1032. Saying unto me, Come, I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot, signifies the religious persuasion of those in whom all the good and truth of the church has been adulterated and profaned. This is evident from the signification of "judgment," as being all that concerns their religious persuasion, and finally its condemnation. Also from the signification of "the great harlot," as being the adulteration and profanation of the good and truth of the church (See above, n. 141, 161, 717, 881). This is the meaning of "the great harlot" because by her Babylon is meant, as is evident from the fifth verse of this chapter, where it is said, "Upon the forehead" of the harlot "a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth;" and "Babylon" signifies the adulteration and profanation of good and truth (as has been fully shown above in article 1029).

[2] Babylon is called "the great harlot" and "the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth," because a love of having dominion over all things of the world, and still further, over all things of heaven and the church, and finally over the Lord Himself, cannot do otherwise than wholly change Divine truths into falsities and Divine goods into evils, thus the church into a religious persuasion in which all its good and truth is adulterated and profaned. For by that love a man wholly turns himself away from the Lord, and turns only towards self; and thus he can no longer be led by the Lord, but is led by what is his own [proprium]; and to be led by what is his own is to be led by hell. Man is either led from heaven or he is led from hell; he cannot be led by both at the same time; and he is led from heaven when he is led by the Lord, and from hell when he is led by self. For man was so created as to be capable of being raised above what is his own [proprium] and of thinking in that elevated state. He is raised above what is his own [proprium] and thinks in that elevated state when he is raised up by the Lord; and this is effected when he acknowledges the Lord and His Divine power over heaven and earth; and by that confession and faith of the heart he has conjunction with the Lord; and when conjunction is effected, the interiors, which belong to his mind, that is, to his understanding and will, are held by the Lord under his view. This is effected by an elevation above what is his own [proprium]; and when man thinks in that elevated state he thinks truth from the Lord and does good from Him.

[3] The opposite comes to pass when a man strives to gain dominion over the world, over heaven, and over the Lord; for he then immerses the interiors of his mind which belong to his thought and will in what is his own [proprium]; and when a man is immersed in what is his own he thinks and wills from hell; consequently he thinks and wills falsities and evils; and for the reason that what is man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil, for it is his inherited evil itself. Such then are the Babylonians; and therefore they have adulterated and profaned all the goods and truths of the church; and this is why Babylon is called a "harlot," and "the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth."

Water generally represents “natural truth,” or true concepts about day-to-day matters and physical things. Since all water ultimately flows into the seas, then, it follows that a sea represents a huge agglomeration of such natural truths -- usually all of the natural truth a person has, or all the natural truth a church has. Water in the sea mixes freely, and is easily stirred up by winds and currents. This is also true of the concepts we hold about natural things -- they are not all related to each other, and when relationships do exist they usually can change without damaging the concepts themselves. Many of the concepts are easily disputed, and arguments can arise like waves on the ocean -- generally with little effect other than a mixing of waters. But the sea also offers great bounty. We draw fish from it (spiritual food), float ships (doctrinal systems) on it, bathe in it (using true concepts to purify ourselves), and the water that evaporates from it and falls as rain (purer forms of truth that can attach to desires for good) makes life possible.