To celebrate the completion of the Royal Academy of Sciences' new catalog of its Swedenborg archive, the academy hosted an academic conference in Stockholm, Sweden from June 7 through 9, 2010.
Titled Emanuel Swedenborg: Exploring a World Memory Context, Content, Contribution, the conference featured presentations on topics such as Swedenborg's science and theology, the times in which he lived, and his continuing influence on art and literature.
Swedenborg Foundation board member Jane Williams-Hogan, a professor at Bryn Athyn College, presented a paper on The Swedish Lutheran Contribution to the Work Marriage Love.
In addition, board members Stuart Shotwell and Sylvia Montgomery Shaw presented papers, along with New Century Edition Series Editor Jonathan S. Rose.
In this photo: Jane Williams-Hogan (orange jacket), Syliva Montgomery
Shaw (first row, forth from left), Jonathan S. Rose (top row, third from right),
Stuart Shotwell (third row, third from right)
http://www.center.kva.se/svenska/forskning/Swedenborg2010Program.htm
- January 14 -- A.S. Byatt, acclaimed author of Possession and of The Children's Hour, will give a reading of "The Conjugial Angel," with commentary from her book Angels and Insects.
- January 30 -- David Lister will lead the Birthday Meeting with a lecture on "The Feeling of What Happens." Lister will focus on one of Swedenborg's most remarkable visions of 250 years ago, which foresaw with incredible accuracy, the parts of the brain responsible for the emotions and how these contribute towards a human understanding of reality. The talk will be complimented by a live piano rendition of Debussy's Cinq Poemes de Baudelaire.
- February 25 -- Swedenborg House will host a private view of its Bicentenary Art Exhibition, which will then be open to the public until March 5th. It will feature artists in residence, Paul Tecklenberg and Ben Judd, as well as Turner Prize Winner, Jeremy Deller. The exhibition run will include An Evening With the writer Iain Sinclair, who is creating a special display of archive material from the Swedenborg Society Library; and a lecture on March 4th by the art critic, Jonathan Jones, on "The Visions of Leonardo Da Vinci (and a memory of his childhood)."
- February 26 -- Official launch of the Bicentenary Year with wine and entertainment. Lars Berquist, author of Swedenborg's Secret and President of the Society, will preside; Richard Lines will talk about some highlights of the Society's past, from his forthcoming publication, A History of the Swedenborg Society 1810-1910.
- Spring events will include a screening of the Society's brand new documentary on Swedenborg and a launch of a fresh translation of Heaven and Hell and a library (collected) edition of the Swedenborg Society Journal. The poet Simon Armitage and neuroloist /writer David Eagleman will speak in honor of Swedenborg's culture influence.
- Summer -- The Society will host the world's first International Swedenborg Publishers Conference in early June when they will also launch a complete Bibliography of Swedenborg's works. David Bindman will speak on the sculptor John Flaxman in June; and in July, Prof. Roy Foster will give a lecture exploring the influence of Swedenborg on the Irish literary imagination.
- Autumn -- The Society will host a season of films exploring Swedenborgian themes, throughout the autumn months, culminating in a short film festival at the end of October. In November, a conference to discuss "Emanuel Swedenborg: Visionary Scientist, Scientific Visionary" will take place.
Many more bicentenary events are forthcoming. New and additional information can be found on the Society's website.
Reservations for all events is highly recommended. Please contact Nora
nora@swedenborg.org.uk for details or if you would like to attend.
The Swedenborg Society
20/21 Bloomsbury Way
London WCIA 2TH
England
http://www.swedenborg.org.uk
The Gathering Leaves Swedenborgian Woman's Retreat "A Feast of Friends" was held at The Lord's New Church in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania from July 8 through the 11th, 2010.
The event inspired women from New Church and Swedenborgian denominations and organizations to gather, connect, and learn from each other in a spirit of friendship and alliance.
The opening Thursday night panel discussion was followed by a reception that included both men and women attendees.
The three-day retreat included panel discussions, worship services, and workshops. Keynote speaker, Rev. Wilma Wake, discussed "Sharing Our Stories: the Feast of Friends"; Closing speaker, Rev. Jane Seibert, discussed "Justice for Women."
photo left: Denise Odhner lights the candles in the chapel.
photo right: Roslyn Taylor provides opening remarks
in front of the new Gathering Leaves tapestry.
photo below: Worship service.
photo top: Tamar Austin and Wilma Wake at one of the breaks.
photo center: One the sister circles.
photo right: Beryl Simonetti at her workshop at Gathering Leaves.
For more information and pictures, check out Gathering Leaves 2010 on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=205898382754&ref=search
http://www.gatheringleaves.weebly.com
Body/Mind Connection: Mesmer & Swedenborg
Location: Swedenborg Library in Chicago
2nd floor, James Parlor, 77 W Washington St., Chicago
Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
John S. Haller Jr., emeritus professor of history and medical humanities at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has written a dozen books on subjects including race, sexuality, and the history of medicine. He is former editor of Caduceus: A Humanities Journal for Medicine and the Health Sciences and, until his retirement at the end of 2008, served for eighteen years as vice president for academic affairs for the Southern Illinois University system.
On October 22, he will discuss his new book, Swedenborg, Mesmer, and the Mind/Body Connection: The Roots of Complementary Medicine. Healing practices as diverse as homeopathy, chiropractic, and therapeutic touch draw their inspiration and effectiveness from an unseen world beyond the physical senses. Our view of that world is the legacy of two key thinkers: Emanuel Swedenborg and Franz Anton Mesmer.
The starting point is the competing worldviews of Swedenborg, a mystic whose deep faith in God and visions of the afterlife have moved generations, and Mesmer, whose magnetic healing system required nothing but the forces of nature. Both were convinced that good health depended on properly managing one’s internal energies, whether that meant a life of biblical virtue or simply achieving balance with the universe. This book traces the influence of these two men through the nineteenth century as their ideas were embraced by utopians, psychic healers, spiritualists, mind-cure advocates, homeopaths, and ultimately by the inheritors of those traditions—modern practitioners of alternative and complementary healing.
$5 donation to the Greater Chicago Food Depository suggested. Refreshments; doors open at 6 pm.
The first International Swedenborg Publishers Conference was held in London June 3-4, 2010. Foundation attendees included Jonathan Rose, Jane Williams-Hogan, and Swedenborg Foundation Executive Editor, Joanna Hill; Foundation authors who attended were Devin Zuber and Bruce Henderson.
