morbus obscurus (1)

Sick in soul and body
Sick in body and in soul

Can these be anything but two?

Or are they one as pairs are one,
    and by what arcane reciprocity
        do they resonate?

Can they persist as ones? Perhaps,
    but seldom so.

Soul clothed in body yet    
    externally at work
        in form
With body - animated matter
    but in form
    a soul.

llness enters quietly
        by either door
    soon to work its work
        in reciprocity.

    soon sick in soul and body
        soon sick in body and in soul

Can these be anything but one? 

 

 
INTRODUCTION

    The doctrines of the Church of the New Jerusalem have more to say about the reality of the even the overtly mystical traditions of Kabbalah or Hermeticism have been able to duplicate the systematic observations of the spiritual world by Emanuel Swedenborg over the many years of his lifetime. No tradition can offer the scientifically precise descriptions of the things he saw there (HH 1). But documenting the reality of this other world does not automatically explain the mechanism by which the two worlds interact.
 

    Realizing this limitation of observation alone, Swedenborg the scientist devoted much effort to the analysis and explanation of his data collected in the spiritual world, to explain the associations of spirits and men. In the Writings for the New Church he has given us an idea of this interaction by revealing the continuous creation of the natural world by discrete degrees and correspondence from the spiritual world, in a causal series of stepwise accommodation of the Divine Esse to these worlds in which it is manifested - the Existere of form (HH 9, DLW 14, 15, 43). (2) In this system, the Divine Esse, or spiritual substance, is manifested in the spiritual and natural worlds as the forms of the spiritual and natural suns, respectively (DLW 153-56). We are told that these three levels of existence are separated by the gulf of discrete degrees. Yet they are interactive by means of the sympathetic qualities of things of each level - the corresponding uses of these, allowing one to answer the other in a descending series of influence. The order of creation is dependent upon this separation of Divine/Spiritual/Natural, and these levels may not be crossed directly (DLW 90, 184, 251).

    But this rationale leads to a fundamental problem with man, the natural-world creature most like the Creator Himself, made "in our image, according to our likeness...," (3) to populate the heavens and close the loop of perfect veneration (4) - Creator and Creation in eternal harmony. But how does this special creature achieve such interactive status? By what means does he bridge the gulf of the discrete degree separating heaven and earth?

    Man was created an inhabitant of both worlds (DLW 90, 92), and he is the only earthly creature to live in both worlds at once (DLW 356). His natural body serves for a time, and then yields to the entropy common to the earthly world (HH 445, AC 5726, SD 4592). But his spiritual body - his eternal human form in spiritual substance - lives on in the spiritual world to serve its uses there. The human mind is the nexus while in the natural world (HH 445).  

    With these facts having been established, there are fascinating questions yet to explore, concerning the human condition on the natural plane: 

    1.     What direct contact, if any, is there between these two      worlds in which man dwells?

    2.     Exactly how does the spiritual affect the natural?

    3.     What things can occur in the natural body that might affect the quality of influx from the spiritual world?  

    4.     If the Divine Esse Itself, perfect in every way, is accommodated to the requirements of spiritual substance as Existere (forms in the spiritual and natural worlds), and then to the requirements of natural matter (time, extension, etc.) as well (HH 9), what then is the origin of disease or other physical aberrations?

    5.     How is disease produced in an otherwise perfect manifestation of the Divine in the natural world? We are told it is by influences from the spiritual world (AC 5726), but how so, across discrete degrees of separation?By examining what the Writings have to say about disease, we can seek to develop an understanding of the general principles of the interaction of spirits and men. And by further examination, we might also seek a rational philosophy of medicine based on these same spiritual principles - a philosophy long neglected in an age of mechanistic therapeutics, in which the gods invoked are technology and science alone. 

    This paper will assume the above facts concerning creation, the spiritual nature of man, spiritual levels and their causal relationships, and the existence of correspondences as their operational link. (5) Upon this base, further teachings will be presented as they relate to the spiritual component of human health and disease. 

THE SEPARATION OF SPIRITUAL FROM NATURAL 

    With the rise of modern science, characterized as it is by application of the scientific method to observations and subsequent conclusions, the spiritual component of natural phenomena was gradually relegated to the separate and ostensibly speculative arena of theology. If there is a God and a spiritual plane of existence, the reasoning went, these are obviously not operating according to natural laws, and consequently cannot be observed, measured, or otherwise documented. Swedenborg struggled with this problem (identified by him as Naturalism) in his day, and at present there is virtually no consideration of the spiritual element in science. Although the field of quantum physics is beginning to produce some paradoxical facts to ponder, only a few suggest spirit in matter behind these curious phenomena. Many see this lack of measurability as proof that no spiritual world is there at all, but this argument is vacuous at best. "The failure to prove the presence of spirits by sensual demonstrations does in no wise disprove the existence of the spiritual world which influences our lives intimately and in orderly ways, but which by its very nature eludes experimental approach." (6)  

    Since it is not possible to examine spiritual phenomena with the senses and instruments which respond only to those attributes common to natural laws and forces, it is only proper that science is not the method for exploring the spiritual world. "The only legitimate way to learn about the afterlife is through the teachings of Divinely appointed prophets and seers: 'If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead.' (7) The doctrines given through Swedenborg constitute a final revelation granted for the sake of the restoration of a true Christian religion or a New Church." (8)

MECHANISM OF SPIRITUAL-NATURAL INTERACTION 

    As mentioned briefly above, the spiritual and natural worlds are separated by what Swedenborg describes as a discrete degree of relationship. As each level operates according to its own laws and forces, and these are not of the same quality, the two worlds cannot be interactive in any direct way. But things on both levels may interact in a secondary way, by a mechanism generally analogous to the common phenomenon of electrical induction: a charged body is affected by the induced electromagnetic field of an adjacent charged coil, and these changes may be demonstrated in the body over a considerable distance, with no obvious intervening force. Things in the natural world are affected in a similar way by things in the spiritual world, though not by any direct force, but by means of analogy in the use or purpose of each. Things of similar uses harmonize, as it were, and are linked by this common bond across the gulf separating the worlds. These harmonious qualities are said to correspond, and it is by such correspondences that the two worlds are united, in a directional system of influence. The spiritual flows into the natural, in an influx by correspondences which molds and forms the natural world, and influences the things in it on a continuous basis.

MAN THE MICROCOSM 

    What makes this arrangement most interesting is man's unique position as a simultaneous participant of both worlds. Unlike other things of the natural world, he is able to respond to both natural and spiritual influences as they occur, to changes in natural forces and to changes in spiritual influx. This influx is of two types, general and particular. (9)There is a general influx governing the unconscious workings of the body and brain, such as life support functions, and behaviors requiring no decision of conscience or other value judgment. This is the influx enjoyed by non-human living things, which exist according to Divine order (AC 5850). Particular influx, an exclusively human phenomenon, protects the mind of man from the devastation such a general influx would bring, now that this influx necessarily includes a hellish component. Particular influx is mediate, through spirits and angels, directed to man's affections for good or evil, thus influencing him only through his freedom to choose. Humans then, are subject to influence, by spiritual influx, of the affections of those in heaven, hell, and the world of spirits, as individuals and as societies of like-minded spirits and angels.

DISEASE CORRESPONDS TO SPIRITUAL SOCIETIES 

    Every society in the Grand Man has an opposing society in the hells, comprising what Swedenborg terms a "Grand Monstrosity (SD 4585)." Heavenly societies collectively contribute to the general integrity of the Grand Man by providing order from their harmony with the Divine, (10) and perfection from the diversity of their uses (AC 1285:3). Hellish societies seek to divide, and to thus destroy this integrity. We find this to be the identical paradigm for disease on the natural plane. 

    No disease process or state corresponds to angels or heavenly societies. Diseases do, however, correspond directly to evil spirits and their hellish societies (AC 5711). These spiritual entities are disallowed from entering into a person's body, or "solid parts," or viscera directly, but may enter in only when their corresponding disease is already present (AC 5713). This is a fundamental principle of spiritual-natural interaction, and is often poorly understood. Permission for direct invasion of the natural body by evil spirits and hellish societies, called by Swedenborg "obsession" of body as well as mind, is no longer allowed. With the Advent of the Lord and the ordering of the hells, natural and corporeal spirits who would gladly obsess us have been shut up. They would otherwise destroy the human race. They are permitted, however, to assault the mind of a man, who as stated above, is equipped to deal with this attack on his affections in complete spiritual freedom (HH 257, SD 2659, 4585). Although this may seem extreme, it should be pointed out that the Lord did not introduce evil into the world. It was a condition imposed upon creation by man alone, wishing to operate apart from God (see CL 444). In an effort to save the human race, the Lord allows humans the freedom to act from evil, but limits the assault from evil spirits to the mind of man, the faculty where the will meets the understanding, and the battle for the soul is waged. Some are saved; some choose hell. Disease is one representation of this spiritual battle on the natural plane.

THE ROLE OF EVIL SPIRITS 

    Evil spirits assault people with lusts - for arrogance, lewdness, adultery, hatred, revenge, quarrels, fights, dominion, self-love, hypocrisy, avarice, and greed (AC 5712, 5715, 5718-20). Spirits disturb the mind (AC 5716). These statements become instantly clear when these "lusts" are identified as states of mind, and from what has been previously said, it is clear that we are in freedom to shun these states of mind or appropriate them for our own. If we appropriate them, the seeds of disease are sown. We draw diseases upon ourselves from the life of evil (SD 2439). But "so far as a man's body is in functional order, so far it mirrors and receives the influx of corresponding spiritual uses which make up the Grand Man; and then evil spirits are entirely unable to cause any disorder in the body." (11)

THERE ARE TWO MECHANISMS FOR DISEASE 

Mechanism I 

    Disease thus enters through the mind (the body's inmosts) as lusts (states of mind). As new states of mind are appropriated, there is effected a subsequent change in the will. Faith and charity make our spiritual life, and this life is sickened with falsity and evil in their place. Spiritual disease destroys the life of the understanding of truth (producing falsity) and the life of the will of good (producing evil) (AC 8364). Spiritual death results from a life contrary to Divine order, and this death is from no other source than from sin (AC 5726). The progression of natural disease corresponds to this same series of events, and is acted out in the body according to the limitations of natural substance and its laws of operation. Entering the body through its inmosts, these spiritual lusts (states of mind) quickly make their way into the externals, first by effecting changes in the "capillary veins," or smallest blood vessels. These become obstructed, and changes in the blood in these vessels quickly occur. The blood becomes "vitiated," or corrupted, and from this nidus the organ itself is ultimately affected (AC 5726, TCR 534, SD 2716). "When evil begins to prevail in the body, in its blood, then disease threatens and attacks it, and the soul thereof, which is called nature, labors in vain to repair slips and hurts, wherefore man dies (SD 2716)." Disease creeps in, from the spiritual to the inmosts of the natural, to quietly work its work from inside out - not directly, but in a secondary way, by the correspondence of affections.  

Mechanism II 

    But this series of teachings, when considered alone, can lead us to a simplistic notion that all disease stems directly from our conscious involvement in evils, which must only be identified and expurgated for complete healing to occur. It should be pointed out that we live in an imperfect world. Ours is not the idyllic state of the Most Ancient Church, and we struggle against a world in which evil is both permitted and manifested in many ways. Disease may also arise in another way. It can come from changes in the externals - the natural body - and proceed from the other direction, to allow the evil spirits and hellish societies which correspond, to enter as invited quests (AC 5713, SD 4585). Our bodies are not perfect from the start. Add to this neglect and abuse - be they chemical (drugs, malnutrition, polluted air and water), physical (violence, accidents), or mechanical (overwork, overuse) - to the handicap of inherited evils common to modern man, and the door is opened for the process to begin. This teaching considered alone can lead us to believe that if only the externals were to be maintained in the proper state through the judicious application of nutrition, rest, hygiene, lifestyle, exercise, and other such principles, then disease would be prevented from entering through this door. 

    To a large extent this is true. Among the fundamental laws for living given to the Children of Israel by the Lord Himself was an abundance of just such principles. The Mosaic Law is largely a code of public health statutes. The healing arts are an extension of this idea, applied as treatment when prevention has failed, and they are by no means to be ignored as a useful method for normalizing the externals to rid the body of disease. Both of these natural world principles - prevention and treatment of disease by normalizing and maximizing the body's integrity - proceed from outside in, and both are valid methods for dealing with the problem (SD 4585). But again, we must avoid simplistic generalizations of complicated data. There is a lot to know about disease.

A NEW SPIRITUAL PARADIGM 

    The problem of the apparently random nature of the natural world, governed as it is by natural laws, with its inherent possibilities for evil uses, suggests a paradigm for disease that is less precise than we might at first assume. The most regenerate of people is nonetheless at risk to develop disease because of the many variables in the natural world. There is no formula in this system for the accurate correlation of specific diseases with specific spiritual states, and to attempt to apply these spiritual principles thus would be a naive and nearsighted use of revelation. Generally stated, disease may enter through the mind via our cooperation with evil lusts, and work its way externally into the organs of the body. It may also enter externally, through the ravages of natural processes, injury, abuse, or neglect, to produce a state of disorder into which corresponding evil spirits can flow. It may do both. Our imperfect physical and spiritual states, with inherent evil inclinations from birth, put us at risk in the best of states. 

    But healing happens. And as with disease, there are some clear spiritual principles behind the process. Health is no more the absence of disease than peace is the absence of war, despite our culture's persistent mistaken paradigm of disease as invader. Health is an internal state of harmony with the spiritual perfection of the Grand Man, which is an effigy of the Lord, who is Order itself. Spiritual and natural integrity are interactive, and healing must proceed from this premise. The Lord knew this, and it was the center of his ministry on earth.

TWO KINDS OF HEALING 

I. Physical Healing 

    Healing is ostensibly of two types. As mentioned above, the most common image of healing is by means of the medical arts, a method validated in AC 5713: 

If the natural with man were separated from the spiritual, it would be separated from all cause of existence, and thus from all that is vital. Yet this does not hinder man's being healed in a natural way; for the Lord's providence concurs with such means.  

This is an important validation, for some religious traditions and attitudes of our time so value the spiritual component of healing, that to resort to traditional medical care becomes an admission of failure, or lack of faith. The Writings make this distinction because one of the avenues for disease into the body is external, or natural, and anything man can devise to minimize insult to the body's ordered operation can only be beneficial. Although the medical arts comprise only "half a system" when applied without regard to the spiritual component of disease, and deal only with externals, medicine and surgery are nonetheless a very important half. In the Word, diseases signify evils and falsities, a physician signifies a preserver from evils, and medicine signifies the truth of faith (AC 6502, 9031).

    "Along the bank of the river, on this side and that, will grow all kinds of trees used for food; their leaves will not wither and their fruit will not fail. They will bear fruit every month, because their water flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for medicine. (12)  

The medical arts play an important part in healing, and in fact have good spiritual correspondences. When applied with full knowledge of the spiritual reality of disease, they serve in a partnership which can answer either door.  

II. Spiritual Healing 

    Spiritual healing is the other means. An internal-to- external method, it attempts true restoration of the ideal state: conjunction with the Divine order of the Grand Man. Because of the directionality of the cause -> effect relationship between spiritual -> natural worlds, it is this kind of healing which truly makes the body whole. Although we have established that disease can indeed enter through the external door, it is through the inmosts, from the spiritual world, that the corresponding evil spirits and societies creep in and find a home. No matter which door admits the infernals corresponding to disease, their home in the body, established by harmonious affections for division and disorder, is the same home. By looking only at the disease itself, which is purely a natural effect, its spiritual cause and end are not immediately apparent.  

    Healing in the Word always signifies spiritual healing (AC 9031, 9086, 10023). Although the historical letter of the Word tells stories of real people receiving real healing, the ultimate purpose of these recorded events is to emphasize the spiritual healing taking place as well. Healing in the Word implies the restoration of the interiors to their pristine state, or spiritual truth restored (AC 9031).

PRINCIPLES OF HEALING 

I. The Soul 

    To heal the body, we must heal the soul. This is an ancient idea, originating with the physician-priests of antiquity, an idea wandering down through the ages, sometimes accepted, sometimes rejected, but never predominating for any length of time. The problem is that the nature of the soul has been an elusive thing, and without clear definition, its reality has been too easily questioned. The very obvious reality of the natural body, with its pathological processes immediately apparent, has too often led physicians to regard the natural man as the only reality. In the face of an urgent situation and an anxious patient, poorly comprehended spiritual considerations are easily neglected. It is only with thorough understanding of the actual subsistence of the natural body from its spiritual counterpart, that medicine can begin to heal in earnest. 

    The Lord understood the soul, and knew that it resided in the mind, a part of which was conscious and rational, but another part of which was a spiritual entity, an actual inhabitant of the spiritual world. He knew that in order for the natural body to function properly, its spiritual cause had first to be in order as well. His healing progressed from this order of influx. The Lord healed on the sabbath, because it was to signify spiritual healing (AC 9086), and before healing he often questioned the afflicted person concerning his faith, and not his physical needs at all. Those who had faith were healed (AC 10083).  

II. Faith 

    Faith we are told, is knowing what is true (AC 77, 310, 1667, NJHD 112, Life 36, Faith 1-6, TCR 347). Knowing what is true inspires those of us inclined toward good to live according to these truths, or in accordance with the Divine order (AC 419). When this begins to happen, we come into harmony (correspondence) with the order of the Grand Man, the perfect image of God. No longer at home in such strange surroundings, evil spirits and hellish societies will abandon this new order in us, to which they no longer correspond. Spiritual healing has occurred; natural healing cannot but follow. (13) This is real healing, not magic; a predictable process of restoration using the power of spiritual influx from the Lord (end) to the spiritual body, or soul (cause), to its ultimation in the natural body (effect). 

    Knowledge of the spiritual/natural nature of disease, and knowledge of the ideal physical state as manifested in the Grand Man of heaven is well and good, but as with all truths, this knowledge, to bear the fruit of use, must be applied to life, for "Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead." (14) What good does it do us to know these things? Can we attain to the efficient use of these doctrines in everyday life, when applied in our disciplines of medicine, psychiatry, and ministry? The answer is an obvious yes, if we can remember that 1) there are two doors by which disease can enter, but once inside, the appearance will be the same 2) the spiritual principles of disease discussed in this paper, though clear and not in any way contradictory, are of a general nature, and interactive, and require interpretation within the context of all we know about spiritual/natural interaction, and 3) spiritual healing, like regeneration, is a process, requiring continuous effort and returning little immediate benefit.

THE LIMITATIONS OF MODERN MEDICINE 

    Modern medicine is a method of the "quick fix," a marvel of technological success. But it is obvious that it fixes only exteriors, leaving spiritual causes unaddressed. By summarizing the principles considered in this paper, a rationale for their inclusion in a modern system of spiritual/natural healing can be proposed. There is an urgent need for these principles to find their way into common use.  

    Disease appears to be a naturally occurring process. For any disease, careful study will reveal evidence of obvious pathogenesis and a sequence of pathophysiological events leading to the morbidity at hand. But for all the apparent natural causes of disease, we know from the above discussion that what we are seeing on the natural plane with our microscopes and diagnostic instruments, is the end in a causal series, with its clear beginnings in the spiritual world. These beginnings are not in heaven. The very functional arrangement of the societies in heaven is as an effigy of the Lord Himself - order itself - in what Swedenborg observed to be a "Grand Man" of heaven. This is the perfect human form, from which our own bodies are derived by correspondence.  

    The beginnings of disease are in the hells, a "Grand Monstrosity," or opposing collection of evil spirits and societies of such, who live for the perversion of all that is good and true. In the world before evil, there were no diseases, just natural laws governing the accumulation of free radicals in tissues, the loss of elasticity in connective tissues, neuronal death and disorganization, and plain old entropy, leading to a gentle death in old age. When evil appeared in the world, its corresponding diseases appeared in the natural world as well, and complicated this simple plan. The human race is no longer free from evil. Inherited evils, transmitted to us through the ages, have reversed the order of our reception of influx until it is no longer directly from the Lord Himself, but secondarily, through the Word and spirits, both good and evil. This brings us into a state of freedom, in equilibrium, between the opposing influences on our minds. It is a complicated system, but it is all the Lord could do to save us from ourselves. 

    Because of the presence of inherited evils, no matter how well we succeed in regeneration on this natural plane, we are nonetheless susceptible to disease. An excellent natural analogy to this are the many inherited diseases which can afflict us with no warning, and with no real involvement in the process. Because of this situation, ridding the human race of disease in the near future is not a reasonable goal. But neither must we sit quietly by and accept disease as our simple fate. There is a way to work within this framework of circumstances to maximize our situation, both individually and collectively, and start the journey back to "perfect veneration" of the Creator. This is the New Jerusalem, which is now descending, in the doctrines we will use for healing in the "new medicine."

THE NEW MEDICINE 

    The first consideration of a new method in medicine is the reminder of the preacher, that "that which has been is that which will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun." (15)There is no new medicine. Our new medicine will be a return to the old. It will be based on principles as old as the human race, some stated many times before, in many ways. They are principles contained in the Writings for the New Church, for the first time in a state of fullness allowing true understanding: 

    1.     Man is a microcosm, a "little universe," with a spiritual and a natural body. What effects the one will necessarily affect the other. This idea appears in some form in virtually all the ancient religions.

    2.     Life is not a natural phenomenon, but flows in from the spiritual world. Its source is Divine love.

    3.     The spiritual body rules the natural body. This is due to the directional nature of spiritual -> natural influx, as discussed at length above. This is an essential point in healing, because it is the principle behind what the ancients called the "wisdom of the body," or its ability to heal itself, if only restored to proper function (SD 2716). 

TWO METHODS FOR HEALING 

    Medicine, then, has two basic functions within the context of these principles, both essential to effect true healing. Its first task is to restore the physical body to as close to its original structural and metabolic integrity as possible, by means of whatever therapeutic modalities or agents necessary to do the job. This is the work of the physician, and it is an art, which cannot be regulated or managed without disruption of the process.  

    The second function, practiced concurrently with the first, is to restore the spiritual body to its proper state as well. This is internal work, but is no more complicated than removing impediments to healing. Mental states must change, the "lusts" attracting corresponding evil spirits must be extinguished, anxieties must be quieted, and the disease must be eased out of the person a little at a time, as new states arise and the body heals. This is the work of the priesthood and the church, and it is a great task. These two functions have been separated too long, and the physician and priest must be put back in proper apposition. 

HEALING IS HARMONY 

    All aspects of a person’s life are involved in the diseases he endures. All must be considered, adjusted if necessary, and brought into harmony with the others, if true healing is to happen. Healing is the restoration of harmony with the Human Form Divine, the Grand Man, an effigy of the Lord, who is order itself. One does not (indeed cannot) drive out disease. Disease is no invader, to be conquered in battle. It is an invited guest. The new medicine will identify the doors through which it enters, and then gently close these doors, with the leaves (the ultimates of truth, and therefore uses) which are for healing. It is the Lord’s work. 


FOOTNOTES

1      Bell, Reuben P., morbus obscurus, American Physicians Poetry Association Newsletter, 6:1, Spring, 1994. 

2     Swedenborg's Divine Love and Wisdom deals with this problem of creation by causal series, and the nature of correspondences, in a general statement concerning the interaction of the spiritual and natural worlds. 

3      Genesis 1:26, NKJV 

4      Swedenborg, Emanuel, The Principia,  Swedenborg Scientific Association, 1976, pp. 43-45.  The loop of "perfect veneration" is a theme dating from Swedenborg's earliest philosophical musings, and is carried forward and developed in the Writings for the New Church. 

5      These premises are developed quite thoroughly in Swedenborg's Divine Love and Wisdom, Swedenborg Foundation, New York, New York, 1988. 

6      Odhner, Hugo Lj., Spirits and Men, The Academy Book Room, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1960, p. 2. 

7     Luke 16:31 (NKJV) 

8      op. cit., Odhner, p. 5. 

9      ibid., pp. 154-56. 

10      The Lord is order itself (DLW 29, TCR 52-55, 71:2). 

11      op. cit., Odhner, Spirits and Men, p. 178. 

12      Ezekiel 47:12.  This image of the tree emerging from the river of life is reiterated in Revelation 22:2, where the leaves, we are told, are for the healing of the nations.  Until very recently, most medicines were derived directly from their plant sources, and the leaves of medicinal plants were the stock in trade of the apothecary. 

13      Natural healing follows to the extent that the processes and structures of the body can be restored, according to the natural laws of our universe.  It is in medicine's domain to facilitate these natural processes.  See HH 445. 

14      James 2:14-26. (NKJV) 

15      Ecclesiastes 9-10. (NKJV) 



BIBLIOGRAPHY

References other than the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg:

Bell, Reuben P., morbus obscurus, American Physicians Poetry     Association Newsletter, Iovino, Rita, ed., Spring, 1994,     6:1:7.

Holy Bible, New King James Version, Thomas Nelson, Inc.,   Nashville, Tennessee 1982.

Odhner, Hugo Lj., Spirits and Men, The Academy Book Room, Bryn     Athyn, Pennsylvania, 1960.

Swedenborg, Emanuel, The Principia, Swedenborg Scientific  Association, Bryn Athyn, Pa, 1976, pp. 43-45.

`````````````````````````

Books of the theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, as abbreviated in the text:

    AC      Arcana Coelestia        

    CL       Conjugial Love

    DLW      Divine Love and Wisdom

    HH       Heaven and Hell 

    Lord     Doctrine of the Lord

    NJHD     The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine

    SD       Spiritual Diary

    TCR      The True Christian Religion

    Life     Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem

    Faith    Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Concerning Faith