609. Who created heaven and the things that are therein, and the earth and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, signifies the Lord in respect to all things of heaven and the church, interior and exterior. This is evident from the signification of "to create," as being not only to cause to be, but also to be perpetually, by holding it together and sustaining it by the Divine proceeding; for the heavens have had existence and perpetually have existence, that is, subsist by means of the Lord's Divine, which is called the Divine truth united to Divine good. This received by angels makes heaven. Thence it is that when heaven is mentioned the Lord is meant, because heaven, where the angels are, is heaven from the Lord, that is from the Divine proceeding from Him. This, therefore, is what is signified here by "to create." (That "to create," in reference to the church and to men of the church, means to create anew, that is, to regenerate, may be seen above, n. 294.) The above is evident also from the signification of "heaven, earth, and sea, and the things that are in them," as being all things of heaven and the church, interior and exterior. "Heaven, earth, and sea," signify here in particular the higher and the lower heavens, since in the spiritual world the face of things is similar as in the natural world, that is, there are mountains, lands, and seas; the mountains there are the higher heavens, because the angels of those heavens dwell upon mountains, and the land and sea are the lower heavens, for the angels of these heavens dwell below the mountains upon the lands, and as it were in seas (See above, n. 594). Thence it is that the angel who spoke these things was seen "standing upon the earth and the sea." "The earth and the sea and the things that are in them" signify also all things of the church, both interior and exterior, because there are in the church things interior and exterior, as there are in the heavens things higher and lower, and the former correspond to the latter. (That "the sea and the earth," signify the church in respect to its exteriors and interiors, may be seen above, n. 600.) According to the sense of the letter, "heaven, earth, and sea," mean the visible heaven, the habitable earth, and the navigable sea, and "the things therein" mean birds, beasts, and fishes; but that this is not the meaning of these words is evident from this, that John was "in the spirit" when he saw the angel "standing upon the sea and upon the earth;" and what is seen "in the spirit" is seen not in the natural world but in the spiritual world, where also, as has been said just above, there are earths and seas, and angels and spirits in them. But respecting the appearance of the seas in that world, and those who are in them, see above n. 342.

553. And upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, signifies that they seem to themselves, when they reason, as if they were wise and victorious. This is evident from the signification of "head" as being wisdom and intelligence (of which presently); and from the signification of "a crown of gold," as being a reward of victory (of which above, n. 358. "A crown like gold," signifies the reward of victory, because kings in ancient times, when they were in combats with their enemies wore crowns of gold upon their heads, besides various insignia that then belonged to kings. This was because kings represented the Lord in relation to Divine truth, and Divine truth combats from Divine good; so this was represented by "a crown of gold," and wisdom and intelligence itself by the head upon which was the crown. This is why the martyrs had crowns, for they fought from Divine truth against the falsities from evil that are from hell, and came off victors, because they fought even unto death, which they did not fear. From this it can be seen that "upon their heads as it were crowns like gold" signifies that those who are sensual men seem to themselves, from the persuasion of the falsity in which they are, to be wise and victorious.

[2] As the locusts are described in respect to their heads, their faces, their breasts upon which were breast plates, and as to their tails, and hair, and teeth, it is important to know what their heads signify, and afterwards what the other things signify. The "head" signifies in the Word wisdom and intelligence, because these have their seat in the head; but when those who are in no wisdom or intelligence because they are in falsities from evil are treated of, the "head" signifies folly and insanity, because falsities and evils are therein and therefrom. So here, where those who are sensual and in the persuasion of falsity are treated of, the "head" properly signifies folly and insanity, for such see falsities as truths and evils as goods, for they constantly see what they see from fallacies. Of such, therefore, it is said that "upon their heads were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces as men's faces," and other things follow, all of which were appearances from the fantasy with them, therefore it is said "as it were" crowns, and "like" gold, which shows that these appearances were not real but fallacious. For in the heavens all appearances that exist are real, because they are correspondences; for the interiors belonging to the affections and thoughts therefrom of the angels, when they pass to the sight of their eyes, are clothed in such forms as are manifest in the heavens; they are called appearances because they are visible, and they are said to be correspondences and are real because they spring from creation. But it is otherwise with the appearances in some of the hells, where those are who are in the persuasions of falsity from evil; from these persuasions fantastic visions spring, in which there is inwardly nothing real, and for this reason they also vanish if a single ray from the light of heaven flows in. Such are the appearances that are here described in reference to the "locusts." (But of appearances in the spiritual world, both those that are real and those that are not real, see in the work on Heaven and Hell 170-176; and above, in the explanation, n. 369, 395)