AC 10237 - washing

AC 10237
. . . by "washing" is signified purification;
by "waters" are signified the truths of faith;
and by the "laver" containing the water is signified the natural,
because all spiritual purification is effected in the natural.
A person has an external and an internal;
the external is called the natural,
and also the natural person;
and the internal is called the spiritual,
and also the spiritual person,
for the reason that the internal of a person
is in the spiritual world where spirits and angels are,
and his external is in the natural world where men are.
Both the internal and the external person are purified,
the internal in heaven,
and the external while the person lives in the world,
thus in the natural which is in the world.

[2] The reason why purification goes on in the natural . . .,
is that the truths of faith come to clear perception in the natural;
for there they are among the memory-knowledges,
or things of the memory,
which are clearly perceived when they are thought of.
But this is not the case
with the things that are thought of in the internal person;
these do not come to clear perception
while the person is in the world,
because the ideas in the internal person are spiritual.
Consequently, it is that purification is effected in the natural.
That it is effected by means of the truths of faith
can be seen from the fact
that those who are being purified
must not only know what evil and falsity are, 
but must also acknowledge them,
and then hold them in aversion and shun them.
When this is done,
then for the first time is the person purified from them . . ..