Welcome to the Swedenborg Society's January e-newsletter. We hope you all had a lovely Christmas! Read on to find out about our latest news and upcoming events this month. These include: A S Byatt's reading of her work at the Society; a discussion of Sweden around the time of Swedenborg's birth, which will be commemorated on the 30th January with a lecture by David Lister; information on how to become a Bicentenary Member and enjoy a complimentary seat at all of our events throughout 2010; a review of a compendium of Swedenborg's writings, available in the bookshop now; and news of a Trees for Cities planting day in Swedenborg Gardens, Shadwell - Swedenborg's resting place until 1908.
We hope to see you here soon.
Best wishes,
Nora Foster, Marketing Representative, The Swedenborg Society.
News since November The refurbishment of Swedenborg House is almost over! Decorators have put the finishing touches to the walls of the library and the bookshop. Meanwhile we have been furiously preparing for the bicentenary year: confirming speakers and venues, writing the new catalogue and information booklets ... We hugely enjoyed An Evening with A S Byatt and hope forthcoming events will be just as successful. Following a good response to the November newsletter, Paul Tecklenberg, our first artist in residence, ushered a number of volunteers into the basement of Swedenborg House to read Heaven and Hell into a microphone - for his forthcoming sound installation. Thank you to everybody who took part; he was very pleased with the results. The Society has also joined Facebook! Why not become a friend, or at least a fan?
Event
Birthday Meeting
Lecture on 'The Feeling of What Happens' by David Lister, with Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire by Debussy
Swedenborg House
4:30 pm
Saturday 30th January 2010
No admission charge
Every
year, Swedenborg's birthday is commemorated in Swedenborg Hall. Last year
Feargus O'Conner, a Unitarian Minister, led a thought-provoking discussion of 'our hopes for
immortality', weaving philosophical reflection with scientific evidence of 'near death experiences'. This year, Dr David Lister will focus upon life before death; looking at Swedenborg's visionary scientific discoveries, he will attempt to understand the specific processes which lie behind a human perception of reality.
Visual images, sounds, smells and sensations are all occurrences, or
'happenings' accompanied by feelings or emotions. This dynamic reflects
Swedenborg's division of the faculties of the brain into the 'will' and
the 'understanding'; just as the heart and
lungs are at once independent and necessarily conjoined, the will and
understanding 'are distinct from one another, but so created to be as
one, and when they are one they are called the mind'. 'One cannot think
without affection'. Without emotions there can be no understanding of
experience.
Dr
David Lister is the current chairman of the Swedenborg Society council
and has been a trustee for many years. His diverse interests - scientific,
spiritual and charitable - reflect those found in Swedenborg's
writings. David was a medical missionary in India and then a surgeon in Denmark, before returning to England to practice as a GP for the latter part of his career.
A pianist will perform a rendition of Debussy's Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire. Refreshments will also be provided. Please nora@swedenborg.org.uk if you would like to attend.
Event
Tree Planting Day in Swedenborg Gardens
16th January 2010
11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Shadwell, London, E1 8HR
On the 29th March 1772 Swedenborg died at his lodgings in Cold Bath Square, Clerkenwell. He was laid to rest at the Ulrika Eleanor Swedish Church in Wapping.
However in the early twentieth century, the church grounds were forced to make way for building in central London. A warship returned Swedenborg's body to Sweden in 1908, to lie in state at Uppsala Cathedral.
His former resting place is now a small park, enclosed by a large residential estate. It is one of the few green spaces in the borough of Tower Hamlets - the third most deprived local authority in England.Trees for Citiesis a charity focused on cultivating such areas for the benefit of urban communities. Greenery near homes has proven to improve the 'health gap' between rich and poor; living near green, communal spaces is also meant to reduce inequalities. More importantly, tree planting projects create opportunities for community activities; residents are actively involved in the project of regeneration, making a lasting and dramatic change to their surroundings. We are therefore proud to be contributing a sum towards the plantation of a woodland area in Swedenborg Gardens.
Swedenborg would hugely approve of such a project, given his belief in the symbolic significance of gardens for mankind. In his writing he claims that angels' thoughts and affections manifest themselves as gardens in the spiritual world; in contrast, hell is a barren desert, a wild forest or a maze of endless backstreets reminiscent of London's East End. In many cultures, a garden historically represents the re-creation of heaven on Earth. Certainly, it was where Swedenborg found celestial inspiration, writing from the summer house at the end of his garden in Hornsgaten.
Trees for Cities will be planting from 11 am - 3 pm. Everybody is welcome to come and support their good work! Refreshments and children's entertainment will also be on offer. To find Swedenborg Gardens clickhere. For more information on Trees for Cities projects contact info@treesforcities.org.
The Swedenborg Society will commemorate itsbicentenary yearthroughout 2010. We are very excited to have welcomed our first speaker of the year, the author A S BYATT.
A S Byatt is a distinguished novelist. In 1990 she won the Booker for her novel, Possession. Combining romance with literary intrigue, the work is steeped in nineteenth-century culture and happens to contain several references to Swedenborg. Her latest publication, The Children's Book, another work of historical fiction exploring artistic creation, was shortlisted for the Man Booker 2009. We were therefore extremely pleased when she accepted our invitation to speak in Swedenborg Hall. We had no trouble selling tickets; on the 14th January a full house of over 100 people attended An Evening with A S Byatt.
Antonia gave a reading, with commentary, from her Swedenborgian novella, The Conjugial Angel. Forming one half of Angels and Insects(1992), the story explores dynamics within the Tennyson family, spiritualism and Swedenborgian ideas in the nineteenth century. She led a fascinating discussion about artistic vision and how Swedenborgian philosophy can inform literary style. Ultimately, it was a talk about what it is to be creative, to be visionary or simply to be human - and how these things are fundamentally connected. As Antonia welcomed questions from the floor, the scope of the discussion reflected the impressive diversity of her audience. It was a very successful evening, enjoyed, we hope, by all. What a wonderful start to our bicentenary year.
Our next evening with ... features the celebrated writer and filmmaker Iain Sinclair. Booking for this event is highly recommended! Please contact nora@swedenborg.org.uk or + 44 (020) 7405 7986 if you would like to attend.
News Become a Bicentenary Member
£20.00/£15.00
Would you like to attend all of our events throughout 2010, without charge? We have a number of high-profile lectures, featuring the poet Simon Armitage, writer Iain Sinclair, cultural historian Roy Foster and art critic Jonathan Jones. This year only, you can choose to take up 'Bicentenary Membership'. For £20.00 or £15.00 for concessions, you receive a complimentary place at all events, access to the filmclub, a 20% discount on all our books and a gift. Please contact nora@swedenborg.org.uk or on (020) 7405 7986 to take advantage of the offer.
Feature
Swedenborg's Birthday
29th January 1688 (old style calendar)
Emanuel
Swedenborg was born in Stockholm, Sweden to Jesper Swedborg, a
Lutheran chaplain later to become a Bishop of Skara and his wife Sara
Behm. Throughout the seventeenth century, Sweden had been a small but mighty
warfaring country, constantly defending its vast empire from
surrounding enemies. As the state suffered from the strain of conflict,
royal authority was becoming increasingly absolute. In 1686, the Church
Act effectively placed the Swedish Church under royal authority.
Dissent could not be tolerated. All non-Lutherans were banned from the
state, and a small Jewish community was one of many religious
minorities to be expelled from Sweden. This may have encouraged
Swedenborg's mainly non-sectarian attitude towards doctrine and religious
faith.
When peace finally fell in the later seventeenth century, many
scientific advances were made. The iron industry flourished, a sector
in which Swedenborg would make his mark as a young mining engineer; and
in 1697, Swedenborg's friend and mentor Christopher Polhem established
Sweden's first technical school. From the age of 11, Swedenborg
attended the University of Uppsala, established in 1477 and therefore
the oldest of all universities in the Nordic countries. In 1710, when
Swedenborg was 22, the Royal Society of Science was instituted at
Upsalla - an institution which would nurture Swedenborg's genius
throughout his scientific career. On a more minor note. one of
Swedenborg's favourite pleasures, coffee, was introduced to Sweden in
1685.
Books
New Book in the Bookshop
A Compendium of the Theological Writings of Swedenborg
By Samuel M Warren
Swedenborg Foundation
£19.95 paperback
Warren's compendium, originally compiled in 1875, is a work of historical importance in its own right; it remains an essential resource tool for all readers of Swedenborg. Samuel M Warren, a former Secretary of the Swedenborg Society, collected key extracts from Swedenborg's epic body of work and arranged them under the major themes of his theology. Like A Philosopher's Notebook, featured in November's e-newsletter, this book gives a thorough overview of Swedenborg's fascinating ideas on a number of key theological issues 'Concerning God', 'Creation', 'Man', 'Charity, 'Free Will', 'The Human Soul', 'The Afterlife', and more.
