120. But are a synagogue of Satan, signifies the doctrine of all falsities with these. This is evident from the signification of "synagogue," as being doctrine (of which presently); and from the signification of "Satan," as being the hell from which are all falsities. There are two kinds of hells, one in which those are who are in evils, and the other in which those are who are in the falsities of evil. The hell in which those are who are in evils is called, in one word, Devil, and that in which those are who are in the falsities of evil is called, in one word, Satan. That the hells are thus named is totally unknown to those who know nothing about the hells, but have adopted the belief that the devil was created an angel of light, and because he rebelled was cast down with his crew, and thus hell was made. (That the hells are called Devil and Satan may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 311, 544, 553; and in the small work on The Last Judgment, in the chapter where it is shown that Heaven and Hell are from the Human Race, n. 14-22.)

[2] Let it be known, moreover, that as all goods and truths are from the Lord out of the heavens, so all evils and falsities are out of the hells. He is greatly deceived who believes that goods and truths have any other source than out of the heavens from the Lord, or that evils and falsities have any other source than out of the hells. Man is simply a receptacle of these, and to whichever he turns himself of that he is a recipient. If he turns himself towards heaven, which is effected by the goods of love and the truths of faith, he receives goods and truths from the Lord; but if he turns himself towards hell, which is effected by the evils of love and falsities of faith, he receives evils and falsities from the hells. Now as all evils and falsities are from the hells, and as the hells are called, in one word, either Devil or Satan, it follows that by Devil are also signified all evils, and by Satan all falsities. From this it is that by a "synagogue of Satan" the doctrine of all falsities is signified.

[3] By "synagogue" doctrine is signified, because in the synagogues there was instruction, and differences in matters of doctrine were also adjusted. That there was instruction in the synagogues is evident from Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 13:54; Mark 1:21, 22, 29, 39; 6:2; Luke 4:15, 16, 44; 13:10, 14; John 18:20. That differences in matters of doctrine were adjusted in the synagogues may be inferred from what is said in Matthew 10:17; Mark 13:9; Luke 12:11; 21:12; John 9:22; 12:42; 16:2, 3. That with the Jewish nation there was the doctrine of all falsities can be seen from many things known as to that nation; namely, that they denied the Lord; that they wish for a Messiah whose kingdom will be upon the earth, and who will exalt them above all other nations in the world; that they place all worship in externals, and reject the internals of worship, which are of faith in the Lord and of love to Him; that they apply all things in the Word to themselves; and falsify it by traditions of their own invention (See Matthew 15:6-9; Mark 7:1-13). Again, what the quality of that nation in respect to their interiors has been from the beginning can be seen from the song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32), and elsewhere in many passages (See also the quotations from the Arcana Coelestia, in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 248).

553. Seen in any of heaven's light, all the spirits in the hells appear in the form of their own evil. Each one is in fact an image of her or his evil, since for each individual the inner and outer natures are acting as a unit, with the deeper elements presenting themselves to view in the outer ones - in the face, the body, the speech, and the behavior. So you can tell what they are like by looking at them. In general, they are forms of contempt for others, threats against people who do not revere them; they are forms of various shadings of hatred, of various forms of vengefulness. Savagery and cruelty show through from within. When others praise them, though, or revere and worship them, their faces compose themselves and look almost happy and gratified.

[2] There is no way to describe briefly all the ways these forms look, since no one is just like any other. There is only a general likeness among people who are absorbed in similar evils and are therefore in the same hellish community, a similarity that acts like a common background that gives the individual faces a kind of overall resemblance. In general, their faces are frightful, as lifeless as corpses. Some of their faces are black, some like little torches, some pimply, with huge ulcerated sores. In many cases there is no visible face, only something hairy or bony in its place, while with others only the teeth show. Their bodies are equally misshapen, and their speech seems to embody wrath or hatred or vengeance, since all their articulation comes from their false perception and all the tone comes from their evil intent. In a word, they are all images of their hell.

[3] I have not been allowed to see what form hell itself is in overall. I have only been told that in the same way that all heaven as a single entity resembles a single human being (59-67), so all hell as a single entity resembles a single devil and can be manifested as a likeness of a single devil (see above, 544). However, I have often seen what form particular hells or hellish communities have, since at their entrances (which are called the gates of hell), there often appears a monstrous figure that in a general way represents the form of the people who live there. The savagery of these inhabitants is then imaged by frightful horrors that I forbear to mention.

[4] It does need to be known, though, that hellish spirits look like this in heaven's light, but that they look human to each other. This is a gift of the Lord's mercy, so that they do not look as repulsive to each other as they do to angels. However, this appearance is deceiving, since the moment a ray of light from heaven is let in, these human forms turn into the monstrous ones that they are essentially, the forms just described, because in heaven's light everything appears as it really is. This is also why they avoid heaven's light and dive into their own illumination, an illumination like that of glowing coals or, in places, like burning sulfur. This light, though, turns into pure darkness when any ray of light from heaven flows in. This is why the hells are described as being in gloom and darkness, and why the gloom and darkness mean the kinds of malevolent distortions characteristic of hell.