HH 421, 423, 430 - What is the world of spirits?

HH 421
The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell,
but it is the intermediate place or state between the two;
for it is the place that man first enters after death;
and from which
after a suitable time
he is either raised up into heaven
or cast down into hell
in accord with his life in the world.

HH 423
Let something first be said about
the conjunction of the understanding and the will,
and its being the same thing as the conjunction of good and truth,
that being the conjunction that is effected in the world of spirits.
A person has an understanding and a will.
The understanding receives truths and is formed out of them,
and the will receives goods and is formed out of them;
therefore whatever a person understands and thinks from his understanding
he calls true,
and whatever a person wills and thinks from his will
he calls good.
From his understanding a person can think
and thus perceive
both what is true and what is good;
and yet he thinks what is true and good from the will
only when he wills it and does it.
When he wills it and from willing does it,
it is both in his understanding and in his will,
consequently in the person.

HH 430
While a person's rational mind is being formed
it corresponds to the world of spirits,
what is above it corresponding to heaven
and what is below to hell.
With those preparing for heaven
the regions above the rational mind are opened,
but those below are closed to the influx of evil and falsity;
while with those preparing for hell
the parts below it are opened,
and the parts above it are closed to the influx of good and truth.
Thus the latter can look only to what is below themselves, that is, to hell;
while the former can look only to what is above themselves, that is, to heaven.
To look above themselves is to look to the Lord,
because He is the common center to which all things of heaven look;
while to look below themselves is to look backwards from the Lord
to the opposite center, to which all things of hell look and tend.