519. And the name of the star is called Wormwood. - That this signifies truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of a state, and the quality of a thing; see above (n. 148); and from the signification of a star, here, of the great star burning as it were a lamp, as denoting the truth of the Word falsified by proprium-love; and from the signification of wormwood, as denoting truth mingled with the falsity of evil. Wormwood has this signification from its bitterness, and bitterness arises from the mixing of that which is sweet with that which is not sweet and opposite. Bitterness, therefore, such as that of wormwood and gall, denotes, in the spiritual sense, truth mingled with falsity which is the opposite of truth, and is the falsity of evil. For relish and taste signify the affection of knowing and becoming wise, hence that which is savoury signifies what is delightful and pleasant belonging to wisdom; and delicacies, because they are savoury, signify the truth of wisdom. That this is from correspondence, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 3502, 3536, 3589, 4791-4805). That wormwood, and also gall, from their bitterness, signify truth mingled with the falsity of evil, is evident also from that which follows in this verse; for it is said that "many men died of the waters because they were made bitter." This signifies that all such perished as to spiritual life, by means of truths falsified. For truths make the spiritual life of man, but falsities of evil extinguish it; and when truths are mingled with falsities of evil they are no longer truths, but truths falsified; and truths falsified are in themselves falsities. There were falsities of such a kind with the Jewish nation, while the falsities which existed amongst the upright Gentiles, were of another kind; the latter falsities are signified by vinegar, but the former, by gall and wine mingled with myrrh, in the Evangelists.

[2] And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, They gave Jesus vinegar to drink mingled with gall; but he would not drink. When they had crucified Him, "one of them ran, and took a sponge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink" (Matthew 27: [33,] 34, 48; Mark 15:23, 36).

"After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now consummated, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is consummated" (John 19:28, 29).

Every circumstance related in the Evangelists concerning the passion of the Lord, signifies, in the spiritual sense, the state of the church at that time with respect to the Lord and the Word. For the Lord was the Word, because He was the Divine Truth; and as the Jews had treated the Word, or the Divine Truth, so they treated the Lord concerning which fact see above (n. 64, 195). Their giving to the Lord vinegar mingled with gall, which was also called wine mingled with myrrh, signified the quality of the Divine Truth from the Word with the Jewish nation, namely, that it was mingled with the falsity of evil, and thus altogether falsified and adulterated, therefore He would not drink it. But their afterwards giving to the Lord vinegar in a sponge, and placing hyssop about it, signified the quality of falsity among the upright Gentiles, which was falsity arising from ignorance of the truth, in which there was something good and useful; as this falsity is accepted by the Lord, He therefore drank that [which corresponded to it]. The hyssop which they placed about it, signified the purification thereof; the Lord's saying, "I thirst," signified Divine spiritual thirst, which is of Divine Truth and Good in the church, by which mankind are saved. Concerning the quality of the falsity of evil with the Jewish nation and that of the falsity of ignorance with the upright Gentiles, in which was good, see the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 21).

[3] The same is signified by gall and vinegar in David:

"They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their table become a snare before them; and let their reward be a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not; and make their loins continually to shake" (Psalm 69:21-23).

This is said concerning the Lord, and gall, vinegar, and thirst have a signification similar to that explained above. By their table becoming a snare before them, is signified error in regard to every truth of doctrine from the Word, for a table denotes all spiritual food, and spiritual food signifies every thing of doctrine from the Word. Their eyes being darkened that they should not see, signifies understanding of truth; their loins being made to shake, signifies the will of good, and its marriage, union with the understanding of truth; the same is also signified by loins in other parts of the Word.

[4] So in Lamentations:

"He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood; therefore I said, My victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall" (3:15, 18, 19).

This passage also treats of the Lord. That the Lord found nothing but falsities and falsified truths in the church, which was at that time with the Jews, is signified by, "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunk with wormwood." Wormwood denotes the falsity of evil mingled with truths, thus that which is falsified. The combat of the Lord with the hells, and His despair that the Jewish nation would ever be brought to receive and acknowledge truths, is signified by, my victory hath perished, and my hope from Jehovah: Remember mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall. For spirits who are in the falsities of evil and yet in truths from the sense of the letter of the Word, make a somewhat long resistance before they are subdued, and cast down into hell. The reason of this is, that by means of truths they have communication with heaven, and this communication and resulting conjunction must be broken off, and taken away, before they are cast down; this involves despair concerning victory, such as the Lord suffered upon the cross, when He said, "I thirst," and they gave Him vinegar.

[5] In Jeremiah:

"Jehovah God hath cut us off, and given us water of gall to drink" (8:14).

And again:

"Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them waters of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations; and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them" (9:15, 16).

And again, in the same prophet:

"Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink waters of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy hath gone forth into all the land" (23:15).

These things are also said concerning the Jewish nation, which, in a thousand ways, perverted the Word, falsified its truth, and adulterated its good. Wormwood signifies the evil of falsity, and waters of gall, the falsity of evil, both being mixed with the truths and goods of the Word. That they were of themselves, and from the heart, in evils and falsities thence, is signified by Jehovah feeding them with wormwood, and making them drink waters of gall; for evil and falsity are attributed to Jehovah, that is to the Lord, although they are of man himself; the reason of which has been shown above in various places. By the hypocrisy which is gone forth into all the land from the prophets of Jerusalem, is signified such mingling of falsity and truth, because they spoke truths and taught falsities. They spoke truths when [they spoke] from the Word, and taught falsities when [they taught] from themselves and their own doctrine. Their destruction by means of the evils of falsity and the falsities of evil, is signified by, I will scatter them among the nations, and I will send a sword after them. To scatter among the nations, denotes to destroy by means of the evils of falsity, and to send a sword after them denotes to destroy by means of the falsities of evil. That nations signify evils, may be seen above (n. 175:14, 331); and that sword signifies the combat of truth against falsity, and, the combat of falsity against truth, and its destruction, may also be seen above (n. 131, 367).

[6] So in Amos:

"Behold, Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches. Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood" (6:11, 12).

And in the same:

"They have turned judgment to wormwood, and thrust down justice to the earth" (5:7).

Jehovah will smite the great house with sprinklings, and the little house with breaches, signifies much perversion and falsification of truth among the learned, and some with the unlearned, a great house signifying a learned man, and a little house, an unlearned man; sprinklings denote truths destroyed by falsities, and breaches, the same, but in a less degree. That there is no understanding of truth, and will of good where the falsity of evil is, is signified by, "Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plough there with oxen?" Horses running denote the understanding of truth, and ploughing with oxen denotes the will of good. That this is the result of their falsifying the truths and adulterating the goods of the Word, is signified by the words, "for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of justice into wormwood;" judgment signifying the truth of the Word, and the fruit of justice the good thereof.

[7] That the sons of Jacob, who were called Israelites and Jews were of such a character, is plainly declared by Moses in his song, in which they are thus described:

"Of their vine the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter; their wine (vinum) is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps" (Deuteronomy 32:32, 33).

A vine signifies the church, which is said to be of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah, because Sodom signifies every kind of evil arising from the love of self, and Gomorrah all the falsities of those evils. Grapes signify the goods of the church, and clusters, the truths of the church. That instead of the goods of the church, they had evils and falsities of the worst kind mingled with truths, is signified by their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. Wine (vinum) signifies the truth and good of faith; that this is external in which there is evil from the interior, is signified by their wine is the venom of dragons, and the cruel gall of asps. That the sons of Jacob were of such a nature and quality, although the church was with them, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

[8] That gall and wormwood signify evil and falsity mingled with good and truth, is still further evident from these words in Moses:

"Lest there should be among you, man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart looketh back this day from Jehovah our God, to go and serve the gods of the nations; lest there be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood" (Deuteronomy 29:18).

Here also, gall and wormwood signify the mingling of good and truth with evil and falsity, which is the case when other gods are worshipped with the heart, and Jehovah only with the lips; for then the external sounds like good, and appears like truth, but the internal is evil and falsity. And when the interiors are evils and falsities, and the exteriors goods and truths, then both are mingled together with the result that the good becomes gall, and the truth becomes wormwood. Similarly when man in his heart hates his neighbour, and denies the truths of the church, and yet outwardly shows charity towards his neighbour, and professes the truths of the church, then there is in him a root producing gall and wormwood, for the evils and falsities from the interior enter, and mingle with the goods and truths which he manifests in externals.

[9] So in Job:

"Though evil be sweet in his mouth, though he hide it under his tongue; though he spare it, and forsake it not, but keep it still within his mouth; his bread in his bowels shall be changed, it is the gall of asps in the midst of him. He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. He shall [suck] the venom of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him" (20:12-16).

This is a description of the hypocrisy from which a man speaks things holy, and pretends to have good affections while inwardly he denies and blasphemes. His interior quality is described by his hiding evil under his tongue, and keeping it within his mouth; that consequently good is infected with evil, and cast out, is signified by "yet his bread in his bowels shall be changed, and the gall of asps in the midst of him," bread denoting the good of love, and in his bowels denoting interiorly, and the gall of asps, good mingled with evil. That similarly truth is cast out by falsity, is signified by he hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly. This falsity is meant by the gall of asps.

[10] It must be observed, that good and evil, and the truth of good and the falsity of evil are mingled together, when evil and falsity are in man's spirit, but good and truth in his bodily actions and speech. For that which is in man's spirit, that is, what is interior, acts into that which is of the body, or exterior; for it inflows and causes the exterior, which appears to be good and true, to be bitter like gall and wormwood, although apparently sweet before men. And because the good and truth of man's mouth and speech are of such a quality, therefore after death, when he becomes a spirit, the good is separated from the evil, and the falsity from truth, and good and truth being thus taken away, man's spirit becomes entirely his own evil and falsity. But it must be observed, that the mingling of good and evil, and of truth and falsity, is not the profanation of good and truth, for only those who have first received truth and good in their heart and faith, and afterwards in heart and faith deny them, are guilty of profanation.

23. 3. People who live lives based on truth and use that truth to focus on and move toward what is good; and also the nature of truths that lead to what is good. We intend whatever we love, and whatever we love or intend we think about and justify by various means. Whatever we love or intend we call good, and whatever thoughts and various justifications we have we call true: 4070. That is why truth turns into goodness when it becomes a matter of our love and will, or when we love and will it: 5526, 7835, 10367. And since our love or our will is the core of our existence, no truth comes to life for us as long as we only know about it and think about it-[it comes to life] only when we love and will to do it and we do it as a result of our love and our will: ¹ 5595, 9282. That is how truths receive their life-from what is good: 2434, 3111, 3607, 6077. So truths get their life from what is good, and truths have no life apart from what is good: 1589, 1950, 1997, 2572, 3180, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 5928, 9154, 9667, 9841, 10729. Illustrated [by a comparison]: 9154. When truths can be said to have come to life: 1928. When truth is joined to what is good it becomes part of us because it becomes a matter of our life: 3108, 3161. In order for a truth to be joined to some goodness, our will needs to agree with our understanding; not until our will agrees does the joining take place: 3157, 3158, 3161.

[2] As we are being regenerated, truths become a part of us, along with a feeling of pleasure because we love to do them; and later those truths come back to us with that same feeling again, because the truths and the feeling are joined together: 2480, 2487, 3040, 3066, 3074, 3336, 4018, 5893, 7967. Some feeling related to what we love always attaches itself to any truths we learn, depending on the use we make of those truths in our lives. If those truths come to mind, the feelings come with them: or if those feelings recur, then the truths come with them: 3336, 3824, 3849, 4205, 5893, 7967. Goodness does not recognize anything as true unless it is in harmony with the inclinations of its love: 3161. Truths gain entrance to us by means of things that are pleasurable and delightful [to our earthly self]: 3502, 3512. All genuine love of truth comes from and is shaped by goodness: 4373, 8349, 8356. There is a subtle entry and inflow of goodness into truths, and there is a joining together of goodness and truth (4301); and that is how truths come to life (7967).

[3] Because some feeling of love always attaches itself to any truths we learn, depending on the use we make of those truths in our lives, a given type of goodness recognizes the truth that is its own, and a given type of truth recognizes the goodness that is its own: 2429, 3101, 3102, 3161, 3179, 3180, 4358, 5807, 5835, 9637. The result is a joining together of what is true and what is good: 3834, 4096, 4097, 4301, 4345, 4364, 4368, 5365, 7623-7627, 7752-7762, 8530, 9258, 10555. Truths recognize each other as well and gather together: 9079. This happens because of an inflow from heaven: 9079.

[4] Goodness is the reality underlying life and truth is how life becomes manifest from that goodness. ² So goodness finds the manifestation of its life in truth, and truth finds the underlying reality of its life in goodness: 3049, 3180, 4574, 5002, 9144. Thus everything good has its own truth and everything true has its own goodness, because goodness apart from truth has no manifestation and truth apart from goodness has no reality: 9637. Further, goodness gets its form and character from truths, and correspondingly truth is the form and character of goodness (3049, 4574, 6916, 9154); and so truth and goodness need to be joined together in order to be anything at all (10555). So goodness is constantly engaged in the longing and effort to join truths to itself: 9206, 9495. Some illustrations of this: 9207. Correspondingly, truths also strive to join themselves to some goodness: 9206. The joining is reciprocal-goodness with truth and truth with goodness: 5365, 8516. Goodness acts and truth reacts, though it does this as an effect of goodness: 3155, 4380, 4757, 5928, 10729. Truths focus on the good they can do as their origin and aim: 4353.

[5] The joining of truth with goodness parallels the successive phases of our lives beginning in infancy. We gather truths first as information, and then as the basis for rational thinking; ultimately we put them to use in deciding how to live our lives: 3203, 3665, 3690. It is also like a child: it is conceived, lives in the womb, is born, matures, and eventually gains wisdom: 3298, 3299, 3308, 3665, 3690. It is also like seeds and soil (3671) and like the relationship of water to bread (4976). Our first feeling of love for truth is not genuine, but as we are perfected it is purified: 3040, 3089. Still, forms of goodness and truth that are not genuine serve to lead us to forms of goodness and truth that are, at which point we abandon the earlier forms: 3665, 3690, 3974, 3982, 3986, 4145.

[6] Further, we are led to what is good by means of truths, and not in their absence: 10124, 10367. If we do not learn or accept truths, goodness cannot flow into us, so we cannot become spiritual: 3387. The joining of goodness and truth progresses as our knowledge grows: 3141. For all of us, our acceptance of truths depends on our rational capacity: 3385, [ 3387].

[7] The truths of our earthly self are in the form of information: 3293, 3309, 3310. The information and concepts we have are like containers: 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077. Truths are containers of goodness because they are receptive to it: 1469, 1900, 2063, 2261, 2269, 3318, 3365.

[8] Goodness flows in through an inner way for us, or through the soul, while what is true flows in from the outside through our hearing and sight; and they are joined together within us by the Lord: 3030, 3098. Truths are lifted up from the earthly self and sown in what is good in the spiritual self, and this is how truths become spiritual: 3085, 3086. Then they flow back into the earthly self; goodness in the spiritual self flows directly into goodness in the earthly self but flows indirectly into the truth in the earthly self: 3314, 3573, 4563. Some illustrations of this: 3314, 3616, 3576, 3969, 3995. In brief, how amply and well truths are joined to what is good in us depends on how amply and well we focus on what is good in the way we lead our lives: 3834, 3843. The joining takes place in one way for heavenly people and in another way for spiritual people: 10124. More on the joining together of goodness and truth and on how it takes place (3090, 3203, 3308, 4096, 4097, 4345, 4353, 5365, 7623-7627); and also on how what is good on the spiritual level is given form through truths (3470, 3570).

Footnotes: