5217. 'And the thin heads swallowed up the seven fat and full heads' means that the facts which were useless banished the facts that were good. This is clear from the meaning of 'the thin heads' as facts that are useless, dealt with above in 5214; from the meaning of 'fat and full heads' as facts into which matters of faith and charity could be instilled, dealt with in 5213, which are consequently facts that are good; and from the meaning of 'swallowing up' as banishing, which is similar to 'devouring', as said of the cows above in 5206. Regarding the banishment of good facts by useless ones, or the banishment of truths by falsities, see 5207.

[2] The same applies in the spiritual world. Where falsities are present no truths can remain; and conversely, where truths are present no falsities can remain. The one group banishes the other, since they are complete opposites, for the reason that falsities originate in hell and truths in heaven. Sometimes it does seem as though falsities and truths are present together in the same subject; but the falsities in this case are not complete opposites of the truths there, but ones that are attached to those truths through the ways they are used. A subject in which truths and falsities that are complete opposites exist together is called lukewarm, while a subject in which falsities and truths have become mixed together is called profane.

5206. 'And the cows bad in appearance and thin-fleshed devoured.....' means that falsities which were not expressions of faith and were not embodiments of charity would banish..... This is clear from the meaning of 'devouring' as consuming, dealt with in 5149, 5157, here as banishing because truths present in the natural, before they have received life through the celestial of the spiritual and so have been regenerated, have been so to speak banished by falsities; from the meaning of 'cows bad in appearance' as things which are not expressions of faith, dealt with just above in 5203; and from the meaning of 'thin-fleshed' as things which are not embodiments of charity, also dealt with above, in 5204.