He was Isaac Newton’s student. He became an authority on mining, metallurgy, Military Engineering, Astronomy, Physics, Zoology, Anatomy, Economics and Finance. He was a Bible scholar, a theologian. He also designed flying machines, submarines, rapid-firing guns, air pumps and steam engines. He also wrote several poems in Latin. When he was at the peak of his scientific career, he left that position to devote the rest of his life to spreading Spiritualism, believing to be himself in charge of this mission, by God.
He had remarkable clairvoyance. Finding himself once in Gothenburg, he noticed and described accurately a fire that occurred 300 miles away, in Stockholm.
In April 1744, he experienced the flourishing of his mediumship faculties in London. In the preface to his Arcana Celestia, Swedenborg 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 has never before come to the knowledge of any man, nor entered into his imagination. I have 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 doctrines or faith which is throughout Heaven."
Swedenborg, after referring to his first vision, described ectoplasm as "...a kind of vapour that came from the pores of my body. It was a very visible water vapour and it fell on the floor; on the carpet."
The descriptions of the spiritual world, made by Swedenborg, have two distinct categories. One has a more mystical and metaphysical way. They seem to be the creation of a mind exalted with religious fervour and the product of subconscious elaborations. The other shows a remarkable resemblance to the latest spiritists reports and seems to be the result of personal psychic experiences, during which the medium must have been in direct contact with the spirit world.
Everything indicates that the task assigned by the spiritual leaders to Emmanuel Swedenborg was to disseminate the knowledge acquired regarding his contact with the spirit world. However, his privileged mind in relation to the level of intelligence and culture damaged the work, distorting the results of what he was permitted to observe in the spirit world, leading him to want to create his own theology, not accepting opinions contrary to his own views.
Swedenborg saw the spiritual world, talked to spirits and received direct instructions from them. He judged to be able to explain everything without much concern. He became a mystic, moving away from scientific experiments that he dedicated himself earlier.
Some information dictated by Emmanuel Swedenborg:
* We are judged automatically by a spiritual law and the result is determined by the sum of our actions in life, so that repentance or absolution has little advantage on our deathbed.
* The world where we go after death is in various spheres, representing various shades of light and happiness. Each of us will go to the one that suits our spiritual condition.
* In these spheres, the scenery and living conditions are identical to those of Earth, as well as the structure of the society. There are homes where families live, temples where religious worship is practiced, auditoriums where meetings are held for social purposes, palaces where bosses seem to live in, etc.
* The process of death is aided by Angels (good spirits); everyone rests for a few days after death and then regains full consciousness.
* There are angels and demons, but they are not from another order to us. They are human beings who lived on earth and souls that are latecomers, such as demons, or highly developed, such as angels.
* The process of death changes nothing of an internal nature. Men are still men, but more perfect than when in the body. Men carry their acquired habits, concerns and prejudices.
* All children are received equally, whether baptized or not. They grow in the next world. Young women serve as their mothers until they reach their real mothers.
* There is no such thing as eternal punishment. Those who find themselves in Hell after death can work their way towards something higher.
* Those who die old or diseased regain their youth and health in the Spirit world. Marriage is a form of spiritual union which is continued in the Spirit world, if there are true feelings towards each other; otherwise the marriage is dissolved.