civil laws, or with a view to
reputation, honors, and gain, are all of them evil in heart, and are
in truths and goods not in respect to their spirit but only in
respect to their body; and consequently, when their externals are
taken away from them in the other life, and their internals which
pertain to their spirit are revealed, they are wholly in evils and
falsities, and not at all in truths and goods; and it is thus made
clear that truths and goods resided only in their memory merely as
things known about, and that they brought them forth therefrom when
talking, putting on a semblance of good seemingly from spiritual love
and faith. When such are let into their internals and thus into their
evils they are no longer able to speak what is true, but only what is
false; since they speak from evils; for to speak what is true from
evils is then impossible, since the spirit is nothing but his own
evil, and from evil what is false goes forth. Every evil spirit is
reduced to this state before he is cast into hell (see above,
n. 499-512). This is called being vastated in respect to truths and
goods.{1} Vastation is simply being let into one's internals, that
is, into what is the spirit's own, or into the spirit itself (see
above, n. 425).

{Footnote 1} Before the evil are cast down into hell they are
devastated of truths and goods, and when these have been taken
away they are of themselves carried into hell (n. 6977, 7039,
7795, 8210, 8232, 9330). The Lord does not devastate them, but
they devastate themselves (n. 7643, 7926). Every evil has in it
what is false; therefore those who are in evil are also in
falsity, although some do not know it (n. 7577, 8094). Those
who are in evil must needs think what is false when they think
from themselves (n. 7437). All who are in hell speak falsities
from hell (n. 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357, 7392, 7689).

552. When man after death comes into this state he is no longer a
man-spirit, as he was in his first state (of which above, n.
491-498), but is truly a spirit; for he is truly a spirit who has a
face and body that correspond to his internals which pertain to his
mind, that is, has an external form that is a type or effigy of his
internals. A spirit is such after he has passed through the first and
second states spoken of above; consequently when he is looked upon
his character is at once known, not only from his face and from his
body, but also from his speech and m