Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 1.djvu/190

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only of a heat such as they before experienced in the world. The appearance of fire is from correspondence; for love corresponds to fire, and all things which appear in the spiritual world, appear according to correspondences.

It is to be borne in mind that this fire or infernal heat is turned into intense cold when heat flows in from heaven. At such times the infernals shiver like persons seized with a cold fever, and are also inwardly tortured. The reason of this is, that they are utterly opposed to the Divine; and the heat of heaven which is divine love, extinguishes the heat of hell which is the love of self, and with it the fire of their life; whence come such cold and consequent shivering and likewise torture. Then, too, thick darkness ensues, and thence infatuation and blindness. This, however, rarely happens; only when violent outrages increase beyond measure, and require to be quelled.

Because infernal fire denotes every lust to do evil which flows from the love of self, therefore it also denotes such torments as exist in the hells. For the lust derived from that love is, with those inflamed by it, the lust of injuring others who do not honor, revere and worship them. And in proportion to the anger thence conceived against such individuals, and to the hatred and revenge arising therefrom, is their lust of exercising cruelty toward them.

And when such lust rages in every one in a so-