2492. CONCERNING A CERTAIN KIND OF SERPENT. [De genere serpentis cujusdam.] There are genera and species of those who are serpents, or who in the life of the body were crafty, and in the other life are called serpents. That they are called serpents comes from this, that before the eyes of angels they appear like serpents; for when the angels inspect them, they are, as it were, turned into serpents before the eyes of spirits, which was plainly shown me previously, so that I supposed them to be wholly turned into knots of serpent forms; then do they not only appear so to spirits, but also to themselves, for the angels see their interiors, and then [their] frauds, wiles, appear before the eyes of spirits like reptiles, to whom they are such, because in serpents is poison, by which in nature is represented wiles [cunning].