Paper 46 Overview: The Local System Headquarters

Jerusem, the administrative hub of Satania, exemplifies the architectural and organizational brilliance characteristic of local system capitals throughout Nebadon, despite having weathered significant disruptions from the Lucifer rebellion and Michael's bestowal on Urantia. The physical structure and environmental design of this headquarters world manifest a harmonious integration of material, morontial, and spiritual realms, providing optimal functionality for system governance while simultaneously serving as a transitional realm for ascending mortals. Its meticulously designed surface features specialized sectors dedicated to diverse universe life, including concentric residential circles for different orders of beings, administrative squares for system operations, rectangles for indigenous life forms, and triangles for local affairs.

The revelations concerning Jerusem illuminate both its pragmatic administrative functions and its role as a transformative waystation for ascending mortals. The system capital's physical attributes—including its trigas atmosphere, sophisticated energy circulation, and unique lighting system—create an environment conducive to all forms of universe life. Particularly significant for human comprehension is the description of the ascending mortals' circle with its 619 planetary memorials and the broadcast reception center where system inhabitants receive continuous communications from throughout the universe. These features position Jerusem as simultaneously foreign to human experience yet recognizable as the "heaven" conceptualized by religious traditions, providing mortals with a conceptual bridge between their current material existence and the transcendent realms that await them after death.

Jerusem, the headquarters of Satania, is an average capital of a local system, and aside from numerous irregularities occasioned by the Lucifer rebellion and the bestowal of Michael on Urantia, it is typical of similar spheres. Your local system has passed through some stormy experiences, but it is at present being administered most efficiently, and as the ages pass, the results of disharmony are being slowly but surely eradicated. Order and good will are being restored, and the conditions on Jerusem are more and more approaching the heavenly status of your traditions, for the system headquarters is truly the heaven visualized by the majority of twentieth-century religious believers.

Jerusem's administrative geography is precisely delineated into one thousand latitudinal sectors and ten thousand longitudinal zones, with seven major capitals and seventy minor administrative centers distributed across its surface. The System Sovereign maintains a schedule of visitation, ensuring his presence in each sectional capital at least annually, demonstrating personal oversight of the entire system. This organized approach to territorial management provides the foundation for the efficient administration of the hundreds of worlds under Jerusem's jurisdiction.

The measurement systems and temporal divisions on Jerusem differ substantially from Urantian standards, with the standard Jerusem mile equaling approximately seven Urantia miles and the "gradant" weight system built upon the ultimaton through a decimal structure. The Satania day spans nearly three Urantia days, while the system year consists of one hundred Jerusem days, with system time broadcast by master chronoldeks. Energy circulation is masterfully controlled through zone channels directly supplied from space energy charges and expertly managed by the Master Physical Controllers, maintaining temperatures at approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit during full-light periods and about 50 degrees during light recession. The distinctive lighting system employs rarefied energies projected through the planetary atmosphere that interact with the electric air-ceiling and reflect back as a gentle, sifting, and even illumination emanating from all directions rather than from a specific source—a system that creates neither heat nor shadow and renders Jerusem invisible from nearby space despite its vibrant activity.

The topography of Jerusem presents a striking contrast to Urantia's geologically active surface, lacking mountain ranges, earthquakes, precipitation, and other meteorological phenomena characteristic of evolutionary worlds. Instead, visitors encounter breathtakingly beautiful highlands and uniquely designed landscape variations that transcend human imagination, with vast areas preserved in their "natural state" for aesthetic appreciation. The hydrological system consists of thousands of small lakes interconnected by canals, with moisture for both physical and morontia life forms provided through an elaborate subsurface circulation system that extends throughout the sphere, eliminating the need for rainfall, though a daily condensation occurs during periods of light recession.

Jerusem's atmosphere comprises a three-gas mixture, similar to Urantia's air but with an additional gas that supports morontia respiration without adversely affecting material life forms. The transportation infrastructure is integrated with the circulatory streams of energy movement positioned at ten-mile intervals, allowing material beings to travel at speeds ranging from two to five hundred miles per hour, depending on the adjustment of physical mechanisms, while transport birds fly at approximately one hundred miles per hour. The sphere exhibits the ten standard divisions of physical life found throughout Nebadon's architectural worlds, but without evolutionary conflict, demonstrating instead a creative adaptation that foreshadows the beauty, harmony, and perfection of the eternal worlds of the central universe. Mount Seraph, rising nearly fifteen thousand feet as Jerusem's highest elevation, serves as the departure point for transport seraphim, which leave every three seconds during light periods and sometimes during recession, achieving standard velocity after traveling about two thousand miles from the planet.

The communications infrastructure of Jerusem represents a sophisticated integration of superuniverse, Paradise-Havona, and local system technologies. Broadcasts from higher realms are received through specialized equipment that interfaces with the polar crystal and the sea of glass, while three distinct groups of receiving stations process transmissions from local worlds, constellation headquarters, and the universe capital. The technical sophistication of this system enables automatic display of all communications in formats perceptible to all types of beings present in the central broadcast amphitheater, making the monitoring of universal news one of the most engaging and informative activities for ascending mortals on Jerusem.

The physical scale of the broadcast operation is equally impressive, with the receiving station encircled by an enormous amphitheater constructed from scintillating materials largely unknown on Urantia and capable of seating over five billion material and morontia beings while also accommodating countless spirit personalities. This facility operates continuously, even during periods of light recession when most other planetary activities decelerate, underscoring the critical importance of system-wide communication. Most notable among the broadcast experiences are the periodic receptions of Paradise messages, which the Uversa associates enhance through reflectivity phenomena that render the communications visible as well as audible, providing ascending mortals with progressive foretastes of the beauty and grandeur awaiting them as they journey inward toward Paradise.

The surface allocation of Jerusem demonstrates a systematic approach to accommodating both residential and administrative functions necessary for supervising the affairs of 619 inhabited spheres, 56 transitional-culture worlds, and the system capital itself. Significant portions of the planet are designated as residential zones, while other regions house the essential administrative operations that coordinate system-wide activities. This spatial organization follows a definitive pattern established in Nebadon, with circles serving as non-native residential areas, squares functioning as executive-administrative centers, rectangles providing space for lower native life, and triangles containing local administrative facilities.

Beyond these fundamental divisions, Jerusem features numerous specialized domains not encompassed by the standard narrative, including the magnificent estates of the Material Sons of God who hold permanent citizenship. The system capital benefits from the efficient services of spironga—a classification of intelligent and beautiful beings who function as transition servants between higher morontia creatures and the morontia helpers who maintain morontial creations. This diversity of life forms contributes to Jerusem's unique status as one of the few worlds that perfectly exhibits all three phases of universe existence: material, morontial, and spiritual. The architectural achievements include impressive structures of both material and morontia design, while the spiritual zones feature exquisite appointments that transcend mortal conception, making Jerusem simultaneously accessible to beings of all three states of existence and offering a profound foretaste of the supernal perfection awaiting ascending mortals in Paradise.

The residential organization of Jerusem follows a meticulously designed pattern with major universe life groups occupying designated circular sectors known as the Jerusem circles. These consist of seven distinct categories: the circles of the Sons of God, angels and higher spirits, Universe Aids, Master Physical Controllers, ascending mortals, courtesy colonies, and the Corps of the Finality. Each residential grouping comprises seven concentric and successively elevated circles surrounded by extensive enclosures that form panoramic promenades, allowing observers to survey the activities within each domain. This architectural arrangement optimizes both functionality and aesthetic experience while facilitating interaction between different orders of beings.

The individual circles reveal the complex social structure of the system capital, with the Sons of God occupying seven concentric circles surrounded by walls of crystal gems and featuring numerous pearly crystal gates. The first circle houses the Magisterial Sons, the second accommodates Trinity Teacher Sons, the third belongs to the Melchizedeks, the fourth hosts Vorondadeks and visiting Sons, the fifth is home to the Lanonandeks, the sixth contains the system Life Carriers, and the seventh serves as a gathering place for assigned mortals. Similarly, the circles of the angels feature a hierarchical arrangement from the Higher Personalities of the Infinite Spirit to transition ministers, while the circles of ascending mortals notably contain 619 planetary memorials representing each inhabited world of the system. Perhaps most mysterious is the seventh circle group belonging to the finaliters, which features a central temple sealed with Michael's insignia bearing the inscription "Undedicated to the seventh stage of spirit—to the eternal assignment" and placed under Gabriel's seal that only Michael himself can break.

The intricate governance structure of Satania is physically manifested in one thousand departmental squares that constitute the executive-administrative divisions of the system. Each square is further subdivided into one hundred administrative units containing ten subgroups, creating a comprehensive hierarchical framework for efficient system management. These squares are organized into ten grand divisions that encompass the full spectrum of system operations: physical maintenance and material improvement, arbitration and administrative adjudication, planetary and local affairs, constellation and universe matters, education and Melchizedek activities, planetary and system physical progress, morontia affairs, pure spirit activities, ascendant ministry, and grand universe philosophy.

A distinctive characteristic of these administrative structures is their transparency, which allows student visitors to observe the full range of system activities. This architectural feature reflects the open governance philosophy prevalent throughout the superuniverse administration and serves an educational purpose for ascending mortals seeking to understand the complex operations that maintain universal harmony. The transparent nature of these facilities eliminates secrecy from administrative processes while simultaneously providing experiential learning opportunities for beings at all levels of development who are preparing for expanded responsibilities as they progress through the universe.

The one thousand rectangles of Jerusem serve as domains for the lower native life forms of the headquarters planet, with the comprehensive headquarters of the spornagia occupying the central region of this territorial designation. Visitors to Jerusem frequently express amazement at the agricultural accomplishments and landscape artistry achieved by these remarkable beings, who cultivate the land primarily for aesthetic and ornamental purposes rather than utilitarian ends. Their sophisticated approach to environmental design integrates both animal assistants and mechanical devices, demonstrating intelligent expertise in harnessing power agencies and utilizing various orders of lower animal creations, many of which are specially provided on Jerusem and other architectural worlds.

The spornagia themselves represent a unique life order that exhibits several distinctive characteristics setting them apart from other universe beings. Though they lack Adjuster indwelt survival souls and true personality, they develop individualities capable of experiencing reincarnation when their physical bodies deteriorate through usage and age. This reincarnation process involves the fabrication of new bodies by their creators in collaboration with the Life Carriers, making them the only creatures in Nebadon to experience this form of perpetuation. Responsive to the first five adjutant mind-spirits but not to the spirits of worship and wisdom, their five-adjutant mind equivalates to a totality or sixth reality level that persists as an experiential identity. These bisexual creatures combine the traits of faithful horses and affectionate dogs with intelligence exceeding the highest chimpanzees, and possess vision capable of perceiving not only material beings but also morontia creations, lower angelic orders, and some spirit personalities, making them invaluable service providers for all universe personalities requiring material assistance.

The routine local affairs of Jerusem are administered through one hundred triangular sectors clustered around ten architecturally impressive structures that house the local government. These triangles are encompassed by a panoramic representation of system history that currently features an erasure spanning over two standard miles in its circular narrative—a gap that will be restored upon Satania's readmission to the constellation family following the resolution of the Lucifer rebellion. Although preparations for this restoration have been established by Michael's decrees, the tribunal of the Ancients of Days has not yet completed its adjudication of the rebellion, preventing Satania's full reintegration into the Norlatiadek fellowship while it continues to harbor high-created beings who chose darkness over light.

The eventual restoration of Satania to the constellation fold will initiate a process for reconsidering the readmission of isolated worlds into the system family of inhabited planets and their reestablishment in the spiritual communion of the realms. Even when Urantia is restored to system circuits, however, it will continue to experience limitations resulting from the Norlatiadek quarantine that partially segregates the entire Satania system from other systems. Nevertheless, the adjudication of Lucifer and his associates will ultimately restore both the system to its constellation and the isolated spheres to their system circuits, reestablishing the privileges of interplanetary communication and intersystem communion. The supreme rulers' approach combines mercy and patience with unwavering commitment to universal law, ensuring that deliberately nourished evil eventually receives its consequence of eternal obliteration, bringing a definitive conclusion to rebellion and its instigators.