About Me

Here's a biography about me, in case you were curious about my identity, background, or whatnot:

My name is Christian James Swenson. I was born on St. Patrick's Day in 1993, the first grandchild on both sides, to an expecting couple in an Orem hospital. My parents ran and still run the Hale Center Theater Orem, one of a series of theaters across the western United States founded by my great-grandparents, Ruth and Nathan Hale. This means that I have grown up around the stage, and that theater blood runs in my veins.

From very early on, I developed an unusual passion, which is best illustrated by an short story. When I was only four years old, I approached my mother and told her flatly that "it wouldn't hurt if you fell in a bottomless pit." This idea typifies the thinking processes which continued from that point to the present day, centered specifically around one archetype: the "infinite". To put it frankly, it is my obsession. This is the reason I became interested in mysticism, and the reason why I find everything "meta" so fascinating. 

On that note, you may wonder how I became a "Mormon mystic." This unusual moniker owes its existence to several sources, but first found its genesis through my encounters with the late philosopher Alan Watts. Watts, a British-American philosopher who flourished in the mid-twentieth century, talked of amazing things: the universe as a game of hide-and-seek, God as an actor, and above all, the entirety of existence as my extended self. For one who seeks after the infinite as I do, it was a perfect match. However, this point of view seemed irreconcilable with Mormon doctrine, and so I began to believe in both Watts' viewpoints and my LDS faith without ever blending the two. However, in December of that same year I became aware of certain scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants, a few of which I will now quote:

"He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever." -D&C 88:41

"The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; but they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.” -D&C 130:6-7

I realized that I could now believe both in a divine self and a divine person, to cleave to both the esoteric and the exoteric, to be a Mormon mystic. These thoughts collected and reproduced in my brain for about a year, until they could no longer be contained. And so, this blog was born.

Journals of a Mormon Mystic has become an avenue for me to express my thoughts not only to my readership, but to myself. It is largely due to the posts on this blog that I have become a more spiritually-developed and enlightened person.

Several important developments have happened in my life since Journals of a Mormon Mystic began, but the most relevant to its concern is probably my encounter with the Swedish scientist and mystic Emanuel Swedenborg in May of 2013. Though some may call Swedenborg crazy or delusional, his claim that he could visit the spiritual world at will now strikes me as perfectly sane. After all, don't countless people have near-death experiences every year, and aren't there many examples of people who claim to have somehow left their bodies? Despite what others might think, Swedenborg has quite possibly been the largest influence on my intellectual and spiritual development--he taught me that space in the spiritual world was simply a function of emotional state, meaning that I am literally close in a spiritual sense to those I am emotionally close to. He also taught me that neither good or evil come from me, and that true peace comes only when you stop claiming them for your own. But most importantly, his teachings' eerie similarity to Mormon doctrine have made Swedenborg a "missing link" of sorts, allowing me to use Swedenborg to compare Mormonism to systems of thought as various as Buddhism (as seen in this book), Islam (as seen in this book), and the hallucinations of schizophrenics (as seen in this book). I like to imagine Swedenborg as a kind of "patron saint" for this blog, as he has inspired more of it than any other thinker outside of Joseph Smith himself. So, Mr. Swedenborg, if you ever decide to read this blog in the immense libraries (and internet cafes?) in heaven, know that I thank you with my whole heart for your bountiful wisdom.

If you're still curious about me, here's some random facts about my life, my interests, and my bragging rights: I am a National Merit Scholar, my play The Box was produced to sold-out audiences in 2013, and I was the outstanding philosophy graduate for Westminster College in 2015. I am the oldest of four, with one brother and two twin sisters. Aside from my more academic interests, I also enjoy meditation, tabletop role-playing, and surreal humor (this guy is my favorite entry in that genre, and he deserves more attention). 

Finally, in case you ever feel like asking questions, sharing concerns, or somehow communicating an emotional outburst, here's my email address: christian.swenson@gmail.com