Swedenborg, Emanuel (1688–1772) : A scientist, inventor, and philosopher, Emanuel Swedenborg became a noted mystic at the age of fifty-six, after he had a series of dreams and visions in which he later said he communicated with spirits and angels and saw both angelic worlds and demonic ones. In some of his communications with angels, the beings told him about scientific theories that would not be proved until many years later. For example, Swedenborg’s writings about nebulas, atoms, and molecules were all very advanced for their time. In 1744, however, he announced that the angels had told him to give up his work as a scientist and to concentrate on spiritual subjects. As a result, he wrote The Worship and Love of God (1745), and then started writing his own interpretation of the Bible.

After Swedenborg abandoned science for spirituality, his friends and former associates decided that he was suffering from a mental illness, though they never confronted him about it. Their opinion was strengthened by the fact that Swedenborg started living on bread, milk, and coffee and spent much of his time lying in bed. According to his servants, he also appeared to fall into trances, though when he was interacting with people he seemed completely normal. Consequently, some experts in the paranormal believe that he was actually connecting to another, perhaps spiritual, realm, which they believe can be accessed while in an altered mental state such as a trance.

SEE ALSO:

• Mysticism

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning