The Inhabited Universe

by Frederick L. Schnarr

3. THE INHABITANTS OF VENUS AND MARS

In this article we would direct your attention to the two planets which are closest to our earth, Venus and Mars. Apart from the inhabitants of our moon, the people of these two planets are our nearest neighbors. In the minds of those who think in terms of flying saucers coming from other planets, of invasions from outer space, and other such awesome imaginings, Venus and Mars have long been prime suspects. In the pages of science fiction, these two planets have been the breeding grounds of a long array of semi-human monsters. In the realm of science, these two planets have received special attention and study, for it is thought that if human life does exist anywhere in our solar system it is most likely to exist on them.

We turn our attention first to the planet Venus. In so doing we shall note a few of the general scientific facts concerning it, and what is said in the Writings about the spirits from that planet.

The Planet Venus

Because Venus closely resembles our earth in size, weight and density it is often referred to as our "sister planet." Its average distance from the sun is sixty-seven million miles, as compared with thirty-six million miles for Mercury. Its diameter of 7,575 miles is just a few hundred miles less than that of our earth. Apart from these few facts, much of the detailed information that might here be of interest to us is so disputed as to give no clear picture. Venus is veiled in mystery because of a thick atmosphere, or layer of clouds, which surrounds it continually, making any observation of its surface features impossible. Nothing can be known definitely about its temperatures, partly because it is not known definitely how the planet turns on its axis. Many have concluded that Venus turns on its axis much like Mercury, that is, with one side always facing the sun and the other side never facing the sun, but that Venus does not sway on its axis as Mercury does. However, this theory does not agree with the findings of others, that the entire surface of Venus seems to be extremely warm; indicating that Venus turns on its axis as does our earth. We would note that this idea finds approval in the Writings, for specific reference is made to the inhabitants of Venus as having both day and night.

We are struck with amazement, in reviewing the findings of reputable astronomers and physicists, at the different and divergent data which they present. This is the case not only with Venus but also with the other planets. Perhaps no other field of scientific research includes such a care-free jumbling of fact, theory, and mere speculation. We need to examine and compare carefully the data presented in the name of science in this field so that we may see much of it for what it is, and so that we may not become too disturbed at the apparent abundance of evidence which would make us tend to question or deny what the Writings present as being the case. It will be useful, we believe, to consider at least one example of the manner in which many of the facts are presented and what utterly different facts two highly-regarded scholars in this field can bring forth.

Professor H. Spencer Jones, recently Britain's well-known Astronomer Royal and President of the Royal Astronomical Society, presents us with the following information about Venus.

"The dryness of the atmosphere of Venus proves that she has no oceans . . . . The arid nature of Venus and the lack of oxygen in her atmosphere are both indications that no life of any sort can exist on her. It is impossible to conceive of the development of life under such conditions. . . . We can draw a picture of Venus that is probably pretty near the truth, despite the fact that we have never seen her surface. Venus is an arid world, whose surface is entirely desert. There are no oceans, lakes, or rivers, and the land is completely devoid of any vegetation. The heat is insufferably great, the temperature being much higher than would be expected on a planet at her distance from the Sun. Great storms, intense cyclones and violent tornados are continually occurring. . . . The dust storms that are raised on Venus are of a size far beyond any that occur on our Earth. Great clouds of yellow dust are swirled to immense heights in her atmosphere. The surface of Venus has the perpetual gloom of a dense pea-soup fog; the Sun can never be seen. Life of any sort -plant life or animal life is quite out of the question."  (H Spencer Jones, Life on Other Worlds).

Compare this presentation with the information recently gathered by two well-known American astronomers, F. L. Whipple and D. H. Menzel. They have been bouncing radio signals off Venus, and in interpreting these they conclude not only that Venus has great electrical storms but also that the entire planet is covered by one great ocean. They conclude that no human life can exist there, but they feel that there is evidence to support the idea of lower forms of life that could live in the water. Others have concluded from this information that Venus has only begun, or perhaps not yet even started, the form of evolutionary development that life underwent on this earth. (K W Gatland, The Inhabited Universe)  Many other conflicting presentations could be brought together, but this will suffice to make the point at which we are getting - that there is not a shred of concrete evidence to challenge or deny what the Writings present about the nature of life on the other planets within or outside of our solar system. Let us be quite clear on this point; and let us not feel, in putting forth the teachings of the Writings about the planets, that we are somehow presenting knowledges which are at odds with accurate scientific data.

The Planet Venus in the Writings

The Writings do not tell us a great deal about the people of Venus, but they do present us with a summary sketch of their character and way of life. Their place in the Grand Man relates to the uses of the memory - especially to the memory of material things that corresponds to the memory of immaterial things. It will be recalled that the spirits of Mercury relate to the memory of immaterial things. (AC 7253) What we are to understand by the memory of material things that correspond becomes evident after the death of the body. An ordering then takes place among the interior and immaterial things of the memory, such as the knowledges of civil, moral and spiritual laws, and the material things of the memory taken from the forms and objects of the world. Only those material memories which agree with the interior things, or correspond to them, are retained. Those that are thus retained form the memory with which the spirits of Venus are related. Material memories that have no real connection with man's nature and quality are dispersed.

Concerning the character of the inhabitants of Venus the Writings tell us that there are two kinds, of contrary disposition: one savage, approaching the nature of wild beasts, the other gentle and humane.* The savage inhabitants seem to find great delight in plundering the goods of others and in eating the things they steal. In robbing others they sometimes find it necessary to kill them, and this they do mostly by drowning them in water - note the specific reference to water. The Writings say, however that they are not utterly cruel, even though they do such things; for they try not to kill those whom they rob, and if they do kill someone, they make sure that he is properly buried - a sign that they have some humanity. Their nature, the Writings say, is not to be compared to the harsh and cruel nature of the Jews and Israelites, who slaughtered and destroyed others with delight and left their corpses to be devoured by beasts and otherwise mutilated.** These savage people are described as being simple and stupid, expressing no interest in the things of heaven or in the nature of eternal life, but only in worldly and earthly things, especially the care of their lands and cattle. When they come into the other life they are "very much infested by falsities and evils. . . . They who are such that they can be saved are in places of vastation, and are there reduced to the extremity of despair; for evils and falsities of that kind cannot be removed in any other way.  When they are in a state of despair they cry out that they are beasts, brutes, abominations and hatreds, and thus that they are damned. Some of them when in such a state, cry out also against heaven, but for this they are excused because it is from despair. The Lord moderates it lest they should break out into reproaches beyond certain fixed limits. When they have suffered to the utmost, as their bodily things are as it were then dead, they are at last saved." *** Swedenborg saw some of these spirits finally being raised into heaven, and he said that when they were received in heaven there was such a tenderness and gladness from them that it drew tears from his eyes.****

* AC 7246 **AC 7248. ***AC7250 ****AC7251

Very little is said of the other inhabitants of Venus except that they are extremely gentle and humane. In contrast to the savage spirits - who at best acknowledged some supreme Creator while on earth, and did not think about or believe in the Lord as a Divine-Human God - the gentle spirits did acknowledge the Lord as God. They said that while on earth they had sometimes seen Him, and that He had walked among them. What the Lord did was to appear to them as a Divine Man through the form of an angelic spirit. That is the way in which He appeared for hundreds of years in this world also, as when He appeared to and talked with Abraham and with Moses. (AC 7552) We would note, in viewing the two types of people on Venus, that the manner of living and the quality of the character of each reflect the idea held, or not held, of the Lord as a Divine-Human God. Wherever this concept is lacking we see what is savage, cruel, inhuman and merely external, while wherever it is present we see just the opposite. We see this reflected on every earth in the universe, as well as in the history of the peoples of our earth. It is, as we have noted before, a most important truth, but one which is not easily understood. It brings home to us, again and again, the importance of learning the truths about the Lord's nature and quality as the foundation of all things of life, even to the most external practices and customs.

The Writings do not say whether the gentle inhabitants of Venus live in the same area as the savage inhabitants. There is a passage which states that the latter always face our earth; but this passage is speaking of the state of life they represent, namely, what is external, and not of their geographical location. ( SD 1452, 1453) No detailed descriptions are given of the peoples of Venus.  We are taught that for the most part they are giants, being almost twice as tall as the people of our earth. They lead a primitive and rural life, many of them being goatherds or shepherds. Cattle are mentioned, much like ours but with smaller horns. It is said that the people do not associate by day, but only during the night, and that the reason for this is that during the day there is great heat, apparently so great as to make work intolerable. It is said that at night they see in a dusky light, and we take this to mean that they have some kind of reflective light at night, perhaps relating to the great cloud formations surrounding that planet which science has detected. (AC 7249; SD 1450, 1451)

The Planet Mars

Unlike Venus, which many scientists believe to be in an early stage of evolution comparable to the one reached by our earth millions of years ago, Mars is thought to be in the last dying stages of its evolution and decline. If there is intelligent human life on Mars, it is thought that such life is in the final death struggle of its existence, and this because of the fact that the life-sustaining elements in the atmosphere have gradually been used up and lost. According to this generally accepted evolutionary theory, this earth also must in time reach such a condition. Percival Lowell, well-known American astronomer and founder of the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, concluded his book, Mars as the Abode of Life, with these words:

"The process that brought it to its present pass must go on to the bitter end, until the last spark of Martian life goes out. The drying up of the planet is certain to proceed until its surface can support no life at all. Slowly but surely time will snuff it out. When the last ember is thus extinguished, the planet will roll a dead world through space, its evolutionary career forever ended."

The attitude underlying this conclusion of Mr. Lowell's stems from the manner in which most scientists regard the evolutionary process: a machine-like process of change and growth with little or no guidance from Divine intelligence. Some scientists do indeed give God credit for starting the process, but few give Him credit for controlling and preserving it.

Mars, often called the "red planet" because of the reddish color of much of its surface, is said to be an average distance of one hundred and forty million miles from the sun. Its diameter of 4,250 miles is a little more than half that of our earth. It rotates on its axis much as our earth does, providing days and nights, seasons and years. The Martian year, however, is estimated to be almost twice as long as ours. Temperatures are thought to range between 80 degrees F. and 95 degrees F.

Apart from our moon, scientists are able to observe the planet Mars better than any other earth in the universe. Much data has been accumulated by men who have spent most of their lives studying this planet alone; and of all the earths in the universe, Mars is regarded as the one earth on which life of some kind is generally acknowledged to exist. In spite of this, however, we find little agreement about most of the findings that have been presented. The picture of Mars generally given is this: Its polar caps are covered with ice and snow. In the warm season these melt, forming canals, which are observed to spread out from the polar caps. No natural rivers or other bodies of water are observed. The canals, of various lengths and widths, seem to cut through great arid deserts where terrific dust storms are evident. Because of the manner in which the canals are laid out, and because there is evidence that vegetation grows along the border areas of the canals, and especially the areas - where some of the canals intersect, it is thought that human life might well be present. Indeed many of the foremost astronomers believe the arrangement of the canals indicates that they must have been planned and prepared by human intelligence. Drawings of these canals have been made by many of the leading astronomers: Giovanni Schiaparelli, Albert G. Wilson, Russell H. Morgan of Johns Hopkins University, Percival Lowell, and as recently as 1956, Dr. Michikazu Onishi of Japan. Vague photographs have even been taken. Yet there are many reputable astronomers who have never seen the canals, some who believe that they are merely volcanic ash markings, and others who frankly question their existence. Despite these differences, it is from the study of these supposed canals that much of the current theory about Mars has been constructed.

Before what the Writings teach about the inhabitants of Mars is reviewed, we would draw attention to certain conclusions about them drawn by A. C. Ferber in his book, The Secret of Human Life on Other Planets. He theorizes that the Martians planned and developed a system of canals to bring water to the unproductive desert areas. This must have required certain scientific skills. He notes a reference in the Writings to their knowing how to make "fluid fires." Also, he draws together various unusual occurrences on Mars which some scientists have witnessed. Before the turn of the century, Schiaparelli observed a huge light-colored cross, about 900 miles in diameter, which appeared for a number of months. In 1900, Percival Lowell observed a large, brilliant shaft of light emanating from Mars. It continued for seventy minutes and seemed to be flashing some kind of code. For him to have seen such a beam there would have had to be on Mars a brilliance comparable to that produced by a nuclear explosion. As recently as 1950, Walter Haas, world director of the Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers, received reports from reputable observers that large flashes as from explosions, and with great dust clouds following them, had been seen on Mars, these flashes being sixty miles high and nine hundred miles wide. From all of this the author concludes that the Martians are well advanced scientifically, perhaps to the point of having developed nuclear testing. We do not pretend to have satisfactory answers for the questions raised by these occurrences, but we cannot support the conclusion reached in this book. It does not seem to be in keeping with what is said of the character and state of life of the Martians in the Writings, and it certainly does not agree with the teaching about the non-existence of the sciences on other planets.

We would not minimize the need for and the use of scientific investigation, and even informed theorizing. The New Church should always support every proper and orderly study of scientific data. But we are cautioned against the all too general habit of accepting theory and speculation as concrete, factual evidence, and we cannot support conclusions that are not sustained by the Writings.

The Planet Mars in the Writings

In the Grand Man of heaven the spirits from Mars serve the uses relating to that part of the brain which lies between the cerebrum and the cerebellum, the longitudinal sinus. Thus their uses relate to something which is intermediate between the intellectual or understanding capacity of man and his capacity of willing; indeed they represent something in which the will and the understanding are conjoined. Some of them represent the thought that comes forth from man's affections and loves; the best of them represent the affection of the thought, that is, a love for thinking of the uses which thought is to perform.  (AC 7480, 7481)

As to the character of the Martians, the Writings tell us that they are among the best of all from our solar system, being mostly of a celestial nature and not unlike the men of the Most Ancient Church on earth. They are described as being content with their lot and as knowing nothing of hypocrisy, deceit or dissimulation. They hold no one in aversion, much less in hatred, and deem it most honorable to be considered just and lovers of the neighbor. They find great delight in meeting with other members of their society and in discussing the affairs of the society. They find this delight even while living on earth, and it is noted that they particularly enjoy conversing about what is going on in heaven. The humble and gentle nature of many of the Martians was noted by Swedenborg as being especially evident when the Lord's name was mentioned. Because they think of themselves as constantly inclining to the things of hell when led by self, and therefore as being unworthy to look at the Lord, they enter into an inmost and profound state of humiliation when the Lord's name is mentioned; and when they emerge from that state they are full of good and love and are filled with joyousness of heart. (AC 7467, 7360, 7363-7364, 7478)

That some of the inhabitants of Mars have fallen from their celestial state into actual evil is evident from a number of passages, although not a great deal is said about the particular nature of the evils that have developed among them. As to how the good protect their children from the influence of evil states we read:

"Those in their societies who begin to think wrongly, and then to will wrongly, are separated and left to themselves alone, whence they lead a most wretched life out of all society, in rocks or other places, for they are no longer cared for by the rest. Certain societies endeavor to drive such persons to repentance by various methods; hut when this fails they separate themselves from them. In this way they take care lest the lust of dominion should subject to itself the society in which they are, and then others, and lest any from the lust of gain should despoil others of their goods." (AC 7364)

In this way do the Martians protect and preserve the freedom of their society life. Everything said about these people evidences a great love of freedom. We would note in passing the teaching given in the Writings that it was the perverted love of self and the world which led the men of our earth to organize into kingdoms and empires, and thus to abandon the local society life which the most ancient people had, and which the Martians still have. (AC 7364)

More than others, the spirits of Mars acknowledge and adore our Lord. They say that He is the only God, that He rules both heaven and the entire universe, and that everything good comes from Him. They say that it is the Lord who leads them, and that He frequently appears to them on their earth. Since many of these people have open communication with heaven, and this much as did the members of the Most Ancient Church on our earth, we take it that the reference to their seeing the Lord means that they see Him in the form of an angel, and this with their spiritual eyes. While living on earth the Martians know that they are really spirits and that after death they will merely take on another body. Because of this they not only think little of the body, but they have no fear of death. Indeed we are told that when they awake after death they scarcely know that the state of their lives has changed. (AC 7477, 7173, 7475)

The inhabitants of Mars are distinguished into larger and smaller societies according to similarities of disposition. They are able to discern the nature and disposition of each other from the expression of the face and the manner of speech, and it is said that they are so accurate in this that they are seldom deceived. Their speech is different from ours. It is not sonorous, but almost silent, approaching the speech of spirits and angels. Much is conveyed through the expression of the eyes and the face. Their thoughts are especially evident in the expression of the eyes, while the affections are evident in that of the face, particularly of the mouth and the lips. They regard it as wicked to think one thing and speak another, and to will one thing and show another in the face. (AC 7363, 7360-7362)

Nothing is said as to the size of the Martians, although it may be inferred that it is comparable to ours. Their faces are said to be in the same form as ours, but entirely beardless and somewhat different in color. The lower part of the face is black, up to the lower parts of the ears, while the upper portion of the face is yellowish. We should not think of this color contrast as something grotesque, with half the face pitch black and the other half bright yellow. Indeed the Writings say that the yellowish coloring may be likened to that of certain faces on earth that are not quite white, such as those of the oriental races. The same is undoubtedly true of the black coloring. (AC 7483)

The Martians live on the fruits of trees and on legumes, although nothing of what they eat is mentioned by name. They clothe themselves with garments that are made from the dark fibers of certain trees. These fibers have such strength that they can be woven and also glued together, the gum of some tree being used for glue. It is said that on their earth they know how to make fluid fires, and that from these fires they have light in the evenings and at night. From what these fluid fires are made we are not told; some have concluded that there must be great oil wells on Mars and have explained the appearance of lights on Mars as being great oil fires. This would seem a more reasonable supposition than the idea of nuclear testing which we mentioned before. Certainly from what is said of the Martians, their character and their mode of living, it cannot be thought that these people have developed a great and formidable science. (AC 7484-7486)

A Representation

Before we conclude our description of the Martians we would note the description of a representation which Swedenborg saw in the other world, a representation which possibly has some bearing on the uses the peoples of our earth are to perform. While Swedenborg was conversing with some of the spirits from Mars a beautiful crimson flame suddenly appeared, sparkling with various colors but turning to white at the edges. This flame adhered to a hand and played on and about it. Then the hand withdrew and the flame was changed into a bird of many colors. The bird, which first flew around, active and full of life and beauty, gradually changed, its colors becoming, dull and its life dead and hard as a stone, although the bird kept on flying. In explanation of this representation it was said that the quality of the inhabitants of Mars was changing. They were beginning to fall from celestial love with its intelligence and power, represented by the crimson flame and the hand, to spiritual love and knowledge, represented by the beautifully colored bird. Many of them were beginning to love knowledge alone and to make celestial and spiritual life consist in gathering knowledges without using them. These were represented by the bird becoming dull and dark in color and appearing dead and hard as a stone. (AC 7620-7622, 7743)

In yet another passage it is said that if the inhabitants of Mars did not remain in their state of integrity, "others would succeed from a new earth who would be similar; for when one race perishes, another succeeds."* This falling from celestial love and intelligence is what happened on our earth when the Most Ancient Church fell. The important thing we would note here is that once there has been such a fall on the part of most of the inhabitants of an earth, then the Lord's only approach to them is through the written Word. When the Lord cannot approach, instruct and lead man from within, then He can do so only from without, through Divine revelation in written form. That is what He did on this earth, but it seems evident that He will not formulate such revelations on other earths. The conclusion at which we arrive, and which we will discuss more fully in a later article, is that the Lord may well use the scientific genius of the people of this earth, in time and as He sees that it is needed, to carry the written Word, and the knowledge of the Lord's first and second advents, to the inhabitants of other earths. How this conclusion relates to what is said about the possibility of this earth and others perishing and being replaced by new earths and peoples will be considered in the closing articles. At this time we would merely state that we do not believe that this conclusion is refuted by what is said in that connection. (SD 3250)

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