When the vapor dispersed a creature in human form rose from one corner of the apartment, and said in a stern tone, 'Do not eat so much.' He refrained.
The next night the same man returned, radiant in light, and said to him, 'I am sent of God, who has chosen you to explain to men the meaning of his Word and his Creation.

I will tell you what to write.' The vision lasted but a few moments.

The _angel_ was clothed in purple.

During that night the eyes of his _inner man_ were opened, and he was forced to look into the heavens, into the world of spirits, and into hell,--three separate spheres; where he encountered persons of his acquaintance who had departed from their human form, some long since, others lately.
Thenceforth Swedenborg lived wholly in the spiritual life, remaining in this world only as the messenger of God.

His mission was ridiculed by the incredulous, but his conduct was plainly that of a being superior to humanity.