The Dragon — Its Head, Its Body, Its Extremities

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven. (Revelation 12:4)

And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, signifies the falsification and adulteration of all truths of the Word. This is evident from the signification of "drawing with the tail," as being, in reference to "the dragon," falsification and adulteration (of which presently); also from the signification of "the third part," which means all, and is predicated of truths; and from the signification of the "stars of heaven," as being the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, thus also truths, for the knowledges of truth and good are the truths of the natural man, from which the rational and spiritual man has intelligence.  From this it is evident that "to draw with the tail the third part of the stars of heaven" signifies in reference to the dragon to falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word. Such is the signification because "the dragon" means in general all who acknowledge the Word and read it and yet do not live according to it, and this because they separate life, which is charity, from faith, and believe that it is sufficient merely to think those things that are in the Word, and to persuade themselves that they are saved by thinking and talking about certain things from the Word with trust and confidence, and that faith alone justifies and saves, and not anything of life or work.

And behold a great red dragon, signifies all who are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and yet have more or less knowledge from the Word, from doctrine therefrom or from preaching, and think to be saved by knowledge alone apart from life. This is evident from the signification of "dragon," as being a man who is merely natural and sensual, and yet has a knowledge of things in themselves spiritual, whether from the Word or from preaching or from religion (of which presently); also from the signification of "great red," as meaning to be in the love of self and in its evils; for "great" is predicated in the Word of good, and in the contrary sense of evil, as "many" is predicated of truths, and in the contrary sense of falsities , and "red" is predicated of love in both senses, namely, of celestial love, which is love to the Lord, and in the contrary sense of diabolical love, which is the love of self. This shows that "a great red dragon" means all who are merely natural and sensual from the love of self, and yet have more or less knowledge from the Word or from doctrine therefrom or from preaching, and who think to be saved by knowledge alone without the life of charity. Such think to be saved by knowledge alone without the life of charity, because all who live for the body and the world, and not for God and heaven, become merely natural and sensual; for everyone is inwardly formed according to his life, and to live for the body and the world is to live a natural and sensual life, while to live for God and heaven is to live a spiritual life.

Every man is born sensual from his parents; and by his life in the world becomes natural more and more interiorly, that is, rational, according to his moral and civil life and the lumen acquired therefrom; afterwards he becomes a spiritual man by means of truths from the Word or from doctrine from the Word, AND by a life according to these truths. From this it can be seen that one who knows the things taught in the Word or in doctrine or by a preacher, and does not live according to them, however learned and erudite he may appear, is nevertheless not spiritual but natural, and even sensual, for knowledge [scientia] and the ability to reason do not make man spiritual, but the life itself.

This is so because knowledge and the faculty of reasoning are merely natural, and can therefore also be with evil men, even with the worst of men; but truths from the Word with a life according to them are what make man spiritual, for life is willing truths and doing them from a love of them; this is not possible to the natural man alone, but must come from the spiritual, and from its influx into the natural; for to love truths and from love to will them and from that will to do them is from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, and is in its nature celestial and Divine; this cannot flow in immediately into the natural mind, but only mediately through the spiritual mind, which is capable of being opened and formed for the reception of heavenly light and heat, that is, for the reception of Divine truth and Divine good. These cannot flow immediately into the natural mind, for the reason that man's hereditary evils, which belong to the love of self and the world, have their seat in that mind [natural mind]; therefore the natural man, viewed in itself, loves nothing but self and the world, and from love wills, and from will does those evils, and these block the way to the influx of anything out of heaven into the natural man, and its reception there; therefore it has been provided by the Lord that these evils can be removed, and for a place to be given for the truths and goods of spiritual love, namely, by the opening and formation of the spiritual mind which is above the natural mind, and by the influx of heaven from the Lord through that mind into the natural mind.

This has been said that it may be known that to know the things that are of the Word and of the doctrine of the church does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things that the Lord has commanded in the Word; therefore although such know many things from the Word they yet remain natural and sensual. Such are signified in the Word by "the dragon." They therefore are signified by "the dragon" because the dragon is a kind of serpent that not only creeps on the ground but also flies, and thence it appears in heaven; and it is because of this flying and appearing in heaven that the dragon means those who are in a knowledge of the truths from the Word, and not in a life according to them, "serpents" in general signifying the sensual things of man, and this is why "the dragon" (in Revelation 12:9; 20:2) is called "the old serpent."

Since in the rest of this chapter and also afterwards "the dragon" is treated of, it shall be told what sort of persons, in general and in particular, it signifies. —

In general it signifies those who are more or less natural, and yet are in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word. But in particular it signifies those who have confirmed themselves by doctrine and life in a faith separated from charity. These constitute the head of the dragon. But those who from self-intelligence hatch out for themselves dogmas from the Word constitute its body, while those who study the Word without doctrine constitute its external parts. All these also falsify and adulterate the Word, since they are in the love of self, and thence in the pride of self-intelligence, from which they become merely natural, yea, even sensual, and the sensual man is unable to see the genuine truths of the Word because of fallacies, obscurity of perception, and the evils of the body residing therein; for the sensual clings to the body, from which such things come.

(1) In the first place, "the dragon" means in general those who are more or less natural, and yet are in a knowledge of spiritual things from the Word, because "serpents" signify in general the sensual things in man, and thence sensual men; therefore "the dragon," which is a flying serpent, signifies the sensual man who yet flies towards heaven in that he talks and thinks from the Word or from doctrine from the Word. For the Word itself is spiritual, because it is in itself Divine, and is therefore in heaven. But since the mere knowledge of spiritual things from the Word does not make man spiritual, but a life according to those things that are in the Word, therefore all of those who are in knowledge from the Word and are not in a life according to that knowledge are natural and even sensual.

The sensual who are meant by "the dragon" are those who do not see anything from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, and who from that light alone, when excited by the fire of the love of self and pride therefrom are able to talk about Divine things, and to reason keenly and readily about them; but yet they are unable to see whether these things be truths or not, calling that truth which they have imbibed from childhood from a master or preacher, and then from doctrine, and which they have afterwards confirmed by some passages of the Word not interiorly understood. Because they see nothing from the light of heaven they do not see truths, but in place of them falsities, which they call truths; for truths themselves can be seen only in the light of heaven, and not in the light of the world unless that light is illuminated by the light of heaven. These being such love no other than a bodily and worldly life; and as the pleasures and lusts of that life have their seat in the natural man the interiors of such are filthy and crowded with evils of every kind, which close up every way for the influx of the light and heat of heaven; consequently they are inwardly devils and satans, however much they may appear to be spiritual and to be Christians by their talk and simulated gestures. Such are merely sensual, for while they are able to talk outwardly about the holy things of the church, inwardly they believe nothing; and those who think they believe have only a historical and thence a persuasive belief derived from some teacher or from self-intelligence, which in itself is false, but which they believe for the sake of fame, honor, or gain. Such are meant in general by "dragons." But there are many that are signified in particular by the dragon, for there are some that have reference to the head, some to the body, and some to the external parts.

(2) Those that have reference in particular to the head of the dragon are those who have confirmed themselves both by doctrine and by life in faith alone, which is faith separated from charity. These refer to the head of the dragon because most of them are erudite and are believed to be learned; for they have confirmed themselves in the belief that they are saved by simply thinking what the church teaches, which they call believing. But what their doctrine is and what their life is shall be told. 

Their doctrine is, that God the Father sent His Son, born from eternity, into the world, that He might become man, might fulfill all things of the law, might bear the iniquities of all and suffer the cross; and that thereby God the Father was reconciled and moved to compassion; and that those who from confidence were in a faith respecting these things would be received into heaven; and that the confidence of that faith, together with the Lord, would intercede and save; consequently that such a faith is given to mankind, who are separated from God the Father, as a medium of reception and salvation, because when Adam had eaten of the tree of knowledge man was no longer in a state to do good of himself, for he had thus lost, with the image of God, his free will; lastly, that these things are the Lord's merit, by which alone man can be saved. 

These in respect to doctrine are the primary things of faith with those who are in faith alone. Elsewhere, the Lord willing, it shall be explained and illustrated that no one can, from any spiritual sight, which is of the understanding, perceive and thus believe anything of this; but such things can be known and talked about only from the memory, without any understanding, thus that in that doctrine there is nothing of intelligence.

Of what quality such as these are in respect to life shall also be stated.

They teach that man is led of God by faith alone, even to the endeavor to do good, and that good itself in act contributes nothing to salvation, but faith alone does this, and that then nothing of evil condemns him, because he is in grace and is justified. Moreover, they have thought out the steps, which they call the progressions of faith alone, even to the last step of justification; the first is information as to the things that pertain to faith, especially those above mentioned; the second is confirmation from the Word or from preaching; the third is mental investigation whether it be so or not; and as doubt and consequent wavering, which is temptation, then flow in, there must be confirmation from the Word respecting the operation of faith, from which comes confidence, which is victory. They add that heed must be taken that the understanding be not allowed to go further than to secure confirmations from the Word respecting justification by faith alone; if it goes beyond this and is not kept in obedience to faith the man is overcome. The fourth and last step is an endeavor to do good; and this is an influx from God and not at all from man, and is the fruit of faith; for they say that after a man has thus been fully justified nothing of evil condemns him and nothing of good saves him, but faith alone. 

From this it is clear what such are in respect to life, namely, that they live for themselves and not for God, and for the world and not for heaven; for this follows from the belief that evils do not condemn and that goods do not save. Nor do they know that faith without the life of charity is not faith, and that man ought to shun evils and do good as of himself, and yet to believe that it is from the Lord, and that otherwise evils cannot be shaken off, nor goods appropriated. But more will be said also about this elsewhere.

Such is the doctrine and the life with those who form the head of the dragon, who for the most part are the erudite leaders, but few are from the common people; and for the reason that the leaders regard these things as secrets of theology that cannot be comprehended by the common people because of their secular employments. These belong to the head of the dragon for the reason also that they pervert and falsify all the things of the Word which teach love, charity, and life; for the Word, viewed in itself, is simply the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity toward the neighbor, and nowhere the doctrine of faith separate from charity. Such falsify the Word by calling them either faith or such fruit as is not eaten, because they give no thought to doing, and thus they are not nourished by that fruit. Moreover, they admit these principles no further than into the memory, and therefrom into the thought nearest to it, which is sensual thought, in which there is nothing spiritual, and this thought does not inquire whether a thing is true; therefore they guard against the entrance of anything into the interior sight which is of the understanding, being unwilling to know that all these things respecting their faith said above are contrary to an enlightened understanding, as they are contrary to the genuine sense of the Word. This is why those who constitute the head of the dragon have no genuine truth, for from a false principle, such as faith alone, nothing can flow forth except falsities in a continual series; nor indeed can there be any such thing as faith alone, for faith apart from charity is not faith, since charity is the soul of faith, therefore to speak of faith alone is to speak of what is without a soul, thus without life, which in itself is dead.

(3) That those constitute the body of the dragon who have hatched out for themselves from self-intelligence dogmas from the Word can be seen from this, that all of such who study the Word and are in the love of self are also in the pride of self-intelligence, and all who are in this pride and at the same time excel in cleverness from natural lumen, hatch out dogmas therefrom for themselves; this is the origin of all the heresies and all the falsities in the Christian world. It shall be told what the intelligence is that is from man's own [proprium], and what the intelligence is that is not from man's own. 

Intelligence from man's own is from self, but intelligence not from man's own is from the Lord. All who are in the love of self have intelligence from what is their own, for love of self is man's very own [ipsum proprium]; and those are in the love of self who read the Word and gather up dogmas from it for the sake of fame, glory, and honor; and as such are unable to see any truths, but can see falsities only, they are in the body of the dragon; for they gather up and hatch out such things from the Word as favor their loves and the evils that flow from them, and such things as are contrary to their dogmas, which are truths from good, they either do not see or they pervert; but all who are in the spiritual affection of truth, that is, who love truth because it is truth and because it is serviceable to eternal life and to the life of men's souls, have intelligence from the Lord. It is said that their intelligence is not from their own [proprium] but from the Lord, because when such read the Word they are elevated above what is their own and even into the light of heaven, and are enlightened; in that light truth appears from truth itself, because the light of heaven is Divine truth. But they who are in the love of self and in the pride of self-intelligence therefrom cannot be elevated out of their own, for they look to self continually, thus in every least thing they do. Thence it is that they place everything of salvation in faith in their own dogmas, thus in knowing and thinking, and not at the same time in life, that is, not in willing and doing. These, therefore, constitute the body of the dragon. The heart of this body is the love of self, and the breath of its respiration, or of its spirit, is the pride of self-intelligence; from these two the dragon is called "great red," and the term "red" [rufus] in the original Greek text is from fiery-red, thus from love and pride.

(4) Those who study the Word without doctrine and are at the same time in the love of self, constitute the externals of the draconic body. Externals are what proceed from the interiors, and involve, inclose, and contain them, like the skins, the scales, and the prominences on every part. Such constitute the externals of the dragon's body because they are without the intelligence of the spiritual things of the Word; for they only know the Word in respect to the sense of its letter, which is such that, unless doctrine lights the way, it may lead into errors and falsities of every kind; consequently those who study the Word without doctrine are able to confirm as many heresies as they will, and also to embrace them, and also to protect them by the loves of self and of the world and the evils arising therefrom. For the sense of the letter of the Word is the ultimate sense of Divine truth, thus it is for the natural and sensual man, adapted to its apprehension, and often so as to favor it; consequently unless it is read and viewed from doctrine, as from a lamp, it carries the mind away into darkness respecting many things that pertain to heaven and the church. And yet such believe themselves to be wise above all others, when in fact they are not wise at all.

(5) All those who constitute the dragon adore God the Father, and look upon the Lord as a man like themselves, and not as God, or if as God they place His Divine above His Human, and not within it. This will be illustrated in what follows, where the combat of the dragon with Michael is treated of.

(6) From this it can now be seen that the "tail" of the dragon means the falsification and adulteration of the Word by those who constitute its head, its body, and its extremities; for its tail, like the tail of every animal, is a continuation of the spine, which is an extension from the brain, and thus it is moved, bent, and vibrated, according to the appetites, lusts, and pleasures of the head and body, which it caresses, as it were. And inasmuch as all those that constitute the dragon falsify and adulterate the Word, because they are natural and sensual from the love of self and thence are in the pride of self-intelligence, therefore it is said that "the dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them unto the earth;" "the stars of heaven" signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word, thence the truths from good therefrom, and "to cast them unto the earth" signifies to pervert and adulterate and thus destroy them.

(from Apocalypse Explained 714)

To confirm their dogmas from the Word they bring forward passages in which faith is mentioned and in which faith is treated of; but the passages in which charity and love are mentioned, and doing is spoken of, they pervert by applying them to faith alone, and thus they falsify the Word, which from beginning to end is the doctrine of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbor. This falsification and adulteration of the truths of the Word is meant by "drawing down with the tail the third part [of the stars] of heaven." This is the meaning of these words because the tail is a continuation of the brain through the spine of the back, of which it is an appendage; thus the tail is moved by the head and the body according to the desires and appetites of the natural man; the movements of the tail, therefore, are effects flowing from the delights of the loves in which the sensual man is, and the loves of the sensual man falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word. Whether it is said that the loves of the sensual man falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word or that the sensual does this, it is the same, for the sensual loves to live for the body and for the world, thus according to its own nature; and this life it feels, but it does not feel the interior life, therefore it denies that life.

It is said that the sensual falsifies and adulterates the truths of the Word; but it needs to be known how it can falsify and adulterate the truths of the Word, for those who do not know how this is done and what is the nature of the Word, might think that because the truths of the Word are truths, and are plainly extant in the sense of its letter, they cannot become falsities. But to illustrate this take an example from nature, such as the natural man can clearly perceive.

It appears before the eyes as if the sun were each day carried about the earth, also at the same time once each year; therefore it is said in the Word that the sun rises and sets, which causes the day, noon, evening, and night, also the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and thus days and years; and yet the sun stands unmoved, while the earth revolves daily and is carried about the sun yearly, and the progression of the sun is only an appearance and thence a fallacy. Now when this truth is known and accepted that it is not the sun but the earth that moves, both become true, namely, that the sun stands unmoved in the center of its system, and also that it has its progressions; that it stands unmoved is true for the rational man, and that it has its progressions is true for the sensual, thus both become true, true actually for the rational man, and true apparently for the sensual. And yet if the rational man does not illustrate this phenomenon, the falsity is believed that the sun actually progresses, and thus the truth that the sun is not moved out of its place but that it is the earth that moves becomes falsified; but it is not falsified when the rational illustrates it.

It is the same with every particular of the Word in the sense of its letter; because this is the ultimate sense it is natural, and is adapted to the comprehension of the sensual man, thus of children and the simple; for this reason most things in it are appearances of truth, and unless these are perceived at the same time from a spiritual, that is, from an enlightened understanding, they become falsities; for they are then believed to be actually true and not merely apparently true. But it is otherwise when they are perceived understandingly and spiritually; then all things of the Word become true, in the genuine sense actually true, and in the sense of the letter apparently true, as was said above respecting the sun.

From this it can be seen how innumerable things in the Word are falsified and adulterated; as that God tempts, that He is angry, that He does evil, that He casts into hell; likewise, that at the day of the Last Judgment the Lord is to come in the clouds of heaven, that the sun and the moon will then withdraw their light, and the stars will fall from heaven; also that the world with the earth will perish, and a new creation of all things take place; with other things that are truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, but which become falsities if they are not perceived at the same time from an enlightened understanding.

(from Apocalypse Explained 718, 719)