John Lanagan - January 18th, 2011

“You can become a Reiki master in three weekends.” –Lisa Oz, wife of Dr. Mehmet Oz

Perhaps it is not surprising Dr. Mehmet Oz, a key teacher in Rick Warren’s 52 week health-and-wellness Daniel Plan, has been influenced by occultist Emanuel Swedenborg. Although Swedenborg rejected the biblical Christ, and communed with familiar spirits, some of Swedenborg’s admirers have been culturally significant figures. At this point in his career, Dr. Mehmet Oz certainly qualifies as such.

Those who have either appreciated or followed Swedenborg’s theology have included Helen Keller, Johnny Appleseed, Sherlock Holmes creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Carl Jung, Henry James Sr., the poet Robert Frost, and Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Swedenborg, who died in the 1700s, has been called the father of modern day spiritualism. It is likely Alcoholics Anonymous co-founder Bill Wilson’s bondage to the spirit world began with his introduction to Swedenborg’s teachings. Despite erroneous claims he was a Christian, Wilson’s spirituality was one of seances, familiar spirits, and the Ouija board. [1]

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N.B. Swedenborg has been idolized by esoteric adherents since the 18th century. Masons tried to incorporate his methods for communication with spirits (e.g. the Philalèthes, Swedenborgian Rite, and the Illuminés d’Avignon), while Swedenborgian “theosophy” influenced such figures as William Blake, Charles Baudelaire, Honoré de Balzac, the mystic “Illuminist” movement of the 19th century, as well as the Martinist and Rosicrucian traditions. Swedenborgian adherents have also been to be attracted to millenarianism as well as Sabbatianism, and the so-called New Thought movement is rife with his teachings.