7575. 'And fire ran down to the earth' means evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'fire' as evil desires, dealt with in 1297, 1861, 2446, 5071, 5215, 6314, 6832, 7324; and from the meaning of 'running down to the earth' ¹ as taking possession of the natural mind right down to the lowest levels of it, 'the land of Egypt' being the natural mind, see 5276, 5178, 5280, 5188, 5301. Since 'hail' means falsities and 'fire' the evils from which they spring, when 'hail' is mentioned so too is 'fire' in Isaiah 30:30-31; Psalms 18:12-15; 78:47-49; Revelation 8:7, as well as in the verse immediately after this,

And there was hail, and fire at the same time running down in the midst of the hail, extremely heavy.

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5178. Since worrying about the future produces feelings of anxiety in a person, and since such spirits appear in the region of the stomach, feelings of anxiety therefore have a greater effect on the stomach than on all other internal organs. I have also been allowed to recognize how those anxious feelings have increased or diminished as those spirits have become present or been removed. I have noticed that some anxious feelings exist more internally, others more externally, some higher up, others lower down, depending on the differences in origin, derivation, and direction taken by such kinds of worry. Here also lies the reason why, when such feelings of anxiety take hold of the mind, the area around the stomach is tense and sometimes pain is felt there, and also why feelings of anxiety seem to surge up from there. The same also explains why, when a person ceases to worry about the future or when everything is turning out right for him so that he no longer fears any misfortune, the area around the stomach is free and relaxed, and he has the feeling of delight.