7297. 'And they also, the magicians of Egypt, did so with their enchantments' means that thus to outward appearances they did something similar, by perverting the ends that order has in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'they also did', when said in reference to the magicians of Egypt, as presenting something that to outward appearances is similar, for the effects that flow from order are not altered by its misuse but are similar in outward form though they are not similar in inward form since they are contrary to the ends that order has in view; and from the meaning of 'enchantments' as the actual tricks that are used to pervert order. Sorceries and enchantments where they are mentioned in the Word mean the art of presenting falsities to look like truths and of presenting truths to look like falsities, which is done especially by means of illusions.

[2] These things are meant by 'sorceries' and 'enchantments' in the following places: In Isaiah,

But these two things will come to you in a moment in one day - loss of children and widowhood. They will come upon you in their fullness on account of the multitude of your sorceries, because of the very great abundance of your enchantments. Persist in your enchantments, and in the multitude of your sorceries, in which you have laboured from your youth. Isaiah 47:9, 12.

This refers to Babel and the Chaldeans. In the same prophet,

Draw nearer, sons of the sorceress, seed of the adulterer, and [of her who] committed whoredom. Isaiah 57:3.

In Nahum,

Woe to the city of blood, ¹ because of the multitude of the acts of whoredom of a harlot of goodly grace, ² the mistress of sorceries, the seller of nations through her acts of whoredom, and of families through her sorceries. Nahum 3:1, 4.

'The city of blood' stands for the falsification of truth, 'the acts of whoredom' for falsified good of truth, and 'sorceries' for tricks used to present falsities as truths and truths as falsities.

[3] In Malachi,

I will draw near to you to judgement, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against adulterers, and against those who swear falsely. Malachi 3:5.

In John,

By your enchantment all nations were led astray. Revelation 18:13.

This refers to Babylon. In Micah,

I will cut off your horses from your midst and destroy your chariots, and I will cut off the cities of your land and pull down all your fortifications, and I will cut off sorceries from your hand. Micah 5:10-12.

From this quotation it is evident that 'sorceries' means tricks used to present truths as falsities and falsities as truths. For by 'the horses' which are to be cut off are meant things of the understanding, 2761, 2762, 7217, 5321, 6125, 6534; by 'the chariots' which are to be destroyed are meant matters of doctrine concerning truth, 2760, 5321; by 'the cities of the land' which are also going to be cut off are meant the Church's truths - 'cities' being truths, 2268, 2451, 2712, 2943, 4492, 4493, and 'the land' the Church, 662, 1067, 1262, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577; and by 'fortifications' are meant truths insofar as they protect forms of good. From all this one may now know what is meant by the 'sorceries which are to be cut off from their hand, namely tricks used to present truths as falsities and falsities as truths. These tricks also correspond to the delusions which the evil in the next life employ to make a visual presentation of beautiful things as loathsome ones and loathsome things as beautiful ones. These delusions as well are a type of sorceries, since they too are misuses and inversions of Divine order.

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7217. 'For shortness of breath' means because of the state in which they were close to despair. This is clear from the meaning of 'shortness of breath' as a state in which a person is close to despair; for those passing through that state experience shortness of breath. ¹ That state is meant by the burden which Pharaoh placed on the children of Israel - to gather their own straw to make bricks - as shown at the end of the previous chapter. The fact that 'shortness of breath' means a state in which a person is close to despair may be recognized from the consideration that those passing through this kind of state suffer inward distress and at the same time actual shortness of breath. In the external sense 'shortness of breath' is a tight feeling around the chest and an apparent inability to breathe properly. But in the internal sense it is distress caused by being deprived of the truth of faith and the good of charity, and is consequently a state close to despair. A feeling of tightness and the distress caused by being deprived of the truth of faith and the good of charity go with each other as natural effect in the body produced by spiritual cause in the mind, as may be seen from what has been shown in 97, 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 3893.

[2] Those without any faith or charity are unable to believe that the deprivation of spiritual truth and good gives rise to such distress and consequently such shortness of breath. They suppose that anyone who feels distress on account of that deprivation must be weak in the head and mentally ill; and the reason why they suppose this is that they see nothing real in faith and charity, or thus in the things that belong to their souls and those that belong to heaven; for them only wealth and prominence, thus things belonging to the body and the world possess any reality. They also think, 'What are faith and charity? Are they not mere words? And what indeed is conscience? Feeling distressed on account of these is feeling distressed on account of the kinds of things that insane imagination causes a person to suppose to be something when in fact they are nothing. But what wealth and prominence are, we can see with our eyes and feel with pleasure that they really exist, for they swell the body and fill it with joy.' This is how people who are wholly natural think and talk to one another. But those who are spiritual think in a different way; for them the life in their spirit is primary, thus the life in the things that belong to the spirit, which are faith and charity. Therefore when they think that they are being deprived of the truths and forms of good that compose faith and charity they suffer agony like those undergoing the throes of death, for they see spiritual death, that is, damnation, before them. As stated above, these people are seen by those who are wholly natural to be soft in the head and ill in mind or spirit. But they are sound in the head and healthy in mind, whereas those who are wholly natural see themselves as being sound and healthy, as indeed they are physically. But they are completely unhealthy in spirit, because spiritually they are dead. If they saw what their spirit was like they would acknowledge this; but they do not see it until after the death of their body.

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