864. Genesis 8:7. And he sent out a raven, and it went out, going and coming back till the water dried up on the earth.

He sent out a raven, and it went out, going and coming back, means that falsity still troubled them. The raven symbolizes falsity. Going and coming back symbolizes the stage they were in, which fluctuated in just this way. Till the water dried up on the earth symbolizes apparently getting rid of falsity.

854. The symbolism of the mountains of Ararat as a bit of light is established by the symbolism of a mountain as the good that comes of love and charity (§795) and of Ararat as a bit of light — the light that a regenerate person enjoys. ¹

The new glimmer — the first glimmer — that comes to the regenerate individual never rises out of a knowledge of faith's truth but out of charity. Faith's truths are like rays of light; love, or charity, is like a flame. The enlightenment of one who is regenerating does not radiate from the truth belonging to faith but from charity. The truths themselves are the rays that beam from it. So one can see that the mountains of Ararat symbolize this kind of light.

Such light is the first to shine after a time of struggle, and because it is the first, it is dim and is called a bit of light, not full light.

Footnotes: