Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
THE HOLY THINGS OF THE WORD, WHICH THEY HAVE ADULTERATED
"The head of the dragon" also signifies craftiness, because all those who constitute his head are merely natural and sensual, and if these have at the same time studied the Word and the doctrine of the church, and have caught at falsities in place of truths, and have confirmed these by knowledges, they are crafty above the others; but this craftiness does not manifest itself in the world as it does afterwards when they become spirits, for in the world they cover over the craftiness with external piety and feigned morality which conceal it; but as the craftiness abides in their spirit it is plainly manifest when externals are removed, as is done in the spiritual world. But it is to be known that the craftiness signified by "the head of the dragon" is a craftiness in perverting the truths and goods of the Word by means of reasonings from fallacies and sophistries, also from things persuasive, by which the understanding is fascinated, thus by inducing upon falsities the appearance that they are true. That this is so can be seen from "the serpent" by which the first parents were led astray, that is said to have been:
More crafty than any wild beast of the field (Gen. 3:1)that "serpent" having a similar signification as "the dragon," therefore the dragon is also called "the old serpent that seduceth the whole world." (no. 715)
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THE KNOWLEDGE [SCIENTIA] OF THE HOLY THINGS OF THE WORD WHICH ARE FALSIFIED AND ADULTERATED — MEANT BY "THE DRAGON" — NOT OPPOSED TO THE WORD — FOR THEY CALL THE WORD HOLY AND DIVINE, BECAUSE THEY COLLECT FROM IT THE CONFIRMATIONS OF THEIR DOGMAS; THAT THOSE WHO SEPARATE FAITH FROM LIFE CANNOT DO OTHERWISE, SINCE SUCH A SEPARATION IS CONTRARY TO EACH AND ALL THINGS OF THE WORD.And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1)For in all things of the Word and in every particular of it there is a marriage of good and truth, as is manifestly evident from the spiritual sense of the Word. This is why there are in so many passages two expressions that appear like repetitions of the same thing, but still one of them has reference to good and the other to truth; thus the two make as it were a marriage, which is called the Divine marriage, the celestial marriage, and the spiritual marriage, which regarded in itself is the marriage of good and truth. There must be a like marriage of faith and love, or of faith and good works; for faith pertains to truth, and truth to faith; and love pertains to good, and good to love. From this it is clear that those who separate faith from its life, or what is the same, from love, cannot do otherwise than falsify the Word, because they explain the sense of its letter in opposition to the marriage of good and truth which is in each and every thing of the Word.
It has been said that the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, and that with those who are not in wisdom and intelligence it signifies knowledge [scientia]; therefore with those who falsify and pervert the Word it signifies insanity and folly, as above, where the signification of "the seven heads of the dragon" was explained; so "the head of this beast" has a similar signification, since this beast means the dragon in reference to reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from the life. The "head" signifies wisdom, intelligence, and the knowledge of truths, and in the contrary sense folly, insanity, and the knowledge of falsities, because these have their seat in the head, and are there in their beginnings. This is clearly evident from the fact that the origins of all fibers are in the head, and from it they proceed to all the organs of sense and motion belonging to the face and the whole body; and there, too, are substances in infinite number that look like little spheres and are called by anatomists the cortical and cineritious substances; and from these go forth small fibers, the first of which are undiscernible; afterwards these are bundled together, and make up the medullary substance of the whole cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata. From this medullary substance discernible fibers extend, and these when conjoined are called nerves. By these the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the spinal marrow form the entire body and each and all things pertaining to it; and from this it comes that each and all things of the body are ruled by the brains.
From this it can be seen that the brains are the seat of the understanding and the will, which are called with one term, mind, and in consequence, of intelligence and wisdom, and that these are there in their first principles; also that the organs that are formed to receive sensations and to produce motions are derivations therefrom, precisely like streams from their fountains, or derivatives from their beginnings, or composite things from their substances; and these derivations are such that the brains are everywhere present, almost as the sun is present by its light and heat in each and all things of the earth. From this it follows that the whole body, and each and all things of it, are forms that are under the observation, auspices, and obedience, of the mind, which is in the brain; thus these forms are so constructed after the mind's direction that any part in which the mind is not present, or to which it does not communicate its life, is no part of man's life. From this it can be seen that when the mind is in its thought, which pertains to the understanding, and in its affection, which pertains to the will, it has an extension into every particular of the whole body, and there, by means of its forms, it spreads itself out as the thoughts and affections of the angels do into the societies of the universal heaven. The like is true here, since all things of the human body correspond to all things of heaven; consequently the form of the whole heaven before the Lord is the human form. (This is treated of at length in the Arcana Coelestia and in the work on Heaven and Hell.)
This has been said to make known why the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, as also in the contrary sense folly and insanity. For such as man is in his beginnings such is he in the whole, for the body with each and every part of it is a derivation, as has just been said. If, therefore, the mind is in the belief of falsity and in the love of evil, its entire body, that is, the entire man, is in a like state. This is also clearly evident when man becomes a spirit, whether good or evil; then his whole spiritual body, from head to foot, is wholly such as his mind is. If the mind is heavenly, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is heavenly. If the mind is infernal, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is infernal; and in consequence such a spirit appears in a direful form like a devil, while the former spirit appears in a beautiful form like an angel of heaven. But on this more will be said elsewhere. (from no.775)