▲ 34 points
back
12 comments
If you're ever in the area in Pennsylvania, I highly recommend visiting a place called Bryn Athyn [3]. It's a community owned by a group of Swedenborgians in the United States. I had never heard of them before, and went to see the castle [1] and cathedral [2] one of their wealthier patrons built. Both are very impressive. I got the sense the community has dwindled quite a bit since it's more than a century old.
[1] https://glencairnmuseum.org
[2] https://brynathynchurch.org/cathedral/
[3] This is a "fake" Welsh name. Through an interesting historical quirk, it was popular at a certain time in Pennsylvania to create Welsh-sounding names for your new town, so they would be associated with the wealthier "main-line" towns built by Welsh Tract Quakers in the colonial era.
Emanuel Swedenborg was a mystic. "Mystic" seems to be a dirty word among empiricists, but, like Carl Jung, he was able to use his observation skills with the experience.
His experiences, though with content unique to him, generally follows the pattern and dynamic of spiritual emergencies. These cross cultural boundaries. That he has erotic dreams and developed this idea that it is divine in origin is not unknown. That he dreamed of symbols that show up in other cultures is also not unknown. None of those are surprising for anyone who has gone through or is undergoing through their own spiritual emergency.
One of the biggest driver of the spiritual emergency is a force called "Kundalini" in India. It goes by other names in other cultures (for example, in Taoist alchemy, it is known as "dragon"). This force lies within each human body, and in its quiescent state, helps keep the body alive. It is the very power that drives sexuality in humans, and in some people, will awaken the drive towards spiritual emergence. It seems surprising to people who have beliefs that sexuality and spirituality don't mix, yet, they are integral. Swedenborg, like many other adventurers, rediscovered this.
It is easy to say Swedenborg had repressed homosexual urges based on those dreams. It's more accurate to say that when the spiritual emergence starts unfolding, all the different potentiality of consciousness that were already present starts manifesting. These potentiality exists within every human. If you entered spiritual emergency, all sorts of things you didn't know lurking inside of you will come out, including ones that you share with other people, yet never consider it to be "your's".
Bonnie Greenwall did her Ph.D. in transpersonal psychology on spiritual emergencies, and has written books about this. She wrote a book on awakening and one on the kundalini phenomenon. The books go into detail about the kind of things that might happen, whether you are talking about a shaman or yogi or monk or householder.
> Emanuel Swedenborg was a mystic.
Who isn't?
> It is easy to say Swedenborg had repressed homosexual urges based on those dreams. It's more accurate to say that when the spiritual emergence starts unfolding, all the different potentiality of consciousness that were already present starts manifesting. These potentiality exists within every human.
Of course they exist "in every human". Not news. [1] And it is not "more accurate" to generalize what is a very clear cut indication by his own dream. We even have a name.
The fact that he was not yet prepared to consciously confront the monumental task of full spiritual integration, that in fact his "ego" fears "castration", is also quite clear by that specific dream. That dream pretty much outs him as /a beginner/ on the path of awakening, as a matter of fact.
[1]: "R. Eleazar further stated: What is meant by the Scriptural text, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh? This teaches that Adam had intercourse with every beast and animal but found no satisfaction until he cohabited with Eve." Tractate Yebamoth - Folio 63a
>> Emanuel Swedenborg was a mystic.
> Who isn't?
In the sense that we are all spiritual beings, sure. In the sense that it is a normative belief that mystics are special, and that there are only a few people who experience it, lots of people are not mystics.
> Of course they exist "in every human". Not news. And it is not "more accurate" to generalize what is a very clear cut indication by his own dream. We even have a name.
I think you are confusing some things. It is not a clear-cut indication by his own dreams. It is a dream. Stuff comes up from it. There may be ego-resistance, and there may not be in that particular one. Dreamwork does not just involve the plot and the symbols, but also the tone and emotional energy underlying that. He might have felt depressed. He might have felt angered or scared. He might have felt inspired by that image. Do you know how he felt? I don't.
As far as it is "news", there is a normative belief that homosexuality is something only certain people possess.
> The fact that he was not yet prepared to consciously confront the monumental task of full spiritual integration, that in fact his "ego" fears "castration", is also quite clear by that specific dream. That dream pretty much outs him as /a beginner/ on the path of awakening, as a matter of fac
What you are saying doesn't make sense. He was in the process of the integration. There is no such thing as being prepared or not be prepared. When it happens, it happens. Sometimes there is more ego-resistance, and sometimes there is less ego-existance. That dream does not necessarily indicate he is a beginner.
> In the sense that it is a normative belief that mystics are special, and that there are only a few people who experience it, lots of people are not mystics.
How can you possibly know that there are "only a few people" who have mystic experience? The sign of a 'realized' mystic is not but 'silence'. As for the rest of us, we advertise and some even manage to make a business out of it :)
> As far as it is "news", there is a normative belief that homosexuality is something only certain people possess.
That was clearly in reference to your Kundalini remark. I addressed the specific repression elsewhere. Nor did I confuse a carnal act with spiritual love.
> What you are saying doesn't make sense. He was in the process of the integration. There is no such thing as being prepared or not be prepared. When it happens, it happens.
Integration happens like "a bolt of lightning". That is the journey's end. And the journey most assuredly requires "preparation":
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+25&vers...
Integration doesn't happen like a "bolt of lightning". There are different ways it can happen. For some people it takes a while and for others, it does not. There is an excellent discussion about that in Christopher Wallis's book, Tantra Illuminated.
It does not require preparation. The idea that you can "prepare" for this is part of the ego-belief of being in control of the process. You are not awakening Kundalini. Kundalini Shakti is awakening you. "Ready" or not, here it is. You are not the musician playing the music; you are the music being played. Whether you are shaman or yogi, monk or priest... There are many variants of this story. Some people "prepare", and others resist that call. Some people prepare and never get the call. For others, it spontaneously happen. None of that is within your control.
At the end, the best kind of "preparation" is letting go.
As for the "few people" remark, I didn't say there are only "a few people". I said it is a normative belief.
> The sign of a 'realized' mystic is not but 'silence'
No, it is not.
Now, as far as this:
>> As far as it is "news", there is a normative belief that homosexuality is something only certain people possess.
> That was clearly in reference to your Kundalini remark. I addressed the specific repression elsewhere. Nor did I confuse a carnal act with spiritual love.
No, it is not clear. It might seem clear to you. It is not clear to me. The confusion I was referring to was not confusing the carnal act with spiritual love. I don't how or why you are linking those, but very well.
It seems to me, you think a lot of things are clear to you, and you have some firm opinions about things. The first stage of awakening will seem like that. It's brilliant, and seems to touch truth from the absolute. It feels great, like one can see everything from above, like one can remain untouched and unstained by the material world. In alchemy, that would be the second of three stages. The stage after that is much more painful if one continues to cling to the belief that one can remain untouched and uninvolved. It often takes a few years to process through that, but more in some, less in others. Touch the Sky God when you ascend, but all flying birds come back to the Earth Goddess's embrace. Kundalini comes back down after first ascending up past the crown.
Every single authentic spiritual school before the age of Deepak Chupra affirms integration happens at an instant.
> It seems to me, you think a lot of things are clear to you, and you have some firm opinions about things. The first stage of awakening will seem like that.
Please do not patronize me. You do not know me.
> vagina dentata
Well, that made my day.
I disagree with the diagnosis in OP, however. It seems the good Dr. harbored repressed homosexual urges.
If vagina dentata is an important concept in psychology, it reflects more of the sad state of psychology than anything else :-)
Besides, I think the doctor was harboring repressed sexual urges of all kinds. It was not exactly taliban law at the time in late 18 century Stockholm, but still rather repressive.
Can anyone find the original Swedish book in digital form?
Wow! (Jag tackar!)
I did actually look at Runeberg first, since, obviously this should be the one place to find it. Got fooled by thinking the name of the book was "Drömbok".