth but they had disgraced themselves.
He could tell by their personality, but their sharp mind was attuned to the animal-like level.
They now lived the same kind of life in this darkness as they had on earth.
These were women, and how beautiful a woman could be if she sensed love, spiritual love.
These were blessed beings because God had granted them the holiest of all gifts on earth.
But their mother love had taken on animal traits.
These were monsters, they had all become bestialized.
Yet still they felt themselves to be beautiful and exalted, although their faces bore nothing but misery and passion.
They were all fools, they didn’t know how deep they had fallen.
He felt pity for them, because they too were humans and children of God.
Who would believe them to be beautiful?
Were there people here who thought they were beautiful?
At that moment he heard Alcar say: ‘All those who dwell here think they are beautiful, because they know no other beauty.
Amongst them are princes and princesses, and all circles of society can be found gathered here.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Master Alcar is attuned to the fifth sphere of light, a spiritual love which these inhabitants will not feel in hundreds of years:
It took a long time before they were shown inside.
A few of the escorts had remained with them and kept watch over them as if they were murderers.
They neither sensed nor heard anything of their inner conversation; they were deaf to this language and didn’t see – they were spiritually blind to it – that Alcar came from a higher sphere.
André thought: It looks as though we are to be received by a king.
‘Precisely’, he heard his leader say, ‘something similar is awaiting us.’
André looked at Alcar.
Here stood a spirit of light waiting to be admitted to someone living in deep darkness.
He thought of his leader’s inner powers; he could give them all warmth, and disappear before their eyes.
But he willingly let himself be taken along and led before him who wouldn’t reach his attunement in a hundred years.
And all of this was for him, for the human being on earth, in order to convince the earthly being of this life.
For that reason the higher spirit descended into this darkness.
Oh, if Alcar were to dissolve before their eyes, how they would rant and rave.
Again he heard Alcar say: ‘That too will most probably come true, but prepare yourself; I sense that they are coming to call us.’
The same moment Alcar told him this, the door opened and they were allowed to step into another hall.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Finally, they are brought before the animal-like ruler:
What would he experience now?
What was he in for?
They entered a beautiful hall where many beings were gathered.
An atrocious monster was seated on a dais.
He was surrounded by women and guardsmen who were all armed to the teeth.
He, who was sitting on the dais, wore a turban and was draped with precious stones, wore heavy jackboots and a lurid red garment.
André thought: I’m visiting the devil in person here.
There before him sat a ruler of evil who reigned over thousands, all subjected to his will.
He saw nothing but violence; they all were wild and savage.
Where did they get all these things and weapons from; he saw them distinctly, although they lived in the life after death?
He had perceived all this in a flash.
They were taken up to the ruler, where they had to remain standing, stared at from the right and left by all those who were present.
André felt fear growing inside.
How would all this end?
How dangerous all these people looked; they would shirk for nothing at all.
Again Alcar spoke to him, but now there was a power within his leader’s words which told him to concentrate his thoughts solely on him.
‘There’s danger lurking from all sides here, we’re visiting an animal-like being.’
André kept now his thoughts focussed intently on his leader.
Yet he still felt scared and he heard Alcar say: ‘Don’t show anything of your inner fear; don’t let them know anything, and no harm will befall you.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The ruler tries to impose his will on them:
The ruler penetrated them both with his gaze, yet not a word was spoken.
André sensed that the man was trying to break down their concentration, to catch them off guard and subjugate them to his will in order to disarm them.
‘If he succeeds, we’ll be flogged.’
Gently, befitting Alcar’s life, these thoughts came to him, which made him understand that here too his leader was watching over him.
This took away all his unrest.
Just you try to penetrate us with your gaze, he thought; he would never be able to fathom Alcar’s depth anyway.
A deep silence fell.
The beast was trying to make his leader yield.
But Alcar couldn’t be influenced.
He felt satisfaction that the monster would never succeed in doing this.
It was getting harder all the time; all those present had their concentration focussed on them.
The thoughts that got through to him were murderous.
His mind reeled, but he also felt that he was getting help from his leader.
As a child, Alcar looked at the ruler and he also attuned himself as if the event did not concern him.
Suddenly the beast looked at him, and he thought he would choke.
He felt his fear returning but he heard Alcar say: ‘For heaven’s sake, André, no fear, you can stand up to him; use your powers.’
André thought of the third sphere, became released from his influence and looked him straight in the eye.
His impact on him weakened immediately.
‘Splendid’, he heard, ‘that’s better.
You will witness how a ruler of evil exerts himself to reduce us to harmlessness through his concentration and his strong will power.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The ruler is not used to anyone being able to remove themselves from his power and concentration:
André gazed into his cruel eyes but looked straight through him, saw the darkness in which he dwelt, but linked up with the higher spheres.
The monster got terribly angry, he was foaming at the mouth.
This went on for quite a while until he felt that he wouldn’t succeed to make them both harmless.
He roared and uttered terrible sounds, because he sensed the counteraction of André’s leader.
The monster wasn’t used to this kind of treatment.
Suddenly he raised himself to his full height and shouted at Alcar: ‘Who are you, you dog, that you dare to resist me?’
André was trembling; they were in for something now.
Alcar didn’t respond and an enormous tension came through to him.
‘Speak, or I’ll have you beaten up, you dog, answer me.’
Still his leader said nothing, but kept on looking at him, and he acted as if he didn’t understand him.
‘What language do you speak?’
Alcar remained silent.
André felt his fear returning.
Whatever had made them enter this place?
How would this end?
The monster went wild, his terrible claws grabbed the whip lying beside him and he stepped down from his throne to approach them.
He would soon start to beat them up.
Why didn’t his leader answer him?
As long as he didn’t harm Alcar.
Again he shouted: ‘Who are you to resist me; I’ll teach you.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
It is only later that Alcar lets his powerful personality be felt:
Now Alcar spoke to him: ‘I expected to be received in a different manner.’
Utterly amazed, the ruler stopped short, and André understood that he recognized Alcar to be a powerful personality.
All the others listened in suspense.
It wasn’t a daily experience for them to hear their master being contradicted.
‘Oh really’, was his reply, ‘so you expected a different reception?’
Alcar put his left hand on André’s shoulder, which completely surprised the ruler. He didn’t understand what this meant.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Alcar prepares himself to leave this sphere of hatred, lust and violence.
He can do this by withdrawing into his own state, into his own loving attunement.
As a result of his powerful concentration, he lets the withdrawing of himself and André take place gradually, so that he can still give the ruler a message:
André heard his leader tell him: ‘Concentration, my son, the end has come; we will withdraw into our own condition.’
The whip flew upward and like a devil the monster charged at his leader, but both had disappeared before his eyes.
Enveloped in a haze Alcar remained visible to him and like a furious animal he cut through his leader with his whip.
All those who had followed this scene rushed over to the spot where they had be standing.
Alcar drew himself up and above their heads he called out to them: ‘We know of other laws than those you are familiar with, we know of laws and powers that destroy your laws, even make them cease to exist.
We know God.
God’s laws are ours.
Farewell, ruler of evil, our visit was only short, but it was powerful.
It showed you how insignificant you are and that your power is limited.
Farewell, we only know love.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
However, the ruler does not wish to hear of any love:
‘Damn’, André heard him say, ‘it’s that scum that dwells up above us.’
He charged at the escorts and beat them up until they lay there, motionless.
‘He’s killing them, Alcar.’
‘That’s impossible, my boy, that could only happen on earth, but they will enter an unconscious state from which they will awaken after a long time.
It will set them thinking too, and they will never escort any strangers over to him again.
In this way some learn from goodness, others from the evil they inflict on their fellowmen.
They know no other laws than those of violence.
They all live for the sake of destruction.’
‘Has he been in this darkness for a long time?’
‘Hundreds of years have already gone by and still he holds thousands in his clutches.
Here everything is passion, hatred and violence; we will encounter nothing, absolutely nothing else.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Party in the dark spheres
After disappearing before the eyes of the ruler in the darkness, Alcar lets André experience even more aspects of the Land of Hatred, Lust and Violence in order to gain a deep insight into the life in this dark sphere.
When Alcar and André connect with the sphere, they condense their spiritual body to the attunement of the sphere:
‘We will link up with their attunement again, as there is still more I must show you.’
Once more, André felt how he became connected with the Land of Hatred.
Alcar made him take this in slowly to let him get acquainted with all the intermediary conditions in the spirit.
He felt himself becoming denser, and his body began to change.
He had already been allowed to experience all this on earth, and now he knew the powers behind it.
Here life was in a similar condition as on earth, but in the sphere of the earth he had encountered higher attunements.
Only higher beings were able to withdraw into another, even higher attunement.
Those who lived here first had to conquer this darkness.
Which could merely be brought about by dedicating oneself for others, by helping them in different ways.
There was only one law known in life, namely God’s will, but every child has to acquire this power.
And that is love, nothing but love.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In the Land of Lust and Violence, parties can also be experienced:
He heard a tremendous noise closing in on them.
He saw how hundreds, divided into groups, moved along through the streets.
‘What are those beings doing, Alcar?’
‘They’re celebrating, just as they do on earth, and so will we, André.’
He looked at his leader as if to say: surely not?
‘Oh yes, we will.’ Alcar smiled. ‘I spoke the truth, we will also celebrate, but merely by watching them; we won’t be taking part.
I want to make it clear to you how the things people indulce in on earth also take place in the dark spheres.
You will soon see what their festivities are like.
Come on, we’ll follow them.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
The partygoers want everyone to take part:
They passed through various streets and soon merged with the crowd.
André shuddered when he was suddenly grabbed and dragged along.
He read passion and violence in their faces.
What kind of festivity would these beings be celebrating?
Men and women, all gathered together, moved on, leaping and jumping about.
A terrible being got hold of him and pulled him along.
He wanted to free himself, because he wanted nothing to do with their fun and their get-together, but it was useless.
The being held on to him as if it sensed that he didn’t want to join in.
‘On you go’, it shouted at him while it gave him a savage look.
André saw himself doomed; how could he ever free himself?
The people pulled the clothes they were wearing from their body; it seemed to be the custom here.
‘Shout,’ the being called out again, ‘or do you perhaps not want to?’ and it wanted to hit him.
This is terrible, André thought, why on earth does Alcar enter this place.
He tore himself free and ran away.
He saw his leader standing on a street corner.
‘Rather rough and ready, aren’t they, André?’
‘What kind of people are they?’
‘The word ‘people’ no longer applies to them.
This is another thing you must learn in order to free yourself from them.
It wouldn’t have taken much concentration to get rid of that company.
It all depends on yourself; it’s something you must feel.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Alcar wants to give a clear picture of their dark life:
‘Do we have to go there, Alcar?’
‘Why shouldn’t we take a look too; you wouldn’t know what makes them feel happy and have fun if we didn’t.
This is necessary to get a clear picture of their dark and dubious life.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Yet these partygoers are still innocent in comparison to the masters in evil:
‘It gave me a dreadful feeling when that being grabbed hold of me; it nearly made me choke.’
‘And yet they are open, and they show themselves just as they are.
There are certain powers in this darkness; these are the masters of evil, the former scholars of the earth, whom you will become familiar with.
They’re not savage and wild, they’re all vicious and scheming in a way you have never yet experienced.
Those who are busy celebrating here are innocent compared to the ones whom we will soon visit too.
You must experience this if you want to get to know their life in detail.
We will descend into their midst and change over into their life.
Come on, André, bear up, we won’t be back in the dark spheres for a long while.
‘I’m prepared, Alcar, I know what’s in store for me.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In this sphere of violence people do not tolerate any weak people:
They were still on the move, behaving like savages; the procession seemed endless.
André didn’t feel in the least inclined to join them, but before he knew what was happening he was grabbed and pulled along.
Where were these beings taking him to?
He was closed in on both sides.
Nowhere could he see an opening to escape.
But he didn’t intend to take part and they appeared to sense this.
A few of the beings leapt at him and held him captive.
He was getting angry, but then he felt that this enabled them to get an even stronger grip on him than before.
He was nervous and regretted the moment he had landed in their midst.
This was getting out of hand, as they were grabbing him from the right and left and dragging him along.
He wanted to free himself but he could’t manage to.
The being walking beside him uttered a terrible scream, so that the others attacked him and wanted to beat him up.
He didn’t see Alcar and he didn’t know where his leader had got to; yet he did feel his impact.
Others urged their mates not to let go of him.
Amidst their shouting and screaming he felt himself sinking, which was a clear sign to them that he wasn’t one of their sort and a good reason for them to try to tear him apart like savages.
Nonetheless, he remained conscious of their goings-on and he understood that some other power was helping him; he would have been lost otherwise.
He felt himself sinking even deeper and when he opened his eyes he was looking into those of his leader.
‘Feeling a little better, André?’
‘Who are these terrible people that live in this darkness?’
‘You’re still not able to use your powers to the full.’
‘Why did they attack me, Alcar; after all, I did them no harm, did I?’
‘That’s exactly why you were attacked.’
André didn’t understand, and he asked with surprise: ‘What do you mean, they attack someone just because he doesn’t want to harm them?’
‘Precisely, in other words, when you don’t want to take part in their festivities and they feel this, they gather that you want nothing to do with them and they see you as a weakling.
The weaker ones, as I already made it clear to you, must suffer here, they’re attacked by all of them; however, they will soon pass on to a different sphere, because they’re disgusted with their way of life.’
Now he understood why so many others had bothered him.
Who would now be bothered by that, if people did not know their life.
Exactly the opposite happened on earth, there people could still lead a peaceful life as long as they didn’t trouble others.
No being on earth could ever force him to take part in such an animal-like life if he didn’t want to.
But here everything merged.
One single violence, one single passion, they all had one and the same attunement.
These experiences were strange and new to him, just as their life was.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
It is not easy for the inhabitants to free themselves from this sphere:
‘Then do all those who live here participate in these festivities?’
‘Yes, until they’ve had enough.
That’s why higher spirits descend to help these beings.
They no longer want to live that kind of life; they sense the horrors of this existence and try to break loose.
They ramble and roam around for a long time before they are found by high spirits who take them to other places, which I already told you about.
Man will emerge from the darkness and return to the light.
They have to undergo all the intermediary conditions, because in the life of the spirit nothing can be left out.
They pass from one attunement into the next, they continue their way from sphere to sphere; it’s the way that leads upwards, which they must all follow.
And only by helping others, by wanting to mean something to every other life, will they manage to take themselves in hand; we know no other way or possibility.
It is God’s way, which we must tread with love.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
All the inhabitants once lived on earth:
‘Did all these people once live on earth, Alcar?’
‘All of them, André.
They were children once, grew up, became mother and brought themselves into this attunement through lechery and violence, passion and brutalization.
This is how they arrived, and they won’t change their lives until they become disgusted of themselves.
Then they turn over a new leaf.
Those are the ones who break away from the others.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Alcar takes André to the party building:
Now we’ll go back and visit them again, because I want you to get to know their life, but we’ll make use of our own power to get in.
Look, André, that’s where they will enter.’
André saw a large building, where thousands of people could flock in at the same time.
He heard them approaching in the distance, from which he gathered that Alcar had taken a different route.
He was standing in a large square, and he could tell from beings who surrounded him that they were in their own attunement.
Men and women were swinging flaming torches around.
Where in heaven’s name did they get all these earthly things from?
He looked at his leader as if he expected to get an answer from him, which he immediately did.
‘They possess everything here, my boy; you will see miracles, although all of it has no value in the spirit.
They own houses and temples, wear precious stones as on earth, but adorn themselves through their concentration and strong will power.
They have everything here, but all that is part of their own animal-like way of life.
You will soon see the things they possess; here you see the very likeness of the earth.’
André saw people who had freed themselves out of their clutches, but were still unable to break away, so that they kept on roaming about in their environment.
Some were attacked and dragged along, just as he himself had been.
He saw others who were familiar with these festivities and fled, wanting nothing more to do with the rest.
Meanwhile the whole building was filling up to the brim, and they went in too.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
How much does a glass of wine cost here?
Hundreds of beings were gathered here, he saw benches everywhere, and there were bottles on the tables that contained some sort of liquid they were all indulging in.
Was that supposed to be wine?
Was it really wine they were drinking?
In the life after death, wine?
It was incredible.
It seemed to him as if he was living on earth.
Yes indeed, he clearly saw some kind of wine being poured.
Those who drank made horrible faces; it must be an awful liquor.
‘Is that wine, Alcar?’
‘It is wine, André, but I advise you not to drink any of it, because it would set your soul on fire.
It’s a home-made liquid, which they prepare from substances they’re familiar with and have at their disposal.
They possess drinks, but I wouldn’t even offer it to an animal.
Their dark souls are consumed by that liquid.
They can do anything they please, André, but they’re unable to enter a higher sphere.’
Many of them drank the liquid as if they would soon faint with thirst.
And now he saw something he could hardly believe: they paid in cash.
‘Am I seeing straight, Alcar?’
‘Very well observed!
They would be unable to act in any other way.
They possess gold and silver to decorate their women with; so why shouldn’t they possess money?
But all these things are make-believe, just as their own lives are.
Here, they have everything, because to them life is no different from that on earth.
Those who want this kind of life will arrive here in a corresponding condition and try to attain that kind of life in the spirit.
Why should their life be different here from the one on earth?
It’s just not possible.
Their passions are no different from what they felt and bore within during that life.
I just told you: what you perceive here is a copy of the earth, but here evil is gathered together.
This is the kind of life they all want, and they will get what they want.
However, there is no greenery to be seen here, no other forms of life such as nature on earth has to offer.
No animals, no sun and no moon; continuous deep darkness.
In this life they try to amuse themselves.
You see, there is life, men and women are together, but they have all become bestialized.
What one person does not know, another one invents, even if it will burn their souls.
It encompasses their entire personality.
You will see many more things when the climax is reached.
Every being that lives here is on the lookout for means to satisfy itself, and it will find it too.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
All the nationalities of the earth are united here in lust:
It was a hellish shouting all at the same time.
Empty bottles were thrown away, and they wanted still more drinks.
Women were wearing jewels and shawls in various colours, but all he saw was a jumble of piercing red and glaring green.
He hadn’t seen any other colours here yet; these seemed unknown to them.
Where was that immaculate white that people were familiar with and wore on earth?
Where were the sun, the moon and the stars, that soft green and all the other colours they had on earth?
None of these existed here; no animals, no children, no young people; they all looked old and shrivelled, they were terrible beings.
He saw that the men wore daggers, knives and revolvers.
Here he saw all nationalities together.
He saw yellow and brown, white and black, gathered together.
The strongest were treated with respect by men and women.
They danced and leapt around and thrust each other to the ground.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
In this dark sphere a great deal of spiritual blood flows:
Alcar drew him aside into a corner of the hall and told him: ‘This is where we descend into their attunement, but we will remain where we are.
It will all get through to you with even greater intensity.’
André felt himself being drawn into their sphere and wisps of foul air filled his nostrils.
But he held his ground, he would stand up to this too, and this would make him get to know all about their life.
Left and right they started to fight.
He was standing next to Alcar and wondered how this would all end.
Wherever he looked, everywhere they were fighting.
Everyone was taking part, and the onlookers were attacked, or urged to follow their example.
Very soon there were victims.
Everywhere these beings had come to grips with each other, and others were egging them on, or else they were struck down too.
It was an atrocious scene; dozens were down and out.
André saw how the wounded were dragged away like rags and dumped on a heap in a corner of the hall.
A human life was worthless here.
The animal-like beings were finishing each other off.
They couldn’t act in any other manner; this was their normal behaviour.
These were people with a Divine attunement!
It was incredible.
Suddenly he got a tremendous shock.
He saw blood; blood, here in the spheres?
Blood in the life after death?
How could this be?
But there was no time to deliberate, too many things were taking up his attention.
Besides, the commotion prevented him from asking his leader about this.
Many of the women were shouting like wild animals and in their passionate rage they attacked the men.
Revolvers rang out and after every bang he saw some of the beings collapse.
He was witnessing a war, a small-scale massacre.
The floor had changed into a slithery mass.
Blood was flowing everywhere and seeped through the joints.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Time for the death dance:
The entire place was covered in glass and bottles and then, after some peace and quiet had returned and feelings had calmed down a bit, they started to dance.
A few couples in a strange attire appeared on the dance floor, which was soaked in other people’s blood.
They performed artful dances; he sensed this in everything.
None of the beings had noticed them until then.
They had been able to follow this process, this festivity, in silence.
Yet André was calm, as his leader was standing next to him and would watch over him.
The dancing couples were whirling wildly across the wooden floor.
He had never witnessed anything like it; this wasn’t fantasy, he was looking at candid reality.
A fragment of life was being expressed in this dancing, which was unknown on earth.
These beings dwelt here and experienced an atrocious game which he sensed down to the core.
The clothes of the female dancers were ripped to shreds, but it went unnoticed; they were dancing the dance of life.
Their eyes glowed with a blazing fire; the only colours he saw were flaming red and green, as they felt within.
This was the radiance of their love.
Their lives were malicious; they attacked each other and then exchanged their women.
It would not be long now before they were not wearing any more clothes.
One women dashed into the arms of another and was flung several yards into the air.
Were did they get the strength from?
Was he looking at a dance of death?
Because they didn’t get up again.
What had got into these people?
Women screamed and uttered cries of fear.
How long would this go on?
It was terrible to watch.
No-one had remained on his original spot; everyone was doing something, either dancing or shouting.
They all felt what was being set up here, everyone was taking part.
Again two dancers flung their partners high up above their heads and hurled them yards away so that they lay there, apparently dead.
These had been quenched, someone else would take their place.
All the others danced on as if nothing had happened.
Fresh dancers appeared on the dance floor, and all of them experienced one and the same life.
Now the climax had been reached.
How would be the end of this horrific happening?
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
How high can lust be increased if the material body no longer has any limitation?
How terrible were these dances, in which something was experienced.
He didn’t want to think about it, it was simply diabolical.
An inner condition was transformed into a dance and then displayed.
These were no longer dances, it was lechery, senselessness and sensation.
They twisted around each other’s bodies and in this way experienced an animal-like life.
It was a dance of love, expressing their love and their feelings.
Nowhere in the world were these dances known, their thoughts were acutely focussed on themselves.
This was only conceivable in their present life, as they had shed their physical bodies.
None of this could ever be learnt; it was part of them, it was their possession, no being on earth would dare to let itself go in this way.
They possessed intelligence, but not even an animal would sink as low.
Every movement they made depicted their loathsome longings.
They sensed attunement to some pre-animal-like beast, and to think that these were God’s children. It was beyond understanding.
Again some of the beings were hurled away like rags.
The whole lot of them went wild and an uproar broke loose.
They all wanted to share in this; they fell down by the dozens.
André’s heart was in his mouth.
All ranks of society were present here.
This was unbearable.
To what height would their passions soar?
How deep had they sunk?
This depth was unfathomable; it was loathsome, he was lost for words.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
But then Alcar and André are noticed as outsiders:
Nothing had been left standing, the place was a shambles.
They had stood there watching without anyone disturbing them.
All at once André felt fear welling up inside.
Where had that feeling come from so suddenly?
What was he in for now?
Alcar made him understand that he should prepare himself.
It became quiet, as quiet as a mouse.
The noise of just a moment ago had died down completely.
You could have heard a pin drop.
He saw how all eyes focussed on them.
In a flash all the beings had sensed that the two had not taken part in their festivity.
André understood what this silence meant.
They had been recognized as beings with a higher attunement.
Fortunately they were standing in a corner of the hall, all on their own.
Immediately a few of them came up to them and Alcar was handed a glass of burning liquid for him to drink.
Drinking meant participating in their animal-like life, but that wouldn’t be the end of it.
He was also given a glass of animal-like liquid.
Alcar took it in his hands and he had to accept the glass too.
Would his leader drink it nonetheless?
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
So it is time to leave:
But that very moment he heard the words: ‘Don’t drink, and stand by, André, we are leaving.’
Hundreds of thoughts were aimed at them; all these beings sensed and understood that they didn’t belong here.
‘Blacks’, André heard them muttering, and he knew what this meant.
The beings who had handed them the glasses were standing a few yards away from them, while all the others, there were hundreds of them, approached step by step.
These were wild animals who would pounce on them at any moment.
They encircled them, intending to close in on them.
His leader was still holding the glass in his hands.
André sensed that Alcar kept them in check with his concentration and his strong will power; otherwise they would have charged at them and slain them.
His leader didn’t say a word, but André sensed what Alcar wanted.
‘Now’s the time’, he caught, ‘throw your glass at their feet.’
André did what his leader said and the glasses were shattered to pieces.
Spiritually, he felt himself being drawn upward; he had been allowed to witness a spiritual festivity in an animal-like attunement.
The ones who had seen them disappear were stunned.
The last thing he saw was the crowd charging at them like wild animals; however, they had vanished.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Dante in hell
Many of the drawings of Gustave Doré for the ‘Divina Commedia’ by Dante correspond with the spiritual reality of the Land of Hatred, Lust and Violence.
See the article ‘Dante and Doré’.
The Land of Hatred, Lust and Violence does possess fire like hell, but then only the fire of lust and violence.
The way to the light
During an out-of-body experience, when André is connected with the Land of Hatred, Alcar must sometimes draw him back into a higher sphere in order to free him from the attackers:
I withdrew you into my sphere and released you out of their hands.
Before the very eyes of those who attacked you, you dissolved, which will seem to them like a miracle.
This will make them realize, if they possess that conviction, that a higher spirit dwelt in these surroundings.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Alcar explains that in the spirit everything must be experienced and conquered, no parts may be missed out for this learning process:
Everything requires exertion and strength on this side.
Over here nothing can be left out, as it is on earth.
Life in the spirit is experience, which means development of love.
An angel of light cannot descend here unprepared.
They can descend, but if they don’t want to link up, everything will be invisible to them too.
In that way we will be able to acquire everything, if we experience it.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Many spirits of the light descend into the dark spheres in order to offer help to the inhabitants who wish to free themselves from their dark feelings.
These spirits of light are led by them, who themselves lived in these dark spheres and as result know all the transitions and aspects of these spheres.
By conquering these spheres, they become the leaders for those who provide help in these states and spheres:
Those who have lived here are the leaders in these conditions.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Since Alcar knows these spheres well, André thinks that Alcar has also lived there as a spirit:
Did you once live here, Alcar?’
Alcar smiled.
‘Because I am able to explain all this to you?
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Master Alcar explains that he did not live as a spirit in the Land of Hatred.
He got to know the land by carrying out serving work:
I didn’t live here, André; but I dwelt down here for many years to help others.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
Yet master Alcar also lived in this ‘state’:
I accept that all of us, no matter who, once lived under these conditions.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
By this he means the animal-like state of feeling.
This grade of feeling is a step that every soul goes through in the evolution from pre-animal-like to spiritual attunement of feeling.
After each step, she finds herself in another, higher attunement:
Evolution enables us to live in a different attunement.
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
When the soul lives as a human being on earth in this grade of feeling and passes on to the hereafter, she must accept the Land of Hatred as a spiritual dwelling place.
However, if she has experienced and discarded this grade of feeling during her many lives on earth, upon passing on to the hereafter she can enter a higher sphere.
On earth or in the hereafter, every soul will evolve through the darkness to the light:
But the road we have travelled will lead from darkness to the light.
The saying goes: ‘They who never saw darkness, cannot appreciate the light.’
A View into the Hereafter, 1936
