The Creation of the Universe

52. There are 3 elements of this visible world.

We have 2 very different types of matter, which can be called the two primary elements of this visible world.

1. The first has so much agitation that it is divided into particles of indefinite smallness by encountering other bodies.

Its shapes adapt to fill all the angles left by those bodies.

2. The second is divided into spherical particles.

They are very small compared to visible bodies. But they are still of certain and definite quantity, and divisible into much smaller particles.

3. The third consists of parts either thicker or having shapes less suited to motion.

All the bodies of this visible world are composed from these three:

• 1st Element or Fire-Aether: The Sun and fixed stars
  • The Sun and the fixed stars emit light from themselves.
• 2nd Element or Air-Aether: The heavens
  • The heavens transmit that light.
• 3rd ELement or Earth-Aether: The Earth with the planets and comets
  • The Earth, planets, and comets reflect that light.

This threefold difference in appearance is from the 3 elements.

53. Three heavens can also be distinguished in it.

All the air-aether in space AEI rotates around the center S as Territory 1.

All the air-aether around the centers F, f, make up innumerable other vortices, as Territory 2.

Everything found beyond those 2 Territories are Territory 3, which is immense compared to Territory 2, just as Territory 2 is very large compared to Territory 1.

But I will not discuss Territory 3 because:

• it cannot be observed by us in this life
• I only discuss the visible world

I consider all the vortices whose centers are F, f together as only one territory because I consider them under the same aspect.

Vortex S is not really a different from the others here. But I regard it as different because our Earth is in it. This allows us:

• to observe it better than the others
• to call things based on how we see them

54. How the Sun and fixed stars were formed

The particles of the air-aether have been rubbing against each other from the very beginning.

This gradually increased the fire-aether which was formed from the scraping of the corners of the air-aether.

• These gradually increased.

When there was more fire-aether that was needed to fill the gaps between the particles of the air-aether, that excess fire-aether left those gaps and went into the centers S, F, f.

There, they created very subtle and very fluid bodies:

• the Sun at the center S
• the Stars at the other centers.

After all the corners of the air-aether were blunted and rounded, they occupied less space than before and no longer extended to the centers.

This made them move away from the centers equally on all sides, leaving round spaces there.

These round spaces were immediately filled by the fire-aether that flocked there from all surrounding places due to the all bodies moving in a circle continually makes some effort to move away from the centers around which they move*.