Spiritual Stars of the Millennium - Emanuel Sweedenborg
1688 - StockHolm - London 1772



Emanuel Swedberg, later known as Swedenborg, was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on January 29th 1688. Sweden is a vast, thinly populated country, full of mountains and forests, lakes with romantic names, and rivers full of floating logs. During the short, light summers, wild flowers spring up everywhere, and there are mosquitoes; in the winter, darkness and snow! Towards Lapland in the north, one sees the aurora borealis, and, in summer, the midnight sun. The mountains are rich in copper and iron; mining and smelting are important industries, charcoal being obtained from forest timber. Stockholm, the capital city, is on the south-east coast, at a point where Lake Malaren empties into the Baltic. It is built on both sides of the effluence, and on many rocky islands interconnected by bridges and ferry boats. Shipping is everywhere. Today, Sweden is an industrial country, and the Swedes are among the most highly civilized nations in the world; but in the eighteenth century it was a cultural backwater.

The word Swedenborg has no connection with the name of his country, which should be "Sverige" - as every stamp-collector knows! "Swedberg" or "Svedberg" means a burnt hill, and was the name of the family's ancestral homestead near Falun in Dalama. "Swedenborg" is a more aristocratic form of this name - "borg" (castle) instead of "berg" (hill) and the definite article "en" added. "Swed-en-borg." Emanuel's father was the Reverend Jesper Swedberg, of the Swedish Lutheran Church. When Emanuel was born, he was regimental chaplain, resident in the royal barracks. Later he became chaplain to King Charles XI, then dean and professor of theology at the Upsala Academy (or university). Eventually he was appointed bishop of Skara in central Sweden, where he enjoyed considerable fame and influence. (Skara Cathedral is one of the finest in the country.) Today he is mostly remembered as the author of hymns, many of which are still in current use.

Childhood and Youth

Emanuel was a student at Upsala, graduating Master of Arts at 21. He then travelled abroad for five years to complete his education, visiting England, Holland and France. While in England he lodged with craftsmen such as watchmakers, bookbinders, printers and optical instrument makers, so that he could learn their skills. He met many of the intellectuals of his day, including Flamsteed the Astronomer Royal, with whom he studied at Greenwich observatory, learning how to make astronomical calculations. He himself devised a method for finding the longitude at sea by observations of the moon. He designed a number of mechanical inventions, including a suction pump, a machine gun, an ear trumpet, a glider-type aircraft, an airtight stove, and a means of obtaining mechanical power from heat.

Civil Engineer

On his return to Sweden in 1715 (aged 27) Emanuel lodged with his father at Skara, and published a technical journal: "Daedalus Hyperboreus" ("The Northern Inventor") which ran to six issues. In it he presented a number of his own inventions, and also descriptions of inventions made by the famous engineer Christopher Polhammer (later known as Polhem), who was constructing canals, docks, salt works, etc. This brought young Emanuel into close personal contact with Polhammer, who took him into his home and began to employ him as his assistant. (There was a vain hope that Emanuel might marry one of his daughters.) It was Polhammer who introduced him to the youthful warrior king Charles XII at his court at Lund in the south. Emanuel presented the king with a specially-bound set of his "Daedalus Hyperboreus,", and they had many lively conversations on technical and mathematical topics. They even amused themselves planning a new way of counting numbers, using eights instead of tens! Later, Emanuel was to help the king in his war against Norway, by organizing the transportation of a number of ships on brushwood and rollers, across bogs, marshes and hilly country, down into Norwegian waters. The project had a tragic ending, as the king was killed during the subsequent siege of Fredrikshall. His sister, Ulrika Eleanora, now became Queen, and ennobled the Swedberg family, changing their name to "SWEDENBORG." The bishop himself retained his former name: Jesper Swedberg.

Mining Expert

Before Charles XII 's untimely death, he had nominated Emanuel to the Board of Mines - a royal commission which controlled the important copper and iron industry of Sweden. His actual appointment was delayed until 1723, after which he served as Assessor for 24 years - until 1747. The members met regularly in the large square stone building in Stockholm which contained their offices, library and committee rooms, and a laboratory for assaying metals. Swedenborg also had to travel about the country, on horseback or by coach, inspecting blast-furnaces and mines, sometimes actually descending shafts on a rope. He advised the owners on improved methods for extracting metal from the ore; he settled quarrels, and judged in labour disputes. On three occasions he made long journeys abroad - mostly in Germany - to study mining methods developed in other lands; and he introduced the best of them into his own country. All this time he was writing and publishing books: on mining and minerals, mathematics, chemistry, physics, astronomy, cosmology, and other scientific and philosophical subjects, which brought him fame and honour. By the time he was fifty, he was acknowledged as one of the world's most learned men. In many areas Swedenborg was far in advance of his times. He pioneered the "nebular hypothesis" to explain the creation of the stars; he described the molecular structure of crystals; he investigated fire before the discovery of oxygen, and magnetism before the discovery of electricity - and postulated that matter consisted of "points of pure motion," long before the splitting of the atom!

Statesman

As a nobleman, Swedenborg took his seat regularly in the House of Nobles (one of the four Houses which constituted the Diet - the others being the Clergy, Burghers, and Peasants.) Sweden was at that time in a state of utter bankruptcy as a result of Charles XII 's disastrous wars. Overseas trade had almost come to a standstill. Paper money was flooding the country; inflation was completely out of control, and people were' pawning their furniture and possessions to provide themselves with food (warehouses were crammed with unredeemed property.) The government itself was shaky, and some politicians were urging the overthrow of the monarchy. Swedenborg devoted time and energy in an attempt to stem inflation and solve these terrible problems, writing "memorials" which were placed before the Diet and various commissions. These memorials were not always heeded, but they reveal Swedenborg's remarkable practical spirit, and his clear understanding of political, economic and fiscal realities.

Search for the Soul

Though so great a scholar, Swedenborg was not satisfied with his knowledge. One problem was continually nagging at his mind. "What was the human soul? Where was it situated? - and how did it act upon the body to make it function? What becomes of the soul at death?" To find answers to these questions he decided to take up the study of anatomy, and search for the soul himself! Dissection of human corpses was already being performed at Upsala, but the main centre of this work was Paris; so Swedenborg obtained an extended leave of absence from his official duties on the Board of Mines (in 1736, aged 48) and travelled to Paris, by coach and canal boat, to study anatomy with the French doctors. Always he was enquiring: "Where is the soul?" At one time he thought it must be in the blood stream; at another time in the brain; then, again, in the heart and lungs. At last he began to see that it was not confined to any one particular organ, but was in the whole body - in every part at once. The soul was, in fact, in the human form, and the physical body took its form from the soul, not vice versa. The soul was the "efficient cause," building up, vitalizing and governing the physical body at every point. Where, then, was the soul? Within the whole physical body, but on a different and more interior plane of being. Why can't we see the soul? Because it is made of spiritual substance, whereas our eyes and other sense organs are made of matter and can therefore only sense matter. If our spiritual eyes were opened (he argued) we could see the spiritual body - but that was something still to be achieved! In the meantime he concluded that if he could get a clear idea of the operation or function of every organ of the physical body, then he would be able to understand the nature of the soul. The great anatomists of his day had already made considerable progress in their description of the structure of the body, but little had as yet been done in what we now call "physiology" - the study of function. This was the area that interested Swedenborg. He mostly accepted the observations of the anatomists, but brought his penetrating intellect to bear upon the interpretation of these observations. So he began to prepare a series of massive volumes on PHYSIOLOGY, explaining many things which had never been previously understood, especially with regard to the brain, the spinal cord, the ductless glands and the nervous system.

Asessment of the Church

Being the son of a Lutheran bishop, Emanuel Swedenborg had had a great deal of experience of the Protestant Church, and was fully aware of how external and worldly it had become. But France was a Roman Catholic country, and now for the first time he was living among Catholics. This interested him tremendously, and he devoted his spare time to making a detailed study of the state of the Roman Catholic church, with lists of the monasteries and convents, the number of priests, their incomes, etc. This led him to make a journey across the Alps through Italy to Rome, where he obtained an audience with the Pope. He came to the conclusion that, though there were many thousands of priests, they had little influence on the spiritual life of the people. In fact, it appeared to him that all branches of the so-called Christian church at that time, whether Protestant or Catholic, were DEAD.

A Seer is born

After completing his anatomical and physiological studies at the University of Paris, Emanuel Swedenborg returned home to Stockholm (in 1740) and for three years continued writing his great multi-volume work on the human body. He called it "Regnum Animate," meaning, "The Kingdom of the Soul" (from animus, the soul.) Unfortunately, translators have introduced confusion by calling it the Animal Kingdom, which is something different altogether. It was now 1743. He was 55 years of age, and accounted one of the most learned men alive. He was deeply religious; but this was not particularly noticed, because in those days piety was fashionable. It had probably never entered his head that he would become a great religious reformer, let alone a seer and revelator. But strange things were beginning to happen. He was now on the move again, travelling to Amsterdam and London to publish some of his thousands of sheets of manuscript. (Sweden lacked the resources for producing works of this magnitude.) While in Holland he began to experience psychic changes, which at first he resisted. Heavy dreams - some beautiful, some horrific; fainting fits, and long periods of unconsciousness. His breathing changed. He heard voices at night, and saw lights. He was assaulted by evil spirits, till he sweated in agony. He felt that his vast knowledge of the sciences was ebbing away into forgetfulness, leaving him as ignorant as a child; then he received it back again, as a gift from God. He realized he was being called and prepared for a new work which would necessitate his giving up the further publishing of his scientific works; but he did not wish to do this, as he was hungry for fame for himself. Actually he did proceed with the publication of three large volumes - two in Amsterdam and one in London.

The Beatific Vision

The progressive opening of Swedenborg's spiritual sight is described in some detail in his diary of 1743-4, later published under the title "Swedenborg's Journal of Dreams. " He is here shown passing through what might be called the phase of mysticism - a kind of Freudian dream-world associated rather with the psychic consciousness than with the spiritual. And, as with other mystics, his inner experience included a beatific vision of our beloved Lord Jesus. It was on the night of April 6th 1744, shortly after Easter. He was in a hotel in Delft, near the Hague, Holland, when he found himself, after agonized temptation and deep prayer, actually sitting in our Lord's bosom, seeing Him face to face. He reports: "Though I cannot describe his face, it was a countenance of holy mien, and smiling. I believe that He had had such a countenance while He was in the world. He spoke to me, and asked me if I had a bill of health. I answered, 'Lord, Thou knowest better than 1.' He said, 'Well then, do it! ' This I supposed to mean, 'Love Me truly,' or, 'Do what you have promised.' (0 God, give me grace for this!) I awoke, trembling.

His Call

Unfortunately Swedenborg did not continue his journal into 1745, but we hear from other sources that the Lord appeared to him again the following April, 1745, while he was having dinner alone in his room in a London hotel. Evidently by that time his inner eyes were fully open, for the Lord commissioned him to give to the world a new revelation of truth, for the building up of a new Church. From that day onwards, for 27 years until his death in 1772, he was an inhabitant of both worlds. While living a normal life on earth as to his natural body, he was also conscious as to his spiritual body in the spiritual world. He met and talked familiarly with angels in heaven, newly awakened spirits in the intermediate region, and with devils and satans in hell. He visited them in their homes, shared their lives, and discussed every kind of subject with them.

New Work

Abandoning the remainder of his scientific writings, Swedenborg returned home to Stockholm and began his new work. He learned Hebrew, and read the Bible through in its original languages (Hebrew and Greek.) He wrote thousands of pages of notes on the spiritual meaning of the Word, as it was gradually being unfolded to him. He began a "Spiritual Diary" which he continued to keep for many years, recording the day-by-day events which he experienced on the "other side." In 1747 (aged 59) he retired from the Board of Mines, and placed himself full-time at the Lord's disposal. The five years we have been considering, from 1743 to 1747 (age 55-59) were a period of change: a dawn between night and day, a time of half-light, during which he was becoming accustomed to his new complex life-style. What he wrote during these five years was experimental: he was feeling his way, learning as he went. But, on entering his 60th year, his preparation seems to have been complete. After that, he wrote on doctrinal matters with a new authority. There was nothing of verbal dictation or automatic writing; his own highly-trained rational mind was employed to the full. But he was now so fully enlightened that he was able to claim that his theological writings were "from the Lord alone.'

The Writings of the New Church

Swedenborg spent the last 24 years of his life writing and publishing the great works which contain the "Heavenly Doctrines." They were written in Latin, like most learned books in those days. Here are the titles given in English: Heavenly Secrets ("Arcana Coelestia") in 8 large volumes, published in London, one volume per year, from 1749 to 1756. Now printed in English in 12 volumes. They give the spiritual meaning of every verse of Genesis and Exodus.
Swedenborg also wrote a number of important theological works which he did not publish. These have been printed since his death, and so are called "posthumous." The largest of these is "The Apocalypse Explained" now published in six volumes.

Living a Normal Life

During all this period, Swedenborg's outer life in the world appeared to be quite normal, giving no clue as to what was going on within his soul. He travelled extensively, staying in England, Denmark, Holland and Germany. When at home in Stockholm, he took an active part in the government of his country, his advice being frequently sought on political and economic affairs. He was a keen gardener, importing exotic plants from the West Indies and America, and his garden was open to the public. When the British Admiralty offered a prize of £20,000 for a method of ascertaining a ship's position at sea, Swedenborg travelled all the way to England to present the method he had devised, and was keenly disappointed when he failed to win the prize! He was on intimate terms with the Swedish royal family and a regular visitor at the palace. Everybody agreed that he was a charming and dignified old gentleman, with a clear brain and a remarkable knowledge on almost every subject.

Abnormal Psychic Powers

Yet all this time he was living another life, in continual intercourse with angels and spirits in the spiritual world. We shall hear later how he witnessed the Last Judgement in the year 1757. He was able to obtain information from a "dead" man as to the whereabouts of certain missing documents. He told the Queen of Sweden the contents of a letter she had secretly received from her brother the King of Prussia, at a time when Sweden and Prussia were at war. He reported the murder of Peter III Emperor of Russia at the time it occurred, before anyone else knew about it. He told the people of Gothenburg, soon after his arrival there from England, of a fire that had broken out in Stockholm, 300 miles away (this was before telephones or railways!) And he correctly foretold the date and time of his own death.

His Death

He "died" in London on March 29th 1772, aged 84. His physical body was interred in the Swedish church in London. When this church was demolished in 1908, the coffin was taken to Sweden and placed with honour in a magnificent marble sarcophagus in Upsala cathedral. In recent times, interest has been aroused about Swedenborg's skull. It is true that, while the body was lying in the vaults of the Swedish church in London, the skull was removed by a Swedish sailor, who hoped, in vain, to make a lot of money by selling it as a relic. After the thief's death in Sweden, the skull was returned to London, but before being put back in the coffin, it was exhibited, together with other skulls, in a phrenological collection; and the story goes that the wrong one was actually replaced, while the genuine skull was put up for sale in an antique shop!

SPIRITUAL WORLD ... from the writings of Swedenborg

Where is the Spiritual World?

The world in which we are now consciously living, with its earths, rocks and water, plants and animals; the air we breathe, the sky above us, the sun, moon and stars . . . these all constitute the NATURAL WORLD, which is also called the "material" or "physical" world. Our physical bodies are part of it, including our eyes, nose and mouth, our brain, our sense of touch. Thus we can only see, hear, taste and touch natural, physical or material objects. We know, however, that there is also a spiritual world. Where is it? Some say "Up in the sky!" Yet you can go high up in a jet plane or space craft and you will not find it there. Man has already visited the moon, and one day he will travel to the planets, and even perhaps to the stars; yet wherever he goes the things he sees will be natural, material or physical, just like the ones here on earth. The truth is that the spiritual world is HERE - all around, below and above us, just as the natural world is. If someone were to ask you where the natural world is, you would have to answer "Here! ' ' The same answer would be correct if they asked you where the spiritual world is. BUT - the spiritual world is on an entirely different plane of being, and is made of a different kind of substance altogether. It is not made of matter but of spiritual substance. Therefore our eyes, which are made of matter, cannot see it, nor can our hands feel it. We can walk right through its most solid objects. Because of this, some people have doubts whether the spiritual world exists; yet it is here, quite as "real" as anything physical - even more real; and we are part of it, just as we are part of the natural world.

The Natural and Spiritual Worlds The Spiritual World Visible after Death

When a man is said to "die," it is only his physical body that dies. He is drawn out of it, and it rots away, since his spiritual body is no longer vitalizing it. It has served its purpose; he will never need it again. (An ocean diver no longer needs his diving suit when his work at the bottom of the sea is completed.) The dead man's consciousness slips over into his spiritual body: which indeed he had always possessed, but previously without being conscious of it. The spiritual body is adapted to life on the spiritual plane, just as the physical body was adapted to life on the physical plane. Moreover, spiritual substance appears just as "solid" to the spiritual eyes, as physical objects appear to the physical eyes. At first after death there is no awareness of any change. The newly-awakened spirit finds himself in a body closely resembling his former body, with all the organs and limbs complete: eyes, ears, hands, feet; a blood system, breathing apparatus, and so on - but all made of spiritual substance, and responding to spiritual stimuli. His situation is now reversed: natural objects are now invisible to him. He walks right through them as if they did not exist, since he lacks the organs with which to register them. But he now exercises sensory organs which make him fully conscious of spiritual objects.

All who have discarded their physical bodies and are living consciously in the spiritual world are called "spirits." The good ones are "angels" and the evil ones are "satans" or "devils." They are not at all like a breath of air or a puff of smoke, nor do they appear to one another as ghosts. On the contrary, if a spirit - could see you now, he would probably think you were a ghost, or a puff of smoke! Are you a ghost? Of course not! You seem to yourself to be real and solid, with your organs and limbs complete. So will you feel yourself to be, after death. Maybe you have a physical handicap now? Perhaps a missing hand, arm or leg? After death your body will be perfect. Death, then, merely involves a switch-over of consciousness from the physical body to the spiritual body, after which the physical body is disposed of. You will not need it again: it can be buried, burnt, cut up by medical students, eaten by wild beasts - you yourself will never know what happens to it, nor will you care! When a man dies, he does not make ajourney of any kind; he just stays where he is. But he now looks out into the spiritual realm instead of into the natural realm. The process of death is so smooth and easy, and the new environment so closely resembles the old, that many people, when they first wake up after death, do not realize what has happened to them. Those of a materialistic nature who have confirmed themselves in a denial of life after death, continue to deny it, even after they have been "dead" for hundreds of years by earthly reckoning! Swedenborg met many such, who argued hotly that they were still alive on earth, and that when they died they would be snuffed out like a candle!

Diary Extract:

The spiritual world is essentially the world of affection and thought. Yet it manifests before the eyes of the spirit in its own correspondential forms, presenting a world that is experienced by the senses of the spiritual body. Swedenborg stresses the apparent solidity and greater reality of this visible and sensible world, which is a perfect mirror of the current state of the spirit experiencing it

The representations that occur in the next life are appearances. But they are living representations because they come from the light of life. The light of life is Divine Wisdom, which is received from the Lord alone. Consequently all things that come into being from that light, unlike those from the light of the world, are real. For this reason people in the next life have said several times that the things they behold in that world are real, whereas those that man beholds are by contrast not real. The reason for this is that the former are living and so have a direct influence on their life, whereas the latter are not living and so have no direct influence on their life, except in so far as things with them belonging to the light of the woridjoin themselves appropriately and by correspondence to those belonging to the light of heaven. AC 3485 • Walkings, goings, and departures are nothing else but changes of the state of the interiors; but still, before the eyes of the spirits and angels, they appear exactly like walkings, goings, and departures . . . those appearances are so real that the spirits are altogether unaware that they are from that origin; nor are they willing to know that they are thence; and the angels of heaven know, indeed, but do not talk about it. This is of the Lord's Divine Providence, in order that everyone may seem to himself to live and act from himself. Spiritual Diary 5646

The things which exist in the spiritual are even more real than those in the natural world; for that which in nature is added to the spiritual is dead, and does not produce reality, but diminishes it. AE 12183 The spirit person rejoices in every sense, both external and internal, that he enjoyed in the world; he sees as before, he hears and speaks as before, smells and tastes, and when touched, he feels the touch as before; he also strives, desires, longs for, thinks, reflects, is affected, loves, wills, as before; and one who is delighted with studies reads and writes as before. In a word when a man passes from one life into the other, or from one world into the other, it is like passing from one place into another, carrying with him all things that he possesses in himself as a man; so that it cannot be said that after death, which is only the death of the earthly body, the man will have lost anything of his own. Heaven and Hell 462

In general, whatever appears in heaven is wholly similar to what exists in our material world in its three kingdoms . . . Gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, stones precious and not precious, ground, earth, mountains, hills, valleys, waters, fountains, and other things pertaining to the mineral kingdom appear there. Parks, gardens, forests, fruit trees of every kind, lawns, cornfields, plains full of flowers, herbs, and grasses of every kind appear there; also things derived from them, as oils, wines, all kinds ofjuices, and other things belonging to the vegetable kingdom. Animals of the earth, fowls of the heaven, fishes of the sea, reptiles, and these of every kind, appear there; and they are so much like those on our earth that they cannot be distinguished. I have seen them, and could not perceive any difference. But still there is this difference, that the things that appear in heaven are from a spiritual origin; while those in our world are from a material origin. Apocalypse Explained 926

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