/Revelation/ xii. 2. And she being with child cried, travail-
ing in birth, and pained to be delivered.
Travail and joy
562:24 Also the spiritual idea is typified by a woman in tra-
vail, waiting to be delivered of her sweet promise, but re-
membering no more her sorrow for joy that
562:27 the birth goes on; for great is the idea, and the
travail portentous.
/Revelation/ xii. 3. And there appeared another wonder in
562:30 heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads
and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The dragon as a type
563:1 Human sense may well marvel at discord, while, to a
diviner sense., harmony is the real and discord the unreal.
563:3 We may well be astonished at sin, sickness, and
death. We may well be perplexed at human
fear; and still more astounded at hatred, which lifts
563:6 its hydra head, showing its horns in the many inventions
of evil. But why should we stand aghast at nothingness?
The great red dragon symbolizes a lie, - the belief
563:9 that substance, life, and intelligence can be material.
This dragon stands for the sum total of human error.
The ten horns of the dragon typify the belief that mat-
563:12 ter has power of its own, and that by means of an
evil mind in matter the Ten Commandments can be
broken.
The sting of the serpent
563:15 The Revelator lifts the veil from this embodiment of
all evil, and beholds its awful character; but he also
sees the nothingness of evil and the allness of
563:18 God. The Revelator sees that old serpent,
whose name is devil or evil, holding untiring watch, that
he may bite the heel of truth and seemingly impede the
563:21 offspring of the spiritual idea, which is prolific in health,
holiness, and immortality.
/Revelation/ xii. 4. And his tail drew the third part of the
563:24 stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the
dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be
delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Animal tendency