332. And the sun became as black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became like blood. This symbolically means that all goodness of love was adulterated in those people, and every truth of faith falsified.

The sun symbolizes the Lord in respect to His Divine love, and thus the goodness of love emanating from Him; and in an opposite sense it symbolizes the Lord's Divinity denied, and thus the goodness of love adulterated. See no. 53 above. And because the sun symbolizes the goodness of love, therefore the moon symbolizes the truth of faith. For the sun has a reddish glow owing to its fire, while the moon glows white from the light radiating from the sun, and fire symbolizes the goodness of love, while light symbolizes the truth arising from that goodness. Regarding the moon, see also the places cited above in no. 53.

The sun is said to have become as black as sackcloth of hair because good adulterated is, in itself, evil, and evil is black.

The moon is said to have become like blood because blood symbolizes Divine truth, and in an opposite sense Divine truth falsified. See nos. 379, 684 below.

The sun and moon are described in almost the same way in Joel:

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and terrible day of Jehovah. (Joel 2:31)

6338. 'Assemble' means that they should arrange themselves into order. This is clear from the meaning of 'assembling' as becoming arranged into order. 'Assembling' has no other meaning in the spiritual sense, for truths and forms of good cannot assemble without also becoming arranged into order. For the universal influence which emanates from the Lord causes this to happen, because that influence covers all specific things, including the most specific. All these taken together compose the universal influence by which all things in heaven are arranged into order. When that universal influence is at work forms of good and truths appear to arrange themselves into order, as though they moved into such order of their own accord. This is true of heaven taken as a whole; it is in a state of order and is constantly preserved in that state by the universal influence emanating from the Lord. It is also true of the communities of heaven in general, and it is true in addition of the communities there in particular. For as soon as angels or spirits assemble they instantly become arranged, seemingly all by themselves, into a state of order, and in so doing constitute a heavenly community that is an image of heaven. This would never happen if the universal influence emanating from the Lord did not cover the most specific things of all, and if all these were not in an utterly perfect state of order. If, as most people think, only some universal influence unconcerned with things of a specific nature came from God, and man, spirit, or angel controlled those things for himself, then instead of order everything would be in a state of confusion, and there would not be any heaven, or hell, or human race, or indeed any natural world.

[2] This may be illustrated from many things existing with a person. Unless for example his thoughts were arranged into order as a general whole, and at the same time in each specific part by the affections belonging to his love, those thoughts could never flow in a rational and analytical manner. Nor likewise could his actions. Also, unless there were universal and specific influences from the soul into the internal organs of the body, no order or control could be established in the body. But when there are specific influences and thus a universal one, all things are arranged into order seemingly by themselves. These matters have been stated so that people may know how to understand the idea that truths and forms of good should arrange themselves into order.