The roots of the New Age

From Peter Clarke's fascinating book New Religions in Global Perspective (2006):

"The writings of Emanuel Swedenborg...are among the principle sources of New Age thinking, in particular his metaphysical theology, which is an attempt to unravel the inner sense or spiritual sense of the scriptures."

True Christian Religion

42. It should also be known that there are three degrees of love and wisdom, and so three degrees of life; and the human mind is formed into three regions corresponding to these degrees. Life in the highest region is in its highest degree, in the second in a lesser degree, and in the last in the lowest degree. These regions are opened up successively as a person grows up. The last region, where life is in its lowest degree, is opened up from infancy to childhood, as different kinds of knowledge are acquired. The second degree, where life is in a greater degree, is opened up, from childhood to adolescence, as the result of thinking based on knowledge. The highest degree, where life is in its highest degree, is opened up from adolescence to early manhood and beyond; and this is brought about by grasping both moral and spiritual truths.

An excerpt from True Christian Religion by Emanuel Swedenborg