6273. 'For Manasseh was the firstborn' means since good does indeed occupy the first place. This is clear from the representation of 'Manasseh' as good belonging to the will, dealt with before; and from the meaning of 'the birthright' as the prior and higher position, dealt with in 3325, so that 'the firstborn' is the one who occupies the first place. Is anyone incapable of seeing from natural light alone, provided a superior light brightens it a little, that good occupies the first place, as also do the intentions in a person's will, and that truth occupies the second, as also do the thoughts in his mind? Is anyone also incapable of seeing that the intentions in a person's will cause him to think in one particular way and no other, consequently that the good he possesses causes him to think that this or that is true; so that truth occupies the second place and good the first? Think and reflect on whether truth that composes faith can take root anywhere else than in good, or whether faith other than that which has taken root there is faith. From this you will be able to decide which is the primary or essential element for the Church, that is, for the person in whom the Church exists.

10313. The spirits belonging to our planet declared that they did not dare to go near them because, when they did so, not only were they seized with anxiety, but also they experienced the delusion of being bound hand and foot to serpents, from which they could not be released until they moved back. Such a delusion is due to correspondence. For a person's physical senses are represented in the next life by serpents, and therefore also in the Word the level of the senses, which is the last and lowest of a person's life, is meant by 'serpents'.