VIII. SWEDENBORG ON SOUL RETRIEVALS:

One of the things that has bothered me about ES is his failure to mention the possibility of performing retrievals. His astral insight that new discarnates in the World of Spirits gradually ascend to a heaven or descend to a hell may already imply the use of retrievals. because ES describes the role of astral schools and makes it clear that astral progress is ultimately a matter of choice and of achieving the right energetic for ascent. But now I've found a passage in Ernst Benz that seem to imply that ES even retrieved some evil discarnates in Hell:

"The devils [= evil discarnate humans] he converts change before his eyes, lose their bestial form, and regain their human faces (Benz, "Emanuel Swedenberg," p. 327).

I hope to track down more references to ES's retrievals.

Don