by Vaishali, author of You Are What You Love

In addition to being fascinating and fun, dream work can be a great way to engage in the classic “know thyself” quest. However the value in dream work does not stop there. Dreams can be a profound way to grow and evolve Spiritually as well. Throughout history, and even before recorded history, dreams have been regarded as a portal into the Spiritual Realm. What most dream workers do not know is the amazing documented dream work of the great Swedish scientist/mystic Emanuel Swedenborg and author of “Life On Other Planets” (1688-1772).

Swedenborg started out his career as a scientist, mastering every known science in his lifetime. He figured out the function of the cerebellum, pituitary gland and endocrine system. He discovered the relationship between respiration and the nervous system. He dedicated four volumes of work to the human brain that included the most accurate drawings for his era. He was a metallurgist, and developed advanced mining safety techniques used for well over a hundred years. He constructed the first working hang glider, using the same aerodynamic techniques that are used in airplanes today. The hang glider model presently resides in the Smithsonian. He ground his own glass and made his own microscope and telescope.

Swedenborg wrote over one hundred and fifty scientific papers on a variety of subjects. The Swedish government even sought his assistance to devise a way to move their navy over a mountain range to give them a strategic advantage. Not a problem! He did it using pulley systems. And Swedenborg accomplished all this without the benefit of computers, google, or eBay! He was even a member of Sweden’s Parliament, and it is said he traveled extensively, yet rarely missed a meeting. A Stanford University study to determine whom the top ten most brilliant people who ever drew breath were, bestowed the “We’re Number One” ranking on Emanuel Swedenborg and two others – a three-way tie for first. And the most amazing part of this is that most people do not even know who he is!

Swedenborg was recording his dreams in what would become one of the largest collections of dream journals ever amassed.

Swedenborg’s accomplishments did not stop there. He had a second career the last twenty-six years of his life - as a gifted mystic. Since he was a small child, he was able to control his breath and enter into a trance-like state of concentrated focus. When he was in his late fifties, he said he was given permission to break through into the Spiritual Realm and discourse with higher and lower order Spiritual Beings. He related that he was given this ability, because he was to write about how the Spiritual World operates, so that we could understand:

• why we, as Spiritual creatures, need to have a human experience;
• what happens to us when we die;
• whow what we do in a physical body affects our life in the Spiritual dimension.

And write he did, completing thirty-five volumes of work on the nature of Spirituality and the Spiritual World.

Long before Freud coined the words “conscious” and “unconscious”, Swedenborg was recording his dreams in what would become one of the largest collections of dream journals ever amassed. In addition to recording his Journal of Dreams for twenty-six years, he also wrote a five-volume Spiritual Diary. Swedenborg examined the nature of dream reality and its relationship to mind and Spirituality, one hundred years before Carl Jung. Jung, by the way, was greatly influenced by Swedenborg.

Dreaming is when higher order beings (Angels, spirit guides, etc.) come and speak to us in a symbol language, that is constantly commenting on the quality of our love.

Swedenborg had some very interesting things to say about dreams and dreaming. He says that when we dream, we are doing more than merely rehashing the days’ events. Swedenborg states that if you wanted to pick up the phone and hear what the Divine has to say about your life, you will pay attention to your dreams. Dreaming is when higher order beings (Angels, spirit guides, etc.) come and speak to us in a symbol language, that is constantly commenting on the quality of our love. Dreaming is a time when we reconnect with the Divine; we all need this alignment, which is why our minds start to unravel if we are deprived of REM time reconnection.