120. But are a synagogue of Satan. That this signifies the doctrine of all their falsities, is evident from the signification of synagogue, as being doctrine (concerning which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of Satan, as being the hell whence all falsities go forth. There are two kinds of hells, one in which are those who are in evils, and the other in which are those who are in the falsities of evil. The hell in which the former are, is by one expression called the Devil, and that in which the latter are, is called by one expression Satan. That the hells are thus named is totally unknown to those who are unacquainted with the particulars concerning them, and who have formed the opinion about the devil that he was created an angel of light, and that, because he rebelled, he was cast down with his crew, and in this way hell was made. (That the hells are called by the names Devil and Satan, may be seen in the work, Heaven and Hell 311, 544, 553; and in the small work, The Last Judgment, in the article where it is shown that heaven and hell are from the human race, n. 14-22.) Besides, it should be known, that as all goods and truths proceed out of the heavens from the Lord, so all evils and falsities are from the hells. He who believes that they proceed from any other source is much deceived.

[2] Man is only a receptacle of these, and to whichever he turns himself, he receives therefrom. If he turns himself to heaven, which is brought about by the goods of love and the truths of faith, he then receives goods and truths from the Lord; but if he turns himself to hell, which is brought about by the evils of love and the falsities of faith, he then receives evils and falsities from hell. Now, because all evils and falsities are from the hells, and as the hells are designated, by one expression, either the Devil or Satan, it follows, that by the Devil are also signified all evils, and by Satan all falsities. This is why a synagogue of Satan signifies all kinds of false doctrine.

[3] The reason why by synagogue is signified doctrine is, that doctrine was taught in the synagogues, and also because differences in doctrinal matters were there adjusted. That doctrine was taught in the synagogues, is clear from Matthew 4:23; 9:35 13:54; Mark 1:21, 22, 29, 39; 6:2; Luke 4:15, 16, 44; 13:10, 14; John 18:20. That differences in doctrinals were adjusted in the synagogues, may be concluded from what is said in Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 12:11; 21:12; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2, 3.

That there was every kind of false doctrine among the Jewish nation, is evident from many things known concerning that nation; for instance, that they deny the Lord, that they expect a Messiah who shall establish an earthly kingdom, and exalt them above all the other nations of the world; that they place all worship in externals, and reject the internals of worship which belong to faith and love to the Lord; that they regard all things in the Word as referring to themselves, and falsify it by traditions of their own invention, as may be seen, Matthew 15:6-9; Mark 7:1-13. Moreover, what the character of that nation has been from the beginning, as to their interiors, is evident from the song of Moses (in Deuteronomy 32), and from many other places. (See also the citations from Arcana Coelestia, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248.)

553. Seen in any of heaven's light, all the spirits in the hells appear in the form of their own evil. Each one is in fact an image of her or his evil, since for each individual the inner and outer natures are acting as a unit, with the deeper elements presenting themselves to view in the outer ones - in the face, the body, the speech, and the behavior. So you can tell what they are like by looking at them. In general, they are forms of contempt for others, threats against people who do not revere them; they are forms of various shadings of hatred, of various forms of vengefulness. Savagery and cruelty show through from within. When others praise them, though, or revere and worship them, their faces compose themselves and look almost happy and gratified.

[2] There is no way to describe briefly all the ways these forms look, since no one is just like any other. There is only a general likeness among people who are absorbed in similar evils and are therefore in the same hellish community, a similarity that acts like a common background that gives the individual faces a kind of overall resemblance. In general, their faces are frightful, as lifeless as corpses. Some of their faces are black, some like little torches, some pimply, with huge ulcerated sores. In many cases there is no visible face, only something hairy or bony in its place, while with others only the teeth show. Their bodies are equally misshapen, and their speech seems to embody wrath or hatred or vengeance, since all their articulation comes from their false perception and all the tone comes from their evil intent. In a word, they are all images of their hell.

[3] I have not been allowed to see what form hell itself is in overall. I have only been told that in the same way that all heaven as a single entity resembles a single human being (59-67), so all hell as a single entity resembles a single devil and can be manifested as a likeness of a single devil (see above, 544). However, I have often seen what form particular hells or hellish communities have, since at their entrances (which are called the gates of hell), there often appears a monstrous figure that in a general way represents the form of the people who live there. The savagery of these inhabitants is then imaged by frightful horrors that I forbear to mention.

[4] It does need to be known, though, that hellish spirits look like this in heaven's light, but that they look human to each other. This is a gift of the Lord's mercy, so that they do not look as repulsive to each other as they do to angels. However, this appearance is deceiving, since the moment a ray of light from heaven is let in, these human forms turn into the monstrous ones that they are essentially, the forms just described, because in heaven's light everything appears as it really is. This is also why they avoid heaven's light and dive into their own illumination, an illumination like that of glowing coals or, in places, like burning sulfur. This light, though, turns into pure darkness when any ray of light from heaven flows in. This is why the hells are described as being in gloom and darkness, and why the gloom and darkness mean the kinds of malevolent distortions characteristic of hell.