Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was born, oddly enough, in Sweden. For most of his life he was a diplomat and scientist, but in later life he began having visions and claimed to receive visits from angels and other spirits. He kept quite detailed notes about these conversations and wrote a number of books, the most famous of which, Heaven and Hell was distributed by Johnny Appleseed, along with bags of apple seeds. He was a strong influence on William Blake.