EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772), AUGUST STRINDBERG (1849-1912) Страница 3 of 12

world, they form a totality, in which the correlated meanings, or reversible parallelisms, are defined by the analogies between them as the clauses of the same law, as isomorphic presences, as identical ensembles. Analogy therefore is a parallel structure; correspondence is a parallel function. Analogy is the correlation between two or more entities; correspondence is the correlation between two or more parts. In this line of thought one could refer to a specific form of dialogue between Swedenborg and Strindberg, which spans across the centuries, and which seems to be intensified with time. One could think of this dialogue as  an analogy, which builds through its correspondences something more than just similarity: it builds a common system of multifaceted interpenetration, whereby remote spiritual traditions and aspirations, radically different alternatives to a particular state of affairs (be it religious, political or cultural), two completely different personalities and temperaments end up projected onto the plane of a primordial artistic and conceptual movement, known as philosophia perennis. Its very name points to a continuity in the sphere of knowledge, a continuity of amazing scope and profundity. Italian humanist Agostino Steuco (1497-1548) was the first to use this appellation, it was later reaffirmed by Leibnitz, perpetuated in the modern age by, say, Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), and popularized by such iconic novels as Herman Hesse’s (1877-1962) The Glass Bead Game. Philosophia perennis is a form of intellectual continuity rooted in an ancient perception of man’s affinity with the universal. This intellectual tendency constitutes an inseparable part of the world’s esoteric tradition, which is not so much a doctrine as it is an authentic, practically oriented school of thought, promoting a transformation of the spiritual inner world as well as a  reinforcement, over the ages, of the uniform core amidst the diversity of religious cults and forms of worship. Such intellectual orientation leads to a specific mental, emotional and physical attitude, which could provide an insight into the hidden dimension of the order of the universe, more specifically an insight into the very constitution of the different worlds. Reason is seen here as a “portal” between the inner and the outer world and in this perspective the transcendental is an immanent characteristic of the earthly, the physical, and the graspable. Undoubtedly, such a tremendous leap of the intellect and the imagination also appealed to Strindberg , who, despite his aspiration towards factual knowledge, reached towards extra-empirical, trans-physical experiences and experiments, as well as towards the accumulation of a truly impressive erudition. His model in this respect was Swedenborg, who does not seem to have been concerned about his teachings bearing the imprint of ideas borrowed from both contemporary and ancient philosophers. He considered the world of thought and spirit as infinite; at the same time, he was well aware of the limitations of his own