704. And great hail. - That this signifies infernal falsity destroying the truths and goods of the church, is evident from the signification of hail, as denoting infernal falsity destroying the truths of the church (concerning which see above, n. 503), and because it is called great hail, and great is spoken of good, and much of truth (concerning which see above, n. 655, 696), therefore also great hail signifies infernal falsity destroying the goods of the church. Beside lightnings, thunders, and an earthquake, great hail also was seen, because in the spiritual world there are all the phenomena that are in the natural world, as mists, clouds, rain, snow, and hail, and these are indeed appearances, but real, arising from correspondences. For when the celestial and spiritual Divine things, that belong to the affections and the thoughts therefrom, thus to the good of love and the truth of that good, with the angels, descend into the next lower sphere, they put on forms like those of natural things, and are thus presented before the eyes in visible form; in this way correspondences are formed. The case is similar with lightnings and thunders, and hail. Hail is formed by the flowing down of Divine Truth where the evil are, who by reasonings draw false conclusions, and with these oppose truths and destroy them. For when the Divine Truth flows out of the heavens into the sphere encompassing the evil, which, formed from their evil affections and the falsities of their thoughts therefrom, appears like a mist (nimbus), then that influx is turned into various things, and into hail with those who think from evils and falsities in opposition to the goods and truths of heaven and of the church, and vehemently fight against them. The reason of this is, that their affections, and the thoughts therefrom, which are of falsity against truths, are void of all heavenly heat, and therefore the rain which then descends out of the heavens into the lower parts, congeals into snow or hail, and this hail destroys all the green and growing things that are round about them, and also their habitations, just as is said of the hail in Egypt. The hail destroys, because the things that are green and growing signify the truths of the church, and their habitations its goods, which such destroy in themselves. This takes place, as was said, from correspondence. The hail also appears congealed into stones larger or smaller according as the attacks made upon truths by falsities are stronger or milder; the larger stones are called, in the Word, hail-stones, because stones also signify falsities. From these things it is now evident why great hail signifies infernal falsity destroying the truths and goods of the church.