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 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

Initially, the matter of the fire-aether gradually increased* because the air-aether particles wore each other down through constant motion.

After the air-aether particles were more worn down, they occupied less space than before.

• Thus, they did not extend to the centers.
• Instead, they moved away equally from them in all directions.

They left spherical spaces there to be filled by the fire-aether flowing in from all the surrounding areas.

There, it formed certain very fluid spherical bodies:

• the Sun at the center S
• the fixed stars at the other centers.