Afterwards the devils approached me and led me to the east and I looked in front of me and saw a great flame, stinking like sulfur. And that flame rose so high, as it seemed to me, and there were men and women of various estates, all burning, who were flying in the air as high as I could look just like the sparks of a fire do. And when the flame came down and weakened the people fell into the fire. And as we came near, it seemed to me that that was an oven or a well from which the flame came out. And then the devils said to me:
‘This well which you can see is the mouth of hell where our dwelling place is; and because you have served us up to now you will enter and be with us always and that is the reward of those who serve us. And know that you will enter here and perish body and soul; and if you follow our advice and wish to go back, we will lead you without harming you to the outside gate through which you came in.’
But I always had a great overriding trust in Our Lord and held the promise in great contempt. And when they saw this, they seized me and threw me into the well and the further I went down, the wider I found it and the more I felt pain and hardship and much anguish, so much so that I thought I was failing so much that I thought I was forgetting the name of God; and I called on Jesus Christ and all his help in the great anguish which I felt and the great pain and torment.30 And as it pleases God and by his grace I did not wish to despair, I called on the name of Jesus Christ and at once the strength of the flame threw me out of the well with the wind and the air and I came down by the side of the well and stayed there a great while not knowing where I was nor in which direction I should go and I was all alone for I did not know where the devils had gone or what had happened to those who had brought me.