TESTIMONY TO THE INVISIBLE

This collection of essays highlights the influence of Swedish visionary Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) on art, spirituality and culture. Opening with an essay by Spanish-language writer and metaphysician Jorge Luis Borges, from which the collection draws its name, the volume includes a description of Swedenborg’s influence on Fyodor Dostoevsky by Czeslaw Milosz; a look at Swedenborg from a mystical perspective from Wilson Van Dusen; the Transcendentalist connection with Ralph Waldo Emerson in an essay by Eugene Taylor; and Buddhist scholar D T Suzuki describes similarities between Swedenborg’s philosophy and Buddhism. Essays by Kathleen Raine on Swedenborg’s poetic influence and Colin Wilson on the psychological perspective on Swedenborg’s visions round out the collection.