4794. A spirit, or human being after death, has all the sensory powers he had while living in the world, namely sight, hearing, smell, and touch, but not taste. Instead of taste he has something analogous to it, linked to the sense of smell. The reason he does not have taste is so that he can be prevented from entering man's taste, thereby taking control of him interiorly. Another reason is to prevent him from being diverted by this sense from the desire to acquire knowledge and wisdom, and so from spiritual appetite.
