William Blake and the Burden of Vision: Prophecy, and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell | Jodie Marley

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Welcome back to Solomon and Smith — keep it juicy, large boys.

In this second part of our deep dive into William Blake, we’re joined by Jodie Marley for a rich, wide-ranging conversation on prophecy, vision, mysticism, and the strange, electric Blakeopantheon.

Building on our earlier discussion with Mark Vernon, we explore Blake through the lens of innocence and experience, satire and sincerity, heaven and hell. What does it mean for Blake to “see” something? Did he believe his visions were literal? Or are they poetic frameworks for imagination and revelation?

We dig into:

Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell and its critique of Emanuel Swedenborg

Biblical prophecy, including Isaiah’s vision in Book of Isaiah

Millenarian movements of the 18th century

Visionary experience vs prophetic authority

The occult revival and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

W. B. Yeats, Theosophy, and esoteric symbolism

Tarot, symbolism, and the language of spiritual correspondences

We also touch on visionary figures like Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, and the wider mystical tradition that influenced (and reacted to) Blake’s work.

Is The Marriage of Heaven and Hell satire? Revelation? Both?

Can everyone become a visionary — or does prophecy require terror, descent, and transformation?

And what happens when imagination becomes indistinguishable from revelation?

If you’re interested in Romanticism, mysticism, biblical symbolism, esotericism, the occult revival, or the philosophy of imagination — this episode is for you.