541. Hell, like heaven, is distinguished into societies, and into as many societies as there are in heaven; for every society in heaven has a society opposite to it in hell, and this for the sake of equilibrium. But the societies in hell are distinguished in accordance with evils and the falsities therefrom, because the societies in heaven are distinguished in accordance with goods and the truths therefrom. That for every good there is an opposite evil, and for every truth an opposite falsity, can be known from this, that nothing can exist without relation to its opposite, and what anything is in kind and degree can be known from its opposite, and from this all perception and sensation is derived. For this reason the Lord continually provides that every society of heaven has an opposite in some society of hell, and that there is an equilibrium between the two.