Swedenborg's Old Knowledge
......William Blake in the early nineteenth and Carl Jung in the early twentieth century rediscovered the basic truths outlined by Swedenborg. Blake, as an artist, used Swedenborgian fragments to create his epics of psychic conflict. Jung, using a very Swedenborgian technique of active imagination, made contact with various autonomous archetypal entities. He used this almost shamanic knowledge to help others heal and grow toward a new level of human-ness. Blake and Jung, like Swedenborg, sustained an on-going dialogue with the Spirits of the dead. Jung’s Seven Sermons for the Dead, a gnostic tract written at the Spirits’ insistence during the depths of World War I, begins, “We have come back from Jerusalem where we found not what we sought.” Like Swedenborg, Jung concludes that heaven and hell are mental states, and that it is the living who have much to teach the dead, not the other way around. After Swedenborg, the psychic intrusion, the invasion of the Spirits, was simply a matter of time. The framework was in place, awaiting only the eruption of phenomena to animate its belief system. The question of extra-terrestrial life blurred and merged with the idea of Spirits. As Spiritualism expanded the mental horizons of the Victorians, the issue of other life in the universe gained a whole new level of meaning.
Words by Vincent Bridges from Sharing the Secrets
for Flickriver - Sophie Shapiro
I would like to thank everyone who takes an interest in my work. I am truly grateful and appreciate your ongoing support. Please take good care of yourselves in these uncertain times.
Keep well, safe & inspired.
Kind regards,
Sophie
Swedenborg's Old Knowledge
......William Blake in the early nineteenth and Carl Jung in the early twentieth century rediscovered the basic truths outlined by Swedenborg. Blake, as an artist, used Swedenborgian fragments to create his epics of psychic conflict. Jung, using a very Swedenborgian technique of active imagination, made contact with various autonomous archetypal entities. He used this almost shamanic knowledge to help others heal and grow toward a new level of human-ness. Blake and Jung, like Swedenborg, sustained an on-going dialogue with the Spirits of the dead. Jung’s Seven Sermons for the Dead, a gnostic tract written at the Spirits’ insistence during the depths of World War I, begins, “We have come back from Jerusalem where we found not what we sought.” Like Swedenborg, Jung concludes that heaven and hell are mental states, and that it is the living who have much to teach the dead, not the other way around. After Swedenborg, the psychic intrusion, the invasion of the Spirits, was simply a matter of time. The framework was in place, awaiting only the eruption of phenomena to animate its belief system. The question of extra-terrestrial life blurred and merged with the idea of Spirits. As Spiritualism expanded the mental horizons of the Victorians, the issue of other life in the universe gained a whole new level of meaning.
Words by Vincent Bridges from Sharing the Secrets
for Flickriver - Sophie Shapiro
I would like to thank everyone who takes an interest in my work. I am truly grateful and appreciate your ongoing support. Please take good care of yourselves in these uncertain times.
Keep well, safe & inspired.
Kind regards,
Sophie