The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings

Is there secret symbolism hidden within the trilogy Lord of the Rings by Tolkien?  In The Hidden Secret of the Lord of the Rings I mentioned a rather strange dream where I was caught up into the sky above the earth, perhaps somewhat precognitive, and at the end a strange name was mentioned to me. A voice then said I could find the name in the book Lord of the Rings. I awoke and the dream had a profound effect, it was so "unearthly", as if I had entered another realm.  This was in 2004, and when I recalled the dream I just groaned about it as if someone had given me a large homework assignment.  I knew Tolkien's works were large, he had spent more than a decade working on it, and had invented an entire language before he even began writing the book. How in the world was I going to find this word in Lord of the Rings? At that time I had only seen the movies, and I was just too busy to bother reading the books. It took me a while, but yes, I eventually found that indeed the dream was correct: the name is in Lord of the Rings. But not only that, the meaning of the name helped explain the meaning of the dream.  But now the mystery deepens. Where did Tolkien get his material, and why did he spend many years writing this book? Tolkien, my suspicion was, was hiding something. After a bit of further research, yes, Tolkien was into a lot of strange things. Such as dreams. Time travel. Time travel in dreams. What is going on here???

I started to dig into the life of Tolkien a bit. I discovered that within the Christian churches, they either love the Lord of the Rings, or they absolutely hate it with a lot of suspicion that it involves the occult. Before I had time to do any serious research on the dream I had, I found this strange web site: A Former Witch Looks at The Lord Of The Rings.  A witch? I have to read this. It begins as follows:

Something very strange is going on in the United States, and the spirits that are hard at work are now bringing forth a power that is designed to captivate the entire world. Shortly after the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City fell to the ground and drastically changed our nation forever, a new series of movies began to draw millions of people to the movie theaters. Standing above and apart from the many fantasy movies and books is a trilogy or series of three called The Lord Of The Rings. This series was written by the late J.R.R. Tolkien and was first published in book form in the early 1950’s. During the rock music revolution of the 1960’s, The Lord of the Rings trilogy caught on, and over 100 million of these books were sold. These books greatly fueled the spiritual revolution and opened the door for witchcraft to seize upon our world. All of this is being done to prepare the way for a new world order in a new Aquarian age.  

And just to be fair, I happened to mention at a dinner party that one of my favorite movies was Lord of the Rings. Someone then said he avoided it as it has shades of the occult. But surprisingly, a preacher then said, that is a great movie, and had greatly inspired him when he had read the books.  The other was incredulous. So, as I said, you either love it or hate it. When I was first researching this trying to figure out the meaning of my dream, I found this web site: J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis - The Occult Overtones In Their Writings. It again talks about the division of opinion - some find this to be a great epic, others are suspicious of supposedly occult overtones. Here are some examples:

"John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973) was a man of many contradictions. For example:

•  Back in 1969, he wrote a letter affirming that "the chief purpose of life, for any one of us, is to increase according to our capacity our knowledge of God by all the means we have, and to be moved by it to praise and thanks." (8) Yet the primary focus of his life was his mythical Middle-earth, headed by a distant and impersonal "God" who might confuse rather than clarify the nature of the Biblical God.
•  In his personal letters (many are included in a book titled The Letters of J. R. R Tolkien), he expressed caution toward occult practices. But he equipped his team of mythical heroes  -- the fellowship of the Ring -- with the pagan powers that God forbids. For example, "Gandalf [a helpful wizard] is able to wield potent magic... To do battle with the forces of darkness, Gandalf the Grey can call upon not only his spellcraft, but also his staff of power and the Elven sword Glamdring." (9)  
• Tolkien once told a Jesuit friend: "The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work... the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism."(11) People defending Tolkien, saying he was a strict Roman Catholic and thus Christian, should read more about Roman Catholicism and especially the Jesuit Order. Both these "religious" groups are nothing but front groups for the Illuminati - the power that is currently controlling political events in the background, to create a One World Government, and to pave the way for the "AntiChrist". Challenging question: Was Tolkien actually also a Jesuit in secret?
•  A staunch Roman Catholic, he affirmed his faith in the One God who created the universe. But his mythical God stopped creating before the work was finished, then turned the rest over to a group of lesser gods or "sub-creators." In other words, Tolkien invented a hierarchy of deities that defied the Biblical God's wise warnings concerning both real and imagined idolatry." (5)

So where is this occult accusation coming from? The first article states that Gandalf falls into the pits of hell and returns from the dead, as if this wizard was a portrayal of Christ. That's a very weak argument, and shows perhaps a bit of ignorance, but probably from the bias of the author's experience. But he concludes with again associating it with the attack of September 11:

I can say most assuredly that The Lord of the Rings trilogy comes from the pits of hell and is a clever instructional course in witchcraft disguised as fantasy and entertainment. Part one was released in movie form on December 19, 2001, shortly after the two towers of the World Trade Center came down. It was called “The Fellowship of the Ring.” Part two was called “The Two Towers” and was released December 18, 2002. Part three is named “The Return of the King” and was released December 17, 2003, and is breaking all records for ticket sales. All three movies were released at the time of the witchcraft sabat of Yule!

It is a bit strange that the movie "The Two Towers" was released right after the two towers fell. That caught my attention. And when I later found out that Tolkien was into dreams - precognitive dreams - well that was just a bit too hard too ignore. But, maybe a coincidence, and a fortuitous one at that. Tolkien did not even want to divide his book up, and did not want the title of "The Two Towers." There was confusion in his mind as to what two towers were being referred to in the title. So is Lord of the Rings based on Biblical imagery, or the occult? The dichotomoy is nowhere more apparent in the scene described in The Secret of Marian Apparitions, and Tolkien's Mirror of Galadriel, Here we have the elf queen, Galadriel, a symbol of the virgin Mary from the Catholic faith. And yet combined with it is the ancient practice of staring into a bowl of water to see images of the future. Such an ancient practice was common in ancient Greece, and is even described in one scene in the Hebrew work, the book of Jasher. And even Galadriel is tempted towards the dark side - we have a battle between light and darkness. My opinion? Tolkien was intent on creating a modern day myth. And he drew upon ancient and modern symbolism, some drawn from his own subconscious. You have symbols representing good, and symbols representing evil.

But -- why such an scene of seeing the future in Lord of the Rings? Tolkien had quite an interest in precognitive dreams. What did Galadriel say at that mirror again?

THE STRANGE CASE OF BILBO'S BIRTHDAY PARTY

The first book of the series, The Fellowship of the Ring, begins with the episode of Bilbo's birthday party.  So what is so strange about it? Well nothing. Nothing at first.  First, here is the scene from the movie:



So, what of this character, Bilbo Baggins? Here is Bilbo with the wizard Gandalf blowing smoke rings through their pipes:

Here is a picture of J.R.R. Tolkien with a pipe:

Just for kicks, here is a picture of Peter Jackson in New Zealand, director of Lord of the Rings, with a pipe:

If one looks through the private letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, one reader commented that Tolkien looked like a hobbit. And Tolkien confirmed some of the reader's remarks. If one examines the book, The Hobbit, it is based on the more ancient story of Beowulf. (see, for example, Tolkien and Beowulf). And indeed, as a professor at Oxford Tolkien was most well known for his work on Beowulf. From Beowulf - Lord of the Rings Wiki:

Beowulf exercised an important influence on J. R. R. Tolkien, who wrote the landmark essay Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics while a professor at Oxford University. Tolkien also translated the poem, which the Tolkien Society has recently decided to publish. Grendel and Grendel's mother were the inspiration for the Orcs in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (see also the Old English word orcneas, which makes but a single appearance in the poem). Many parallels can also be drawn between Beowulf and Tolkien's works; almost analogous images include, but are not limited to, the likeness between the Anglo-Saxons and the Men of Rohan, the upsetting of a dragon through the stealing of a chalice by a thief, and the subsequent destruction of the land surrounding the dragon's hoard. A connection between Grendel and Gollum has also been purported.
A turning point in Beowulf scholarship came in 1936 with J. R. R. Tolkien's article Beowulf: the monsters and the critics when for the first time the poem, and Anglo-Saxon literature, was seriously examined for its literary merits—not just scholarship about the origins of the English language as was popular in the 19th century. Perhaps no other single academic article has been so instrumental in converting a medieval piece of literature from obscurity to prominence.

Thus we can conclude that Bilbo Baggins, in essence, represents the author Tolkien himself. Just as Tolkien wrote the book The Hobbit, so in Lord of the Rings he has Bilbo Baggins writing a book of his adventures to recover the gold of the dwarves from the mountain guarded by the dragon Smaug. After successfully publishing The Hobbit, the publisher asked Tolkien to write a sequel. This Tolkien struggled with - how to write up a follow up story? He then decided to write a sequel focusing on the mysterious ring that imparted invisibility - and when writing the history of the ring, so came about the story for Lord of the Rings. But Tolkien had a problem - in the initial story of The Hobbit, Gollum freely imparted the ring to Bilbo Baggins. After writing Lord of the Rings, Tolkien had to go back, rewrite that portion of The Hobbit, and indicate that there was a struggle between Gollum and Bilbo Baggins over the ring. And this exact same rewrite - or retelling of the story - is described by Gandalf, when he talks about how Bilbo initially "lied" to him about the ring, before discovering the true story of how he retrieved the ring from Gollum. So Bilbo Baggins is indeed Tolkien himself - both of them write the story of The Hobbit, otherwise known as "There and Back Again." For those of you who haven't read the book, you will just have to wait for the next installment of The Hobbit movie by director Peter Jackson.

Now, this is where it gets strange concerning Bilbo Baggin's "birthday party."  It is his 111th birthday party. Tolkien, when composing the chronology of Lord of the Rings, based some of the chronology on actual facts. So for example, Bilbo Baggins was born in the year 2890 of the Third Age. If we subtract 1,000 years, we arrive at the number 1890.  When was Tolkien born? Tolkien was born in the year 1892. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

So, this brings us to another interesting coincidence. As Bilbo Baggins was born in the year 2890 of the Third Age, his 111th birthday party takes place in the year 3001 of the Third Age. Actually, it takes place on this exact date: September 22, 3001. If we subtract 1,000 from the year, and likewise subtract 1 from each digit of the day, we end up with the following date: SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. And for some other wierdness, the number 11 constantly pops up in odd places during that fateful day - see Eerie coincidences regarding September 11 attack and the number 11. I didn't compile these, someone else did. And here we have...Bilbo Baggin's 111th birthday??? September 11 may have been foreseen long, long ago ...see The Prophecy of September 11 and America.

Tolkien of course was not present, having passed away in 1973, but the movie The Fellowship of the Ring, was released just two months after on December 19, 2001. It was as if Tolkien had returned to retell his story, except director Peter Jackson was now doing it. Perhaps preparing for the New York premier, actor Ian McKellan was actually in New York at the time of the attack. From a posting of September 18, 2001 at News for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:

Lord Of The Rings star Sir Ian McKellen has assured fans he is safe and well despite being in Manhattan during the terrorist attacks. The British screen legend has posted a message of condolence to the families of those killed in Washington and New York on his website. He says, "Our support and condolences go to the many families and friends affected by the destruction, and our appreciation to the thousands of extraordinary heroes."

And need I mention the dragon that explodes in a burst of fireworks:

And what of the wizard Saruman, who creates a new breed of orcs - the Uruk Hai.  Did anyone ever notice that Uruk is an ancient city of Iraq? That the name of Iraq is derived from the ancient city of Uruk??? Is perhaps Saruman related, oh I don't know, to the name of Syria perhaps?

And what of the eye of Sauron that strangely sits on top of the tower of Barad-Dur?

Perhaps it is related to this symbol on the U.S. Dollar? Isn't the U.S. Dollar based on - the trade of oil?

And did not Wesley Clark say, that 10 days after September 11, U.S. military attacks were all PREPLANNED to attack Iraq, Libya AND SYRIA....Syria being the stepping stone to...attack Iran.



What did they say at the beginning of the movie... one by one, the free lands of Middle Earth fell to the power of the one ring...where is Middle Earth? The Middle East, perhaps? Where is that volcano, Mount Doom? What would that represent?


Continued in The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings (part 2)

The Secret of Marian Apparitions, and Tolkien's Mirror of Galadriel

Religion, in its many forms, is often best understood as an adaptation of the truth to the mind of the culture of the persons receiving it.  For there are many truths, and adaptations of it, but the ultimate goal of truth is to lead us to that which is good.  Some, who are not ready to receive the higher truth of worshiping one God in human form, will often follow saints, ancestors, or even angels. I had discussed some angelic apparitions in Egypt, and although the apparitions in these cases did not speak, there are other Marian apparitions that can be found in the 19th and 20th centuries where the angel does communicate, sometimes identifying herself as Mary.  Among some Catholic visionaries, I have read accounts where this angelic being will often declare herself to be the "Mediatrix" of salvation, or sometimes as the "Queen of heaven." These revelations, improperly understood, goes against scripture which state that only one God should be worshiped, and prayers should be only directed to him. Are these revelations valid? Yes and no. They are an adaptation of the truth according to how Catholics can receive it. For many millions of Catholics have been taught from childhood to pray to the virgin Mary. I would call these visionary experiences an adaptation of the truth, according to what the mind is willing to receive. If understood symbolically, they are true, but if taken literally, they are false.

Although direct communication with angels and spirits is not generally permitted in this age, in ancient times it was more commonplace when mankind had not fallen into its state as of now. But among religious devotees, who have withdrawn from the cares of the world and dedicated themselves toward charity, it is occasionally permitted.  Swedenborg talks about this briefly in his work, Heaven and Hell:

Some, also, who lead a solitary life, at times hear spirits speaking with them, and without danger; but the spirits with them are at intervals removed by the Lord, lest they should know that they are with man. For, most spirits do not know that there is any other world than that in which they are, and so do not know that there are men elsewhere; accordingly it is not permitted man to speak in turn with them, for if he should they would know it. Those who think much on religious subjects, and are so intent upon them as to see them as it were inwardly in themselves, begin also to hear spirits speaking with them; for religious persuasions, whatever they are, when man from himself dwells upon them, and does not modify them by the various things of use in the world, go interiorly and dwell there and occupy the whole spirit of the man, thus entering the spiritual world and affecting spirits there. But such persons are visionaries and enthusiasts, and whatever spirits they hear they believe to be the Holy Spirit, when in fact they are enthusiastic spirits. Those who are such see falsities as truths, and because they see them, they persuade themselves, and likewise persuade those with whom they flow in; and because those spirits began also to persuade to evils and to be obeyed, by degrees they were removed. Enthusiastic spirits are distinguished from other spirits by this, that they believe themselves to be the Holy Spirit and what they say to be Divine. Those spirits do not maltreat man, because man honors them with Divine worship. I have spoken with them several times, and then the wicked things were discovered which they infused into their worshippers. (Heaven and Hell, n. 249).

This description of a certain class of spirit or angel, who desire to be honored or worshiped by man, sounds very similar to some (not all) of the Marian apparitions I have read about, where the angel encourages devotion to Mary, in addition to emphasizing prayer and repentance. The angelic apparitions in Egypt do not seem to follow the pattern, for the angel always draws attention to the cross and bows down before it. But in certain ancient cultures spirit worship was commonplace, for that is how the culture was taught and that is the only way they could receive the truth. Swedenborg was shown that such a female spirit would often appear to the Greek philosopher Aristotle:

He also said that he believed in one God only, Whose attributes and qualities they distinguished by names, which others worshipped as so many gods. There appeared to me a woman who stretched out her hand, desiring to stroke my cheek, and when I wondered at this, he said that when he was in the world, such a woman had often appeared to him, as if stroking his cheek, and with a beautiful hand. The angelic spirits said that such women sometimes appeared to the ancients, and were by them called Pallases, and that she appeared to him from the spirits who, when they lived as men in ancient times, were delighted with ideas, and indulged in thoughts, but without philosophy; and because such spirits were with him and were delighted with him, because he thought interiorly, they presented such a woman representatively. (Earths in the Universe, n. 39)

Presumably the reference here is to "Pallas Athena," an epithet of the Greek goddess Athena. These visions are different from the Marian apparitions as it is understood that they are visionary representations of the delight of wisdom. But in ancient cultures, this was perhaps the origin of mother goddess worship, and within the Roman Catholic Church, this was gradually changed towards devotions to Mary.

As to why certain Marian apparitions are allowed among Catholic visionaries, Swedenborg describes one culture he encountered, and explains why it was permitted for them to communicate with an angel:

After we had spoken for some time on various matters, I asked what God they worshipped. They said that they worshipped an Angel, who appears to them as a Divine Man, shining with light; and that He instructs them and gives them to perceive what they ought to do. They said further that they know that the Most High God is in the Sun of the angelic heaven; and that He appears to their Angel, and not to themselves; and that He is too great for them to dare to adore Him. The Angel whom they worshipped was an angelic society, to which it was given by the Lord to preside over them, and to teach the way of what is just and right. They therefore have light from a certain flame, which appears like a small torch, quite fiery and yellow. The cause of it is their not adoring the Lord, and thus not having light from the Sun of the angelic heaven, but from an angelic society. (Earths in the Universe, n. 130)

In other words, since the society felt they could not and should not approach God directly, an angel was given to them to teach them the way.  Such is the case with certain Marian apparitions: these visions are allowed as they are willing to receive that kind of truth, as they have been taught from childhood to pray to Mary.  But in the original Christian revelation, direct access to God is now provided through Jesus Christ, thus prayers should be devoted to Him only, as He is God incarnate.

TOLKIEN'S MIRROR OF GALADRIEL

J.R.R. Tolkien was raised in the Catholic faith, and some have wondered if that in any way influenced him in his portrayal of the elf queen Galadriel. Indeed that is the case, which is shown in the private letters of Tolkien. From Tolkien and Mary:

[Father Robert Murray, grandson of Sir James Murray (the founder of the Oxford English Dictionary) and a close friend of the Tolkien family, had read part of The Lord of the Rings in galley-proofs and typescript, and had, at Tolkien's instigation, sent comments and criticism. He wrote that the book left him with a strong sense of 'a positive compatibility with the order of Grace', and compared the image of Galadriel to that of the Virgin Mary. He doubted whether many critics would be able to make much of the book--"they will not have a pigeon-hole neatly labeled for it."]

To which Tolkien gave this interesting response:

I think I know exactly what you mean by the order of Grace; and of course by your references to Our Lady, upon which all my own small perception of beauty both in majesty and simplicity is founded. The Lord of the Rings is of course a fundamentally religious and Catholic work; unconsciously so at first, but consciously in the revision. That is why I have not put in, or have cut out, practically all references to anything like 'religion', to cults or practices, in the imaginary world. For the religious element is absorbed into the story and the symbolism. However, that is very clumsily put, and sounds more self-important than I feel. For as a matter of fact, I have consciously planned very little; and should chiefly be grateful for having been brought up (since I was eight) in a Faith that has nourished me and taught me all the little that I know; and that I owe to my mother...

Tolkien drew upon many sources, but one of the sources of his inspiration, which he does not talk about so much, were his own dreams.  Which is why the first revision of Lord of the Rings was developed "unconsciously" at first as he explains in the above letter. At times he talks about as if he himself had entered the mysterious world of the Faerie. Thus it is full of symbolism. But this identification of Galadriel with the virgin Mary I find interesting.  Why so?  Galadriel was exiled from her homeland due to her pride. In Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, there is this one particular scene, the mirror of Galadriel:



The one ring, with all its power, as a chain around Frodo's neck, represents the love of self - selfish pride - which we all carry. The quest we all have in this life is to destroy and subdue it. But what I find interesting in the above scene is that Tolkien seems to have a particular insight about the Marian apparitions - if Galadriel represents the virgin Mary, why show her in such a negative light - tempted towards power, tempted to receiving worship? The scene reminds me of Swedenborg's description of "enthusiastic" spirits who appear to religious devotees, and desire to be worshiped by them. Did Tolkien know of Swedenborg? That I doubt, I have seen no evidence of that in the letters of Tolkien. That angelic societies of heaven are not perfect, is shown in scripture:

Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly (Job 4:18)

And indeed, Swedenborg saw that in the afterlife - although angels are indeed in a higher state of being than us, all are still developing towards perfection. At times they are given to play a particular role, in order to lead those who are in a lower state of being to a better understanding of the Divine.

Marian Apparitions of Egypt, the Orthodox Church and Emanuel Swedenborg

In the blog post Angel Appears before thousands on top of a Coptic Church I described what seems to be an angelic apparition of the virgin Mary on top of a Coptic Church which was caught on video in the morning hours of December 11, 2009, and was seen by about 3,000 people. Now that took me by surprise, but what is even more surprising is this is not the first time this has happened. The first widely reported apparition of the virgin Mary in Egypt took place in Zeitoun Egypt on April 2, 1968 and lasted for over a period of three years, and was seen by at least HALF A MILLION Egyptians - including the former leader of Egypt, President Nasser. There seems to be a parallel between that sighting of 1968 and the one in Warraq in 2009. Again the angelic manifestation appeared on top of a Coptic church, which people thought was a young woman about to commit suicide. The form of the angel seems to have been more clearly visible, who then bowed down and prayed before one of the crosses on the rooftop. Like the sighting of 2009, a man was cured of blindness, and the apparition was seen with doves. Again, skeptics, and the scientists who only observe things in the visible light spectrum in this age of materialism, will tend to deny these things and come up with natural explanations. What do they say on this? Its a "mass hallucination" or tectonic plates producing an electro-magnetic light on top of the church. Here is a short documentary on the sighting, which includes witnesses who saw Mary turn and smile at them:



There is no video, but several photographs of the apparition were taken in black and white. I can show those, but as it turns out, an apparition of the angel Mary appeared later in Edfu Egypt in 1982, again approved by the Coptic Church:

So why the Marian apparition of 1968? One theory is that the day before, some Muslims had marked the houses of Coptic Christians with a cross of blood, marking the house as one that should be attacked. This is the exact sign that was placed on the doors of the Jews to protect them from the angel of death the night of the Passover.

As I was researching this blog, just found another apparition of Mary in Assiut, Egypt, which took place in the year 2000. AGAIN, on top of a Coptic Church. AGAIN, with the appearance of a dove. According to newspaper reports, during mass, pictures showing Mary with a dove above her that were hung on the wall inside the altar began to glow, after which the light from the dove in the pictures started to flow down. Later, the lights appeared above the church as well. It is an approved apparition by the Coptic Church. Here is a video of a light descending on the cross on top of the church:



Here is another shot where an angelic form appears in a tower, you can again hear the crowds cheer when it appears:



I can easily show more Marian apparitions, but for now I have only mentioned ones that have strong support from multiple witnesses and have been approved by the Coptic Church. The only thing that compares with this were the Fatima sightings in Portugal. So why does Mary appear with a dove? It is said that when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus, he saw it manifested in the form of a dove. Mary had conceived Jesus through the Holy Spirit. While externally he was like any other man, his inner soul was Divinity itself. And that is why the apparition Mary was seen in one case as bowing and praying before the cross.

EMMANUEL SWEDENBORG, ANGELS, AND THE HEAVENLY REALMS

If you want to know anything and everything about angels, and why they appear in such a bright light, you can obtain information on them from Emanuel Swedenborg's visions which he recorded in Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia) and in summary form in Heaven and Hell. There is too much to cover in one single blog post, since his visionary experiences lasted for a period of over 25 years and he wrote volumes about it. Unlike other religious writings I cannot find any logical error in them. All of the above sightings are brief instances, with no communication: Swedenborg's encounters are much more detailed. Most of Swedenborg's visions of angels in their heavenly realm took place in his internal sight, with no visible manifestation. But in one case at least, Swedenborg does mention a bright light that manifested before his very eyes:

That I might know the nature of the light, I have many times been conducted into the abodes where good spirits and angelic spirits dwell, and have there seen not only the spirits but also the things that were there. There have also been seen infants and mothers in light of so great brightness and resplendence that there could not possibly be anything brighter.
An intense flamy light, which I was not expecting, poured down before my eyes, dazzling them greatly — not merely the sight of the eye, but the interior sight also. Presently there appeared a sort of obscurity, like a thick, cloud, in which there was as it were something earthy. And when I was wondering, it was given me to know that such is the light with the angels in heaven, in comparison with the light in the world of spirits; and that although the spirits live in light, yet still there is such a difference; and that, as does the light, so also do the intelligence and the wisdom of the angels exceed the intelligence and the wisdom of spirits; and not their intelligence and wisdom only, but also all the things that belong to intelligence and wisdom, as their speech, thought, joys, and felicities; for these correspond to the light. From this it was also evident to me, how great and of what kind are the perfections of angels as compared with men, who are in obscurity more than spirits. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1523-24).

In his visions - a state in which Swedenborg was in in full wakefulness, he describes the light of heaven as so bright that there could not be possibly anything brighter in this world. It is a realm where there is no time and space, and while angels are unseen and for the most part not allowed to communicate directly with people, they influence us in general ways through our thoughts and emotions. There is a constant conjunction between the spiritual and material world, without which nothing living could live. Swedenborg observed a more direct link between himself and heavenly realms occurred when he was reading scripture, which also occurs to anyone who reads scripture with an open heart, even though they are unaware of it. With all of his angelic encounters, Swedenborg did not draw one single teaching or doctrine from an angel, but rather from the Lord himself while reading scripture.

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG AND THE VIRGIN MARY

So over the years of many visionary experiences, did Swedenborg ever encounter the virgin Mary? Yes, in one brief instance:

It is otherwise with the so called saints in heaven. They know nothing at all of their being so called on earth; nor have I spoken with them, lest some idea of this should enter into them. Only once Mary, the mother of the Lord, passed by, and was seen over head in white raiment; and then, stopping a little, she said that she had been the mother of the Lord and that He was indeed born of her, but that as He became God He put off all the human from her, and that therefore she now adores Him as her God, and is not willing that any one should recognize Him as her son, because in Him all is Divine. (The Final Judgment, n. 66).

Some observations here: for Mary to appear higher than Swedenborg can mean she exists in a higher realm than he was allowed to visit. The other point is, since of all the so-called saints he was only allowed to visit Mary, that could conversely mean that Mary is one of the few who is allowed to have a visible manifestation to appear before people here on earth. This does not mean that all apparitions are indicate the presence of the virgin Mary herself, it could very well be any female angel was sent to represent her and/or the church itself, to bring focus on the worship of Jesus. In the spiritual world, identities can get mixed somewhat: angels are allowed to represent other identities, as well as become symbolic manifestations. While Catholics are in error in praying to Mary, God acts in such a way where these manifestations are used to bend people back towards the true faith: it is better to bend, not break, the religion one grew up with as a child.

Another statement that Swedenborg makes, which may be puzzling to many Christians, is that she declared she is no longer the mother of the Lord. This is because Jesus gradually put off the human he received from Mary and replaced it with a Divine Human that originated from his own being. When he rose from the dead, he was completely Divine. There are two doctrines which have obscured this in the history of Christianity: the Nicene Creed, which invented a "son born from eternity", and the Chalcedonian Creed, which permanent divided Jesus into two natures, which created endless theological distinctions and debates which I will not get into here. Jesus BEGAN as both human and Divine, but in the end, the Divine absorbed and transformed the human into a Divine Human - a body that was under direct control by Jehovah, which could no longer be tempted to sin, where he could interact directly at our level without having an intermediate angel. For Catholics, this is obscured even more by the false doctrine of the immaculate conception of Mary. This is VERY CLEAR in the revelations that Swedenborg received concerning Mary, and his explanations also make clear why Islam is a "partially" true (not complete) revelation:

The interiors with Him were Divine, from Jehovah His Father; the exteriors were human, from Mary His mother. Hence it may be evident that with the Lord, equally as with other men, there was in His external man, in boyhood, a want of knowledge. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1460)

From knowledge of boyhood, Jesus later proceeded to make his rational human self Divine:

The Lord, as said before, was born as another man and was as another man as to the things which He derived from the mother Mary; and as the rational is formed by means of the knowledges, external and internal, which enter through things of the external senses, or those of the external man, therefore His first rational was born as with any other man; but as He by His own power was to make all the things that were human in Himself Divine, so also was it with the rational. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 1893.2)

...the Lord wholly exterminated His first rational, so that nothing of it remained; for what is merely human cannot be together with the Divine. Hence He was no longer the son of Mary, but Jehovah as to each Essence. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2657.7)

That He was born of the virgin Mary is known, yet as another man; but when He was born again, or became Divine, it was from Jehovah who was in Him, and Who was Himself as to the very Being of life. The unition of the Divine and the Human Essence was effected mutually and reciprocally, so that He united the Divine Essence to the Human and the Human to the Divine. Hence it may be evident that the Lord made the Human in Himself Divine by His own power, and thus became Justice. The merit of justice was what was adjoined to the Divine rational when He underwent inmost temptations, from which He then fought, and against which the evil genii fought, until He glorified that also. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2798.2)

The progession of His human to Divinity continued to the end of his life. And this explains why Jesus is called Lord in the New Testament, but not Jehovah, for during his ministry he had not yet made his human Divine:

Among the hidden causes of their calling Jehovah the Lord, were the following: if at that time it had been said that the Lord was the Jehovah so often named in the Old Testament, men would not have accepted it, for they would not have believed it; and further, because the Lord did not become Jehovah as to the Human also, until He had in every way united the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, and the Human to the Divine. The full unition was accomplished after the last temptation, which was that of the cross; and for this reason after the resurrection the disciples always called Him Lord. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2921.6)

In a similar manner, today, Muslims believe Jesus to just be a prophet.

The doctrine of immaculate conception of Mary is false: for Jesus received hereditary evil in his human form from Mary, by which he could be tempted and battle against hell:

That this was hereditary evil from the mother, against which the Lord combated, may be evident from what has been shown respecting that hereditary (n. 1414, 1444, 1573); and from His expelling it, so that at length He was not the son of Mary (Heavenly Arcana, n. 4563).

Thus those who subscribe to the immaculate conception, that Mary was born without sin, are not going to properly understand how Jesus saved humanity. The doctrine is late and was added by the Catholic Church: the Orthodox Church does not accept this doctrine.

That his human was Divine, was shown in the transfiguration:

The Lord was indeed born as another man, and had an infirm human from the mother; but this human the Lord entirely cast out, so that He was no longer the son of Mary, and made the Human in Himself Divine, which is meant by His being glorified; and He also showed to Peter, James, and John, when He was transfigured, that He was a Divine Man. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 4692.5)

Repeatedly it is said that the human from Mary was expelled and replaced with a Divine nature:

...with the Lord the prior forms, which were from the maternal, were altogether destroyed and extirpated, and Divine forms received in their place. For the Divine love does not agree with any but a Divine form; all other forms it absolutely casts out; hence it is that the Lord when glorified was no longer the son of Mary. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 6872.4)

He expelled all the human which was from the mother, until at length He was not the son of Mary (Heavenly Arcana, n. 9315.5)

With the Lord however there was not removal, but casting out of those which He derived from the mother, thus full liberation from them, even so that He was no longer the son of Mary (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10057.6)

When the Lord fully glorified His Human, then He put off the human from the mother and put on the Human from the Father. Wherefore then He was no longer the son of Mary, but the Son of God, from Whom He came forth. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10830)

What about the title of "Son of Man" - why does Jesus call himself that? It is a symbolic appelation, as "man" is a symbol of truth and "woman" is a symbolic form of love:

...the Son of Man, as the Lord called Himself, is not the son of Mary, but the Divine truth (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10053).

What about the Trinity? Here is one brief statement:

That there is a trine in the Lord, namely, the Divine Itself, the Divine Human, and the Divine proceeding, is an arcanum from heaven and for those who shall be in the holy Jerusalem. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10831)

So NO, there is no such thing as a "second person" of the Trinity. The Son of God is the human that was born to the virgin Mary, and was made Divine by Jehovah. Which is why the apostle John stated it was important to acknowledge that Jesus was indeed born in the flesh.

...the Human of the Lord, conceived of Jehovah the Father, and born of the Virgin Mary, is the Son of God (Doctrine of the Lord, n. 19)

The Father and Son are one in the sense that the soul and body of Jesus are one, and cannot be separated:

From this it follows, that the Divine cannot be separated from the Human, and that the Human cannot be separated from the Divine; for to separate them would be like separating soul and body. That it is so, every one will also acknowledge who reads what is cited above (n. 19 and 21) from two of the Evangelists (Luke i. 26-35, and Matt. 18-25), concerning the Lord's birth; from which it is plain that Jesus was conceived of Jehovah God, and born of the Virgin Mary: so that the Divine was in Him, and it was His Soul. Now, as His Soul was the Divine itself of the Father, it follows that His Body or Human was also made Divine; for where the one is, the other must be also. Thus and not otherwise are the Father and the Son one; the Father in the Son, and the Son in the Father. (Doctrines of the Lord, n. 29)

And it is true, that the Divine could not intermix or commingle with the human:

The Lord successively put off the human taken from the mother, and put on the Human from the Divine in Himself, which is the Divine Human and the Son of God. That the Lord had a Divine and a human, — the Divine from Jehovah the Father, and a human from the Virgin Mary, — is known. Thence it is that He was God and Man; and thus He had a Divine essence and a human nature, — the Divine essence from the Father, and the human nature from the mother; and thence He was equal to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father as to the human: also (as the doctrine of faith which is called the Athanasian Creed teaches) that He did not transmute this human nature from the mother into the Divine essence, nor commix it with it; for the human nature cannot be transmuted into the Divine essence, nor can it be commixed with it. And yet from the same creed is our doctrine, that the Divine took on the Human, that is, united itself to it, as the soul unites itself to its body, until they were not two, but one person. (Doctrine of the Lord, n. 35).

SWEDENBORG AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH

When one understands this, one can understand how Jesus saved humanity by conquering hell through his human body, which is the view espoused by the Orthodox Church against the later doctrine of the vicarious atonement of the Catholic and Protestant churches. Unfortunately the Orthodox Church is highly traditional, and is not likely to reject the Nicene Creed as that is treated as a foundational creed by all three branches of Christianity. But at least they reject vicarious atonement, they reject the doctrine of faith alone by the Protestants, and they reject many other beliefs added onto Christianity by the Catholic Church. From a New Church point of view, these manifestations of the virgin Mary in Egypt are highly significant. Why so? Swedenborg foresaw that while the revelations given to him would be rejected by western Christianity, a similar independent revelation would be established by visions in the continent of Africa, which he described in his final work, True Christian Religion.

Here is the song Ya umm Allah dedicated to Mary by Fairouz, a Lebanese singer of the Syriac Orthodox Church: