4573. About the hells of the Sirens

What sirens are like has been described several times before [see the index]. These women are extremely malicious and have learned in the world how to simulate those who are good, as if they were angels. For the purpose of doing this they radiate good affections and thus slip in among simple spirits that relate to a person's outward qualities of thought or earthly characteristics. In this way they keep themselves in the world of spirits and can be forced out only with difficulty, for such things elevate evil spirits from hell for quite a long time and through such things they enter into people's thoughts and lead them entirely. Consequently, because they are of an inward nature, they are the very worst of spirits who take possession of a person's mind, from whom a person can never be defended except by the Lord. They act very stubbornly and fear nothing, trust in their own arts, and know how to slip in by labyrinthine gyres. They speak from these, sometimes in such a way that they are heard elsewhere than where are they really are, so that they are sought in vain. It has granted me to learn this by many actual experiences.

[2] They are of two kinds. Certain ones have the goal of ruling over others and over every society to which they can gain access, doing so by possessing and leading their thoughts. These women are the most annoying. The second kind does likewise but does not have such a wild obsession with ruling. They take freedom entirely away from those who want to have good thoughts and give freedom to those who want to have evil thoughts. These are very obscene women; they are sorceresses and are against everything good and true. Where this gang comes from has been explained before [cf. 3205 ff]. Their hell was in front at some distance toward the left there; the men who want to rule, a little toward the right, in various caverns. But I saw that their hells had been changed and moved to the back toward the left, rather deep down, from which they can never again break out and attack spirits and people on earth. They are there under a thick cloud which their tricks can in no way get through. They were forced in there in crowds of between fifty and a hundred sirens. This went on for many hours.

Above the hell, there is something like a maw with jaws that open. And the moment they arrived, it opened the maw, twisting and bending it like labyrinths into which they put themselves, and it swallowed them up and then thrust them deep under the disreputable earth there, from which they cannot emerge, this appeared to me in 1752, Aug. 5, 6., for they form snakelike connections, in which they fix themselves and then cannot be moved by others except by means of similar connections. Such it is in the other life.

9297. 'Three times in the year all your males shall be seen at the face of the Lord Jehovah' means the Lord's constant appearance and presence in like manner in the truths of faith as well. This is clear from the meaning of 'three times in the year' as complete and continuous, dealt with in 4495, 9198; from the meaning of 'being seen' as appearance and presence, dealt with in 4198, 5975, 6893; from the meaning of 'males' as the truth of faith, dealt with in 2046, 7838; and from the meaning of 'face', when attributed to Jehovah or the Lord, as the Divine Good of Divine Love, which is Mercy, dealt with in 222, 223, 5585, 7599. And since the Divine Good of Divine Love is Jehovah or the Lord Himself, 'being seen at the face of the Lord Jehovah' has the same meaning as being seen by the Lord. The Lord is indeed One who sees a person and establishes His presence with him, enabling the person to see Him; thus no one sees the Lord from himself but from the Lord present with him.

[2] How to understand the Lord's constant appearance and presence in the truths of faith as well must be stated briefly. The Lord's presence with a person is in the good residing with him, since good composes his life but not truth except in the measure that it derives from good. Consequently, as stated above in 9296, the Lord's dwelling-place is in the good of innocence with a person. When therefore a person has been regenerated the Lord is present not only in the good residing with him but also in the truths deriving from the good; for the truths now receive their life from the good and are the outward form in which good exists and through which the essential nature of the good can be recognized. These truths are what constitute the person's new understanding, which makes one with his new will. For as stated already, all things have connection with truth and with good, and a person's understanding is dedicated to truths, but his will to good, from which the truths derive. From this it is evident how to understand the Lord's appearance and presence then in the truths of faith as well. These are the things that are meant by the requirement that three times in the year every male was to be seen at the face of the Lord Jehovah. The reason why it says 'males shall be seen' is that the truth of faith is meant by 'a male'; and the reason why it says 'at the face of the Lord Jehovah' is that 'Jehovah' means the Divine Being (Esse), and 'the Lord' the Divine Coming-into-Being (Existere) that arises from that Being. Consequently being (esse) on the human level is good, and coming-into-being (existere) that arises from it is truth.

[3] In the Church it is said that faith comes from the Lord; but it should be recognized that faith which is rooted in charity comes from the Lord, not faith separated from charity. Faith separated from charity springs from the self and is called faith that is no more than persuasion, which is dealt with under Teachings About Charity and Faith in the preliminary section of the next chapter. A person can know whether his faith comes from the Lord or from the self, for the faith of anyone who is influenced by truths solely for the sake of a reputation for being learned, which will bring him position and wealth, and not for the sake of leading a good and useful life, is no more than persuasion that comes from the self and not from the Lord.

[4] There are also theoretical truths of faith and there are practical ones. The person who considers theoretical truths for the sake of practical ones and sees how the theoretical fit in with the practical, the person who therefore sees how the two combine to result in a good and useful life and feels an affection for them both with this end in view, he has the faith that comes from the Lord. The reason for this is that the useful life, which is his end in view, consists in the good that resides with him; and it is that life which gives form to all things, the truths of faith being the means. It is transparently evident from those in the next life that this is so. All without exception there are restored to the state of good which was theirs or to the state of evil which was theirs, thus to what had moved them to serve a useful life, that is, to what had been their end in view, or what they had loved above all things and what had therefore been the actual delight of their life. Everyone is restored to this. The truths or the falsities that have made one with that service remain. In addition to these many more are acquired which combine with those truths or falsities, giving the usefulness greater solidity and definite shape. So it is that spirits and angels are the outward forms of whatever use they serve. Evil spirits are forms of evil use; these are in hell. Good spirits or angels are forms of good use; these are in heaven. This also explains why the moment they are present spirits can be recognized for what they are. Their truths of faith can be recognized from their face and from the beautiful way it is shaped. Their actual good, or their usefulness, can also be recognized from the fire of love in their face which enhances its beauty, as well as from the sphere emanating from them. From all this it is again made clear what the Lord's presence in the truths of faith is.