falsified. Every one, who from his own intelligence assumes a principle of religion, and establishes it as the head, also assumes confirmations from the Word, and makes them the tail, thus induces a stupor upon others, and so hurts them; therefore it is said, that "they had tails like unto scorpions ;" and presently after, "that there were stings in their tails, and that their power was to hurt men ;' for by a scorpion is signified the power of persuasion inducing stupor upon the understanding, n. 425. That the tail is a continuation of the brain through the back-bone to its termination, any anatomist will tell you; or merely observe a dog or any other animal with a tail, and encourage and coax him, and you will see that the ridge of his back will become smooth, and his tail move correspondently; but that, on the contrary, he will set his back up if you provoke him. The primary tenet of the understanding, which is assumed as a principle, is signified by the head, and the ultimate thereof by the tail, in these passages also: "Therefore Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, the ancient and the honorable, he is the head, and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail," Isaiah ix. 13, 14. Egypt shall not have any work to make head and tail, Isaiah xix. 15. By the seven heads of the dragon, and by his tail, with which he drew a third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth, Apoc. xii. 4; as also by the tails like serpents, having heads with which they do hurt, verse 19 of this chapter: nothing else is signified. Inasmuch as by the tail is signified the ultimate, and the ultimate being the complex or aggregate of all, therefore Jehovah said to Moses, Take the serpent by the tail; and he took it, and it became a rod, Exod. iv. 3, 4; and therefore it was commanded, That they should take off the tail entire near the back-bone, and sacrifice it together with the fat that was upon the entrails, kidneys, intestines, and liver, Levit. iii. 9, 10, 11, viii. 25, ix. 19, Exod. xxix. 22. That the ultimate is the continent and complex, or that which contains and comprehends all prior things, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 38, 65; and in The

Wisdom of Angels concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom, n. 209-216, n. 217-222.

439. "And there were stings in their tails and their power was to hurt men five months," signifies, subtle falsifications of the Word, by which, for a short time, they darken and fascinate the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate. By stings in their tails, are signified subtle falsifications of the Word ;-by stings, subtilty; and by tails, the truths of the Word falsified, p. 438. By their power to hurt, is signified, that by means of these they can induce stupor, that is, they can darken and fascinate the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate; for their tails were like scorpions, and by scorpions such things are signified, n. 425. By five months, is signified for a short time, as above, n. 427: this takes place when they quote and apply any thing from the Word; for the Word is written according to correspondences, and correspondences are in part appearances of truth, containing within them genuine truths. If these truths are not known in the church, many things may be taken from the Word, which at first appear in accordance with heresy; but when genuine truths are known in the church, then the appearances of truth are rendered manifest, and genuine truths come to view. But before this is done, a heretic, by various things drawn from the Word, may obscure and fascinate the understanding, and thus deceive and captivate. That this is done by those who assert that man's sins are remitted, or, in other words, that he is justified by an act of faith, concerning which no one knows any thing, and this in a moment, and if not before, even at the hour of death, might be illustrated by examples, were this the place to do so. By stings are signified falses of a hurtful nature derived from evil, also in Amos: "Lo, the days shall come upon you, when they shall take you away with stings," iv. 2. And in Moses: That they should drive out the inhabitants of the land, lest they should be thorns in their eyes, and stings in their sides, Numb. xxxiii. 55: Thorns, briars, brambles, and thistles, also signify falses of evil, on account of their prickles.

440. "And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit; whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue he hath his name Apollyon," signifies, that they are in the satanic hell who are in falses derived from concupiscences, and by a total falsification of the Word, have destroyed the church By their king, the angel of the bottomless pit, is not signified any angel who is a king there, but the false principle reigning therein; for by a king, in a genuine sense, is signified one who is in truths from the affection of good, and, abstractedly, that truth itself, n. 20; and thence, in the opposite sense, by a king is signified one who is in falses from concupiscence of evil, and, abstractedly, that false itself. By the bottomless pit is signified the satanic hell, where they are, n. 387, 428; by name, is signified the quality of the state, n. 81, 122, 165; Abaddon, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies a destroying and a destroyer; so does Apollyon, in the Greek tongue; and this is the false principle in extreme or lowest principles, which, by the total falsification of the Word, has destroyed the church. By Abaddon, in the Hebrew text, is signified destruction or perdition, in these places: "Shall thy faithfulness be declared in destruction," Psalm lxxxviii. 11. "Hell is naked before him, and destruction hath no covering," Job xxvi. 6. "For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction," Job xxxi. 12. "Destruction and Death say," Job xxviii. 22. In other places, hell and the devil are called Destruction or Perdition, and Destroyer," Isaiah liv. 16, Ezek. v. 16, ix. 1, Exod. xii. 13; though another term is used.

441. "One woe is past; behold, there come two woes more hereafter," signifies, further lamentations over the devastation of the church. That woe signifies lamentation over calamity, unhappiness, and damnation, see n. 416; here, then, by two woes to come, are signified further lamentations over the state of the church.

442. "And the sixth angel sounded," signifies, the exploration and manifestation of their state of life in the reformed church who are not so wise, and yet place the all of religion in faith, and think of it alone and of nothing

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beyond it, and the customary worship, and so live as they like. That these are treated of to the end of this chapter, will appear from the explanation of what follows. That to sound signifies to explore and lay open the state of the church, and thence of the life of those whose religion consists in faith alone, may be seen above, n. 397. "These who are now treated of, are altogether distinct "from those referred to thus far in this chapter, the falses "of whose faith were seen in the form of locusts: this is "the ground of distinction; the latter, or those already de"scribed, are studious in exploring the arcana of justifi"cation by faith, and also in giving the signs of it, and its "testimonies, which, with them, are the goods of moral "and civil life; insisting that the precepts of the Word are indeed in themselves divine, but that with man they "become natural, because they proceed from his will, and "have no conjunction with the spiritualities of faith; and "because they confirm these things by rational consid"erations which savor of erudition, they dwell in the "southern quarter of the bottomless pit, according to the "description above, n. 421. But they who are treated. "of in what follows to the end of the chapter, do not "study those arcana, but only make bare faith the all of religion, and nothing besides it and the customary worship, and so live at their ease. I have been permitted "to see and converse with these also; they live in the "northern quarter, in huts that are scattered about, and "constructed of reeds and rushes plastered over with lime, "without any floor but the ground. The more ingenious "who, by means of natural light, know how to establish "that faith by reasonings, and can prove that it has "nothing at all to do with life, dwell in front, the more simple behind them, and the more stupid toward the "western part of that tract: the multitude of them is so great that it is incredible. They are instructed by angelic spirits, but they who do not receive the truths of "faith, and live according to them, are let down into the "hell which is under them, and confined there."

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443. "And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel

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which had the trumpet," signifies, a command from the Lord out of the spiritual heaven to those who were to explore and make manifest. By a voice, is signified a divine command; by the golden altar, or altar of incense, is signified the spiritual heaven, n. 277, 392; by the four horns of that altar, is signified its power, n. 270; here, the power of loosing the four angels bound at the river Euphrates, as follows; by the sixth angel who had the trumpet, is signified to those to whom the office of exploring and laying open these things, was committed, n. 442. 444. "Loose the four angels that are bound at the great river Euphrates," signifies, that external restraints should be removed from them, that the interiors of their minds might appear. That this is the signification of these words, no one can know, and scarcely can suspect, unless he knows what is meant by the great river Euphrates, and what by the four angels bound there. By Euphrates, in the Word, are signified the interiors of man's mind, which are called things rational, which, with those who are in truths derived from good, are full of wisdom, but in those who are in falses derived from evil, are full of insanity. The reason why these are signified in the Word by the river Euphrates, is, because that river divided the land of Canaan from Assyria; and by the land of Canaan, was signified the church; and, by Assyria, its rational principle; and thence by the river which bounded it, are signified the interiors of the mind which are called things rational, in both senses: for there are three things which constitute a man of the church, the spiritual principle, the rational or intellectual, and the natural, which is also the scientific. The spiritual principle of the church was signified by the land of Canaan and its rivers; the rational or intellectual principle of the church, by Ashur or Assyria and its river Euphrates; and the natural, which is also the scientific principle of the church, by Egypt and its river Nile: but concerning these more may be seen below, n. 503. By the four angels bound at the river Euphrates, are signified those interiors with the men of the church which are said to be bound, because they are not openly avowed; for they are infernal spirits, who are meant by these four