THE DRAGON

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

THE HOLY THINGS OF THE WORD, WHICH THEY HAVE ADULTERATED

"The head of the dragon" signifies insanity, because the intelligence of the man of the church is from genuine truths which are from the Word. The truly human understanding is formed and perfected by natural, civil, moral, and spiritual truths, the interior understanding by spiritual truths, but the exterior by moral and civil truths; therefore such as the truths are such is the understanding that is formed of them. All spiritual truths are from the Word, and make one with the good of love and charity. When, therefore, a man places everything of the church and of heaven in faith, and separates from that faith the good of charity and love, as those do who constitute "the head of the dragon," as has been said in the preceding article, then the interior understanding cannot be formed, consequently in place of intelligence in things spiritual such have insanity; for from a false principle falsities flow in a continual series, and from the separation of the good of charity no genuine truth can be given them, since all truth is of good, yea, is good in form. Thence it is evident that "the head of the dragon" signifies insanity in spiritual things.

"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)

When One Departs This World

Selection from Last Judgment (cont.) ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL WORLD

Who does not know that man will live after death, because he is born a man, and created in the image of God, and because the Lord, in His Word, teaches it? But what his future life will be has hitherto been unknown. It has been believed that he would then be a soul, of which no other idea was conceived than as of air or ether, in which some capacity of thought would reside, without such sight as belongs to the eye, without such hearing as belongs to the ear, and without speech such as belongs to the mouth. And yet man is equally a man after death; and such a man that he does not know otherwise than that he is still in the former world; he sees, hears, and speaks as in the former world; he walks, runs, and sits as in the former world; he eats and drinks as in the former world; he sleeps and wakes as in the former world; he enjoys conjugial delight as in the former world; in a word he is a man as to each and all things. From which it is plain, that death is but a continuation of life, and is only transition.

There are many causes why man has not known of this state of his after death; one of which is, that he could not be enlightened, so little faith had he in the immortality of the soul; as may appear from many even of the learned, who believe that they are like beasts, only more perfect than they, in being able to speak; and therefore in their heart they deny the life after death, although they profess it with the mouth. From this thought of theirs they have become so sensual, that they could not believe that a man is a man after death, because they do not see him with their eyes, for they say, how can a soul be such a man? It is otherwise with those who believe they will live after death; these think interiorly in themselves, that they will come into heaven, enjoy delights with the angels, see heavenly paradises, and stand before the Lord in white garments, besides other things. This is their interior thought; their exterior thought may wander from it, when they think of the soul from the hypothesis of the learned.

That a man is equally a man after death, although he does not appear before the eyes, may appear from the angels seen by Abraham, Gideon, Daniel, and other prophets; from the angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and afterwards, oftentimes, by John in the Apocalypse; especially from the Lord Himself, who showed His disciples that He was a Man, by touch, and by eating, and yet became invisible before their eyes. The reason why they saw Him was, because the eyes of their spirits were then opened; and when these are opened, the things in the spiritual world appear as clearly as the things in the natural world.

...

The difference between a man in the natural world, and a man in the spiritual world, is, that the one man is clothed with a spiritual body, but the other with a natural body; and the spiritual man sees the spiritual man, as clearly as the natural man sees the natural man; but the natural man cannot see the spiritual man, and the spiritual man cannot see the natural man, on account of the difference between the natural and the spiritual; what kind of difference this is, can be described, but not in a few words.

From the things seen during so many years, I am enabled to relate the following:

that there are lands in the spiritual world, just as in the natural world; and that there are hills and mountains, plains and valleys, and also fountains and rivers, lakes and seas; there are paradises and gardens, groves and woods, and palaces and houses; also that there are writings and books, offices and trades; and that there are precious stones, gold and silver; in a word, there are each and all things that exist in the natural world, and they are infinitely more perfect in the heavens.

But the difference in general is this; that all things in the spiritual world are from a spiritual origin, and hence, as to their essence, are spiritual, they are from the sun there which is pure love; and all things in the natural world are from a natural origin, and hence as to their essence are natural, for they are from the sun there which is pure fire. Hence it is, that the spiritual man must be nourished with food from a spiritual origin, as the natural man is with food from a natural origin. More may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell.

(from Last Judgment (cont.) 32-34; 36-38)

IF HE SLACKENS HIS EFFORT

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

GOODS AND TRUTHS — APPARENT OR GENUINE

Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. Hebrews 12:12,13

There is said to be a state of shade when it is not known whether the good and truth are apparent or are genuine. When anyone is in apparent good and truth, he supposes them to be genuine good and truth - the evil and falsity that are in apparent good and truth are what cause the shade, and make them appear genuine. They who are in ignorance can know no otherwise than that the good which they do is their own, and that the truth which they think is their own, and it is the same with those who attribute to themselves the goods they do, and place merit in them, not knowing that in this case they are not good, although they appear so; and that the Own and self-merit which they place in them are the evils and falsities which obscure and darken. So in many other cases.

The kind and the measure of the evil and falsity which lie concealed in them, cannot possibly be so well seen in the life of the body as in the other life, where they are presented to view as in clear light. But the case is different if this is done from ignorance that is not confirmed, for in this case those evils and falsities are easily dispersed. But if men confirm themselves in the belief that they can do good and resist evil by their own powers, and that they thus merit salvation, in this case this idea remains attached, and causes the good to be evil, and the truth to be falsity. But still it is according to order for a man to do good as of himself.  Therefore he ought not to slacken his hand, with the thought, "If I can do nothing of good from myself, I ought to wait for immediate influx," and thus remain in a passive state, for this would be contrary to order; but he must do good as of himself, yet, when he reflects upon the good which he does or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord has done the work in him.

If he slackens his effort, thinking as has been said, he is then not a subject into which the Lord can operate. The Lord cannot flow into anyone who deprives himself of everything into which power can be infused. It is as if one were not willing to learn anything without a revelation to himself; or as if one would teach nothing unless the words were put into him; or as if one would attempt nothing unless he were put into action as one without will. But if these things were done, he would be still more indignant at being like an inanimate thing; when yet that which is animated by the Lord in a man is that which appears as if it were from himself. It is thus an eternal truth that a man does not live from himself, but that if he did not appear to live from himself he could not live at all.  (from no. 1712)

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NOT TO DESIRE TO BE REDEEMED BY THE LORD, BUT BY SELF

Such is the first state of all who are being reformed and made spiritual, namely, that they do not believe that they are reformed by the Lord but by themselves, that is, they believe all of the will of good and of the thought of truth to be from themselves; they are also left in this state by the Lord, since in no other way can they be reformed. For if before they have been regenerated it should be said to them that they cannot do anything of good from themselves, or think anything of truth from themselves, they would then either fall into the error of thinking that they must wait for influx into the will and influx into the thought, and if this does not take place must attempt nothing; or into the error of thinking that if good and truth were from any other source than themselves, nothing would be imputed to them for righteousness; or into the idea that so they would be as it were machines, and not their own masters, or in control of themselves; or into some other error. It is therefore permitted them at that time to think that good and truth are from themselves.

But after they are regenerate, then by degrees the knowledge is insinuated into them that the case is otherwise, and that all good and truth are solely from the Lord; and still further, when they are becoming more perfected, that whatever does not come from the Lord is evil and false. To the regenerate, if not in the life of the body still in the other life, it is given not only to know this, but also to perceive it; for all the angels are in the perception that it is so.

All good and truth are from the Lord

All intelligence and wisdom are from the Lord

Man of himself can do nothing of good and think nothing of truth

Nevertheless everyone ought to do good as if from what is his own, and not hang down his hands

If a man compels himself to resist evil and to do good, as from himself, he receives from the Lord a heavenly Own

(from 2946)
(emphasis by reviser)