348 HEAVEN and HELL §570
In these and many other passages fi re means the craving of love for one-
self and love of the world, and the smoke from the fi re means the falsity
that comes from this evil.571 Because hellfi re means the urge to do the evils prompted by love for
oneself and the world, and because this kind of urge is characteristic of
everyone in hell (see the preceding chapter), when the hells are opened
one sees the kind of smoky fi re you get in confl agrations. An intense fi re
rises from the hells where love for oneself rules, and a fl ickering one from
the hells where love of the world rules.
When the hells are closed, though, this fi re is not visible. Instead,
there is something dark, as though made from thickened smoke. Still,
that fi re is raging inside, as you can tell from the radiating heat. It is
like the heat of ruins after a confl agration, or in some instances like the
heat of an active furnace, or in others like that of a hot bath. When this
heat fl ows into us it rouses our cravings—hatred and vengefulness in evil
people, and dementia in the ill.
This kind of fi re or heat is characteristic of people who are engrossed
in the aforementioned loves because in spirit they are in touch with these
hells even while they are still living in their bodies.
It does need to be known, though, that the people in the hells are not
actually in fi re. The fi re is an appearance. They do not actually feel any
burning, only the kind of warmth they knew in the world. The reason
there seems to be fi re is correspondence, since love corresponds to fi re,
and everything we see in the spiritual world has its visible form from its
correspondence.572 We should bear in mind that this hellish fi re or heat changes into an
intense cold when warmth fl ows in from heaven. Then the people there
shiver as though they had feverish chills and are in inner torment. This is
because of their absolute opposition to the Divine; and heaven’s warmth,
which is divine love, snuffs out the warmth of hell, which is love for
oneself, and along with it the very fi re of their life. This is what causes
the cold, the shivering, and the pain. It also then brings about darkness
there, and folly and confusion.
This does not happen very often, though; only when there is need to
quell rebellions that are getting out of hand.
573 Since hellfi re means all the craving to do evil that fl ows from love
for oneself, that same fi re also means the kind of torment that occurs in
the hells. This is because the impulses that arise from that love are urges
to wound people who do not offer respect and deference and reverence.
To the extent that rage takes charge, and the hatred and vengefulness