{"id":11682,"date":"2016-04-28T19:38:11","date_gmt":"2016-04-28T23:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordstudy.newchurch.org\/?page_id=11682"},"modified":"2016-04-28T19:38:11","modified_gmt":"2016-04-28T23:38:11","slug":"head","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/societies.newchurch.org\/wordstudy\/bible-keywords\/head\/","title":{"rendered":"Head"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/b>The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense<\/a> that it is what is closest to the Lord<\/a>. Because of this the head, according to Swedenborg<\/a>, represents what is inmost in us, the thing at the center of our being. In most cases this means intelligence<\/a> and wisdom<\/a>, since most of us are in state of life in which we are led by our thoughts and reason. In the case of the Lord, however, it often represents his perfect love<\/a>. And in many cases the head is used to represent the whole person, because everything in us flows from what is inmost.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Passages from Swedenborg<\/strong><\/p>\n

Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 577<\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. And the\u00a0heads\u00a0of the horses as the\u00a0heads\u00a0of lions. That this signifies knowledge (scientia), and thought therefrom, destructive of truth, is evident from the signification of the\u00a0heads\u00a0of the horses, as denoting knowledge (scientia) and thought therefrom, as will be seen presently; and from the signification of the\u00a0heads\u00a0of lions, as denoting thence the destruction of truth. The\u00a0heads\u00a0of lions here signify the destruction of truth, because a lion, in the highest sense, signifies the Divine Truth as to power, and, in the opposite sense, falsity destroying truth, consequently, the destruction of truth; and the\u00a0head\u00a0of a lion signifies the powers of the mind by means of which it destroys, and which are reasonings from falsities. That a lion signifies the Divine Truth as to power, and, in the opposite sense, falsity destroying it, may be seen above (n. 278). The reason why the\u00a0heads\u00a0of the horses signify knowledge (scientia) and thought therefrom, is, that\u00a0head\u00a0signifies intelligence, and horse, the understanding. But as the subjects here treated of are the sensual man and his reasonings from falsities, and as the sensual man who reasons from falsities has no intelligence, but only knowledge (scientia) and thought therefrom, therefore these are here signified by the\u00a0heads\u00a0of the horses. That those who are in falsities have no intelligence, but instead of intelligence, only knowledge (scientia), may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem (n. 33). The\u00a0head\u00a0signifies intelligence, because the understanding and will of man reside in the interior parts of hishead, and therefore the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and taste, into which the understanding and will flow from the interior, vivifying them, and also causing them to enjoy their sensations, are in the front part of the\u00a0head\u00a0which is the face.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[2] For this reason\u00a0head, in the Word, signifies intelligence. But because those who receive influx from heaven are alone intelligent, for all intelligence and wisdom flow in out of heaven from the Lord, it follows, that those who are in falsities of evil have no intelligence. For with such the higher and spiritual mind is closed, and only the lower mind, called the natural mind, is open; and this mind, when the higher is closed, receives nothing of truth and good, consequently no intelligence from heaven, but only from the world, therefore such persons, instead of intelligence, have merely knowledge (scientia), and from this thought, from which proceeds reasoning, and by means of this confirmation of falsity and evil against truth and good.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[3] That the\u00a0head, in the Word, signifies intelligence and wisdom, and, in the opposite sense, knowledge (scientia), and thence illusory thought, is evident from the following passages in the Word.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>Thus in Ezekiel:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“I put a jewel on thy nose, and earrings in thine ears, and a crown of ornament upon thy\u00a0head” (xvi. 12).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0These things are said concerning Jerusalem, which signifies the church, here its quality at the beginning. The jewel put on the nose signifies the perception of truth from good, earrings in the ears signify hearing and obedience, and a crown upon the\u00a0head\u00a0signifies wisdom, for intelligence which is from Divine Truth becomes wisdom from the good of love, signified by a crown of gold.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[4] So in the Apocalypse:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her\u00a0head\u00a0a crown of twelve stars” (xii. 1).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0That the\u00a0head\u00a0upon which was a crown of twelve stars, signifies intelligence, will be seen in the explanation in the following pages. The Jews placing a crown of thorns upon the\u00a0head\u00a0of the Lord, and smiting His\u00a0head\u00a0(Matt. xxvii. 29, 30; Mark xv. 17, 19; John xix. 2), signified that with such ignominy did they treat the Divine Truth itself, and the Divine Wisdom. For they falsified the Word, which is Divine Truth, and contains Divine Wisdom, and adulterated it by their traditions, and by applying it to themselves, thus wishing for a king who should place them above all [the nations] in the whole world. And because the kingdom of the Lord was not earthly but heavenly, therefore they perverted all those things in the Word which referred to Him, and ridiculed the prophecies relating to Him. This was represented by their placing a crown of thorns upon His\u00a0head, and by their smiting Him on thehead.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[5] It is also said in Daniel, where the subject is the statue of Nebuchadnezzar seen in a dream, that its\u00a0head\u00a0was of pure gold, its breast and arms of silver, and its thighs of brass, its legs of iron, its feet part of iron and part of clay (ii. 32, 33). That statue represented the successive states of the church. The\u00a0head\u00a0of gold represented and signified the Most Ancient Church, which was in celestial wisdom, and thence in intelligence above [all the churches] that followed; its wisdom and intelligence are meant by the\u00a0head\u00a0of gold. That the other parts of the statue signify the states of the churches which followed, may be seen above (n. 176, 411:5).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And in David:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Thou broughtest us into the net; thou hast laid affliction upon [our] loins. Thou hast caused a man to ride over our\u00a0head” (Psalm lxvi. 11 12).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Causing men to ride over our\u00a0head\u00a0signifies that there was no intelligence, as may be seen above (355:35), where those things are more fully explained.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[6] And in Moses:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0These blessings “shall come on the\u00a0head\u00a0of Joseph, and on the crown of the Nazarite of his brethren” (Gen. xlix. 26; Deut. xxxiii. 13-16).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0By blessings coming on the\u00a0head\u00a0of Joseph, is signified, that all those things previously mentioned, and which are the blessings of heaven, should be experienced in the interiors of his mind, which are the lives of the understanding and will, for these are the interiors of the mind. By their coming on the crown of the Nazarite of his brethren, is signified, that they should also be experienced in the exteriors of his natural mind, for the Nazariteship signifies the exteriors of the natural mind, since it signifies hairs, or the hair of the\u00a0head. But these words are more fully explained above (n. 448:7); and in the Arcana Coelestia (n. 6437, 6438).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Again:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Give you wise men, and intelligent, and I will appoint them for your\u00a0heads” (Deut. i. 13).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0It is said, “for\u00a0heads,” because wisdom and intelligence are meant, in which they excel the rest, hence it is said, “Give you wise men and intelligent.”<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[7] So in Isaiah:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Jehovah hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your\u00a0heads, the seers, hath he covered” (xxix. 10).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Prophets signify those who teach truths, and are intelligent, and in an abstract sense, the doctrine of truth, and intelligence; therefore it is said, “Jehovah hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and yourheads, the seers,” where the prophets are called eyes, and the seers,heads, because the eyes signify the understanding of truth as to doctrine, and by seers, as by the\u00a0head\u00a0are signified, intelligence.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[8] Again:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“[Jehovah] will cut off from Israel\u00a0head\u00a0and tail, branch and rush. The old man and honourable, will make the\u00a0head, but the prophet that teacheth lies, the tail” (ix. 14, 15).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And again:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which will make thehead\u00a0and tail, branch and rush” (xix. 15).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0That He would cut off from Israel\u00a0head\u00a0and tail, and that there should not be for Egypt\u00a0head\u00a0and tail, signifies that all their intelligence and knowledge of truth would perish, as may be seen above (n. 559:4), where those subjects are more fully explained.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Again, in the same:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, in the passages of the river, by the king of Assyria, the\u00a0head, and the hair of the feet; and shall also consume the beard” (vii. 20).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0These words signify that reasonings from falsities would deprive the men of the church of all wisdom and spiritual intelligence, as may be seen above (n. 569:17), where they are explained in detail. It is said, in the passages of the river, because the river Euphrates signifies reasonings from falsities; here therefore invasion thence into the truths of the church, which are destroyed by reasonings from falsities, is signified.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[9] And in Ezekiel:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Thou son of man take thee a sharp sword, take thee a barber’s razor, and cause it to pass upon thy\u00a0head\u00a0and upon thy beard. Thou shalt burn with fire a third part, and thou shalt smite a third part with the sword, and a third part thou shalt scatter to the wind” (v. 1, 2).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Here also by causing a razor to pass over the\u00a0head, is signified, to deprive of all intelligence of truth. The reason is, that intelligence perishes unless the ultimates of intelligence exist, signified by the hair of the\u00a0head, which he was to shave with a razor, by causing it to pass over the\u00a0head. For to take away the ultimates is like removing the base from a column, or the foundation from a house. Hence it is that in the Jewish church, which was a representative church, it was unlawful to shave the hair of the\u00a0head, and cause baldness, and similarly with regard to the beard. Therefore also those who are without intelligence appear bald in the spiritual world.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[10] From these things the signification of a bald\u00a0head, or baldness, in the following passages is evident.<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Thus in Isaiah:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“On all their\u00a0heads\u00a0shall be baldness, and every beard cut off”<\/span>
    \n<\/span>(xv. 2).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0These words denote that there was no intelligence. And in Ezekiel:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Shame upon all faces, and baldness upon all\u00a0heads” (vii. 18).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And again, in the same:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Every\u00a0head\u00a0shall be made bald, and every shoulder deprived of hair” (xxix. 18).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0These words have a similar meaning. Hence also Aaron and his sons were forbidden to shave their\u00a0heads\u00a0and the corner of the beard, concerning which it is said in Moses that Aaron and his sons should not shave their\u00a0heads, nor rend their garments, lest they should die, and the wrath of Jehovah fall upon the whole congregation (Levit. x. 6).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And again:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“The sons of Aaron “shall not make baldness upon their\u00a0head, neither shall they shave off the corner of the beard” (xxi. 5).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0The beard signifies the ultimate of the rational man, and not shaving the beard, signifies not to deprive themselves of what is rational, by taking away its ultimate; for, as said above, when the ultimate is taken away, the interior also perishes. What is meant by the woman taken captive from the enemy, shaving her\u00a0head\u00a0and paring her nails, if she should be desired for a wife, is explained above (n. 555:16).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[11] Because shame was represented by the hands upon the\u00a0head, it is therefore said in Jeremiah:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“Thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. Yea, thou shalt go forth from her, and thy hands upon thyhead” (ii. 36, 37).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Again, in the same prophet:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“They were ashamed and confounded, and covered their\u00a0heads” (xiv. 3).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0Because [covering the\u00a0head\u00a0with the hands] was representative of shame, therefore Tamar, after she had been disgraced by her brother Ammon, “laid her hand on her\u00a0head, and went her way crying” (2 Sam. xiii. 19); by putting her hand on her\u00a0head\u00a0was signified that there remained no longer any intelligence. Grief also for sin in having acted insanely and foolishly, was represented by sprinkling dust upon the\u00a0head; and bowing down the\u00a0head\u00a0even to the earth also signified cursing; as in Ezekiel:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“They shall cast up dust upon thine\u00a0head, they shall roll thee in ashes” (xxvii. 30).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And in Lamentations:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, and keep silence; they have cast up dust upon their\u00a0heads; they have girded themselves with sackcloth; the virgins of Jerusalem have hung down their\u00a0heads\u00a0to the ground” (ii. 10).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>[12] But by the\u00a0head, in the opposite sense, is signified the craftiness pertaining to those who are in the love of ruling; this is meant by the\u00a0head\u00a0in Moses, by the seed of the woman bruising the serpent’s\u00a0head, and the serpent bruising his heel (Gen. iii. 15).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And in David:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“The Lord at thy right hand hath smitten through kings in the day of his wrath. He hath judged among the nations, he hath filled the earth with their dead bodies; he hath smitten the\u00a0head\u00a0over much country. He shall drink of the stream in the way; therefore shall he lift up the\u00a0head” (Psalm cx. 5-7).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0This passage is explained above (n. 518:24).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0And again:<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0“God shall bruise the\u00a0head\u00a0of his enemies, the crown of the hair to them that walk in guiltiness” (Psalm lxviii 21).<\/span>
    \n<\/span>
    \n<\/span>\u00a0That the craftiness by which they intend and contrive evil for others returns upon themselves, is signified by, “recompensing their way upon their own\u00a0head” (Ezek. ix. 10; xi. 21; xvi. 43; xvii. 19; xxii. 31; Joel iii. 4, 7). But the signification of the seven\u00a0heads, in the Apocalypse, upon which were seven diadems (xii. 3; xiii. 1, 3; xvii. 3, 7, 9), will be seen in the following pages. Moreover, thehead, being the highest and chief part in man, also signifies various other things, as the summit of a mountain, the top of any thing, what is primary, the beginning of a way, of a street, of a month, and similar things.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10011<\/b><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. ‘And pour it on his\u00a0head, and anoint him’ means a representative sign of Divine Good in the Lord, suffusing His whole Human. This is clear from the meaning of ‘pouring oil on Aaron’s\u00a0head’ as Divine Good suffusing the Lord’s whole Human, for ‘oil’ means Divine Good, 4582, 9474, ‘Aaron’ the Lord in respect of Divine Good, 9806, and ‘head’ the whole Human; and from the meaning of ‘anointing’ as a representative sign of this thing, dealt with in 9474, 9954. The reason why ‘the\u00a0head’ means the whole Human, or the whole person, is that everything in the human being comes down from the\u00a0head; for the body is an extension from the\u00a0head. Therefore also what a person thinks or wills, an activity that takes place in the\u00a0head, presents itself in the body as an effect. The situation with the\u00a0head\u00a0is like that with what is highest or inmost in the heavens. This comes down and flows into heavens below, bringing them into being and making them extensions from itself. Therefore also the human\u00a0head\u00a0corresponds to the inmost heaven, the body down to the loins to the middle heaven, and the feet to the lowest heaven. In short, in things that are extensions only that which is inmost has life essentially. From this it is evident that since God is the inmost in all things, or what amounts to the same thing, is the highest of them all, from Him alone comes the life that all things possess. Therefore insofar as a person receives what is of God he has life within him.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>[2] Furthermore the oil that a priest was anointed with flowed from the top of his\u00a0head\u00a0right down onto his body, as may be seen in David,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>It is like the good oil upon the\u00a0head\u00a0running down onto Aaron’s beard, which runs down over the collar* of his garments. Ps. 133:2.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>In Matthew,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0A woman poured an alabaster flask of balm over Jesus’\u00a0head\u00a0as He reclined [at the table]. Jesus said, She has poured this balm over My body to [prepare it for] the tomb. Matt. 26:7, 12.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0And in Mark,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0A woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly spikenard**; and breaking the alabaster flask she poured it over Jesus’\u00a0head. And Jesus said, This woman has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial. Mark 14:3, 8.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0From these places it is also evident that ‘anointing the\u00a0head’ is anointing the whole body.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>[3] The use of ‘the\u00a0head’ to mean the whole person is further clear from very many places in the Word, for example in Isaiah,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0The redeemed of Jehovah will return, and will come to Zion with song, and everlasting joy upon their\u00a0heads. Isa. 35:10.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0In Moses,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0Let the precious things of the produce of the sun, the firstfruits of the mountains of the east, and the precious things of the earth come on the\u00a0head\u00a0of Joseph, and on the crown of the\u00a0head\u00a0of the Nazirite among his brothers. Deut. 33:14-16.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0In Jeremiah,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0Jehovah’s storm will burst upon the\u00a0heads\u00a0of the wicked. Jer. 30:23.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0In Ezekiel,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0I will bring their way upon their own\u00a0heads. Ezek. 11:21; 16:43; 22:31.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0[Similar words occur in] Joel 3:4, 7; Obadiah verse 15. In Ezekiel,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0Woe to those who make veils upon the\u00a0head\u00a0[of persons] of every stature to hunt souls! Ezek. 13:18.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0In David,<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0God will bruise the\u00a0head\u00a0of [His] enemies, the hairy scalp***. Ps. 68:21.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>\u00a0From all these places it is now evident that ‘head’ is used to mean the whole person, so that ‘pouring oil on Aaron’s\u00a0head’ means Divine Good in the Lord, suffusing His whole Human. While He was in the world the Lord made Himself Divine Truth, and when He left the world He made Himself Divine Good, see the places referred to in 9315(end), 9199(end).<\/span>
      \n<\/span>* lit. the mouth<\/span>
      \n<\/span>** lit. flask of ointment of liquid and very costly<\/span>
      \n<\/span>*** lit. the crown of hair<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 823<\/b><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. And on His\u00a0head\u00a0were many jewels.3 This symbolizes the Divine truths in the Word from the Lord.<\/span>
        \n<\/span>On the\u00a0head\u00a0means, symbolically, from the Lord, for the\u00a0headsymbolizes wisdom springing from love, and a person is governed from the\u00a0head\u00a0by wisdom springing from love. John saw jewels on the\u00a0head, because the Word’s Divine truths, symbolized by jewels, come from the Lord. That jewels symbolize the Word’s Divine truths may be seen in nos. 231, 540; that the\u00a0head\u00a0in reference to the Lord symbolizes the Divine wisdom accompanying Divine love, in no. 47; and what else the\u00a0head\u00a0symbolizes, in nos. 538, 568.<\/span>
        \n<\/span>The Word’s Divine truths correspond in the spiritual world to jewels, and owing to the correspondence, so appear there, and are seen in heaven on the\u00a0heads\u00a0of people who regard the Word as holy. Jewels accordingly symbolize the Word’s Divine truths in its literal sense. That is because the literal sense is made translucent by its spiritual and celestial senses, as jewels are by light.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 7859<\/b><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. ‘Its\u00a0head\u00a0over its legs and over its middle’ means from what is inmost to what is external. This is clear from the meaning of ‘thehead’, when said to be ‘over the\u00a0head\u00a0and middle’, as what is inmost, for the\u00a0head\u00a0is on top, and what is on top is in the spiritual sense what is inmost, 2148, 3084, 4599, 5146 (for the meaning of ‘the\u00a0head’ as the interiors and ‘the body’ as the exteriors, see 6436); from the meaning of ‘the legs’ as exteriors, for in relation to thehead\u00a0the legs are lower, and just as higher parts mean more internal ones, so lower parts mean more external ones; and from the meaning of ‘the middle’ as the parts that are lower still, as those of the belly and intestines are. The command that they were to roast the\u00a0head\u00a0over the legs and over the middle represented the necessity for interiors and exteriors to be combined, that is, to act as one.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 47<\/b><\/p>\n

            \n
          1. His\u00a0head\u00a0and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. (1:14) This symbolizes the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom in first things and last.<\/span>
            \n<\/span>A person’s\u00a0head\u00a0symbolizes everything connected with his life, and everything connected with a person’s life has some relation to love and wisdom. A\u00a0head\u00a0consequently symbolizes both wisdom and love. However, because there is no love without its wisdom, nor wisdom without its love, therefore it is the love accompanying wisdom that is meant by a\u00a0head; and when describing the Lord, it is the Divine love accompanying Divine wisdom.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

             <\/p>\n

            Apocalypse Revealed (Rogers) n. 538<\/b><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Having seven\u00a0heads. This symbolizes irrationality owing to their falsifying and profaning the Word’s truths.<\/span>
              \n<\/span>A\u00a0head\u00a0symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, and in an opposite sense, irrationality. However, the seven\u00a0heads\u00a0here, being the\u00a0headsof the dragon, symbolize more specifically irrationality owing to a falsification and profanation of the Word’s truths. For the number seven is predicated of things that are holy, and in an opposite sense, of things that are profane (no. 10). Consequently we are told next that on its\u00a0heads\u00a0were seen seven jewels,* and jewels symbolize the Word’s truths, there truths falsified and profaned.<\/span>
              \n<\/span>That a\u00a0head\u00a0symbolizes wisdom and intelligence is apparent from the following passages:<\/span>
              \n<\/span>
              \n<\/span>I will give you wise and intelligent men…, and I will make them your\u00a0heads. (Deuteronomy 1:13)<\/span>
              \n<\/span>
              \n<\/span>…Jehovah…has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; and He has covered your\u00a0heads, namely, the seers. (Isaiah 29:10)<\/span>
              \n<\/span>
              \n<\/span>\u00a0In Daniel 2:32 the\u00a0head\u00a0of Nebuchadnezzar’s image of fine gold symbolizes the wisdom of the first age, which existed in people of the Most Ancient Church.<\/span>
              \n<\/span>That in an opposite sense a\u00a0head\u00a0symbolizes irrationality and foolishness is apparent in the book of Psalms:<\/span>
              \n<\/span>
              \n<\/span>\u00a0God will smite the\u00a0head\u00a0of His enemies, the hairy crown of the one who walks in his guilty ways. (Psalm 68:21)<\/span>
              \n<\/span>
              \n<\/span>\u00a0In Genesis 3:15 the\u00a0head\u00a0of the serpent that would be trampled has the same symbolism, and so does “striking the\u00a0head\u00a0over much land” in Psalm 110:6, 7. So, too, does putting dust on the\u00a0head, balding the\u00a0head, or placing a hand on the\u00a0head\u00a0when people were ashamed or grieving at having behaved irrationally or unwisely (Isaiah 7:20, 15:2; Ezekiel 7:18, 27:30; Jeremiah 2:37, 14:3, 4; Lamentations 2:10; 2 Samuel 13:19).<\/span>
              \n<\/span>Moreover, seven\u00a0heads\u00a0later in the book of Revelation, namely, in Revelation 13:1, 3, 17:3, 7, 9, also symbolize irrationality owing to a falsification and profanation of truths.<\/span>
              \n<\/span>* The word translated as “jewels” here means diadems or crowns in the original Greek and Latin, but the writer’s definition of the term elsewhere make plain that he regularly and consistently interpreted it to mean jewels or gems.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

               <\/p>\n

              Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9656<\/b><\/p>\n

                \n
              1. ‘And they shall be paired from below, and at the same time paired up to its\u00a0head’ means a joining together from without and from within. This is clear from the meaning of ‘being paired’ as being made to act jointly; from the meaning of ‘from below’ as from without, since the Word portrays what exists outwardly as that which is below, and what exists inwardly as that which is above, 3084, 4599, 5146, 8325 (so that things deep down are more outward and those high up more inward, 2148, 4210, 4599); and from the meaning of ‘the\u00a0head’, in the expression ‘from below up to the\u00a0head’, as from within. The reason why ‘the\u00a0head’ has this meaning is that the\u00a0head\u00a0is above the body, and by things above are meant those that are inward, as has just been stated; and in addition to this a person’s inward powers are located in the\u00a0head, for in it reside the beginnings of the senses and motions, and the beginnings are inmost because they are the source from which everything else flows. These beginnings are like wellsprings from which streams of water flow.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>[2] This also goes to explain why inward things are portrayed in the Word as ‘the\u00a0head’, as in Isaiah,<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>Jehovah will cut off from Israel\u00a0head\u00a0and tail, the branch and the bulrush in one day. Isa. 9:14.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>In the same prophet,<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0There will not be for Egypt [any] work which the\u00a0head\u00a0and tail, branch and bulrush will do. Isa. 19:15.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0This refers to the Church, the inward things of which are ‘the\u00a0head’ and the outward ones ‘the tail’.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>[3] In the same prophet,<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0On all\u00a0heads\u00a0there is baldness; every beard is shaved off. Isa. 15:2.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0‘Baldness on\u00a0heads’ stands for the absence of good and truth in inward things, ‘beard shaved off’ for the absence of good and truth in outward things. In Jeremiah,<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0You will be put to shame by Egypt, as you were put to shame by Asshur, and your hands will be on your\u00a0head. For Jehovah has loathed your defences. Jer. 2:36, 37.<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0This describes shame on account of the loss of the Church’s forms of good and its truths, brought about by factual knowledge and by reasonings based on it, ‘Egypt’ being factual knowledge and ‘Asshur’ reasoning based on it. ‘Hands on\u00a0head’ stands for covering over inward things owing to shame. Something similar occurs elsewhere in the same prophet,<\/span>
                \n<\/span>
                \n<\/span>\u00a0They were put to shame and subjected to ignominy, and they covered their\u00a0heads. Jer. 14:3, 4; 2 Sam. 13:19.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                The head is the part of us that is highest, which means in a representative sense that it is what is closest to the Lord. Because of this the head, according to Swedenborg, represents what is inmost in us, the thing at the center of our being. In most cases this means intelligence and wisdom, […]<\/p>\n

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