5269. And the seven empty ears parched with the east wind. That this signifies states of the multiplication of falsity that infests the exterior natural, is evident from the signification of "ears" of corn as being memory-knowledges, which are truths of the exterior natural (as shown above, n. 5266), and therefore in the opposite sense falsities there (n. 5202-5204). What is meant by being "empty and parched with the east wind" may be seen above.