549. But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. (12:8) This symbolically means that they were convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet they persisted in them, and therefore they were forcibly withdrawn from any conjunction with heaven and cast down.

For this to be understood, we must first say something about the state of people who come after death into the other life. All are there instructed by angels and led from one society to another, and they are examined to see whether they are willing to accept the truths of heaven and live in accordance with them. However, all those who in the world convinced themselves of falsities do not accept the truths. Therefore they are admitted into societies where the inhabitants are caught up in the same falsities, and these societies have no conjunction with heaven, but conjunction with hell. Consequently, after a period of time in the world of spirits they sink down into hell and are relegated to their own places, each one in accordance with his evil and resulting falsity. This is what is meant by their being convicted of being caught up in falsities and evils, and yet their persisting in them, and by their being forcibly withdrawn therefore from any conjunction with heaven and cast down.

What their fate there is like may be seen in nos. 153, 531 above.