Verse 17. You may not appropriate from the memory as belonging to yourself the remains of good and truth stored in the soul by the Lord, either natural, spiritual, or celestial; nor consider that any of the truths of faith or goods thence derived, nor any genuine aspiration after holiness which you have, or worship from genuine affection, or any holy effort after good vivified by influx from heaven, comes from yourself:

1307. 'And its head in heaven' means to the extent of their ruling over things in heaven. This follows from what is said above, for 'having one's head in heaven' is being exalted even as far as that, as is also clear from the description of Babel in other parts of the Word and from what has been stated already in 257 about 'lifting up the head'. Self-love is the love which agrees least of all with heavenly life. Indeed it is the source of every form of evil, not only of hatred but also of revenge, cruelty, and adultery. It agrees still less when it enters into worship and profanes it. The hells therefore consist of such persons who, the more they wish to rear their heads up into heaven, the more deeply they force themselves down into hell and the harsher the punishments they plunge themselves into.