His Spiritual Sight opened, and the Conditions of his Seership.
We will now proceed, without circumlocution, to lay before our readers, in all its fullness, the claim which Swedenborg made, at this period, to open intercourse with the spiritual world, under the sanction and protection of the Lord. This assumption runs through the whole of his after life, and without a clear idea of its nature and conditions, we shall be unable rightly to appreciate aught else that follows. In one of his letters, he says, “I have been called to a holy office by the Lord himself, who most graciously manifested himself to me, his servant, in the year 1743, when he opened my sight to a view of the spiritual world, and granted me the privilege of conversing with spirits and angels, which I enjoy to this day. From that time, I began to print and publish various arcana that have been seen by me, or revealed to me; as respecting heaven and hell, the state of man after death, the true worship of God, the spiritual sense of the Word, with many other most important matters conducive to salvation and true wisdom.” Again, in the preface to his work entitled, “Arcana Cœlestia,” he writes: “Of the Lord’s Divine mercy, it has been granted me now for several years to be constantly and uninterruptedly in company with spirits and angels, hearing them converse with each other, and conversing with them. Hence it has been permitted me to hear and see stupendous things in the other life, which have never before come to the knowledge of any man, nor entered his imagination. I have there been instructed concerning different kinds of spirits, and the state of souls after death; concerning hell, or the lamentable state of the unfaithful; concerning heaven, or the most happy state of the faithful; and particularly concerning the doctrine of faith which is acknowledged throughout all heaven.”
We are aware that these pretensions will be received by many with ridicule, and by some with contempt, arising from a distaste for spiritual subjects; while by a few they will be treated with respectful attention. All that we ask, is, a little patience; and to readers of every class, we would say,—Do not be hasty; do not prejudge the matter; condemn not till you are conversant with the whole circumstances of the case. Swedenborg’s claim, we admit, does appear startling; but to greet its announcement with the laugh of scepticism, and to deny its validity, as many do, without an attempt at examination, is anything but philosophical—is anything but righteous.
No reader of this sketch can have failed to perceive the high philosophical genius, and perfect truthfulness of Swedenborg; and all must agree with us in believing that wilful deception was an impossibility with such a man. No explanation of what Swedenborg himself calls the opening of his spiritual sight, can be offered, that is more transparently ridiculous than that of imposture. The degree of vehemence with which some have preferred this charge against him, may be taken as an accurate index of their ignorance of the man, or of their inability to discern a truthful and earnest spirit.
No denial of the possibility of such spiritual vision as is claimed by Swedenborg, can be accepted from the Christian. Such denial is alone the privilege of the professed materialist. We all know how much of our loved and common faith rests on claims that are quite as startling as those of Swedenborg. From the visions of Abraham to those of John in Patmos, the whole Scriptural narrative is interwoven with supernatural incident. Now, how is it that we yield such ready faith to whatever is related in Scripture, however marvelous, and have so much wonder to spare over the unbelieving Jews? The Rev. O. Prescott Hiller, in a short memoir of Swedenborg, prefixed to a collection of “Gems” from his writings, has some very apposite remarks on this subject. He says: “Swedenborg states that there are three heavens; so does Paul, for he speaks of the ‘third heaven.’ Swedenborg affirms, calmly, that his spiritual senses were opened and elevated in such a manner that he might have a perception of that state of existence, and see and hear what is there. So does Paul. Swedenborg states that he had, in spirit, been permitted to behold the Lord: so does Paul:—‘Have I not seen,’ said he, ‘Jesus Christ our Lord?’ (1 Cor. ix. 1.) Thus parallel are the cases. But, exclaims the prejudiced observer: ‘Paul! Paul! Paul was an apostle! Paul was one of the founders of the Christian Church! Paul lived eighteen hundred years ago! There are no visions now-a-days! The case is entirely different!’ To these exclamations it may be replied: Your last remark is but a begging of the question under consideration. We affirm that though indeed unfrequent, yet there are occasionally spiritual visions in these times, as well as in former, and that there is good and very strong testimony that a remarkable case of the kind exists in the instance of this philosopher, Swedenborg, not by any means on account of his own declaration merely, but from the nature of the truths and statements brought forth by him, of which our own minds, enlightened, we trust, by reason and God’s Word, are the judges. The burden of proof—it may be continued in answer—falls upon you to show by what law of Divine order, by what change in the character and structure of man’s mind, a spiritual vision can not exist now, as well as in the time of Paul,—in the eighteenth or nineteenth, as well as in the first century. The truth is, antiquity has a wonderful charm for the mind, and a great power over it: ‘distance lends enchantment to the view.’ It is not difficult to believe anything, however wonderful, to have taken place in that misty and mysterious region, the distant past; but now in these dull, common times, to believe such strange things to be capable of happening, seems absurd. But do you not suppose that those times, to the men then living, appeared as dull and common-place as our times to us? Did not the regardless rain fall on Paul’s head, as well as on yours and mine? and this very sun and moon light his steps as well as ours? Did not Paul, do you think, rise often in the morning with a heavy heart, and after breakfast, go forth to his duties, or sit down to write his epistles, sad and oppressed in spirit, dejected at the thought of the heavy responsibilities upon him, and awed with the idea that he must address the Athenians to-morrow? And when at length he stood before them and began, did they not ask: ‘Who is this?’ Think you that gaping crowd knew anything about any great and celebrated Paul, whose name has become so familiar to our ears? They had not heard of such a person. ‘And some said, What will this babbler say? others, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods; because he preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed; among whom was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.’ (Acts xvii. 16-34.) Here we have a picture of human nature, as it was, and as it still is. A new person comes forward, a stranger, unheard of before, and utters strange ideas, something new and unusual, something different from what men have been accustomed to hear, and think of, and believe; most of the hearers jeer and mock, and turn away, calling him a babbler; some are rather pleased at some things they have heard, but the interest has not taken sufficient hold of them to make them anxious to pursue the subject farther just now, and they go away and forget what they have heard; a few, whose minds were in a receptive state, whose hearts had been prepared, perhaps, by torturing doubts, and secret meditations, and by trials and sufferings of spirit—these at once perceive and seize upon the truths they have heard, clasp them to their bosoms as something long looked for, as precious treasure, and go away rejoicing in their new faith, and resolved to sell all they have and follow the Lord. Gradually the truth spreads; these few tell what they have heard to others, their friends, who they know have been troubled with similar doubts and difficulties. By and by these believers meet together and form a little congregation, and appoint the ablest of their number to preach to them in regard to these new truths, both for their own fuller instruction and for the information of strangers. Years roll away. It becomes an established religious society. Similar societies in neighboring cities league with them; and they form a General Church, which begins to have a name—the ‘Christian Church.’ Ages roll on, and this becomes a vast establishment, extending over whole nations, and reaching to distant quarters of the globe. This Paul, who was once a nameless preacher, ‘a babbler,’ and ‘mad,’ is now looked back upon with the utmost veneration; his words are oracles of truth; whatever he affirmed, whether in regard to himself or others, is implicitly believed. Custom, general acceptance, the belief of ages, undoubting confidence in the opinions of our parents and friends, all go to render the mind perfectly ready to believe those things. Faith is now an easy and natural thing, and we wonder at those strange and hard-hearted unbelievers of Paul’s own time, who had the glorious opportunity of listening to him with their own ears. ‘Oh! that we could have enjoyed such an opportunity,’ exclaim many, ‘how gladly would we have listened!’
“But these persons know not what they say, nor the nature of the human mind. If they are so anxious to have such an opportunity, so ready to be tested, and to show that they would have discernment enough to see genuine truth, though heard for the first time, and to acknowledge a great teacher and apostle, though yet unknown to the world—that opportunity is now before them. A Paul is again preaching to the Athenians and to the world. A great teacher is again uttering new and sublime truths. The Lord Himself has come a second time, not in Person, but in Spirit; not as the ‘Word made flesh,’ as before, but as the essential Word, by the opening of the interior truth—the spiritual sense—which it contains. Those who believe, that, had they been on earth, they would have acknowledged the Lord at His First Coming, or would have readily received the teachings of His Apostles, have now the opportunity of making trial of their faith; of showing whether they are able to overcome the inveteracy of custom, the natural opposition of prejudice, the fear of public opinion, the love of the world and its powers and pleasures, (all which difficulties the first Christians had to encounter,) whether, in the face of all these, they can, looking for the truth with a single eye, discern it now at its feeble dawn; and, advancing steadily and earnestly towards it, be among the first to hail the rising day.”
What more can be said on the subject? The Christian has no choice but to acknowledge, or refute, Swedenborg’s claims on the ground of their own intrinsic merit.
Swedenborg was gifted with peculiar powers of respiration. From early childhood, when on his knees at prayer, and afterwards when engaged in profound meditation, he found that his natural respiration was for the time suspended. As we have seen in his work on the “Animal Kingdom,” his attention to the correspondence between thought and respiration had been of long continuance,—probably from the fact that his own system supplied him with such constant illustrations of its nature. This power of suspended respiration under deep thought, common to all men, was preternaturally developed in Swedenborg. At this period he discovered the use to which these peculiar powers of his were to be applied; for he writes: “My respiration has been so formed by the Lord, as to enable me to breathe inwardly for a long period of time, without the aid of the external air; my respiration being directed within, and my outward senses, as well as actions, still continuing in their vigor, which is only possible with persons who have been so formed by the Lord. I have also been instructed that my breathing was so directed, without my being aware of it, in order to enable me to be with spirits, and to speak with them.” Those who have studied mesmerism and clairvoyance know many facts that confirm and illustrate this position of Swedenborg’s with regard to respiration; and it is quite evident that the Hindoo Yogi are capable of a similar state. There is this great difference, however, between such instances and the case of Swedenborg, that his powers were natural, and continuous in their exercise, and not sought after and induced by himself; while theirs are only occasional, and are frequently brought about by artificial means.
Swedenborg’s intromission into the spiritual world was a gradual process; and for this reason the date of his illumination is variously given, ranging between 1743 and 1745. It appears, however, that he came into the full exercise of his spiritual seership while living in London.
Of late years it has become common to talk of Swedenborg as a clairvoyant, to associate him with mesmeric subjects, and make him a kinsman of French and American spiritualists, such as Cahagnet, and Andrew Jackson Davis. This mistake is made through ignorance. It is a law of the spiritual world that every man is associated with his like. Supposing, therefore, that any man’s spiritual sight were opened, he would come into conjunction only with spirits like himself; that is, with those who would echo his own ideas and opinions, and repeat his own feelings. It is evident, then, that in such a case the nature of the revelations are entirely dependent upon the character of the revelator, and in all cases must be suspiciously received by the lover of truth. Now Swedenborg claims to have been under the special protection of the Lord, and to have received the doctrines he promulgated directly from Him, and not in any case from spirits. Of course, every one will decide for himself as to how far he can receive this assertion; but it is well that all should be informed of the precise character of Swedenborg’s claim, and of his own testimony as to the source of his information. In his Diary, written about this time, he says, that “spirits narrate things wholly false, and lie. When spirits begin to speak with man, care should be taken not to believe them; for almost everything they say is made up by them, and they lie; so that if it were permitted them to relate what heaven is, and how things are in heaven, they would tell so many falsehoods, and with such strong assertion, that man would be astonished; wherefore it was not permitted me, when spirits were speaking, to have any belief in what they stated. They love to feign. Whatever may be the topic spoken of, they think they know it, and form different opinions about it, altogether as if they knew; and if man then listens and believes, they insist, and in various ways deceive and seduce.”
Any one who has paid attention to the phenomena of spirit-rapping, and to the communications received through clairvoyants from the world of spirits, and has observed the very Babel of contradictions uttered by these “mediums,” will be able to appreciate the truth of the passage we have quoted, as well as our desire to draw a broad and distinct line between such and Swedenborg.
It is a very natural question, and one often put by those unconversant with the nature of spiritual intercourse, how it happens that such a man as Swedenborg, sitting quietly in his chair, could see and speak with angels and spirits, and travel through vast spaces in the spiritual world. It is thus: Space and time are attributes of matter alone. Their appearances do, indeed, exist in the spiritual world, but not as the fixed and mensurable things of our material sphere. Did not our subject forbid digression, it would be easy to bring this truth down to the comprehension of every one, by reference to a few items of experience which must at some time have fallen to the lot of all. We are all, as to our minds, in constant, though insensible, communion with spirits; and from them we receive thoughts and feelings of every kind. A good man and a wicked man may be, as to the body, in the same room, while between their minds there may be the wide gulf that separated Dives and Lazarus. Now if the spiritual sight of these two men were opened, where would they be? One would be in heaven, and the other in hell; and that, too, without either moving from the place where he stood. It was in virtue of this principle of the spirit’s perfect independence of space, that Swedenborg, under the Divine guidance and protection, was led through spiritual societies of all kinds: and in his various works we have the record of the wondrous things thus heard and seen.
Again, it may be asked: What is the nature of this spiritual sight so often referred to? In the words of Paul we answer: “There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body;” and, as a consequence, there is a natural sight, and there is a spiritual sight. The natural body lives from the spiritual body, and derives its form and parts from it. The natural body is the instrument of the spiritual body, and through it as a medium, it is enabled to exist in this lower world, and in constant contact with matter. Now it is possible for the spiritual body to be raised partially above the natural body, without causing death, or the entire withdrawal of its life from the natural body. This partial withdrawal of the spiritual body, and the enjoyment of sight in the spiritual world, is what is meant by the opening of the spiritual sight. Time forbids us to draw upon the innumerable illustrations of this fact which the history of the past and the experience of the present, in conjunction with the Word of God, afford. Let one instance from the Bible suffice. In 2 Kings, vii. 8-17, we read that Elisha, compassed about with horses, chariots, and a great host, sent by the king of Syria to seize him, was on a mountain with his servant, who, full of terror, exclaimed: “Alas! my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” Here is a case quite to the point. The natural eyes of the young man were already open; for how otherwise could he have seen the Syrian host, and have been afraid? Elisha prayed that his eyes might be opened. What eyes? Why, clearly, the eyes of his spiritual body; which done, he was enabled to perceive the heavenly guardianship which was extended over his master. Every one will now understand what we mean, when we shall have occasion to speak of the opening of man’s spiritual sight.
Having thus defined the conditions of Swedenborg’s spiritual vision, and cleared away some questions which, if answered, would have impeded our narrative, we will now proceed with our history.