872. 'The face ¹ of the ground' means those things that reside with the member of the Church, and the expression 'the ground' is used because it is the first stage at which man comes to be the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'the ground', dealt with already, as the member of the Church who is at that point called 'the ground' when the goods and truths of faith can be sown within him. Previously he is called 'the land', as in Genesis 1 where 'the land' refers to man prior to his becoming celestial, while Chapter 2, when he has become celestial, refers to him as 'the ground' and 'the field'. It is similar in the present chapter. The expression 'the land' and the expression 'the ground' are sufficient by themselves to enable someone to recognize what is meant in the internal sense, not only here but also anywhere else in the Word. 'The ground' in the universal sense means the Church, and as the Church is meant so too is the member of the Church for, as stated already, every member of the Church is the Church.

Footnotes:

831. There are women who have lived to satisfy their own inclinations. They have studied solely themselves and the world, and have focused the whole of life and its enjoyment in being outwardly respectable. Consequently in social circles they have been esteemed above other women. By the way they have behaved and conducted themselves they have acquired the ability to worm their way, by being outwardly respectable, into other people's desires and pleasures. They have employed a pretence to being honourable, but their aim has been to gain control over others. As a result their lives have become those of sham and deceit. Like other people they have gone to Church, but with no other end in view than giving the appearance of being honourable and devout. Furthermore they have been devoid of conscience, strongly inclined to behaving disgracefully and committing adultery insofar as it was possible to do so without being found out. Such women go on thinking in the same way in the next life. They do not know what conscience is and they laugh at people who mention it. They encroach upon whatever affections other people may have through their pretence of honourableness, devoutness, mercy, and innocence, which with them are instruments for deception. And whenever external restraints are removed from them, they rush into the most abominable and disgusting practices.

[2] These are women who in the next life become sorceresses or witches. Some of them are those called sirens. In that life they acquire tricks unknown in the world. They are like sponges that soak up unmentionable tricks, and are so clever that they quickly put them into practice. The tricks which they learn in that world and are unknown in this include their ability to speak as though they are somewhere else, so that their voice is heard as if coming from good spirits in that other place. They have the ability to appear to be with many people simultaneously, and in this way convince others that they can appear to be present everywhere. They have the ability to speak as if they were various persons simultaneously, and in various places simultaneously. They have the ability to turn aside what is flowing in from good spirits, even what is flowing in from angelic spirits, and to change that instantly and in different ways into what suits themselves. They have the ability to impersonate somebody else by means of his ideas which they adopt and give shape to. They can inspire an affection for themselves into somebody else by worming their way into the very state of the other person's affections. They can steal away suddenly out of sight, without being noticed. They can exhibit before the eyes of spirits a bright flame around their head, which is an angelic sign, doing so in the presence of many. They can feign innocence in various ways, even by exhibiting infants whom they are caressing. They can also incite others whom they hate to kill them - for they know that they cannot die - and afterwards publicly accuse them of being murderers.

[3] They have called forth from my memory whatever evil I have thought or committed, doing so in a most expert fashion. When I was asleep they have spoken to others just as if the words came from myself, with the result that spirits were convinced of it, and indeed things that were false and disgusting. And there are many other practices in addition to these. The nature of these women is so persuasive that they leave one with no feeling of doubt. This is why their ideas are not communicated as those of other spirits are. And their eyes are, so to speak, like those of a snake, having a vision of and noting things in every direction at once. These witches or sirens are punished severely. Some are in Gehenna; some in a kind of court among snakes; some are punished by being ripped apart, and by various beatings, accompanied by very great pain and torment. In the process of time they are separated from one another and come to look like skeletons from head to toe. A continuation of this subject follows at the end of the chapter.