souls;[12] therefore, this means all souls of the condemned and evil spirits. Thus the mother becomes Hecate, the underworld, the City of the damned itself. We recognize easily in the ancient idea of the woman on the dragon,[13] the above-mentioned representation of Echnida, the mother of the infernal horrors. Babylon is the idea of the "terrible" mother, who seduces all people to whoredom with devilish temptation, and makes them drunk with her wine. The intoxicating drink stands in the closest relation to fornication, for it is also a libido symbol, as we have already seen in the parallel of fire and sun. After the fall and curse of Babylon, we find in Revelation (xix:6-7) the hymn which leads from the under half to the upper half of the mother, where now everything is possible which would be impossible without the repression of incest:
(6) "Alleluia, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.
(7) "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,[14] and his wife hath made herself ready.
(8) "And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
(9) "And he saith unto me, 'Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.'"
The Lamb is the son of man who celebrates his marriage
with the "woman." Who the "woman" is remains
obscure at first. But Revelation (xxi:9) shows us
which "woman" is the bride, the Lamb's wife:
(9) "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's
wife.[15]
