10050. 'And its legs' means purification of the more external things belonging to the natural man. This is clear from the meaning of 'washing the legs' as purification of the natural man (for the meaning of 'washing' as purifying, see immediately above in 10049); and from the meaning of 'the legs' as the more external things belonging to the natural man. The reason why these things are meant by 'the legs' is that one must at the same time understand the feet, since an animal's four legs are closely connected to its feet, and 'the feet' by virtue of their correspondence mean the natural or external level in a person, see 2162, 3147, 3761, 4938-4952.

[2] Much the same is meant by 'the legs' in Amos,

As the shepherd rescues from the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so will the children of Israel dwelling in Samaria be rescued, on the corner of a bed and on the end of a couch. Amos 3:12.

'The lion' here means those who lay the Church waste, 'legs' the external part of it, which is also the external part of the natural man, 'a piece of an ear' its discernment, and those 'dwelling in Samaria' those whose worship is external. 'The corner of a bed and the end of a couch' is the lowest part of the natural, which is external sensory awareness and its truth and good.

[3] In Daniel's description of Nebuchadnezzar's statue - its head made of pure gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and side of bronze, legs of iron, and feet partly of iron and partly of clay, Daniel 2:32-33 - what is meant by 'the legs' is the truth of faith in the external or natural man; and the same thing is also meant by 'iron', see 10030. The reason why the legs in the description are distinguished from the feet is that human legs are by nature different from animal legs.

5393. It is well known that the colon ¹ belonging to the intestines is extensive; and so also are those within that province. They extend, in a frontal direction on the left side, in a line that curves and leads to a hell. In that hell there are those who have been devoid of all pity, and having no conscience have been willing to destroy the human race. That is to say, they have been willing to kill and rob people, taking no account at all of whether or not their victims offer any resistance, or whether they are men or women. A vicious disposition of mind such as this exists with a large section of soldiers and their officers; not during battles but after these are over they viciously terrorize the conquered and defenceless, and in their fury murder and rob them. I have talked to angels about spirits of this kind. Their essential nature is the same as that of human beings when left to themselves - when no law exists and they are permitted to act just as they like. In those circumstances they are far more savage than the most savage among animals, which are less inclined to plunge into killing members of their own species, except in self-defence. These also satisfy their hunger with those creatures assigned to them as their food; but once their hunger is satisfied they cease to behave in such vicious ways. But the human being, when motivated by cruel and savage feelings, is different.

[2] Angels have been horrified that the human race is like this. For as soon as men see lines of troops strewn and streams of blood flowing over the whole field, their hearts are full of joy and their spirits are elated; yet they feel no joy that their country has been set free, only that they are hailed as mighty ones and heroes. Yet such men call themselves Christians and even believe that they will go to heaven, where however nothing but peace, pity, and charity dwell. Such are in the hell of the colon and rectum. Those however in whom some humanity is present are seen in a frontal direction on the left side, in the line that curves, yet on the inside of a kind of wall. But even within these people much self-love is present. Some do have a concern for what is good, which is sometimes represented by tiny stars that are almost fiery yet not bright. Once a wall appeared before me that seemed to be made of plaster and to have carved figures. This wall, which was near my left elbow, became more extensive and at the same time taller, the colour of the upper part verging on blue. I was told that this was representative of some of the better ones among this kind of spirits.

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