381. (Verse 8) And I looked, and behold a pale horse. That this signifies not any understanding of the Word, from evils of life and then from the falsities thence, [will appear in what follows]. In this and the following chapter, the successive states of the church are treated of, that is, of the men of the church, as to their spiritual life; and their first state is described by the white horse, the second by the red horse, the third by the black horse, and the fourth by the pale horse. That by the white horse is signified the understanding of truth from the Word, may be seen above (n. 355); that by the red horse is signified the understanding of the Word perished as to good (n. 364); that by the black horse is signified the understanding of the Word perished as to truth (n. 372). Hence it is now clear that by the pale horse is signified not any understanding of the Word, from evils of life and falsities thence. For when the understanding of the Word is destroyed as to good and truth, it follows that there is no understanding of the Word; and the reason why there is none, is, because evil of life and the falsity thence bear rule. It is said the evil of life and the falsity thence, because where there is evil of life, there also is falsity, for they make one in man's spirit. It is said in man's spirit, because an evil, as well as a good man, can do good and speak truth; but this is only done by the evil man from the natural man, and thence from the body, whereas inwardly with him, that is, in his spirit, there is not the will of good, and thence neither the understanding of truth, thus, neither good nor truth; this is especially evident from such persons when they become spirits, then because they are in the spirit they will nothing but evil, and speak nothing but falsity. This then is meant by the pale horse. That a horse signifies the understanding, may be seen above (n.355); here the understanding of the Word, because by him that sat upon the horse is signified the Word (n. 373).

[2] That pale signifies evil of life and the falsity thence, thus a pale horse not any understanding of the Word from evils of life and the falsities thence, is, because paleness indicates, and thence signifies, absence of life, or its loss, here the absence and loss of spiritual life, which takes place when instead of the good of life there is evil of life, and instead of the truth of faith there is falsity of faith, for then there is no spiritual life. By spiritual life is meant the life of heaven, which also in the Word is simply called life; but a life not spiritual is such as those in hell have, which in the Word is also called death. That by the pale horse is signified spiritual death, is evident also from the following verses, for it is said, "His name that sat upon the horse was Death, and Hell followed with him."

[3] The same is signified by paleness or by pale in Jeremiah:

"Ask ye, seek and see whether a male doth travail with child? [wherefore] do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as if bringing forth, and all faces are turned into paleness?" (30:6).

No one can know the meaning of these words unless he knows what to bring forth, what male and man [vir], what the hands on the loins, and what faces, signify. These things are said of those who from their own intelligence desire to procure for themselves love and faith. To procure such things for oneself is signified by travailing with child; by male and man is signified intelligence, here man's own intelligence; by the hands on the loins, is signified to bring forth those things; and by faces are signified love and faith. For angels and spirits have faces in agreement with the quality of their love and faith, the affection of good, which is love, and the affection of truth, which is faith, manifesting themselves wholly in their faces. Hence by, "whether a male doth travail with child," is signified, whether any one from his own intelligence can procure to himself the good of love and the truth of faith; by, "I see every man with his hands on his loins, as if bringing forth," is signified that every one is endeavouring to bring forth such things from the proprium; and by, "all faces are turned into paleness," is signified, that hence there is no good and truth, but evil and falsity, thus no [spiritual] life, but spiritual death. This is signified by paleness of the face. (That conceptions, travailings, and births in the Word signify spiritual conceptions, travailings, and births which are those of love and faith, may be seen, n. 3860, 3868, 3915, 3965, 3919, 9325; that the male or masculine signifies truth, and thence intelligence, n. 749, 2046, 4005, 7838; also man [vir], n. 749, 1007, 3134, 3309, 3459, 9007; that the face signifies the interior things of the mind, thus the things of love and faith, n. 1999, 2434, 3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546; that the faces with the angels are forms of their affections, in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 47, 457, 459, 481, 552, 553.)

[4] The same is signified by waxing pale, in Isaiah:

"Jacob shall not [now] be ashamed, neither shall his faces [now] wax pale" (29:22).

By Jacob are meant those who belong to the church, and by his faces not waxing pale, that they shall not be in evils and falsities, but in goods and truths. That paleness signifies the absence and loss of spiritual life, which takes place when there are no good and truth, but evil and falsity, is because when man is deprived of vital heat, he then waxes pale and becomes an image of death, as is the case in extreme terrors, and similarly when he dies; but when he dies spiritually, then his face either becomes red like a coal fire, or pale like that of a corpse; such is the appearance of infernals in the light of heaven.

7337. 'And the magicians of Egypt did the same with their enchantments' means that [by a misuse of order] the falsifiers among them produced something that looked the same. This is clear from the meaning of 'Egyptian magic' and 'enchantments' as misuses of Divine order, dealt with in 5223, 6052, 7296. As regards miracles, it should be recognized that Divine miracles are as different from miracles involving the use of magic as heaven is from hell. Divine miracles spring from Divine Truth and take place in accordance with true order. Effects on lowest levels are miracles when it pleases the Lord that they should present themselves in that form. Thus it is that all Divine miracles represent states of the Lord's kingdom in heaven, and of the Lord's kingdom on earth, which is the Church. And this is the inward form that Divine miracles take. This is the situation with all the miracles performed in Egypt, as it is with all the rest that are referred to in the Word. All the miracles too which the Lord Himself performed when He was in the world were signs of the future state of the Church. Opening the eyes of the blind, for example, and the ears of the deaf, loosing the tongues of the dumb, enabling the lame to walk, and making the maimed whole and the leprous too, were signs that the kind of people meant by the blind, deaf, dumb, lame, maimed, and leprous would receive the Gospel and be spiritually restored to health, which would be accomplished by the Lord's Coming into the world.

[2] This is what Divine miracles are like as to the inward form they take. But miracles involving the use of magic hold nothing at all like that; they are performed by the evil to gain power over others, and in outward form seem to be the same as Divine miracles. The reason why they seem to be the same is that they start from order, and on its lowest level, where miracles present themselves, order always looks the same. Take for example the consideration that Divine Truth coming forth from the Lord has all power within it. This being so, truths also on the last and lowest levels of order have power within them, and therefore the evil use truths to gain power and exercise control over others.

[3] To give another example, it is in accordance with order that in the next life states of affection and thought give rise to people's ideas of spatial position and distance, and that the distances seen to separate people from one another are determined by the differences in their states. The purpose behind this law of order from the Divine is that all within the Grand Man should be distinct from one another. But magicians in the next life misuse this law of order, for they bring about changes of state in others and then move them about, at one time to a position high up, at another to a position low down, and also force them into communities where they can serve as the magicians' subordinates. They misuse order in countless other ways like this. From all this it is evident that although in outward form miracles involving the use of magic seem to be the same as Divine miracles, inwardly they nevertheless have a contrary end in view. That is to say, they have in view the destruction of things of the Church, whereas Divine miracles have inwardly as their end in view the building up of things of the Church. They are like two beautiful women, one of whom because of her promiscuity is wholly rotten within, while the other because of her chastity or true matrimonial love is wholly pure within. Outwardly those women are alike, but inwardly they are as different as heaven and hell.