creature would, in terms of real direction, still have the sky above it and the earth beneath it; this relationship would remain unchanged. But relative to its head and feet, it would be said that the sky and the earth are above it.

That being so, the angels in the celestial spheres on every side are all, in terms of real direction, above the earth. None are beneath the others, nor are they beneath any part of the earth. That is, those on the northern side are not beneath those on the southern side. Likewise, those in the direction of the constellation of Cancer are not beneath those in the direction of the constellation of Scorpio, even though some parts of the sky are sometimes aligned with our heads and sometimes with our feet, and even though the sphere of the sun is above the moon.

Likewise, the clouds and the birds of the air are, on every side, above the earth and beneath the sky. None of them are beneath the earth, nor are those on one side beneath those on another. Similarly, whatever is on the earth’s surface—mountains, plants, animals, human beings, and others—is above it on every side of the earth, and beneath the sky. The inhabitants of one region are not beneath those of another, nor is any of them beneath the earth or above the sky at all.

How, then, could the sky be beneath the earth, or one who is above the sky be beneath the earth? If any of them were beneath the earth, it would follow that each of them was both beneath the earth and above it. It would follow that all the angels, the birds of the air, the fish of the waters, and the creatures of the earth were both above the earth and beneath it. It would follow that everything was both above and beneath whatever lay opposite it, and that each of the two sides of