Author: editor18

Stephen Russell-Lacy is a retired clinical psychologist. He acts as a tutor at the Swedenborg Open Learning Centre. He is interested in the links between various branches of psychology and spirituality.

Spiritual World Course

Distance learning tutored module: Spiritual World Swedenborg Open Learning Centre Have you ever wondered what happens to us after our physical body dies?  Where do we go?  How do we get to heaven, or end up in hell?  What will it be like when we get there? Benjamin Franklin wrote: In this world nothing can … Continue reading Spiritual World Course

Tell the future – Is this possible?

To want to know the future is a perfectly natural desire. We pick up our ears when we hear of foretold events. Who would not want a few days foreknowledge of the stock market for example? A few incidents in the life of Emanuel Swedenborg suggest he had precognition.

Cats Don’t Get It!

Lucy seeks and shows affection in the way she nuzzles up to me. But she has her faults like clawing the soft furnishings. I haven’t seen any signs of what I would call a social conscience in her makeup. No public prosecutor would take an animal to court on a criminal charge. It’s otherwise with human beings. We also have a will but is ours not one based on rational understanding? For unlike animals have we not a higher degree of mind that can see beyond the things of the senses?

Gay Pride and Straight Talk.

Whether to allow gay bishops is currently a hot issue in the Church of England. Many people feel puzzled by this reluctance to embrace homosexuality by strands of organised religion. And some feel angry and want to promote the idea that gay people should be proud of their sexual orientation feeling this is their natural inclination. From a spiritual perspective, we might ask whether a gay partnership has the same potential for human happiness as that of a heterosexual one. So what does Swedenborg have to say about it?

The Divine in Marriage

Distance Learning Course (with tutorials) from Swedenborg Open Learning Centre According to the proverb, marriages are made in heaven.  How true this is, according to Swedenborg in his late-published book  Conjugial Love, sometimes translated as Marriage Love.  Conjugial – is it a misprint?  No – Swedenborg used the Latin word conjugialis which is derived from … Continue reading The Divine in Marriage

Go with the flow – But what does this mean?

Do you feel things could run more smoothly with less frustration to tire you out? Like mislaying the garden tools or the favourite recipe book for that special meal, not to mention difficulty finding a satisfying job, loving partner, comfortable home? When you seem to be swimming against the current of life, then don’t you feel dispirited and drained?

Animals in their natural habitats don’t have these difficulties. They seem to be in harmony with the flow of nature. Call it instinct but they have less trouble finding food to eat, building their shelter, finding their mate, caring for their young and all this without having any instruction or money.

So how does one go with the flow?

Ancient Knowledge: Lost & Found?

Ancient people had knowledge that was lost and this is fairly obvious to most people. We only need to look at the Egyptian pyramids, Mayan pyramids, Stonehenge etc. to become aware of this. If you have an open mind in my view you can easily find out how this knowledge has been rediscovered and recorded…

Sexual imagery – Too explicit these days?

Society as a whole tends to take polarised views of sexual permissiveness. Emotive language is used by those on both sides of the debate – one side being labelled as narrow-minded, prudish and moralistic and the other as being decadent, indecent, and exhibitionist.

Those with a more balanced perspective use more moderate language. They ask …