6406. 'And he will ravage the heel' means consequent disorder in the natural. This is clear from the meaning of 'ravaging' as dislodging him from a state of truth, as immediately above in 6405, thus upsetting order or creating disorder; and from the meaning of 'the heel' as the lowest part of the natural, dealt with in 259, 4938-4952. From this it is evident that 'he will ravage the heel' means disorder in the natural. people performing works motivated by truth but not as yet by good inevitably introduce disorder into their natural, since works have an effect on the natural; and as a consequence they cannot help closing their interiors to the extent that they perform such works, since the natural forms the base on which the interiors rest. But if there is disorder in the natural, the things that flow in from the interiors become disordered too; and these things that disordered lack light and are in gloom. This being so, those people cannot see what the truth is, but in that gloom and lack of light they seize on as the truth what is not in fact the truth, and this is what then motivates them in their performance of works. Furthermore works are absolutely vital, for they are charity and faith when put into effect and expressed in life. Who fails to see that without works charity does not exist? Works are nothing else than actual goodness and truth expressed in an outward form; for when good which exists in the will and truth which exists in the understanding are put into action they are called works. From this it is evident that the nature of the goodness and truth determines that of the works.