History of Christian Mysticism-Rr

THE HISTORY AND BELIEFS OF CHRISTIAN MYSITICISM
Christian Mystics:
The history and
beliefs of christian
mysticism
Entering the Upper Room
Henry Epps
History of Christian mysticism
1
Preface
Today modern Christian ministers, pastors and teachers

today are teaching about how to get what you want from
God sermons. These leaders are scratching itchy ears and
they are not discipling people as Jesus mandated the church.
Today churches are social clubs with church dues, founder’s
day, mother’s day and pastor appreciation days. Many
churches are filled with arrogant, hateful mean members
who careless about the teachings of Jesus Christ. Don’t these
preachers know that one day they have to stand before God
and they will be accountable for how they shepherd God’s
people and how they use the resources that God blessed
them with? Today there are many believers looking for
spiritual answerers and they are not satisfied with the status
quo! For some weird reason many people believe that when
they die they will made into a new person? Where does that
come from? Yes our flesh will be transformed into a flesh
that cannot perish and we will live in eternity, but our
personality, character and souls will be the same. People who
are filled with greed, hatred, racism, sexism, pride will be the
same in the afterlife. Who you are does not change. The
problem is that weak doctrinal teachings do not preach being
renewed in your mind and being transformed to the image of
Christ. Christian mystics are those believers seeking a deeper
and more spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ. Because the
awakening is coming very soon!
2
3
Table of Contents
1 Definitions and beliefs / 7
2 Mysticism in the early Church /19
3 Esotericism /37
4 Mystical practices /60
5 Evelyn Underhill /69
6 Type Meditation /100
7 Religious Ectasy /116
8 Opus Dei (Work of God) /123
4
9 Stigmata /140
10 Eucharistic Miracles /151
11 Mystical Theology /157
12 Contemplative Prayer / 165
5
6
Chapter One
Definition and beliefs
As described by scholar Bernard McGinn, Christian mysticism

would be "that part, or element, of Christian belief and
practice that concerns the preparation for, the consciousness
of, and the effect of [...] a direct and transformative presence
of [the Christian] God".[1] The idea of mystical realities has
been widely held in Christianity since the second century AD,
referring not simply to spiritual practices, but also to the
belief that their rituals and even their scriptures have hidden
("mystical") meanings.[1]
McGinn raises several points about his choice of words: He

argues that "presence" is more accurate than "union", since
not all mystics spoke of union with God, and since many
visions, miracles, etc., was not necessarily related to union.
He also argues that we should speak of "consciousness" of
God's presence, rather than of "experience", since mystical
activity is not simply about the sensation of God as an
external object, but more broadly about "new ways of
knowing and loving based on states of awareness in which
God becomes present in our inner acts". Related to this idea
is his emphasis on the transformation that occurs through
mystical activity: "This is why the only test that Christianity
has known for determining the authenticity of a mystic and
her or his message has been that of personal transformation,
7
both on the mystic's part and—especially—on the part of

those whom the mystic has affected."[1]
Another consideration to be made is that mystical

experience is not simply a matter between the mystic and
God, but is often shaped by cultural issues. For instance,
Carolyn Walker Bynum has shown how, in the late Middle
Ages, miracles attending the taking of the eucharist were not
simply symbolic of the Passion story, but served as
vindication of the mystics' theological orthodoxy by proving
that the mystic had not fallen prey to heretical ideas, such as
the Cathar rejection of the material world as evil, contrary to
orthodox teaching that God took on human flesh and
remained sinless.[2] Thus, the nature of mystical experience
could be tailored to the particular cultural and theological
issues of the time.
Origins
Christ's disciples have been considered by some to be the

first Christian mystics. They were called disciples because, as
with mystics of other religions (such as the stoics and
sramanic traditions), they followed a discipline prescribed by
their teacher—in this case Jesus himself. Jesus' disciples lived
their lives in accordance with Jesus' doctrine of the Kingdom.
This doctrine was explained in terms of parables and similes
concerning the manner in which a human being should live
their life in order to achieve spiritual perfection and inherit
eternal life with God. Jesus referred to himself as the Way,
the Truth and the Life,[3] described himself as the bread of
8
heaven and as the true vine (both of which suggest types of

union with Christ), and, in his "farewell discourse", prayed
that the disciples may be one with each other and with him
just as he was one with the Father.[4] Asked by a disciple
how he would reveal himself to them and not to the world,
Jesus answers: "If a man loves me, he will keep my Word,
and my Father will love him, and We will come to him, and
make our home with him." (Jn 14,23)" This describes a
mystical way of life, not just a limited mystical experience.
Other scriptural texts testify to mystical experiences, if not
actual mystical union: the apostle Paul mentions the mystical
experience of a person who was caught up into the Third
Heaven, and John the Revelator describes a vision he had of
the end times.
In subsequent centuries, especially as Christian apologetics

began to use Greek philosophy to explain Christian ideas,
Neoplatonism became an influence on Christian mystical
thought and practice via such authors as Augustine of Hippo
and Origen.
Jewish antecedents
Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly

corporate and public, based mostly on the worship services
of the synagogues, which included the reading and
interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures and the recitation of
prayers, and on the major festivals. Thus, private spirituality
was strongly influenced by the liturgies and by the scriptures
(e.g., the use of the Psalms for prayer), and individual prayers
9
often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled

their own immediate needs.[5]
Of special importance are the following concepts:[6]
Da'at (knowledge) and Chokhmah (wisdom), which come

from years of reading, praying and meditating the scriptures;
Shekhinah, the presence of God in our daily lives, the

superiority of that presence to earthly wealth, and the pain
and longing that come when God is absent;
the hiddenness of God, which comes from our inability to

survive the full revelation of God's glory and which forces us
to seek to know God through faith and obedience;
"Torah-mysticism", a view of God's laws as the central

expression of God's will and therefore as worthy object not
only of obedience but also of loving meditation and Torah
study; and
poverty, an ascetic value, based on the apocalyptic

expectation of God's impending arrival, that characterized
the Jewish people's reaction to being oppressed by a series
of foreign empires.
In Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became mystery, Da'at

became gnosis, and poverty became an important
component of monasticism.[7]
10
Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish Hellenistic philosopher who

was important for connecting the Hebrew Scriptures to
Greek thought, and thereby to Greek Christians, who
struggled to understand their connection to Jewish history. In
particular, Philo taught that allegorical interpretations of the
Hebrew Scriptures provides access to the real meanings of
the texts. Philo also taught the need to bring together the
contemplative focus of the Stoics and Essenes with the active
lives of virtue and community worship found in Platonism
and the Therapeutae. Using terms reminiscent of the
Platonists, Philo described the intellectual component of
faith as a sort of spiritual ecstasy in which our nous (mind) is
suspended and God's Spirit takes its place. Philo's ideas
influenced the Alexandrian Christians, Clement and Origen
and through them, Gregory of Nyssa.[8]
Jesus and the Apostles
The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the founding

narrative of the Christian church, provide many key stories
and concepts that become important for Christian mystics in
all later generations: practices such as the Eucharist, baptism
and the Lord's Prayer all become activities that take on
importance for both their ritual and symbolic values. Other
scriptural narratives present scenes that become the focus of
meditation: the Crucifixion of Jesus and his appearances after
his Resurrection are two of the most central to Christian
theology; but Jesus' conception, in which the Holy Spirit
overshadows Mary, and his Transfiguration, in which he is
briefly revealed in his heavenly glory, also become important
11
images for meditation. Moreover, many of the Christian texts

build off of Jewish spiritual foundations, such as chokhmah,
shekhinah.[9]
But different writers present different images and ideas. The

Synoptic Gospels (in spite of their many differences)
introduce several important ideas, two of which are related
to Greco-Judaic notions of knowledge/gnosis by virtue of
being mental acts: purity of heart, in which we will to see in
God's light; and repentance, which involves allowing God to
judge and then transform us. Another key idea presented by
the Synoptics is the desert, which is used as a metaphor for
the place where we meet God in the poverty of our spirit.[10]
The Gospel of John focuses on God's glory in his use of light

imagery and in his presentation of the Cross as a moment of
exaltation; he also sees the Cross as the example of agape
love, a love which is not so much an emotion as a willingness
to serve and care for others. But in stressing love, John shifts
the goal of spiritual growth away from knowledge/gnosis,
which he presents more in terms of Stoic ideas about the role
of reason as being the underlying principle of the universe
and as the spiritual principle within all people. Although John
does not follow up on the Stoic notion that this principle
makes union with the divine possible for humanity, it is an
idea that later Christian writers develop. Later generations
will also shift back and forth between whether to follow the
Synoptics in stressing knowledge or John in stressing
love.[11]
12
In his letters, Paul also focuses on mental activities, but not in

the same way as the Synoptics, which equate renewing the
mind with repentance. Instead, Paul sees the renewal of our
minds as happening as we contemplate what Jesus did on the
Cross, which then opens us to grace and to the movement of
the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Like John, Paul is less
interested in knowledge, preferring to emphasize the
hiddenness, the "mystery" of God's plan as revealed through
Christ. But Paul's discussion of the Cross differs from John's in
being less about how it reveals God's glory and more about
how it becomes the stumbling block that turns our minds
back to God. Paul also describes the Christian life as that of
an athlete, demanding practice and training for the sake of
the prize; later writers will see in this image a call to ascetical
practices.[12]
Eastern Christianity
Inspired by Christ's teaching and example men and women

withdrew from life in the Mediterranean cities and withdrew
to the deserts of Sketes where either as solitary individuals or
communities lived lives of austere simplicity oriented
towards contemplative prayer. These communities formed
the basis for what later would become known as Christian
monasticism. Mysticism is integral to Christian monasticism
because the goal of practice for the monastic is union with
God. Eastern Christianity has especially preserved a mystical
13
emphasis in its theology[13] and retains a tradition of

mystical prayer dating back to Christianity's beginnings.
Catholicism
The practice of Lectio Divina, a form of prayer that centers

on scripture reading, was developed in its best-known form
in the sixth century, through the work of Benedict of Nursia
and Pope Gregory I, and described and promoted more
widely in the 12th century by Guigo II. The 9th century saw
the development of mystical theology through the
introduction of the works of sixth-century theologian
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite, such as On Mystical
Theology. His discussion of the via negativa was especially
influential.
Protestantism
As part of the Protestant Reformation, theologians turned

away from the traditions developed in the Middle Ages and
returned to biblical and early church sources. Accordingly,
they were often skeptical of Catholic mystical practices,
which seemed to them to downplay the role of grace in
redemption and to support the idea that human works can
play a role in salvation, and which also seemed to come from
post-biblical sources and practices. However, Quakers,
Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Pentecostals and
Charismatics have in various ways remained open to the idea
of mystical experiences.
14
In Roman Catholic teaching, such states do not come about

even with the ordinary aid of divine grace. Mystical theology,
then, comprises among its subjects all extraordinary forms of
prayer, the higher forms of contemplation in all their
varieties or gradations, private revelations, visions, and the
union growing out of these between God and the soul,
known as the mystical union. As the science of all that is
extraordinary in the relations between the Divinity and the
human spirit, mystical theology is the complement of
ascetical theology, which treats of Christian perfection and of
its acquisition by the practice of virtue, particularly by the
observance of the counsels.
What strictly comes within the province of mystical theology

is the study of the processes of active and passive
purification through which a soul must pass to reach the
mystical union. Although the active processes are also
treated to some extent in ascetical theology, they require
special study inasmuch as they lead to contemplation. They
comprise: purity of conscience, or aversion even to the
slightest sin; purity of heart, the heart being taken as the
symbol of the affections, which to be pure must be free of
attachments to anything that does not lead to God; purity of
the spirit, i. e. of the imagination and memory; and purity of
action. It is to these processes that the well-known term
"night" is applied by Discalced Carmelite reformer St. John of
the Cross, since they imply three things which are as night to
the soul in so far as they are beyond or contrary to its own
lights, viz., the privation of pleasure, faith as substituted for
15
human knowledge, and God as incomprehensible, or

darkness, to the unaided soul. Passive purifications are the
trials encountered by souls in preparation for contemplation,
known as desolation, or dryness, and weariness. As they
proceed sometimes from God and sometimes may be
produced by the Evil Spirit, rules for the discernment of
spirits are set down to enable directors to determine their
source and to apply proper means of relief, especially should
it happen that the action of the Evil One tends to possession
or obsession.
These passive purifications affect the soul when every other

object of contemplation is withdrawn from it, except its own
sins, defects, frailties, which are revealed to it in all their
enormity. They put the soul in the "obscure night", as St.
John of the Cross calls it, or in the "great desolation", to use
the phrase of Father Baker. In this state the soul experiences
many trials and temptations, even to infidelity and despair,
all of which are expressed in the peculiar terminology of
writers on mystical theology, as well as the fruits derived
from resisting them. Chief among these fruits is the
purification of love, until the soul is so inflamed with love of
God that it feels as if wounded and languishes with the desire
to love Him still more intensely. The first difficulty mystical
writers encounter in their treatises on contemplation is the
proper terminology for its degrees, or the classification of the
experiences of the soul as it advances in the mystical union
with God effected by this extraordinary form of prayer. Ribet
in "La Mystique Divine" has a chapter (x) on this subject, and
16
the present writer treats it in chapter xxix of his "Grace of

Interior Prayer" (tr. of the sixth edition). Giovanni Battista
Scaramelli follows this order: the prayer of recollection; the
prayer of spiritual silence; the prayer of quiet; the inebriation
of love; the spiritual sleep; the anguish of love; the mystical
union of love, and its degrees from simple to perfect union
and spiritual marriage. In this union the soul experiences
various spiritual impressions, which mystical writers try to
describe in the terminology used to describe sense
impressions, as if the soul could see, hear, touch, or enjoy
the savour or odour of the Divinity. Ecstatic union with God is
a further degree of prayer. This and the state of rapture
require careful observation to be sure that the Evil One has
no share in them. Here again mystical writers treat at length
the deceits, snares, and other arts practised by the Evil One
to lead souls astray in the quest for the mystical union.
Finally, contemplation leads to a union so intimate and so
strong that it can be expressed only by the terms "spiritual
marriage". The article on contemplation describes the
characteristics of the mystical union effected by
contemplation. No treatise of mystical theology is complete
without chapters on miracles, prophecies, revelations,
visions, all of which have been treated under their respective
headings.
17
18
Chapter Two
Mysticism in the early church
The texts attributed to the Apostolic Fathers, the earliest

post-Biblical texts we have, share several key themes,
particularly the call to unity in the face of persecution and
internal divisions, the reality of the charisms, especially
prophecy, visions and Christian gnosis, which is understood
as "a gift of the Holy Spirit that enables us to know Christ"
through meditating on the scriptures and on the Cross of
Christ.[14] (This understanding of gnosis is not the same as
that developed by the Gnostics, who focused on esoteric
knowledge that is available only to a few people but that
allows them to free themselves from the evil world.[15])
These authors also discuss the notion of the "two ways", that
is, the way of life and the way of death; this idea has biblical
roots, being found in both the Sermon on the Mount and the
Torah. The two ways are then related to the notion of purity
of heart, which is developed by contrasting it against the
divided or duplicitous heart and by linking it to the need for
asceticism, which keeps the heart whole/pure.[16] Purity of
heart was especially important given the real threat of
martyrdom, which many writers discussed in theological
terms, seeing it not as an evil but as an opportunity to truly
die for the sake of God—the ultimate example of ascetic
19
practice.[17] Martyrdom could also be seen as symbolic in its

connections with the Eucharist and with baptism.[18]
The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers

around Origen and Clement of Alexandria. Clement was an
early Christian humanist who argued that reason is the most
important aspect of human existence and that gnosis (not
something we can attain by ourselves, but the gift of Christ)
helps us find the spiritual realities that are hidden behind the
natural world and within the scriptures. Given the
importance of reason, Clement stresses apatheia as a
reasonable ordering of our passions in order to live within
God's love, which is seen as a form of truth.[19] Origen, who
had a lasting influence on Eastern Christian thought, further
develops the idea that the spiritual realities can be found
through allegorical readings of the scriptures (along the lines
of Jewish aggadah tradition), but he focuses his attention on
the Cross and on the importance of imitating Christ through
the Cross, especially through spiritual combat and asceticism.
Origen stresses the importance of combining intellect and
virtue (theoria and praxis) in our spiritual exercises, drawing
on the image of Moses and Aaron leading the Israelites
through the wilderness, and he describes our union with God
as the marriage of our souls with Christ the Logos, using the
wedding imagery from the Song of Songs.[20] Alexandrian
mysticism developed alongside Hermeticism and
Neoplatonism and therefore share some of the same ideas,
images, etc. in spite of their differences.[21]
20
The Eastern church then saw the development of

monasticism and the mystical contributions of Gregory of
Nyssa, Evagrius Ponticus and Pseudo-Dionysius. Monasticism,
also known as anchoritism (meaning "to withdraw") was seen
as an alternative to martyrdom, and was less about escaping
the world than about fighting demons (who were thought to
live in the desert) and about gaining liberation from our
bodily passions in order to be open to the Word of God.
Anchorites practiced continuous meditation on the scriptures
as a means of climbing the ladder of perfection—a common
religious image in the Mediterranean world and one found in
Christianity through the story of Jacob's ladder—and sought
to fend off the demon of acedia ("un-caring"), a boredom or
apathy that prevents us from continuing on in our spiritual
training. Anchorites could live in total solitude ("hermits",
from the word erēmitēs, "of the desert") or in loose
communities ("cenobites", meaning "common life").[22]
Monasticism eventually made its way to the West and was

established by the work of John Cassian and Benedict of
Nursia. Meanwhile, Western spiritual writing was deeply
influenced by the works of such men as Jerome and
Augustine of Hippo.
21
Middle ages
The Early Middle Ages in the West includes the work of

Gregory the Great and Bede, as well as developments in
Celtic Christianity and Anglo-Saxon Christianity, and comes to
fulfillment in the work of Johannes Scotus Eriugena and the
Carolingian Renaissance.
The High Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mystical practice

and theorization corresponding to the flourishing of new
monastic orders, with such figures as Guigo II, Hildegard of
Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, the Victorines, and
Bonaventure, all coming from different orders, as well as the
first real flowering of popular piety among the laypeople.
The Late Middle Ages saw the growth of groups of mystics

centered around geographic regions: the Beguines, such as
Mechthild of Magdeburg and Hadewijch (among others); the
Rhineland mystics Meister Eckhart, Johannes Tauler and
Henry Suso; and the English mystics Richard Rolle, Walter
Hilton and Julian of Norwich. This period also saw such
individuals as John of Ruysbroeck, Catherine of Siena and
Catherine of Genoa, the Devotio Moderna, and such books as
the Theologia Germanica, The Cloud of Unknowing and The
Imitation of Christ.
Modernity
See also: French school of spirituality and Spanish mystics
22
With the Renaissance came the Protestant Reformation,

which in many ways downplayed mysticism, although it still
produced a fair amount of spiritual literature. Even the most
active reformers can be linked to Medieval mystical
traditions. Martin Luther, for instance, was a monk who was
influenced by the German Dominican mystical tradition of
Eckhart and Tauler as well by the Dionysian-influenced
Wesonmystik ("essence mysticism") tradition. He also
published the Theologia Germanica, which he claimed was
the most important book after the Bible and Augustine for
teaching him about God, Christ, and humanity.[23] Even John
Calvin, who rejected many Medieval ascetic practices and
who favored doctrinal knowledge of God over affective
experience, has Medieval influences, namely, Jean Gerson
and the Devotio moderna, with its emphasis on piety as the
method of spiritual growth in which the individual practices
dependence on God by imitating Christ and the son-father
relationship. Meanwhile, his notion that we can begin to
enjoy our eternal salvation through our earthly successes
leads in later generations to "a mysticism of consolation".[24]
But the Reformation brought about the Counter-

Reformation and, with it, a new flowering of mystical
literature, often grouped by nationality:
The Spanish had Ignatius Loyola, whose Spiritual Exercises

were designed to open people to a receptive mode of
consciousness in which they can experience God through
careful spiritual direction and through understanding how
the mind connects to the will and how to weather the
23
experiences of spiritual consolation and desolation;[25]

Teresa of Avila, who used the metaphors of watering a
garden and walking through the rooms of a castle to explain
how meditation leads to union with God;[26] and John of the
Cross, who used a wide range of biblical and spiritual
influences both to rewrite the traditional "three ways" of
mysticism after the manner of bridal mysticism and to
present the two "dark nights": the dark night of the senses
and the dark night of the soul, during which the individual
renounces everything that might become an obstacle
between the soul and God and then experiences the pain of
feeling separated from God, unable to carry on normal
spiritual exercises, as it encounters the enormous gap
between its human nature and God's divine wisdom and light
and moves up the 10-step ladder of ascent towards God.[27]
Another prominent mystic was Miguel de Molinos, the chief
apostle of the religious revival known as Quietism. No breath
of suspicion arose against Molinos until 1681, when the
Jesuit preacher Paolo Segneri, attacked his views, though
without mentioning his name, in his Concordia tra la fatica e
la quiete nell' orazione. The matter was referred to the
Inquisition. A report got abroad that Molinos had been
convicted of moral enormities, as well as of heretical
doctrines; and it was seen that he was doomed. On
September 3, 1687 he made public profession of his errors,
and was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Contemporary
Protestants saw in the fate of Molinos nothing more than a
persecution by the Jesuits of a wise and enlightened man,
who had dared to withstand the petty ceremonialism of the
24
Italian piety of the day. Molinos died in prison in 1696 or

1697.
The Italians had Lorenzo Scupoli;
The French had Francis de Sales, Jeanne Guyon, François

Fénelon, Brother Lawrence and Blaise Pascal.
Meanwhile, the English had a denominational mix, from

Catholic Augustine Baker to Anglicans William Law, John
Donne and Lancelot Andrewes, to Puritans Richard Baxter
and John Bunyan (The Pilgrim's Progress), to the first
"Quaker", George Fox and the first "Methodist", John
Wesley, who was well-versed in the continental mystics.
Similarly well-versed in the mystic tradition was the German

Johann Arndt, who, along with the English Puritans,
influenced such continental Pietists as Philipp Jakob Spener,
Gottfried Arnold, Nicholas Ludwig von Zinzendorf of the
Moravians, and the hymnodist Gerhard Tersteegen. Arndt,
whose book True Christianity was popular among
Protestants, Catholics and Anglicans alike, combined
influences from Bernard of Clarivaux, John Tauler and the
Devotio moderna into a spirituality that focused its attention
away from the theological squabbles of contemporary
Lutheranism and onto the development of the new life in the
heart and mind of the believer.[28] Arndt influenced Spener,
who formed a group known as the collegia pietatis ("college
of piety") that stressed the role of spiritual direction among
lay-people—a practice with a long tradition going back to
25
Aelred of Rievaulx and known in Spener's own time from the

work of Francis de Sales. Pietism as known through Spener's
formation of it tended not just to reject the theological
debates of the time, but to reject both intellectualism and
organized religious practice in favor of a personalized,
sentimentalized spirituality.[29]
This sentimental, anti-intellectual form of pietism is seen in

the thought and teaching of Zinzendorf, founder of the
Moravians; but more intellectually rigorous forms of pietism
are seen in the teachings of John Wesley, which were
themselves influenced by Zinzendorf, and in the teachings of
American preachers Jonathan Edwards, who restored to
pietism Gerson's focus on obedience and borrowed from
early church teachers Origen and Gregory of Nyssa the
notion that humans yearn for God,[30] and John Woolman,
who combined a mystical view of the world with a deep
concern for social issues; like Wesley, Woolman was
influenced by Jakob Boehme, William Law and The Imitation
of Christ.[31] The combination of pietistic devotion and
mystical experiences that are found in Woolman and Wesley
are also found in their Dutch contemporary Tersteegen, who
brings back the notion of the nous ("mind") as the site of
God's interaction with our souls; through the work of the
Spirit, our mind is able to intuitively recognize the immediate
presence of God in our midst.[32]
26
Apostolic Fathers
Famous Apostolic Fathers include St. Clement of Rome (fl.

96),[3] St. Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp of Smyrna. In
addition, the Didache and Shepherd of Hermas are usually
placed among the writings of the Apostolic Fathers although
their authors are unknown.
Clement of Rome
Clement of Rome's first epistle, 1 Clement (c 96),[4] was

copied and widely read and is generally considered to be the
oldest Christian epistle in existence outside of the New
Testament. The letter is extremely lengthy, twice as long as
the Epistle to the Hebrews, and it demonstrates the author's
familiarity with many books of both the Old Testament and
New Testaments. The epistle repeatedly refers to the Old
Testament as scripture[5] and includes numerous references
to the Book of Judith. Within the letter, Clement calls on the
Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order.[4]
Tradition identifies the author as St. Clement, the fourth
bishop of Rome (third after Saint Peter), and scholarly
consensus is overwhelmingly in favor of the letter's
authenticity.[6] Early church lists place him as the second or
third[7][8] or as possibly the immediate successor[9][10] of
Saint Peter as bishop of Rome, although another very recent
source states that "there is no evidence for monarchical
episcopacy in Rome at so early a date".[7]
27
Second Clement was traditionally ascribed to St. Clement of

Rome, but it is now generally considered to have been
written later, c 140-160, and therefore could not be the work
of St. Clement. Whereas First Clement was an epistle, 2
Clement appears to be a transcript of an oral homily or
sermon, making it the oldest existing Christian sermon
outside of the New Testament.
Ignatius of Antioch
Saint Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus, Greek

for God-bearer) (c 35-110)[11] was bishop of Antioch.[12] He
may have known the Apostle John directly, and his thought is
certainly influenced by the tradition associated with this
Apostle.[13] En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius
wrote a series of letters which have been preserved as an
example of the theology of the earliest Christians. Important
topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology, the
sacraments, the role of bishops,[14] and the nature of
Biblical Sabbath.[15] He clearly identifies the local-church
hierarchy composed of bishop, presbyters, and deacons and
claims to have spoken in some of the churches through the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He is the second after Clement
to mention Paul's epistles.[4]
28
Polycarp of Smyrna
Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (c 69- ca. 155) was a Christian

bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey). Irenaeus wrote that
"Polycarp also was not only instructed by the apostles, and
conversed with many who had seen the Lord, but was also
appointed bishop by apostles in Asia and in the church in
Smyrna"[16] and that he himself had, as a boy, listened to
"the accounts which (Polycarp) gave of his intercourse with
John and with the others who had seen the Lord".[17] The
options for this John are John the son of Zebedee
traditionally viewed as the author of the Fourth Gospel, or
John the Presbyter (Lake 1912). Traditional advocates follow
Eusebius in insisting that the apostolic connection of Papius
was with John the Evangelist, and that this John, the author
of the Gospel of John, was the same as the Apostle John.
Polycarp, c 156, tried and failed to persuade Anicetus, Bishop
of Rome, to have the West celebrate Easter on 14 Nisan, as in
the East. He rejected the Bishop's suggestion that the East
use the Western date. In 155, the Smyrnans demanded
Polycarp's execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr. His
story has it that the flames built to kill him refused to burn
him, and that when he was stabbed to death, so much blood
issued from his body that it quenched the flames around
him.[4] Church Father Irenaeus was one of Polycarp's
students. Polycarp is recognized as a saint in both the Roman
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.
29
Didache
The Didache (Koine Greek: "Teaching"[18]) is a brief early

Christian treatise, dated anywhere from as early as A.D. 50 to
the early 2nd Century. It contains instructions for Christian
communities. The text, parts of which may have constituted
the first written catechism, has three main sections dealing
with Christian lessons, rituals such as baptism and eucharist,
and Church organization. It was considered by some of the
Church Fathers as part of the New Testament[19] but
rejected as spurious or non-canonical by others,[20] Scholars
knew of the Didache through references in other texts, but
the text itself had been lost. It was rediscovered in 1873.
Shepherd of Hermas
The Shepherd of Hermas (2nd century) was popular in the

early church and even considered scriptural by some of the
early Church fathers, such as Irenaeus and Tertullian. It was
written in Rome in the Greek language. The Shepherd had
great authority in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The work
comprises five visions, twelve mandates, and ten parables. It
relies on allegory and pays special attention to the Church,
calling the faithful to repent of the sins that have harmed it.
30
Apostolic authority
St. Polycarp, depicted with a book as a symbol of his

writings.
The "Apostolic Fathers" are distinguished from other

Christian authors of this same period in that their practices
and theology largely fell within those developing traditions of
Pauline Christianity or Proto-orthodox Christianity that
became the mainstream. They represent a tradition of early
Christianity shared by many different churches across
cultural, ethnic, and linguistic differences. The tradition they
represent holds the Jewish Scriptures to be inspired by God
(against Marcionism) and holds that the Jewish prophets
point to the actual flesh and blood of Jesus through which
both Jew and Gentile are saved. Furthermore, they present
the picture of an organized Church made up of many
different cross-cultural, sister churches sharing one apostolic
tradition. Their ecclesiology, rejection of some Judaic values,
and emphasis upon the historical nature of Jesus Christ stand
in stark contrast to the various ideologies of more paganized
Christianities, on the one hand, and more Jewish
Christianities on the other.[21] They speak of certain other
views as heterodoxy or heresy.[22]
Other texts written much later are not considered apostolic

writings. They were actively denounced from the very
beginning by men such as Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, and
the writer of the canonical First Epistle of John as being "anti-
christ" and contrary to the tradition received from the
31
apostles and eye-witnesses of Jesus Christ. The texts

presenting alternative Christianities were then actively
suppressed in the following centuries and many are now
"lost" works, the contents of which can only be speculated.
The writings of the Apostolic Fathers are in a number of

genres, some, e.g. the writings of Clement of Rome are
letters (also called epistles), others relate historical events,
e.g. the Martyrdom of Polycarp, and one (the Didache) is a
guide for ethical and liturgical practice.
Apostolic connection
The early Church relied on apostolic authority in separating

orthodox from unorthodox works, teachings, and practices.
The four Gospels were each assigned, directly or indirectly to
an apostle,[23] as were certain other New Testament books.
Earlier church fathers were also associated with apostles:
Clement with Peter (associated closely with Rome) and with
Paul (as the Clement Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:3),
Papias and Polycarp with John (associated with Asia Minor).
Origin of term
According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, the use of the term

"Apostolic Fathers" can be traced to a 1672 title of Jean-
Baptiste Cotelier, his SS. Patrum qui temporibus apostolicis
floruerunt opera ("Works of the holy fathers who flourished
in the apostolic times"), which title was abbreviated to
Bibliotheca Patrum Apostolicorum by L. J. Ittig in his edition
32
(Leipzig, 1699) of the same writings. Since then the term has
been universally used, especially by Roman Catholic writers.
Opposition to term
Not all Christians employ the term "Apostolic Fathers". The

authority resonant in the phrase suggests that these writers
provide the authentic historical connections to the apostolic
generation. For those Christians for whom Church tradition is
of comparable weight with Scripture, this is a helpful
apologetic trope, and thus a possible motivation for its use.
Christians who believe that a Great Apostasy took place early
in the church's history are particularly unlikely to employ this
term. These ideological descendants of the Radical
Reformation must choose between believing that the
Scriptures were corrupted by this "Apostate Church" or that
the Scriptures were somehow preserved and canonized by
this "Apostate Church." In Protestant theology the term
"Apostolic Fathers" is also less used and the writings are less
frequently studied (but see Paleo-Orthodoxy), leaving more
room for hermeneutic variance from these first and early-
2nd century Christian leaders' perspective.
Works by these authors that are missing today
Only some writings by these church leaders are extant.

Other writings did not survive and exist only as references, in
quotations and excerpts, or as literal fragments of parchment
or papyrus. These other writings, being alleged quotes from
the apostolic fathers, are often stylistically different and
33
sometimes address issues not addressed in the canonical

New Testament and the extant writings of the apostolic
fathers.
The writings from the early Christian tradition during the

time of the Roman Empire that are not classed in those of
the Apostolic Fathers include the writings of the desposyni,
the apocrypha (including apocryphal gospels), much of the
pseudepigrapha, and the writings of unorthodox leaders, or
heretics such as Marcion, an anti-Judaic thinker, and
Valentinius, a pagan-Christian syncretist. The apocryphal
gospels and pseudepigrapha are, for the most part, later
writings that seem to have less historical accuracy than the
canonical scriptures. Most of these writings depict a
Christianized form of paganism as opposed to a Christianized
form of Judaism. For the part of the heretics, much of what is
known about them comes from the Apostolic Fathers' and
Church Fathers' arguments against them; this information
was once thought to be highly inaccurate due to the biases of
these church writers. In light of the discovery of the Nag
Hammadi library, however, most of the information about
these groups as expressed by early church fathers can be
validated as being incomplete and biased, but quite accurate.
34
Relationship to orthodoxy
Within the Pauline tradition, but after the time of the

Apostolic Fathers proper, some authors addressed their
works to people beyond the Christian community and
defended the Christian religion against paganism, including
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian. These are considered
Apologists. A small number of other authors, now only
known in fragments, such as Papias and Hegesippus, were
more concerned with the apostolic continuity of the
individual churches and their histories. Although some of the
minor opinions expounded by the Apostolic Fathers are no
longer considered entirely orthodox, their writings provide
important data regarding a strain of early Christianity, which
remains largely true to its Jewish roots while including both
non-Jewish and Jewish believers as being viable members of
the organized church they depict.
35
36
Chapter Three
Esotericism Beliefs
Esotericism or Esoterism signifies the holding of esoteric

opinions or beliefs,[1] that is, ideas preserved or understood
by a small group or those specially initiated, or of rare or
unusual interest.[2] The term derives from the Greek
ἐσωτερικός (esôterikos), a compound of ἔσω (esô): "within",
thus "pertaining to the more inward", mystic. Its antonym is
"exoteric".
The term can also refer to the academic study of esoteric

religious movements and philosophies, or more generally of
alternative or marginalized religious movements or
philosophies whose proponents distinguish their beliefs,
practices, and experiences from mainstream institutionalized
traditions.[3]
Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies

include Alchemy, Astrology, Anthroposophy, early Christian
mysticism,[4] Magic, Mesmerism, Rosicrucianism, Taoism,
Swedenborgianism, Spiritualism, the Alawites,[5] the
Christian Theosophy of Jacob Böhme and his followers, and
the Theosophical currents associated with Helena Blavatsky
37
and her followers. There are competing views regarding the

common traits uniting these currents, not all of which involve
"inwardness", mystery, occultism or secrecy as a crucial trait.
Etymology
Plato, in his dialogue Alcibíades (circa 390 BC), uses the

expression ta esô meaning "the inner things", and in his
dialogue Theaetetus (circa 360 BC) he uses ta exô meaning
"the outside things". Aristotle applied this distinction to his
own writings. The probable first appearance of the Greek
adjective esôterikos is in Lucian of Samosata's "The Auction
of Lives", § 26, written around AD 166.[6]
The term esoteric first appeared in English in the 1701

History of Philosophy by Thomas Stanley, in his description of
the mystery-school of Pythagoras; the Pythagoreans were
divided into "exoteric" (under training), and "esoteric"
(admitted into the "inner" circle). The corresponding noun
"esotericism" was coined in French by Jacques Matter in
1828 and popularized by Eliphas Levi in the 1850s.[7] [1]. It
entered the English language in the 1880s via the works of
theosophist Alfred Sinnett.
Definition
38
Among the competing understandings of what unites the

various currents designated by "Esotericism" in the scholarly
sense, perhaps the most influential has been proposed by
Antoine Faivre. His definition is based on the presence in the
esoteric currents of four essential characteristics: a theory of
correspondences between all parts of the invisible and the
visible cosmos, the conviction that nature is a living entity
owing to a divine presence or life-force, the need for
mediating elements (such as symbols, rituals, angels, visions)
in order to access spiritual knowledge, and, fourthly, an
experience of personal and spiritual transmutation when
arriving at this knowledge. To this are added two non-
intrinsic characteristics. Esotericists frequently suggest that
there is a concordance between different religious traditions:
best example is the belief in prisca theologia (ancient
theology) or in philosophia perennis (perennial philosophy).
Finally, esotericism sometimes suggests the idea of a secret
transmission of spiritual teachings, through initiation from
master to disciple.[8] It should, however, be emphasized that
Faivre's definition is one of several divergent understandings
of the most appropriate use of the term.
The “perennialist” or “traditionalist” school is represented

by authors like the French René Guénon (1886–1951), the
Indian Ananda Coomaraswamy (1877–1947), the Swiss
Frithjof Schuon (1907–1998), the Italian Julius Evola (1898–
1974), the Iranian Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born in 1933), both
scholars and esotericists. They postulate that there exists a
Primordial Tradition of non-human origin.
39
“We say that it [the origin of the traditions] is polar, and the
pole is nomore Western than it is Eastern. It is only in a later
epoch that the seat of the primordial tradition, transferred to
other regions, was able to become either Western or
Eastern. We consider the origin of the traditions to be
Nordic, and even more to be polar, since this is expressly
affirmed in the Veda as well as in other sacred books.” [9] [2]
In perennialist usage, esotericism is a metaphysical concept

referring to a supposed “transcendent unity” of all great
religious traditions. Esotericism is the metaphysical point of
unity where exoteric religions are believed to converge.[10]
[3]
“Our starting point is the acknowledgment of the fact that

there are diverse religions which exclude each other. This
could mean that one religion is right and that all the others
are false; it could mean also that all are false. In reality, it
means that all are right, not in their dogmatic exclusivism,
but in their unanimous inner signification, which coincides
with pure metaphysics, or in other terms, with the
philosophia perennis.” (F. Schuon, 1995).
After all, the esoteric tradition may be recovered if the

seeker undergoes initiation.
“Initiation is essentially the transmission of a spiritual

influence, a transmission that can only take place through a
regular, traditional organization, so that one cannot speak of
initiation outside of an affiliation with an organization of this
40
kind. We have explained that 'regularity' must be understood

to exclude all pseudo-initiatic organizations, which,
regardless of pretention and outward appearance, in no way
possess any spiritual influence and thus are incapable of
transmitting anything.” [11]
History
Since esotericism is not a single tradition but a vast array of

often unrelated figures and movements, there is no single
historical thread underlying them all.[12] The developments
that one might wish to emphasize in drawing up a history of
esotericism furthermore depends on whether esotericism in
the dictionary (non-scholarly) or the scholarly sense is
intended.
Several historically attested religions emphasize secret or

hidden knowledge, and are thus esoteric in the dictionary
sense, without necessarily being esoteric movements in the
scholarly sense of the word. Thus, the Roman Empire had
several mystery religions which emphasized initiation. Some
saw Christianity, with its ritual of baptism, as a mystery
religion. None of these are "esoteric" in the scholarly sense.
The terms "Gnosticism" and "Gnosis" refer to a family of
religious movements which claimed to possess secret
knowledge (gnosis). Another important movement from the
ancient world was Hermeticism or Hermetism. Both of these
41
are often seen as precursors to esoteric movements in the

scholarly sense of the word.
Non-Western traditions can also display the characteristics

of esoteric movements. The Ismaili Muslims also stress a
distinction between the inner and the outer. It is believed
that spiritual salvation is attained by receiving the 'Nur' (light)
through the "esoteric", that is, spiritual search for
enlightenment. Ismaili Islam also has some of the
characteristics associated with esotericism as defined by
Faivre, e.g. the belief in an intermediate spiritual sphere
mediating between humans and the divine. Esoteric
movements in Buddhism, which fall under the general
category of Vajrayana Buddhism, employ esoteric training
into Buddha's teachings, through use of symbols, mantra and
hand-gestures, or mudra. Initiation rituals are typically given
to students as they progress along these paths, and care is
taken not to discuss specific rituals to those lacking the right
empowerment.
In order to distinguish esoteric currents based primarily on

sources from late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages,
from e.g. Islamic or Jewish currents with similar features, the
more precise term "Western esotericism" is often employed.
Western esoteric movements in the scholarly sense thus

have roots in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. A major phase
in the development of Western esotericism begins in the
42
Renaissance, partly as the result of various attempts to revive

such earlier movements. During the Italian Renaissance, for
example, translators such as Ficino and Pico della Mirandola
turned their attention to the classical literature of
Neoplatonism, and what was thought to be the pre-Mosaic
tradition of Hermeticism. Other pursuits of Antiquity that
entered into the mix of esoteric speculation were astrology
and alchemy. Beside such revived currents from late
Antiquity, a second major source of esoteric speculation is
the Kabbalah, which was lifted out of its Jewish context and
adapted to a Christian framework by people such as
Johannes Reuchlin. Outside the Italian Renaissance, yet
another major current of esotericism was initiated by
Paracelsus, who combined alchemical and astrological
themes (among others) into a complex body of doctrines.
In the early 17th century, esotericism is represented by

currents such as Christian theosophy and Rosicrucianism. A
century later, esoteric ideas entered various strands of
Freemasonry. Later in the 18th century, as well as in the early
19th century, the diffuse movement known as Mesmerism
became a major expression of esotericism. In the 19th
century, esotericism is also represented by certain aspects of
the philosophy, literature and science associated with
Romanticism, by spiritualism, and by a notable French wave
of occultism.
43
The major exponent of esotericism in the latter part of the

19th century is the Theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky, not to be
confused with the Christian Theosophy mentioned above. In
the 20th century, Theosophy was further developed by Annie
Besant and Charles Webster Leadbeater, while people like
Alice Bailey, Rudolf Steiner and many others, became the
source for a whole range of post-theosophical movements
such as The Summit Lighthouse. The post-theosophical
Anthroposophical movement is a synthesis of occultist,
Christian and Neoplatonic ideas with Western esoteric
concepts as formulated in the wake of Theosophy.
Anthroposophy, which was founded by Rudolf Steiner in the
early part of the 20th century, includes esoteric versions of
education, agriculture, and medicine.[13]
Yet another notable esoteric strain stems from the teachings

of G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky.
Theosophy is also considered a major influence on the many

less institutionally organized varieties of esotericism in
metaphysical milieus, "Ascended Master Activities", and
within the New Age.
Finally, it can be noted that Carl Gustav Jung can be seen as

an exponent of esotericism: his writings concern esoteric
subject matter such as alchemy, and rephrased the concept
of correspondences in a modern, psychologizing terminology
in his theory of synchronicity.
44
Methodology
Wouter J. Hanegraaff is Professor of “History of Hermetic

Philosophy and Related Currents” at the University of
Amsterdam (1999). The Universiteit van Amsterdam (UvA) is
the world's first academic institution to have created a
complete program for research and teaching in the field of
Western Esotericism.[4] He is also president of the European
Society for the Study of Western Esotericism. Essential to
Hanegraaff’s methodology is what he calls an “empirical”
approach, with an informed, open, and, so much as possible,
neutral mind. He makes a sharp division between a
“religionist” perspective and an “empiricist” one.
“Empirical research must be based on methodological

agnosticism with regard to religious and philosophical ‘first
principles’, and must fully recognize the historicity of
religious phenomena. This empirical perspective is applied to
the newly emerging academic field of esotericism.” [14]
Secondly, Hanegraaff follows a distinction between an “emic”

and an “etic” approach to religious studies. [5] The emic
approach is that of the alchemist or theosopher as an
alchemist or theosopher. The etic approach is that of the
scholar as an historian, a researcher, with a critical look. An
empirical study of esotericism needs “emic material and etic
interpretation”.
“The principal theoretical tool to safeguard scientific

legitimity in this situation is the distinction between emic and
45
etic. Emic denotes the believer’s point of view. On the part of

the researcher, the reconstruction of this emic perspective
requires an attitude of empathy which excludes personal
biases as far as possible. Scholarly discourse about religion,
on the other hand, is not emic but etic. Scholars may
introduce their own terminology and make theoretical
distinctions which are different from those of the believers
themselves.” [15]
Pierre A. Riffard (Ph.D., University of the French West Indies)

studies the method used by esotericists themselves
(alchemists, magicians, Rosicrucians,
Anthroposophists...).[16] He examines some of their
procedures. 1) Mythological origins. The esotericists trace
the origins of their doctrine or practice to an extremely
distant past. They situate the life of Hermes in times
immemorial. 2) Cosmic cycles. For Gaston Georgel, “history is
governed by cycles of 540, 1080 and 2160 years”. 3) The
chains of initiation. Some Rosicrucians include Francis Bacon
among their masters and trace their origins back to the time
of Thutmosis III. 4) The secret books. Esotericists prefer to
base their beliefs on secret writings, unknown to the majority
of people and inaccessible to the uninitiated: for instance,
among the Theosophists, The Book of Dzyan. 5) Spiritual
interpretations. The esotericists are able to endow the most
profane texts with an occult meaning. The alchemists
discover within the Greek and Roman myths the Great Work
of alchemy. 6) Magical uses. A book can be used as a
talisman, a divinatory machine... The Sortes Sanctorum (Lots
46
of the saints) were, in early Christianity, a divination which

consists in taking passages of the Bible at chance, and
drawing conclusions from them concerning future. [6]
Arthur Versluis (Professor, Ph.D., Michigan State University)

proposes the term “sympathetic empiricism” as the approach
that he finds most amenable in the study of Western
Esotericism.
“While I am convinced of the critical importance of

historiography in the study of esotericism (and for this reason
all of my academic books are firmly grounded in historical
method) I do not believe that historiography is adequate in
itself to convey the complex, multivalent nature of esoteric
thought, traditions, or most of all, experience. Esotericism,
given all its varied forms and its inherently multidimensional
nature, cannot be conveyed without going beyond purely
historical information: at minimum, the study of esotericism,
and in particular mysticism, requires some degree of
imaginative participation in what one is studying.”[17] [7]
Western esotericism or Wesotericism[citation needed] (also

Western Hermetic Tradition, Western mysticism, Western
Inner Tradition, Western occult tradition, and Western
mystery tradition) is a broad spectrum of spiritual traditions
found in Western society, or refers to the collection of the
mystical, esoteric knowledge of the Western world. This
often includes, but is not limited to, philosophy and
meditation, herbalism and alchemy, astrology and divination,
and various forms of ritual magic. The tradition has no one
47
source or unifying text, nor does it hold any specific dogma,

instead placing emphasis on spiritual "knowledge" or Gnosis
and the rejection of blind faith. Although the protosciences
were widespread in the ancient world, the rise of modern
science was born from occult varieties of Western
Esotericism reinterpreted in the "Age of Enlightenment" and
is documented within the field known as the "History of
Science". Various groups including Hermeticists, Neopagans,
Thelemites, Theosophists and others still continue to practice
modern variants of traditional Western esoteric philosophies.
History
Nine Stones Circle. A Bronze Age stone circle of eight or nine

stones on the SE-facing slope of Nine Stone Rig, above
Kingside Burn.
The roots of the Western mystery tradition are in occult

movements of Late Antiquity, Roman-Hellenistic religions
which in turn claimed to originate in ancient Egypt, Chaldea,
Persia or other parts of the ancient world. The Catholic
Encyclopedia sums up its origins thus:
Its beginnings have long been a matter of controversy and

are still largely a subject of research. The more these origins
are studied, the farther they seem to recede in the past.[1]
To make an accurate assumption of the tradition's origin (and

therefore age) it would be necessary to study the origin of
the various systems which have come to make up the
tradition. Of these systems the Egyptian and Hellenic Mystery
48
religions, the Hebrew Kabbalah, Gnosticism and Hermeticism

are generally considered the oldest, though at no stage prior
to the 1880s[clarification needed] were these doctrines ever
synthesized into one whole.
Due to their relative geographic restrictions they were

regarded very much as separate disciplines. It appears that
for the most part the specific teachings were preserved via
oral tradition (though not in all cases, the Nag Hammadi
Library for example) passed from teacher to initiate.
However, even in the ancient climates in which they
flourished, the Esoteric Philosophies were still highly elusive.
Manly P. Hall writes:
In all cities of the ancient world were temples for public

worship and offering. In every community also were
philosophers and mystics, deeply versed in Nature's lore.
These individuals were usually banded together, forming
seclusive philosophic and religious schools. The more
important of these groups were known as the Mysteries.
Many of the great minds of antiquity were initiated into
these secret fraternities by strange and mysterious rites,
some of which were extremely cruel. Alexander Wilder
defines the Mysteries as "Sacred dramas performed at stated
periods. The most celebrated were those of Isis, Sabazius,
Cybele, and Eleusis." After being admitted, the initiates were
instructed in the secret wisdom which had been preserved
for ages. Plato, an initiate of one of these sacred orders, was
severely criticized because in his writings he revealed to the
public many of the secret philosophic principles of the
49
Mysteries. Every pagan nation had (and has) not only its state
religion, but another into which the philosophic elect alone
have gained entrance.[2]
Middle Ages
After the fall of Rome, alchemy and philosophy and other

aspects of the tradition were largely preserved in the Arab
and Near Eastern world and introduced into Western Europe
by Jews and by the cultural contact between Christians and
Muslims that occurred due to the Crusades and the
Reconquista. The 12th century saw the development of the
Kabbalah in medieval Spain. The medieval period also saw
the publication of grimoires which offered often elaborate
formulas for theurgy and thaumaturgy. Many of the
grimoires seem to have kabbalistic influence. Figures in
alchemy from this period seem to also have authored or used
grimoires.
Early Modern Europe
The Renaissance saw a revival of classical learning, and a

revival of ancient and medieval occult practices in particular.
Renaissance magic revived the "occultist boom" of Late
Antiquity, recovering texts treating Greco-Roman magic and
Hermeticism as well as its continuations beyond antiquity in
the form of the Kabbalah, alchemy and the medieval
grimoires. Renaissance scholarship gave rise to a Christian
Kabbalah and later (in the Baroque period) to the Rosicrucian
Brotherhood. The witch trials in Early Modern Europe are at
50
least indirectly related to this revival of scholarly interest in

the occult.[citation needed]
1720s to 1850s
The Enlightenment saw another occult revival, perhaps

spurred by growing rejection of mainstream religion and
increased democracy and freedom of conscience. The period
saw the rise of occult fraternities, most notably Speculative
Freemasonry and a revived Rosicrucian Brotherhood.
Academic interest in ancient mystery cults such as those of
Mithras and Dionysus began to develop. Emanuel
Swedenborg pulled Christianity in a more mystical or occult
direction, and Franz Mesmer provided a quasi-scientific
method of thaumaturgy. While both these men had
profound contributions to the Western mystery tradition, it
appears neither was versed in it. The Count of St Germain,
whose life and legends influenced Theosophy, lived during
this period. Martinism also arose as an esoteric doctrine, as
did various Rosicrucian orders.
1850s to 1930s
51
Cover of the June 1904 edition of Lucifer-Gnosis, by Rudolf

Steiner
The late 19th century saw a radical split in the Western

mystery tradition. Helena Blavatsky was the main instrument
of this, by reinventing the tradition in a system called
Theosophy. Theosophy largely ignored the medieval
traditions, such as alchemy, thaumaturgy and Kabbalah,
instead focusing on more ancient mystery teachings and
incorporating Eastern systems of yoga. The extant tradition
prospered alongside Theosophy, especially under the
influence of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and
Ordo Templi Orientis and such teachers as Eliphas Levi,
Papus, Samuel Liddell MacGregor Mathers, and Aleister
Crowley. This tradition began to see itself as a complete
alternative to Christianity, and, not surprisingly, began to
emphasize theurgy. This occult revival lasted through World
War II. Aspects of it were further revived in the 1960s.
Theosophy is still available through the Theosophical Society,
and Western theurgy strongly influenced the development of
neo-paganism.
52
World War II
Emergent occult and esoteric systems found increasing

popularity in the early 20th century, especially in Western
Europe. Occult lodges and secret societies flowered among
European intellectuals of this era who had largely abandoned
traditional forms of Christianity. The spreading of secret
teachings and magic practices found enthusiastic adherents
in the chaos of Germany during the interwar years. Many
influential and wealthy Germans were drawn to secret
societies such as the Thule Society. Thule Society activist Karl
Harrer was one of the founders of the German Workers'
Party[3], which later became the Nazi Party; some Nazi Party
members like Alfred Rosenberg and Rudolf Heß were listed
as "guests" of the Thule Society, as was Adolf Hitler's mentor
Dietrich Eckart.[4] After their rise to power, the Nazis
persecuted occultists.[5]While many Nazi Party leaders like
Hitler and Joseph Goebbels were hostile to occultism,
Heinrich Himmler used Karl Maria Wiligut as a clairvoyant
"and was regularly consulting for help in setting up the
symbolic and ceremonial aspects of the SS" but not for
important political decisions. By 1939, Wiligut was "forcibly
retired from the SS" because of his institutionalisation for
insanity.[6]
53
Soviet Union
Little information is known about the status of the Western

mystery tradition in the officially atheist Soviet Union and its
"satellites" during the ruling of the Communist Party. It is
believed by some that the Soviets had a scientific interest in
subjects traditionally studied by the Western mystery
tradition, such as telepathy and astrology.
A number of people associated with mysticism chose to

leave the countries where Communism was installed. For
example, G.I. Gurdjieff, an influential individual from
Armenia, fled to France after the Bolsheviks overtook the
ruling of Russia. The Universal White Brotherhood of
Bulgaria, founded by Peter Deunov and extended by Omraam
Mikhael Aivanhov, also chose to continue its activities in
France and other Western countries after World War II and
the introduction of Communism into Bulgaria. These two
examples, although not directly associated with the core of
the Western mystery tradition, demonstrate a pattern which
supports the claim that the Soviet-controlled states were
negative not only to mainstream religion but also to
mysticism and occultism.
It is known that after the dissolution of the Soviet Union,

several mystical societies, such as the Rosicrucians, gained
profound revival in Eastern Europe and Russia which resulted
in the foundation of many new jurisdictions and lodges.
54
1990s to present
Today, the tradition is experiencing a revival in North

America and Europe, while many organizations of Western
Esotericism (or Wesotericism[citation needed]) have a
presence throughout the world. The tradition is now
undergoing reevaluation by the anthropological and
archaeological developments in the study of its root sources,
namely, Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Greco-Roman
world, Druidism and other pagan sources, as well as
Abrahamic (Judeo-Christian-Islamic) esotericism such as
Manichaeism, Sufism and Sikhism. The early incorporation of
Eastern ideas began, most notably, by the Theosophical
Society in the 19th century, continues increasingly today
particularly from Buddhism, Bon, Jainism, Hinduism, Taoism
and especially Yoga & Tantra.
Philosophy
Today, Western Esotericism is a syncretism of ancient

philosophy, Paganism and Abrahamic thought and imports
from Asia and modern science. The tradition focuses on
individual spiritual progress either through initiation,
personal or into a fellowship, on personal or group rituals,
study of philosophy and "cosmic" laws and their practical
application, and encompasses alchemy, meditation,
divination, and ritual magic.
Initiation
55
The concept of initiation plays a very important role in the

Western mystical tradition, and many people participating in
this tradition are initiated in one or more mystical
organisations. Initiatory societies existed in ancient Greece
and ancient Egypt, working as schools or colleges for the
spreading of their secret teachings to worthy individuals.
These teachings were not accessible to the general public,
symbolized by the Greek phrase "Ουδείς αγεωμέτρητος
εισείτω" (which may be translated as "no person without
knowledge of Geometry should get in") found in Plato's
Academy.
The tradition of initiation and secrecy is well preserved

today, although it is criticised by many people, mainly those
related to the New Age phenomenon, where many
participants have adopted the view that access to knowledge
should be as open as possible. However, many New Age
schools and doctrines still require a process of initiation and
the private tutelage of a guru, as with many forms of yoga) or
other enlightened master (e.g., Zen Buddhism) in order for
the passing of wisdom or knowledge to occur.
Variation
Beginning in the early to mid-Nineteenth century, and with

the incorporation of Eastern mystical concepts into the
existing traditions, the Western mystery tradition
experienced a major divergence between the esoteric
Hermetic rites of the Masonic and Rosicrucian traditions, and
the Theosophical schools (with the major divergence
56
occurring during the life of Madame Blavatsky). Some people

considered Theosophy to be grouped under the general
rubric of New Age spirituality although others do not agree,
since they consider the New Age as an over-simplification of
several theosophical concepts and having self-centered aims.
The New Age schools preached an openness not seen in the
esoteric Hermetic fraternal organizations, which continue to
rely heavily on initiatory rites for the dissemination of
spiritual information. However, although New Age spirituality
is more open in its presentation, it continues to rely more or
less on a syncretic and esoteric methodology in the
formulation of its methods and in the transmission of its
wisdom/enlightenment.
Ethics and morality
With the enormous variation of beliefs and methods among

the proliferating spiritual and esoteric groups have come
concerns from some regarding the moral quality or ethical
content of certain doctrines. As a consequence, there has
been an effort by some to attempt a supposed objective
dichotomy between the ethical philosophies of spiritual or
religious groups by categorizing them under the Left-Hand
Path and Right-Hand Path modality. Those on the "Right-
Hand Path" are said to focus on the elevation of the spiritual
over the carnal, faith-based worship of something greater
than themselves, and the observance of strict moral codes,
all of which are supposed by their adherents to bring humans
closer to the Divine or a moral good, as opposed to those on
the "Left-Hand Path" who focus on the advancement and
57
preservation of the self, glorification of the earthly, and the

development of personal power. This usage of terms,
however, is invoked almost exclusively by proponents of
groups[who?] who consider themselves "on the Left-Hand
Path"; opponents of this terminology (groups that are almost
always described by those who subscribe to this distinction
as being on the "Right-Hand Path") argue[weasel words]
either that this distinction is invalid because it results from a
mislabeled or false dichotomy, or that much of what is called
"left-handed" is simply not "legitimate".
58
59
Chapter Four
Mysticism practices
Historically, Christian mysticism has taught that for Christians

the major emphasis of mysticism concerns a spiritual
transformation of the egoic self, the following of a path
designed to produce more fully realized human persons,
"created in the Image and Likeness of God" and as such,
living in harmonious communion with God, the Church, the
rest of world, and all creation, including oneself. For
Christians, this human potential is realized most perfectly in
Jesus, precisely because he is both God and human, and is
manifested in others through their association with him,
whether conscious, as in the case of Christian mystics, or
unconscious, with regard to spiritual persons who follow
other traditions, such as Gandhi. The Eastern Christian
tradition speaks of this transformation in terms of theosis or
divinization, perhaps best summed up by an ancient
aphorism usually attributed to Athanasius of Alexandria:
"God became human so that man might become god."[33]
60
Threefold path
Going back to Evagrius Ponticus, Christian mystics have been

described as pursuing a threefold path corresponding to
body, mind, and soul (or spirit). The three aspects later
became purgative, illuminative, and unitive in the western
churches and prayer of the lips, the mind, the heart in the
eastern churches.[34] The first, purification is where aspiring
traditionally Christian mystics start. This aspect focuses on
discipline, particularly in terms of the human body; thus, it
emphasizes prayer at certain times, either alone or with
others, and in certain postures, often standing or kneeling. It
also emphasizes the other disciplines of fasting and alms-
giving, the latter including those activities called "the works
of mercy," both spiritual and corporal, such as feeding the
hungry and sheltering the homeless.
Purification, which grounds Christian spirituality in general, is

primarily focused on efforts to, in the words of St. Paul, "put
to death the deeds of the flesh by the Holy Spirit" (Romans
8:13). This is considered a result of the Spirit working in the
person and is not a result of personal deeds. Also in the
words of St. Paul, "...he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
(Epistle to the Philippians 1:6). The "deeds of the flesh" here
include not only external behavior, but also those habits,
attitudes, compulsions, addictions, etc. (sometimes called
egoic passions) which oppose themselves to true being and
living as a Christian not only exteriorly, but interiorly as well.
Evelyn Underhill describes purification as an awareness of
61
one's own imperfections and finiteness, followed by self-

discipline and mortification.[35] Because of its physical,
disciplinary aspect, this phase, as well as the entire Christian
spiritual path, is often referred to as "ascetic," a term which
is derived from a Greek word which connotes athletic
training. Because of this, in ancient Christian literature,
prominent mystics are often called "spiritual athletes," an
image which is also used several times in the New Testament
to describe the Christian life. What is sought here is salvation
in the original sense of the word, referring not only to one's
eternal fate, but also to healing in all areas of life, including
the restoration of spiritual, psychological, and physical
health.
It remains a paradox of the mystics that the passivity at

which they appear to aim is really a state of the most intense
activity: more, that where it is wholly absent no great
creative action can take place. In it, the superficial self-
compels itself to be still, in order that it may liberate another
more deep-seated power, which is, in the ecstasy of the
contemplative genius, raised to the highest pitch of
efficiency. [36]
The second phase, the path of illumination, has to do with

the activity of the Holy Spirit enlightening the mind, giving
insights into truths not only explicit in scripture and the rest
of the Christian tradition, but also those implicit in nature,
not in the scientific sense, but rather in terms of an
illumination of the "depth" aspects of reality and natural
happenings, such that the working of God is perceived in all
62
that one experiences. Underhill describes it as marked by a

consciousness of a transcendent order and a vision of a new
heaven and a new earth.
The third phase, usually called contemplation (or Mystical

Contemplative Prayer [37]) in the Western tradition, refers to
the experience of oneself as in some way united with God.
The experience of union varies, but it is first and foremost
always associated with a reuniting with Divine love, the
underlying theme being that God, the perfect goodness,[38]
is known or experienced at least as much by the heart as by
the intellect since, in the words 1 John 4:16: "God is love, and
he who abides in love abides in God and God in him." Some
approaches to classical mysticism would consider the first
two phases as preparatory to the third, explicitly mystical
experience, but others state that these three phases overlap
and intertwine.
Mystical Contemplative Prayer is the blessing for which the

Christian mystic hopes. No human effort can produce it. This
form of prayer has three characteristics. (a)It is infused (i.e.
filled with enthusiasm or desire.) (b) It is extraordinary (i.e.
indicating that the intellect operates in new way). (c)
Moreover, It is passive (i.e. showing that the soul receives
something from God, and is conscious of receiving it.) It can
manifest itself in one of four degrees. The four degrees are
the prayer of quiet, the prayer of union, ecstatic union, and
transforming deifying union.[37]
63
Underhill's five-stage path
Author and mystic Evelyn Underhill recognizes two

additional phases to the mystical path. First comes the
awakening, the stage in which one begins to have some
consciousness of absolute or divine reality. Purgation and
illumination are followed by a fourth stage which Underhill,
borrowing the language of St. John of the Cross, calls the
dark night of the soul. This stage, experienced by the few, is
one of final and complete purification and is marked by
confusion, helplessness, stagnation of the will, and a sense of
the withdrawal of God's presence. This dark night of the soul
is not, in Underhill's conception, the Divine Darkness of the
pseudo-Dionysius and German Christian mysticism. It is the
period of final "unselfing" and the surrender to the hidden
purposes of the divine will. Her fifth and final stage is union
with the object of love, the one Reality, God. Here the self
has been permanently established on a transcendental level
and liberated for a new purpose.[39]
Community
Another aspect of traditional Christian spirituality, or

mysticism, has to do with its communal basis. Even for
hermits, the Christian life is always lived in communion with
the Church, the community of believers. Thus, participation
in corporate worship, especially the Eucharist, is an essential
part of Christian mysticism. Connected with this is the
practice of having a spiritual director, confessor, or "soul
64
friend" with which to discuss one's spiritual progress. This

person, who may be clerical or lay, acts as a spiritual mentor.
Types of meditation
Within theistic mysticism two broad tendencies can be

identified. One is a tendency to understand God by asserting
what He is not and the other by asserting what He is. The
former leads to what is called apophatic theology and the
latter to cataphatic theology.
1.Apophatic (imageless, stillness, and wordlessness) -- e.g.,

The Cloud of the Unknowing, Meister Eckhart; and
2.Cataphatic (imaging God, imagination or words) -- e.g.,The

Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, Dame Julian,
Francis of Assisi,[40] This second type is considered by
Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite [41]
Scholars such as Urban T. Holmes, III have also categorized

mystical theology in terms of whether it focuses on
illuminating the mind, which Holmes refers to as speculative
practice, or the heart/emotions, which he calls affective
practice. Combining the speculative/affective scale with the
apophatic/cataphatic scale allows for a range of
categories:[42]
Rationalism = Cataphatic and speculative
Pietism = Cataphatic and affective
Encratism = Apophatic and speculative
65
Quietism = Apophatic and affective
Ascetic practices
Many mystics, following the model of Paul's metaphor of the

athlete, as well as the story of the disciples sleeping while
Jesus prayed, disciplined their bodies through activities
ranging from fasting and sleep-deprivation to more extreme
forms, such as self-flagellation.
Sensory experiences
Many mystics experience visions. But other sensory

experiences are common as well. For instance, Richard Rolle
heard heavenly music and felt a fire in his chest.
Ecstasies
Religious ecstasy is common for many mystics, such as

Teresa of Avila, whose experience was immortalized in the
sculpture Ecstasy of Saint Teresa by Bernini.
Physical transformations
One of the most familiar examples of mystical physical

transformation is the appearance of stigmata on the body of
the mystic, such as those received by Francis of Assisi. But
other transformations are possible, such as the odour of
sanctity that accompanies the body of the deceased mystic,
such as Teresa of Avila and Therese of Liseaux.
66
Miracles
Some mystics are said to have been able to perform

miracles. But for many mystics, the miracles occurred to
them. In the Middle Ages, one common form of mystical
miracle, especially for women, was the Eucharistic miracle,
such as being able to eat nothing other than the communion
host. Catherine of Genoa was an example of someone who
experienced this type of miracle.
Influential Christian mystics and texts
67
68
Chapter Five
Evelyn Underhill
Evelyn Underhill (6 December 1875 – 15 June 1941) was an

English Anglo-Catholic writer and pacifist known for her
numerous works on religion and spiritual practice, in
particular Christian mysticism.
In the English-speaking world, she was one of the most

widely read writers on such matters in the first half of the
twentieth century. No other book of its type—until the
appearance in 1946 of Aldous Huxley's The Perennial
Philosophy—met with success to match that of her best-
known work, Mysticism, published in 1911.[1]
Biography
Underhill was born in Wolverhampton. She was a poet and

novelist, as well as a pacifist and mystic. An only child, she
described her early mystical insights as "abrupt experiences
of the peaceful, undifferentiated plane of reality—like the
"still desert" of the mystic—in which there was no
multiplicity nor need of explanation."[2] The meaning of
these experiences became a lifelong quest and a source of
private angst, provoking her to research and write.
69
Both her father and her husband were writers (on the law),
London barristers and yachtsmen. She and her husband,
Hubert Stuart Moore, grew up together and were married on
3 July 1907. The couple had no children. She travelled
regularly within Europe, primarily Switzerland, France and
Italy where she pursued her interests in art and Catholicism,
visiting numerous churches and monasteries. Neither her
husband (a Protestant) nor her parents shared her interest in
spiritual matters.
Underhill was called simply "Mrs Moore" by many of her

friends, but was not without her detractors. She was a
prolific author and published over 30 books either under her
maiden name, Underhill, or under the pseudonym "John
Cordelier", as was the case for the 1912 book The Spiral Way.
Initially an agnostic, she gradually began to acquire an
interest in Neoplatonism and from there became increasingly
drawn to Catholicism against the objections of her husband,
becoming eventually a prominent Anglo-Catholic. Her
spiritual mentor from 1921 to 1924 was Baron Friedrich von
Hügel, who was appreciative of her writing yet concerned
with her focus on mysticism and who encouraged her to
adopt a much more Christocentric view as opposed to the
theistic and intellectual one she had previously held. She
described him as "the most wonderful personality. ..So
saintly, truthful, sane and tolerant" (Cropper, p. 44) and was
influenced toward more charitable, down-to-earth activities.
After his death in 1925, her writings became more focused
70
on the Holy Spirit and she became prominent in the Anglican

Church as a lay leader of spiritual retreats, a spiritual director
for hundreds of individuals, guest speaker, radio lecturer and
proponent of contemplative prayer.
Underhill came of age in the Edwardian era, at the turn of

the 20th century and like most of her contemporaries had a
decided romantic bent. The enormous excitement in those
days was mysteriously compounded of the psychic, the
psychological, the occult, the mystical, the medieval, the
advance of science, the apotheosis of art, the re-discovery of
the feminine and an unashamedly sensuous and the most
ethereally "spiritual". Anglicanism seemed to her out-of-key
with this, her world. She sought the centre of life as she and
many of her generation conceived it, not in the state religion,
but in experience and the heart. This age of "the soul" was
one of those periods when a sudden easing of social taboos
brings on a great sense of personal emancipation and desire
for an El Dorado despised by an older, more morose and
insensitive generation.[1]
As an only child she was devoted to her parents, and later to

her husband. She was fully engaged in the life of a barrister's
daughter and wife, including the entertainment and
charitable work that entailed, and pursued a daily regimen
that included writing, research, worship, prayer and
meditation. It was a fundamental axiom of hers that all of life
was sacred, as that was what "incarnation" was about.
71
She was a cousin of Francis Underhill, Bishop of Bath and

Wells.
Education
Underhill was educated at home, except for three years at a

private school in Folkestone, and subsequently read history
and botany at King's College London. She was conferred with
an honorary Doctorate of Divinity from Aberdeen University
and made a fellow of King's College. She was the first woman
to lecture to the clergy in the Church of England as well as
the first woman to officially conduct spiritual retreats for the
Church. She was also the first woman to establish ecumenical
links between churches and one of the first woman
theologians to lecture in English colleges and universities,
which she did frequently. Underhill was an award-winning
bookbinder, studying with the most renowned masters of the
time. She was schooled in the classics, well read in Western
spirituality, well informed (in addition to theology) in the
philosophy, psychology, and physics of her day, and acquired
the prestigious post of editor of The Spectator.
Early work
Before undertaking many of her better known expository

works on mysticism, she first published a small book of
satirical poems on legal dilemmas, The Bar-Lamb's Ballad
Book, which received a favorable welcome. Underhill then
wrote three highly unconventional though profoundly
spiritual novels. Like Charles Williams and later, Susan
72
Howatch, Underhill uses her narratives to explore the

sacramental intersection of the physical with the spiritual.
She then uses that sacramental framework very effectively to
illustrate the unfolding of a human drama. Her novels are
entitled The Grey World (1904), The Lost Word (1907), and
The Column of Dust (1909). In her first novel, The Grey
World, described by one reviewer as an extremely interesting
psychological study, the hero's mystical journey begins with
death, and then moves through reincarnation, beyond the
grey world, and into the choice of a simple life devoted to
beauty, reflecting Underhill's own serious perspective as a
young woman.
"It seems so much easier in these days to live morally than to

live beautifully. Lots of us manage to exist for years without
ever sinning against society, but we sin against loveliness
every hour of the day."[3]
The Lost Word and The Column of Dust are also concerned
with the problem of living in two worlds and reflect the
writer's own spiritual challenges. In the 1909 novel, her
heroine encounters a rift in the solid stuff of her universe:
She had seen, abruptly, the insecurity of those defences

which protect our illusions and ward off the horrors of truth.
She had found a little hole in the wall of appearances; and
peeping through, had caught a glimpse of that seething pot
73
of spiritual forces whence, now and then, a bubble rises to

the surface of things. .[4]
Underhill's novels suggest that perhaps for the mystic, two

worlds may be better than one. For her, mystical experience
seems inseparable from some kind of enhancement of
consciousness or expansion of perceptual and aesthetic
horizons—to see things as they are, in their meanness and
insignificance when viewed in opposition to the divine
reality, but in their luminosity and grandeur when seen
bathed in divine radiance. But at this stage the mystic's mind
is subject to fear and insecurity, its powers undeveloped. The
first novel takes us only to this point. Further stages demand
suffering, because mysticism is more than merely vision or
cultivating a latent potentiality of the soul in cosy isolation.
According to Underhill's view, the subsequent pain and
tension, and final loss of the private painful ego-centered life
for the sake of regaining one's true self, has little to do with
the first beatific vision. Her two later novels are built on the
ideal of total self-surrender even to the apparent sacrifice of
the vision itself, as necessary for the fullest possible
integration of human life. This was for her the equivalent of
working out within, the metaphorical intent of the life story
of Jesus. One is reunited with the original vision—no longer
as mere spectator but as part of it. This dimension of self-loss
and resurrection is worked out in The Lost Word, but there is
some doubt as to its general inevitability. In The Column of
Dust, the heroine's physical death reinforces dramatically the
mystical death to which she has already surrendered to. Two
74
lives are better than one but only on the condition that a
process of painful re-integration intervenes to re-establish
unity between Self and Reality.[1]
All her characters derive their interest from the theological

meaning and value which they represent and it is her
ingenious handling of so much difficult symbolic material that
makes her work psychologically interesting as a forerunner of
such 20th century writers as Susan Howatch, whose
successful novels also embody the psychological value of
religious metaphor and the traditions of Christian mysticism.
Her first novel received critical acclaim, but her last was
generally derided. However, her novels give remarkable
insight into what we may assume was her decision to avoid
what St. Augustine described as the temptation of fuga in
solitudinem ("the flight into solitude"), but instead
acquiescing to a loving, positive acceptance of this world. Not
looking back, by this time she was already working on her
magnum opus.
Writings on religion
Mysticism (1911)
Underhill's greatest book, Mysticism: A Study of the Nature

and Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness, was
published in 1911, and is distinguished by the very qualities
which make it inappropriate as a straightforward textbook.
The spirit of the book is romantic, engaged, and theoretical
rather than historical or scientific. Underhill has little use for
75
theoretical explanations and the traditional religious

experience, formal classifications or analysis. She dismisses
William James' pioneering study, The Varieties of Religious
Experience (1902), and his "four marks of the mystic state"
(ineffability, noetic quality, transcience, and passivity). James
had admitted that his own constitution shut him off almost
entirely from the enjoyment of mystical states thus his
treatment was purely objective. Underhill substituted (1)
mysticism is practical, not theoretical, (2) mysticism is an
entirely spiritual activity, (3) The business and method of
mysticism is love. (4) mysticism entails a definite
psychological experience. Her insistence on the psychological
approach was that it was the glamorous science of the pre-
war period, offering the potential key to the secrets of
human advances in intelligence, creativity, and genius, and
already psychological findings were being applied in theology
(i.e., William Sanday's Christologies Ancient and Modern).[1]
She divided her subject into two parts; the first, an

introduction, and the second, a detailed study of the nature
and development of human consciousness. In the first
section, in order to free the subject of mysticism from
confusion and misapprehension, she approached it from the
point of view of the psychologist, the symbolist and the
theologian. To separate mysticism from its most dubious
connection she included a chapter on mysticism and magic.
At the time, and still today, mysticism is associated with the
occult, magic, secret rites, and fanaticism, while she knew
76
the mystics throughout history to be the world's spiritual

pioneers.
She divided her map of "the way" into five stages: the first
was the "Awakening of Self." She quotes Henry Suso (disciple
of Meister Eckhart):
"That which the Servitor saw had no form neither

any manner of being; yet he had of it a joy such as he
might have known in the seeing of shapes and
substances of all joyful things. His heart was hungry,
yet satisfied, his soul was full of contentment and joy:
his prayers and his hopes were fulfilled." (Cropper p.
46)
Underhill tells how Suso's description of how the abstract

truth (related to each soul's true nature and purpose), once
remembered, contains the power of fulfilment became the
starting point of her own path. The second stage she
presents as psychological "Purgation of Self," quoting the
Theologia Germanica (14th c., anonymous) regarding the
transcendence of ego (Underhill's "little self"):
"We must cast all things from us and strip ourselves of them
and refrain from claiming anything for our own."
77
The third stage she titles "Illumination" and quotes William

Law:
"Everything in ...nature, is descended out that which is

eternal, and stands as a. ..visible outbirth of it, so when we
know how to separate out the grossness, death, and
darkness. ..from it, we find. ..it in its eternal state."
The fourth stage she describes as the "Dark Night of the

Soul" (which her correspondence leads us to believe she
struggled with throughout her life) where one is deprived of
all that has been valuable to the lower self, and quoting
Mechthild of Magdeburg:
"...since Thou hast taken from me all that I had of Thee, yet of
Thy grace leave me the gift which every dog has by nature:
that of being true to Thee in my distress, when I am deprived
of all consolation. This I desire more fervently than Thy
heavenly Kingdom."
And last she devotes a chapter to the unitive life, the sum of
the mystic way:
"When love has carried us above all things into the Divine
Dark, there we are transformed by the Eternal Word Who is
the image of the Father; and as the air is penetrated by the
sun, thus we receive in peace the Incomprehensible Light,
enfolding us, and penetrating us.' (Ruysbroech)
78
Where Underhill struck new ground was in her insistence

that this state of union produced a glorious and fruitful
creativeness, so that the mystic who attains this final
perfectness is the most active doer - not the reclusive
dreaming lover of God.
We are all the kindred of the mystics. ..Strange and far away
from us though they seem, they are not cut off from us by
some impassable abyss. They belong to us; the giants, the
heroes of our race. As the achievement of genius belongs not
to itself only but also to the society that brought it
forth;...the supernal accomplishment of the mystics is ours
also. ..our guarantee of the end to which immanent love, the
hidden steersman. ..is moving. ..us on the path toward the
Real. They come back to us from an encounter with life's
most august secret. ..filled with amazing tidings which they
can hardly tell. We, longing for some assurance. ..urge them
to pass on their revelation. ..the old demand of the dim-
sighted and incredulous. ..But they cannot. ..only fragments
of the Symbolic Vision. According to their strength and
passion, these lovers of the Absolute. ..have not shrunk from
the suffering. ..Beauty and agony have called. ..have
awakened a heroic response. For them the winter is over.
..Life new, unquenchable and lovely comes to meet them
with the dawn."(Cropper, p.47)
79
The book ends with an extremely valuable appendix, a kind

of who's who of mysticism, which shows its persistence and
interconnection from century to century.
Ruysbroeck (1914)
A work on the fourteenth century Flemish mystic, Jan van

Ruusbroec or Ruysbroeck (1293–1381), published in London
in 1914.[5] She had discussed him from several different
perspectives during the course of her earlier book on
Mysticism in 1911.
I. Life. She starts with a biography, drawn mainly from two

works on his life written by fellow monastics, Pomerius[6]
and Gerard Naghel.[7]
His childhood was spent in the village of Ruysbroeck. [page

7] At eleven he ran away to Brussels, where he began to live
with his uncle, John Hinckaert, a Canon at the Cathedral of St.
Gudule, and a younger Canon, Francis van Coudenberg. [10]
At twenty-four he was ordained a priest and became a
prebend at St. Gudule. [12] At his first mass he envisioned his
mother's spirit released from Purgatory and entering Heaven.
[15] From age 26 to 50 Ruysbroeck was a cathedral chaplain
at St. Gudule. [15] Although he "seemed a nobody to those
who did not know him," he was developing a strong spiritual
life, "a penetrating intellect, a fearless heart, deep
knowledge of human nature, remarkable powers of
expression". [17] At one point he wrote strong pamphlets
and led a campaign against a heretical group, the Brethren of
80
the Free Spirit led by Bloemardinne, who practiced a self-

indulgent "mysticality". [18-20] Later, with the two now
elderly Canons, he moved into the countryside at
Groenendael ("Green Valley"). [21-22] Pomerius writes that
he retired not to hide his light "but that he might tend it
better" [22]. Five years later their community became a
Priory under the Augustinian Canons. [23]
Many of his works were written during this period, often

drawing lessons from nature. [24] He had a favorite tree
under which he would sit and write what the 'Spirit' gave to
him. [25] He solemnly affirmed that his works were
composed under the "domination of an inspiring power," she
writes. [26] Pomerius says that Ruysbroeck could enter a
state of contemplation in which he appeared surrounded by
radiant light. [26-27] alongside his spiritual ascent, Naghel
says, he cultivated the friendship of those around him,
enriching their lives. [27-28] He also worked in the garden of
the priory, and sought to help creatures of the forest. [29-30]
He moved from the senses to the transcendent without
frontiers or cleavage, she writes, these being for him "but
two moods within the mind of God". [30] He counseled many
who came to him, including Gerard Groot of the Brothers of
the Common Life. [31] His advice would plumb the "purity
and direction" of the seeker's will, and love. [32] There, at
Groenendael he finally "leaps to a more abundant life". [34]
In The Sparkling Stone Ruysbroec wrote about coming to
know the love "which giveth more than one can take, and
asketh more than one can pay." [34]
81
II. Works. Next, she gives a bibliography of his eleven

admittedly authentic works, providing details concerning
each work's origin, nature, and contents, as well as their
place in his writings. 1. The Spiritual Tabernacle; 2. The
Twelve Points of True Faith; 3. The Book of the Four
Temptations; 4. The Book of the Kingdom of God's Lovers; 5.
The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage; 6. The Mirror of
Eternal Salvation or Book of the Blessed Sacraments; 7. The
Seven Cloisters; 8. The Seven Degrees of the Ladder of Love;
9. The Book of the Sparkling Stone; 10. The Book of the
Supreme Truth; 11. The Twelve Béguines.
III. Doctrine of God. Several types of mystics are described.

The first (e.g., St. Teresa) deals with personal psychological
experiences and emotional reactions, leaving the nature of
God to existing theology. [page 52] The second (e.g.,
Plotinus) has passion sprung from the vision of a philosopher;
the intellect often is more active than the heart, yet like a
poet such a mystic strives to sketch his vision of the Ultimate.
[53] The greatest mystics (e.g., St. Augustine) embrace at
once "the infinite and the intimate" so that "God is both near
and far, and the paradox of transcendent-immanent Reality is
a self-evident if an inexpressible truth." Such mystics "give us
by turns a subjective and psychological, an objective and
metaphysical, reading of spiritual experience." Here is
Ruysbroeck. [53-54]
82
An apostolic mystic [55] represents humanity in its quest to

discern the Divine Reality, being like "the artist extending our
universe, the pioneer cutting our path, the hunter winning
food for our souls." [56] Yet, although his experience is
personal, his language is often drawn from tradition, [57] but
the words may "enchant rather than inform the soul" so
ineffable is the nature of God. [58] Ruysbroeck goes
venturing "to hover over that Abyss which is 'beyong
Reason,' stammering and breaking into wild poetry in the
desperate attempt to seize the unseizable truth." [55] "[T]he
One is 'neither This nor That'." [61]
"God as known by man" is the Absolute One who

combines and resolves the contradictory natures of
time and eternity, becoming and being; who is both
transcendent and immanent, abstract and personal,
work and rest, the unmoved mover and movement
itself. God is above the storm, yet inspires the flux.
[59-60] The "omnipotent and ever-active Creator"
who is "perpetually breathing forth His energetic Life
in new births of being and new floods of grace." [60]
Yet the soul may pierce beyond this fruitful[8] nature
to the simple essence of God. There we humans
would find that "absolute and abiding Reality, which
seems to man Eternal Rest, the 'Deep Quiet of the
Godhead,' the 'Abyss,' the 'Dim Silence'; and which
we can taste indeed but never know. There, 'all
lovers lose themselves'." [60]
83
The Trinity, according the Ruysbroeck, works in living

distinctions, "the fruitful nature of the Persons." [61] Yet the
Trinity in itself is Unity of the Three Persons, which is the
Godhead. [60-61][9] Beyond and within the Trinity, or the
Godhead, then, is the "fathomless Abyss" [60] that is the
"Simple Being of God" that is "an Eternal Rest of God and of
all created things." [61][10]
The Father is the unconditioned Origin, Strength and Power,

of all things. [62] The Son is the Eternal Word and Wisdom
that shines forth in the world of conditions. [62] The Holy
Spirit is Love and Generosity emanating from the mutual
contemplation of Father and Son. [62][11] The Three Persons
"exist in an eternal distinction [emphasis added] for that
world of conditions wherein the human soul is immersed".
[63] By the acts of the Three Persons all created things are
born; by the incarnation and crucifixion we human souls are
adorned with love, and so to be drawn back to our Source.
"This is the circling course of the Divine life-process." [63]
But beyond and above this eternal distinction lies "the

superessential world, transcending all conditions,
inaccessible to thought-- 'the measureless solitude of the
Godhead, where God possesses Himself in joy.' This is the
ultimate world of the mystic." [63-64] There, she continues,
quoting Ruysbroeck: "we can speak no more of Father, Son
and Holy Spirit nor of any creature; but only of one Being,
which is the very substance of the Divine Persons. There
were we all one before our creation; for this is our
superessence... . There the Godhead is, in simple essence,
84
without activity; Eternal Rest, Unconditioned Dark, the

Nameless Being, the Superessence of all created things, and
the simple and infinite Bliss of God and of all the Saints."
[64][12] "The simple light of this Being... embraces the unity
of the Divine Persons" as well as envelopes and irradiates the
ground and fruition of human souls in the Divine life-process.
"And this is the union of God and the souls that love Him."
[64-65][13]
IV. Doctrine of Humankind. For Ruysbroeck, "God is the

'Living Pattern of Creation' who has impressed His image on
each soul, and in every adult spirit the character of that
image must be brought from the hiddenness and realized."
[66][14] The pattern is trinitarian; there are three properties
of the human soul. First, resembling the Father, "the bare,
still place to which consciousness retreats in introversion... ."
[67] Second, following the Son, "the power of knowing Divine
things by intuitive comprehension: man's fragmentary share
in the character of the Logos, or Wisdom of God." [67-68]
"The third property we call the spark of the soul. It is the
inward and natural tendency of the soul towards its Source;
and here do we receive the Holy Spirit, the Charity of God."
[68].[15] So will God work within the human being; in later
spiritual development we may form with God a Union, and
eventually a Unity. [70-71][16]
The mighty force of Love is the 'very self-hood of God' in this

mysterious communion. [72, 73] "As we lay hold upon the
Divine Life, devour and assimilate it, so in that very act the
Divine Life devours us, and knits us up into the mysical Body,"
85
she writes. "It is the nature of love," says Ruysbroeck, "ever

to give and to take, to love and be loved, and these two
things meet in whomsoever loves. Thus the love of Christ is
both avid and generous... as He devours us, so He would feed
us. If He absorbs us utterly into Himself, in return He gives us
His very self again." [75-76][17] "Hungry love," "generous
love," "stormy love" touches the human soul with its Divine
creative energy and, once we become conscious of it, evokes
in us an answering storm of love. "The whole of our human
growth within the spiritual order is conditioned by the quality
of this response; by the will, the industry, the courage, with
which [we accept our] part in the Divine give-and-take." [74]
As Ruysbroeck puts it:
"That measureless Love which is God Himself, dwells

in the pure deeps of our spirit, like a burning brazier
of coal. And it throws forth brilliant and fiery sparks
which stir and enkindle heart and senses, will and
desire, and all the powers of the soul, with a fire of
love; a storm, a rage, a measureless fury of love.
These be the weapons with which we fight against
the terrible and immense Love of God, who would
consume all loving spirits and swallow them in
Himself. Love arms us with its own gifts, and clarifies
our reason, and commands, counsels and advises us
to oppose Him, to fight against Him, and to maintain
against Him our right to love, so long as we may."
[74-75][18]
86
The drama of this giving and receiving Love constitutes a

single act, for God is as an "ocean which ebbs and flows" or
as an "inbreathing and outbreathing". [75, 76] "Love is a
unifying power, manifested in motion itself, 'an outgoing
attraction, which drags us out of ourselves and calls us to be
melted and naughted in the Unity'." [76][19]
Next, the spiritual development of the soul is addressed. [76-

88] Ruysbroeck adumbrates how one may progress from the
Active life, to the Interior life, to the Superessential life; these
correspond to the three natural orders of Becoming, Being,
and God, or to the three rôles of the Servant, the Friend, and
the "hidden child" of God. [77, 85] The Active life focuses on
ethics, on conforming the self's daily life to the Will of God,
and takes place in the world of the senses, "by means". [78]
The Interior life embraces a vision of spiritual reality, where
the self's contacts with the Divine take place "without
means". [78] The Superessential life transcends the
intellectual plane, whereby the self does not merely behold,
but rather has fruition of the Godhead in life and in love, at
work and at rest, in union and in bliss. [78, 86, 87][20] The
analogy with the traditional threefold way of Purgation,
Illumination, and Union, is not exact. The Interior life of
Ruysbroeck contains aspects of the traditional Union also,
while the Superessential life "takes the soul to heights of
fruition which few amongst even the greatest unitive mystics
have attained or described." [78-79][21]
87
V, VI, VII, VIII. In her last four chapters, Evelynn Underhill

continues the discussion concerning the Active life [94-114],
the Interior life [115-163], and the Superessential or glorious
life [164-185].
"The Mysticism of Plotinus" (1919)
An essay originally published in The Quarterly Review

(1919),[22] and later collected in The Essentials of Mysticism
and other essays (London: J.M.Dent 1920) at 116-140.[23]
Underhill here addresses Plotinus (204-270) of Alexandria
and later of Rome.
A Neoplatonist as well as a spiritual guide, Plotinus writes

regarding both formal philosophy and hands-on, personal,
inner experience. Underhill makes the distinction between
the geographer who draws maps of the mind, and the seeker
who actually travels in the realms of spirit. [page 118] She
observes that usually mystics do not follow the mere maps of
metaphysicians. [page 117]
In the Enneads Plotinus presents the Divine as an unequal

triune, in descending order: (a) the One, perfection, having
nothing, seeking nothing, needing nothing, yet it overflows
creatively, the source of being; [121] (b) the emitted Nous or
Spirit, with intelligence, wisdom, poetic intuition, the "Father
and Companion" of the soul; [121-122] and, (c) the emitted
Soul or Life, the vital essence of the world, which aspires to
communion with the Spirit above, while also directly engaged
with the physical world beneath. [123]
88
People "come forth from God" and will find happiness once
re-united, first with the Nous, later with the One. [125] Such
might be the merely logical outcome for the metaphysician,
yet Plotinus the seeker also presents this return to the Divine
as a series of moral purgations and a shedding of irrational
delusions, leading eventually to entry into the intuitively
beautiful. [126] this intellectual and moral path toward a life
aesthetic will progressively disclose an invisible source, the
Nous, the forms of Beauty. [127] Love is the prevailing
inspiration, although the One is impersonal. [128] the mystic
will pass through stages of purification, and of
enlightenment, resulting in a shift in the center of our being
"from sense to soul, from soul to spirit," in preparation for an
ultimate transformation of consciousness. [125, 127] Upon
our arrival, we shall know ectasy and "no longer sing out of
tune, but form a divine chorus round the One." [129]
St. Augustine (354-430) criticizes such Neoplatonism as

neglecting the needs of struggling and imperfect human
beings. The One of Plotinus may act as a magnet for the
human soul, but it cannot be said to show mercy, nor to help,
or love, or redeem the individual on earth. [130] Other
western mystics writing on the Neoplatonists mention this
lack of "mutual attraction" between humanity and the
unconscious, unknowable One. [130-131] In this regard Julian
of Norwich (1342–1416) would write, "Our natural will is to
have God, and the good-will of God is to have us." [130]
89
Plotinus leaves the problem of evil unresolved, but having no

place in the blissful life; here, the social, ethical side of
religion seems to be shorted. His philosophy does not include
qualities comparable to the Gospel's divine "transfiguration
of pain" through Jesus. [131] Plotinus "the self-sufficient
sage" does not teach us charity, writes St. Augustine. [132]
Nonetheless, Underhill notes, Plotinus and Neoplatonism

were very influential among the mystics of Christianity (and
Islam). St. Augustine the Church Father was himself deeply
affected by Plotinus, and through him the western Church.
[133-135, 137] So, too, was Dionysius (5th century, Syria),
whose writings would also prove very influential. [133, 135]
As well were others, e.g., Erigena [135], Dante [136],
Ruysbroeck [136, 138], Eckhart [138], and Boehme [139].
Worship (1936)
Part I: 1. The Nature of Worship, 2. Ritual and Symbol, 3.

Sacrament and Sacrifice, 4. The Character of Christian
Worship, 5. Principles of Corporate Worship, 6. Liturgical
Elements in Worship, 7. The Holy Eucharist: Its Nature, 8. The
Holy Eucharist: Its Significance, 9. The Principles of Personal
Worship.
90
Part II: 10. Jewish Worship, 11. The Beginnings of Christian

Worship, 12. Catholic Worship: Western and Eastern, 13.
Worship in the Reformed Churches, 14. Free Church
Worship, 15. The Anglican Tradition. Conclusion.
Influences
Underhill's life was greatly affected by her husband's

resistance to her joining the Catholic Church to which she
was powerfully drawn. At first she believed it to be only a
delay in her decision, but it proved to be lifelong. He was,
however, a writer himself and was supportive of her writing
both before and after their marriage in 1907, though he did
not share her spiritual affinities. Her fiction was written in
the six years between 1903–1909 and represents her four
major interests of that general period: philosophy
(neoplatonism), theism/mysticism, the Roman Catholic
liturgy, and human love/compassion.[24] In her earlier
writings Underhill often wrote using the terms "mysticism"
and "mystics" but later began to adopt the terms
"spirituality" and "saints" because she felt they were less
threatening. She was often criticized for believing that the
mystical life should be accessible to the average person.
Her fiction was also influenced by the literary creed

expounded by her close friend Arthur Machen, mainly his
"Hieroglypics" of 1902, summarised by his biographer:
91
There are certain truths about the universe and its

constitution - as distinct from the particular things in it that
come before our observation - which cannot be grasped by
human reason or expressed in precise words: but they can be
apprehended by some people at least, in a semi-mystical
experience, called ecstasy, and a work of art is great insofar
as this experience is caught and expressed in it. Because,
however, the truths concerned transcend a language attuned
to the description of material objects, the expression can
only be through hieroglyphics, and it is of such hieroglyphics
that literature consists.
In Underhill's case the quest for psychological realism is

subordinate to larger metaphysical considerations which she
shared with Arthur Machen. Incorporating the Holy Grail into
their fiction (stimulated perhaps by their association with
Arthur Waite and his affiliation with the Hermetic Order of
the Golden Dawn), for Machen the Holy Grail was perhaps
"the" hieroglyph, "the" crystallisation in one sacred emblem
of all man's transcendental yearning, "the" gateway to vision
and lasting appeasement of his discontents, while for her it
was the center of atonement-linked meanings as she pointed
out to Margaret Robinson in a letter responding to
Robinson's criticism of Underhill's last novel:
92
"Don't marvel at your own temerity in criticising. Why should

you? Of course, this thing wasn't written for you - I never
write for anyone at all, except in letters of direction! But, I
take leave to think the doctrine contained in it is one you'll
have to assimilate sooner or later and which won't do you
any harm. It's not "mine" you know. You will find it all in
Eckhart. .. They all know, as Richard of St Victor said, that the
Fire of Love "burns." We have not fulfilled our destiny when
we have sat down at a safe distance from it, purring like
overfed cats, 'suffering is the ancient law of love' - and its
highest pleasure into the bargain, oddly enough. ... A sponge
cake and milk religion is neither true to this world nor to the
next. As for the Christ being too august a word for our little
hardships - I think it is truer that it is "so" august as to give
our little hardships a tincture of Royalty once we try them up
into it. I don't think a Pattern which was 'meek & lowly' is
likely to fail of application to very humble and ordinary
things. For most of us don't get a chance "but" the humble
and ordinary: and He came that we might all have life more
abundantly, according to our measure. There that's all![25]
Two contemporary philosophical writers dominated

Underhill's thinking at the time she wrote "Mysticism":
Rudolf Eucken and Henri Bergson. While neither displayed an
interest in mysticism, both seemed to their disciples to
advance a spiritual explanation of the universe. Also, she
describes the fashionable creed of the time as "vitalism" and
the term adequately sums up the prevailing worship of life in
all its exuberance, variety and limitless possibility which
93
pervaded pre-war culture and society. For her, Eucken and

Bergson confirmed the deepest intuitions of the mystics.
(Armstrong, "Evelyn Underhill")
Among the mystics, Ruysbroeck was to her the most

influential and satisfying of all the medieval mystics, and she
found herself very much at one with him in the years when
he was working as an unknown priest in Brussels, for she
herself had also a hidden side.
"His career which covers the greater part of the

fourteenth century, that golden age of Christian
Mysticism, seems to exhibit within the circle of a
single personality, and carry up to a higher term than
ever before, all the best attainments of the Middle
Ages in the realm of Eternal life. The central doctrine
of the Divine Fatherhood, and of the soul's power to
become the Son of God, it is this raised to the nth
degree of intensity. ..and demonstrated with the
exactitude of the mathematician, and the passion of
a poet, which Ruysbroeck gives us. ..the ninth and
tenth chapters of "The Sparkling Stone" the high
water mark of mystical literature. Nowhere else do
we find such a combination of soaring vision with the
most delicate and intimate psychological analysis.
The old Mystic sitting under his tree, seems here to be
gazing at and reporting to us the final secrets of that
Eternal World. .." (Cropper, p. 57)
94
One of her most significant influences and important

collaborations was with the Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath
Tagore, the Indian mystic, author, and world traveler. They
published a major translation of the work of Kabir ("100
Poems of Kabir") together in 1915, to which she wrote the
introduction. He introduced her to the spiritual genius of
India which she expressed enthusiastically in a letter:
This is the first time I have had the privilege of being with
one who is a Master in the things I care so much about but
know so little of as yet: & I understand now something of
what your writers mean when they insist on the necessity
and value of the personal teacher and the fact that he gives
something which the learner cannot get in any other way. It
has been like hearing the language of which I barely know
the alphabet, spoken perfectly.(Letters)
They did not keep up their correspondence in later years.

Both suffered debilitating illnesses in the last year of life and
died in the summer of 1941, greatly distressed by the
outbreak of World War II.
Evelyn in 1921 was to all outward appearances in an assured

and enviable position. She had been asked by the University
of Oxford to give the first of a new series of lectures on
religion, and she was the first woman to have such an
honour. She was an authority on her own subject of
mysticism and respected for her research and scholarship.
Her writing was in demand, and she had an interesting and
notable set of friends, devoted readers, a happy marriage
95
and affectionate and loyal parents. At the same time she felt
that her foundations were insecure and that her zeal for
Reality was resting on a basis that was too fragile.
By 1939, she was a member of the Anglican Pacifist

Fellowship, writing a number of important tracts expressing
her anti-war sentiment.
After returning to the Anglican Church, and perhaps

overwhelmed by her knowledge of the achievements of the
mystics and their perilous heights, her ten year friendship
with Catholic philosopher and writer Baron Friedrich von
Hugel turned into one of spiritual direction. Charles Williams
wrote in his introduction to her Letters: 'The equal swaying
level of devotion and scepticism (related to the church)
which is, for some souls, as much the Way as continuous
simple faith is to others, was a distress to her...She wanted to
be "sure." Writing to Von Hugel of the darkness she struggled
with:
What ought I to do?...being naturally self-indulgent and at

present unfortunately professionally very prosperous and
petted, nothing will get done unless I make a Rule. Neither
intellectual work nor religion give me any real discipline
because I have a strong attachment to both. ..it is useless
advising anything people could notice or that would look
pious. That is beyond me. In my lucid moments I see only too
clearly that the only possible end of this road is complete,
unconditional self-consecration, and for this I have not the
nerve, the character or the depth. There has been some sort
96
of mistake. My soul is too small for it and yet it is at bottom

the only thing that I really want. It feels sometimes as if,
whilst still a jumble of conflicting impulses and violent faults I
were being pushed from behind towards an edge I dare not
jump over."[26] In a later letter of 12 July the Baron's
practical concerns for signs of strain in Evelyn's spiritual state
are expressed. His comments give insight into her struggles:
"I do not at all like this craving for absolute certainty that
this or that experience of yours, is what it seems to yourself.
And I am assuredly not going to declare that I am absolutely
certain of the final and evidential worth of any of those
experiences. They are not articles of faith. .. You are at times
tempted to scepticism and so you long to have some, if only
one direct personal experience which shall be beyond the
reach of all reasonable doubt. However, such an escape.
..Would ...possibly be a most dangerous one, and would only
weaken you, or shrivel you, or puff you up. By all means.
..believe them, if and when they humble and yet brace you,
to be probably from God. But do not build your faith upon
them; do not make them an end when they exist only to be a
means. ..I am not sure that God does want a marked
preponderance of this or that work or virtue in our life - that
would feed still further your natural temperament, already
too vehement. (Cropper biography)
Although Underhill continued to struggle to the end, craving

certainty that her beatific visions were purposeful, suffering
as only a pacifist can from the devastating onslaught of
World War II and the Church's powerlessness to affect
97
events, she may well have played a powerful part in the

survival of her country through the influence of her words
and the impact of her teachings on thousands regarding the
power of prayer. Surviving the London Blitz of 1940, her
health disintegrated further and she died in the following
year. She is buried with her husband in the churchyard
extension at St John-at-Hampstead in London.[27]
More than any other person, she was responsible for

introducing the forgotten authors of medieval and Catholic
spirituality to a largely Protestant audience and the lives of
eastern mystics to the English speaking world. As a frequent
guest on radio, her 1936 work The Spiritual Life was
especially influential as transcribed from a series of
broadcasts given as a sequel to those by Dom Bernard
Clements on the subject of prayer. Fellow theologian Charles
Williams wrote the introduction to her published Letters in
1943, which reveal much about this prodigious woman. Upon
her death, The Times reported that on the subject of
theology, she was "unmatched by any of the professional
teachers of her day."
98
99
Chapter Six
Types of meditation
The Cloud of Unknowing (Middle English: The Cloude of

Unknowyng) is an anonymous work of Christian mysticism
written in Middle English in the latter half of the 14th
century. The text is a spiritual guide on contemplative prayer
in the late middle Ages. The underlying message of this work
proposes that the only way to truly "know" God is to
abandon all preconceived notions and beliefs or “knowledge”
about God and be courageous enough to surrender your
mind and ego to the realm of "unknowingness," at which
point, you begin to glimpse the true nature of God.
Manuscripts of the work are today at British Library and

Cambridge University Library.[1][2]
100
History and influence
The Cloud of Unknowing draws on the mystical tradition of

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Christian
Neoplatonism,[3] which focuses on the via negativa road to
discovering God as a pure entity, beyond any capacity of
mental conception and so without any definitive image or
form. This tradition has reputedly inspired generations of
mystical searchers from John Scotus Erigena, through Book of
Taliesin, Nicholas of Cusa and St. John of the Cross to
Teilhard de Chardin (the latter two of whom may have been
influenced by "The Cloud" itself). Prior to this, the theme of
"Cloud" had been in the Confessions of St. Augustine (IX, 10)
written in AD 398.[2]
This work had already become known to English Catholics in

middle 17th century, later ascetic and Benedictine mystic,
Augustine Baker (1575–1641), wrote an exposition on its
doctrine. Today a transcript of the work dated 1677 is at the
Ampleforth College, apart from several at the British Library.
English mystic Evelyn Underhill edited an important version
of the work in 1922.[3]
Description
The book counsels a young student to seek God, not through

knowledge and intellection (faculty of the human mind), but
through intense contemplation, motivated by love, and
stripped of all thought. This is brought about by putting all
thoughts and desires under a "cloud of forgetting", and
101
thereby piercing God's cloud of unknowing with a "dart of

longing love" from the heart. This form of contemplation is
not directed by the intellect, but involves spiritual union with
God through the heart:
"For He can well be loved, but he cannot be thought.

By love he can be grasped and held, but by thought,
neither grasped nor held. And therefore, though it
may be good at times to think specifically of the
kindness and excellence of God, and though this may
be a light and a part of contemplation, all the same,
in the work of contemplation itself, it must be cast
down and covered with a cloud of forgetting. And you
must step above it stoutly but deftly, with a devout
and delightful stirring of love, and struggle to pierce
that darkness above you; and beat on that thick
cloud of unknowing with a sharp dart of longing love,
and do not give up, whatever happens."[4]
In a follow-up to The Cloud, called The Book of Privy

Counseling, the author characterizes the practice of
contemplative unknowing as worshiping God with one's
"substance," coming to rest in a "naked blind feeling of
being," and ultimately finding thereby that God is one's
being.
102
The practical prayer advice contained in The Cloud of

Unknowing forms a primary basis for the contemporary
practice of Centering Prayer, a form of Christian meditation
developed by Trappist monks William Meninger, Basil
Pennington and Thomas Keating in the 1970s.[5]
Quotations
Ch. 39-40 quotation: other versions
Evelyn Underhill (1922/2003)
And if we will intensively pray for getting of good, let us cry,

either with word or with thought or with desire, nought else
nor no more words, but this word “God.” For why, in God be
all-good... Fill thy spirit with the ghostly be meaning of it
without any special beholding to any of His works—whether
they be good, better, or best of all—bodily or ghostly, or to
any virtue that may be wrought in man’s soul by any grace;
not looking after whether it be meekness or charity, patience
or abstinence, hope, faith, or soberness, chastity or wilful
poverty. What recks this in contemplatives? They covet
nothing with special beholding, but only good God. Do thou...
mean God all and all God, so that nought work in thy wit and
in thy will, but only God? [6]
103
Middle English original
And if we will ententifly preie for getyng of goodes, lat us

crie, outher with worde or with thought or with desire,
nought elles, ne no mo wordes, bot this worde God. For whi
in God ben alle goodes.. File thi spirit with the goostly
bemenyng of it withoutyn any specyal beholdyng to any of
His werkes whether thei be good, betir, or alther best, bodily
or goostly—or to any vertewe that may be wrought in man’s
Soule by any grace, not looking after whether it be meekness
or charité, pacyence or abstynence, hope, feith, or sobirnes,
chastité or wilful poverté. What thar reche in
contemplatyves?.. thei coveyte nothing with specyal
beholdyng, bot only good God. Do thou.. mene God al, and al
God, so that nought worche in thi witte and in thi wile, but
only God.[7]
From a description of how to practice contemplation (from

chapters 39 and 40):
When we intend to pray for goodness, let all our thought

and desire be contained in the one small word "God."
Nothing else and no other words are needed, for God is the
epitome of all goodness.. Immerse yourself in the spiritual
reality it speaks of yet without precise ideas of God's works
whether small or great, spiritual or material. Do not consider
any particular virtue which God may teach you through
grace, whether it is humility, charity, patience, abstinence,
104
hope, faith, moderation, chastity, or evangelical poverty. For

to a contemplative they are, in a sense, all the same.. Let this
little word represent to you God in all his fullness and
nothing less than the fullness of God. [8]
From elsewhere (chapter 23, The Book of Privy Counseling):
"And so I urge you, go after experience rather than

knowledge. Because of pride, knowledge may often
deceive you, but this gentle, loving affection will not
deceive you. Knowledge tends to breed conceit, but
love builds. Knowledge is full of labor, but love, full of
rest."[9]
Popular culture
This section needs additional citations for verification.

(November 2011)
Leonard Cohen refers to The Cloud of Unknowing in the

1979 song "The Window" from Recent Songs
Todd Rontgen refers to "a cloud of unknowing" in the 1989

song "Parallel Lines" from Nearly Human
Jan Garbage’s 2004 album In Praise of Dreams includes a

track called "Cloud of Unknowing"
Plastic Beach, the 2010 album by Gorillas, includes a track

entitled "Cloud of Unknowing"
105
James Blacks haw released an album in 2007 by the same

name
The Cloud of Unknowing inspired John Luther Adams’

orchestral work Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing,
completed in 1995
Steve Roach's album The Magnificent Void (1996) includes a

track named "Cloud of Unknowing"
Don DeLillo refers to The Cloud of Unknowing in the 1985

novel White Noise and the 1998 novel Underworld
Apophasis was originally and more broadly a method of

logical reasoning or argument by denial—a way of describing
what something is by explaining what it is not, or a process-
of-elimination way of talking about something by talking
about what it is not.
A useful inductive technique when given a limited set of

possibilities, the exclusion of all but the one remaining is
affirmation through negation. The familiar guessing-game of
Twenty Questions is an example of apophatic inquiry.
This sense has generally fallen into disuse and is frequently

overlooked, although it is still current in certain contexts,
such as mysticism and negative theology.
106
In Christianity
An apophatic theology sees God as ineffable and attempts to

describe God in terms of what God is not. Apophatic
statements refer to transcendence in this context, as
opposed to cataphasis referring to immanence.
Paralipsis
Paralipsis (παράλειψις), also spelled paraleipsis or

paralepsis, and known also as praeteritio, preterition,
cataphasis (κατάφασις), antiphrasis (ἀντίφρασις), or
parasiopesis (παρασιώπησις), is a rhetorical device wherein
the speaker or writer invokes a subject by denying that it
should be invoked. As such, it can be seen as a rhetorical
relative of irony. Paralipsis is usually employed to make a
subversive ad hominem attack.
The device is typically used to distance the speaker from

unfair claims, while still bringing them up. For instance, a
politician might say, "I don't even want to talk about the
allegations that my opponent is a drunk." A political
advertisement may say, "Vote for Smith for sober
leadership", implying that Jones, his opponent, is an
irresponsible drunk.
Proslepsis is an extreme kind of paralipsis that gives the full

details of the acts one is claiming to pass over; for example,
"I will not stoop to mentioning the occasion last winter when
our esteemed opponent was found asleep in an alleyway
with an empty bottle of vodka still pressed to his lips."[2]
107
Paralipsis was often used by Cicero in his orations, such as "I

will not even mention the fact that you betrayed us in the
Roman people by aiding Catiline."[citation needed]
Examples:
"It would be superfluous in me to point out to your lordship

that this is war."
—Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Ambassador to Britain ,

dispatch to Earl Russell, 5 September 1863, concerning
Britain's relations with the Confederacy.
"Ssh," said Grace Makutsi, putting a finger to her

lips. "It's not polite to talk about it. SO I won't
mention the Double Comfort Furniture Shop, which is
one of the businesses my fiance owns, you know. I
must not talk about that. But do you know the store,
Mma? If you save up, you should come in some day
and buy a chair."
—Alexander McCall Smith, Blue Shoes and Happiness,

Chapter 4
A more positive usage of paralipsis/paralepsis embodies the

narrative style of Adso of Melk in Umberto Eco's The Name
108
of the Rose, where the character fills in details of early

fourteenth-century history for the reader by stating it is
unnecessary to speak of them.[3]
Proslepsis
Main article: Prosleptic syllogism
In logic, proslepsis (πρόσληψις), as described briefly by

Aristotle and in detail by Theophrastus, is a type of
proposition in which the middle term of a syllogism is
implied. Such a syllogism is then described as a prosleptic
syllogism, of which Theophrastus defined three kinds or
figures.
Occultatio
Occultatio, although sometimes used as a synonym for

paralipsis, is more often a literary figure most often seen in
plays, where a character describes a scene or object by not
describing it. For example, in Shakespeare's The Taming of
the Shrew, act 4, scene 1, the character Grumio describes the
eventful coming of his master and new wife to a young
servant by saying,
"Hadst thou not crossed me, thou shouldst have

heard how her horse fell and she under her horse;
thou shouldst have heard in how miry a place, how
she was bemoiled,[...]with many things of worthy
memory, which now shall die in oblivion and thou
return unexperienced to thy grave."
109
In this speech, Grumio, angry at the servant's interruptions,

"refuses" to describe what happened, and in so doing,
describes it fully.
H. P. Lovecraft frequently used occultatio to add an element

of mystery to his stories, as his unfortunate protagonists met
things too horrible or too alien to describe.
In "The Garden of Forking Paths" Jorge Luis Borges suggests

that a mystery in a story may be solved if the central
narrative is regarded as referring to something by its
absence. The Chinese spy Tsun is seen to be referring to time,
as the one thing never mentioned in the story.
Cataphatic (sometimes spelled kataphatic) theology is the

expressing of God or the divine through positive terminology.
This is in contrast to defining God or the divine in what God is
not, which is referred to as negative or apophatic theology.
The word cataphatic itself is formed from two Greek words,
"cata" meaning to descend and "phatos" meaning to speak.
Thus, to combine them translates the word roughly as "to
bring God down in such a way so as to speak of him."[1]
110
Terminology
To speak of God or the divine kataphatically is thought by

some to be by its nature a form of limiting to God or divine.
This was one of the core tenets of the works of St Dionysus
the Areopagite. By defining what God or the divine is, we
limit the unlimited as Saint Dionysus outlined in his works. A
kataphatic way to express God would be that God is love. The
apophatic way would be to state that God is not hate
(although such description can be accused of the same
dualism). Alternatively, to say that God is not love, as he
transcends even our notion of love. Ultimately, one would
come to remove even the notion of the Trinity, or of saying
that God is one, because The Divine is above numberhood.
That God is beyond all duality because God contains within
God self all things and that God is beyond all things. The
apophatic way as taught by Saint Dionysus was to remove
any conceptual understanding of God that could become all
encompassing, since in its limitedness that concept would
begin to force the fallen understanding of mankind onto the
absolute and divine.
Eastern Orthodoxy
In the Eastern Orthodox Church kataphatic, theology is

critical in the developmental stages of contemplation (see
theoria). Once a firm grasps of the positive attributes of God
or the divine has been achieved one move onto the
transcendent qualities of the superior apophatic theology. [2]
111
[Edit] Roman Catholicism
The Life of Moses - Gregory the Theologian
St. Augustine
Anselm of Canterbury
The Cloud of Unknowing - Unknown Author
Cataphatic Treatment of Ultimate Reality in Buddhism
Within Mahayana Buddhism, there is a species of scripture,

which essays a descriptive hint of Ultimate Reality by using
positive terminology when speaking of it. This manifestation
of Buddhism is particularly marked in the Dzogchen and
Tathagatagarbha forms of the religion. Nirvana, for example,
is equated with the True Self of the Buddha (pure, uncreated
and deathless) in some of the Tathagatagarbha scriptures,
and in other Buddhist tantras (such as the Kunjed Gyalpo or
'All-Creating King' tantra), the Primordial Buddha,
Samantabhadra, is described as 'pure and total
consciousness' - the 'trunk', 'foundation' and 'root' of all that
exists.[3]
112
In Gaudiya-vaisnavism
Gaudiya Vaishnavism speaks positively about transcendental

qualities of Krishna. He has 64 transcendental qualities as
Supreme Personality of Godhead, although these qualities
are explained as non-material and beyond duality.[4] The
paradoxical nature of Krishna, the Absolute, being both
beyond description and having qualities is discussed
throughout the Gaudiya Vaishnavism literature.[5] Among
the 64 qualities of Krishna, 4 qualities are unique, which only
Krishna has, these are:
He is the performer of wonderful varieties of pastimes

(especially His childhood pastimes).
He is surrounded by devotees endowed with wonderful love

of Godhead.
He can attract all living entities all over the universes by

playing on His flute.
He has a wonderful excellence of beauty which cannot be

rivaled anywhere in the creation.
There are other 60 qualities of Krishna, but Narayana also

have them. Of these, 5 are special, which are not found in
jiva-atmas or/and demigods, even those of them who are
Brahma(s) and Shiva(s):
He has inconceivable potency.
113
Uncountable universes generate from His body.
He is the original source of all incarnations.
He is the giver of salvation to the enemies whom He kills.
He is the attractor of liberated souls.
Other 55 transcendental qualities are found in demigods like

Brahma and Shiva, though they are common for Narayana
and Krishna, but not found in jiva-atmas. And finally just 50
transcendental qualities can be found in jiva-atmas, who are
not on level of demigods, but Krishna and Narayana also
have these qualities. It is also has to be carefully noted, that
these qualities manifest in jiva-atmas only in minute
qualities, and only if they become pure devotees of Krishna-
Caitanya. On other hand, Krishna has these 64 qualities in
full. See full list here: 64 Qualities of Lord Krishna[6]
114
115
Chapter Seven
Religious ecstasy
Religious ecstasy is an altered state of consciousness

characterized by greatly reduced external awareness and
expanded interior mental and spiritual awareness which is
frequently accompanied by visions and emotional/intuitive
(and sometimes physical) euphoria. Although the experience
is usually brief in time,[1] there are records of such
experiences lasting several days or even more, and of
recurring experiences of ecstasy during one's lifetime.
Subjective perception of time, space and/or self may strongly
change or disappear during ecstasy.
The adjective "religious" means that the experience occurs

in connection with religious activities or is interpreted in
context of a religion. Marghanita Laski writes in her study
"Ecstasy in Religious and Secular Experiences," first published
in 1961:
"Epithets are very often applied to mystical experiences

including ecstasies without, apparently, any clear idea about
the distinctions that are being made. Thus we find
experiences given such names as nature, religious, aesthetic,
neo-platonic, sexual etc. experiences, where in some cases
116
the name seems to derive from trigger, sometimes from the

overbelief, sometimes from the known standing and beliefs
of the mystic, and sometimes, though rarely, from the nature
of the experience.
Ecstasies enjoyed by accepted religious mystics are usually

called religious experiences no matter what the nature of the
ecstasy or the trigger inducing it."[2]
Distinguishing traits
Spiritual ecstasy can be distinguished from spirit possession

and hypnosis in that ecstasy is not accompanied by the
experiencing subject losing interior consciousness or
will.[citation needed] Rather, the person experiencing
ecstasy notices a dramatic spiritual awareness heightening,
with total will concentration on the elevation. If the ecstatic
state comes about slowly, the subject may notice changes in
his or her physiological responses. But, once brought into
complete ecstasy, the subject ordinarily has no, or very little,
external surrounding physical state awareness. Some
external awareness remains in a partial religious ecstasy.
Intense fear may accompany the initial stage of being drawn
into ecstasy. Different religious teachings distinguish and
describe several stages or forms of ecstasy.[citation needed]
Exclusive and inclusive views
117
Religious people may hold the view that true religious

ecstasy occurs only in their religious context (e.g. as a gift
from the supernatural being whom they follow) and it cannot
be induced by natural means (human activities). Trance-like
states which are often interpreted as religious ecstasy can be
deliberately induced with techniques or ecstatic practices;
including, prayer, religious rituals, meditation, breathing
exercises, physical exercise, sex, music, dancing, sweating,
fasting, thirsting, and psychotropic drugs. An ecstatic
experience may take place in occasion of contact with
something or somebody perceived as extremely beautiful or
holy. It may also happen without any known reason. The
particular technique that an individual uses to induce ecstasy
is usually one that is associated with that individual's
particular religious and cultural traditions. As a result, an
ecstatic experience is usually interpreted within the
particular individual religious context and cultural traditions.
These interpretations often include statements about
contact with supernatural or spiritual beings, about receiving
new information as a revelation, also religion-related
explanations of subsequent change of values, attitudes and
behavior (e.g. in case of religious conversion).
Classical Indian dancers are believed to enter ecstatic trance

while dancing.
Achieving ecstatic trances is a shaman activity, who induce

ecstasy for such purposes as traveling to heaven or the
118
underworld, guiding or otherwise interacting with spirits,

clairvoyance, and healing. Some shamans take drugs from
such plants as Ayahuasca, peyote and cannabis (also see
cannabis (drug) or certain mushrooms in their attempts to
reach ecstasy, while others rely on such non-chemical means
as ritual, music, dance, ascetic practices, or visual designs as
aids to mental discipline.
Examples
Athletes may follow rituals in preparing for contests, which

are dismissed as superstition, but this sports psychology
device may help them to attain advantage in an ecstasy-like
state.
Yoga provides techniques to attain an ecstasy state called

samādhi. According to practitioners, there are various
ecstasy stages, the highest is called Nirvikalpa Samadhi.
Bhakti-yoga, especially, places emphasis on ecstasy as being
one of the fruits of its practice.
In Buddhism, especially in the Pali Canon, there are 8 states

of trance also called absorption. The first four states are
called Rupa or, materially oriented. The next four are called
Arupa or non-material. These eight states are preliminary
trances which lead up to final saturation. In Visuddhimagga,
great effort and years of sustained meditation are practiced
to reach the first absorption, and that not all individuals are
able to accomplish it at all.
119
Modern mediator experiences in the Thai Forest Tradition, as

well as other Theravadin traditions, demonstrate that this
effort and rarity is necessary only to become completely
immersed in the absorptions and experience no other
sensations. It is possible to experience the absorptions in a
less intense state with much less practice.
In the Dionysian Mysteries the initiates used intoxicants and

other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) to
remove inhibitions and social constraints, liberating the
individual to return to a natural state.
Sufism (the mystical Islam branch) has theoretical and

metaphoric texts regarding ecstasy as a state of connection
with Allah. Sufis practice rituals (dhikr, sema) using body
movement and music to achieve the state.
In the monotheistic tradition, ecstasy is usually associated

with communion and oneness with God. However, such
experiences can also be personal mystical experiences with
no significance to anyone but the person experiencing them.
Some charismatic Christians practice ecstatic states (called
e.g. "being slain in the Spirit") and interpret these as given by
the Holy Spirit. The firewalkers of Greece dance themselves
into a state of ecstasy at the annual Anastenaria, when they
believe themselves under the influence of Saint
Constantine.[3][4][5]
120
In hagiography (writings on the subject of Christian saints)

many instances are recorded in which saints are granted
ecstasies. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia[6] religious
ecstasy (called supernatural ecstasy) includes two elements:
one, interior and invisible, in which the mind rivets its
attention on a religious subject, and another, corporeal and
visible, in which the activity of the senses is suspended,
reducing the effect of external sensations upon the subject
and rendering him or her resistant to awakening. The
witnesses of a Marian apparition often experience these
elements of ecstasy.
Modern Witchcraft traditions may define themselves as

"ecstatic traditions," and focus on reaching ecstatic states in
their rituals. The Reclaiming Tradition and the Feri Tradition
are two modern ecstatic Witchcraft examples.[7][8]
As described by the Indian spiritual teacher Meher Baba,

God-intoxicated souls known as masts experience a unique
type of spiritual ecstasy: "[M]asts are desperately in love with
God – or consumed by their love for God. Masts do not suffer
from what may be called a disease. They are in a state of
mental disorder because their minds are overcome by such
intense spiritual energies that are far too much for them,
forcing them to lose contact with the world, shed normal
human habits and customs, and civilized society and live in a
state of spiritual splendor but physical squalor. They are
overcome by an agonizing love for God and are drowned in
their ecstasy. Only the divine love embodied in a Perfect
Master can reach them."[9]
121
122
Chapter Eight
Opus Dei (Work of God)
Opus Dei, formally known as The Prelature of the Holy Cross

and Opus Dei (Latin: Praelatura Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei),
is an institution of the Catholic Church that teaches that
everyone is called to holiness and that ordinary life is a path
to sanctity.[2][3] The majority of its membership are lay
people, with secular priests under the governance of a
prelate (bishop) elected by specific members and appointed
by the Pope.[4] Opus Dei is Latin for Work of God; hence the
organization is often referred to by members and supporters
as the Work.[5][6]
Founded in Spain in 1928 by the Catholic priest St. Josemaría

Escrivá, Opus Dei was given final Catholic Church approval in
1950 by Pope Pius XII.[7] In 1982, by decision of Pope John
Paul II, the Catholic Church made it into a personal
prelature—that is, the jurisdiction of its own bishop covers
the persons in Opus Dei wherever they are, rather than
geographical dioceses.[7]
As of 2010, members of the Prelature numbered 90,260. Lay

persons, men and women, numbered 88,245, while there
were 2015 priests.[1] These figures do not include the
diocesan priest members of Opus Dei's Priestly Society of the
Holy Cross, estimated to number 2000 in the year 2005.[8]
123
Members are in more than 90 countries. About 70% of Opus

Dei members live in their private homes, leading traditional
Catholic family lives with secular careers,[9][10] while the
other 30% are celibate, of whom the majority live in Opus Dei
centres. Opus Dei organizes training in Catholic spirituality
applied to daily life. Aside from personal charity and social
work, Opus Dei members are involved in running universities,
university residences, schools, publishing houses, and
technical and agricultural training centers.
Opus Dei has been described as the most controversial force

within the Catholic Church.[8] According to several
journalists who researched Opus Dei separately, many
criticisms against Opus Dei are based on fabrications by
opponents,[8][11][12][13][14] and Opus Dei is considered a
sign of contradiction.[13][15] Several popes and other
Catholic leaders have endorsed what they see as its
innovative teaching on the sanctifying value of work, and its
fidelity to Catholic beliefs.[16][17] In 2002, Pope John Paul II
canonized Escrivá, and called him "the saint of ordinary
life."[18]
Criticism of Opus Dei has centered on allegations of

secretiveness,[19] controversial recruiting methods, strict
rules governing members, elitism and misogyny, and support
of or participation in authoritarian or right-wing
governments, especially the Francoist Government of Spain
until 1978.[20] The mortification of the flesh practiced by
some of its members is also criticized.[21][better source
needed] Within the Catholic Church, Opus Dei is also
124
criticized for allegedly seeking independence and more

influence.[22]
In recent years, Opus Dei has received international

attention due to the novel The Da Vinci Code and its film
version of 2006, both of which many prominent Christians
and non-believers protested as misleading, inaccurate and
anti-Catholic.
Contents
History
Timeline of Opus Dei
Foundational period
Opus Dei was founded by a Catholic priest, Josemaría Escrivá

de Balaguer, on 2 October 1928 in Madrid, Spain. According
to Escrivá, on that day he experienced a vision in which he
"saw Opus Dei".[27][28] He gave the organization the name
"Opus Dei", which in Latin means "Work of God,"[19] in order
to underscore the belief that the organization was not his
(Escrivá's) work, but was rather God's work.[29] Throughout
his life, Escrivá held that the founding of Opus Dei had a
supernatural character.[30] Escrivá summarized Opus Dei's
125
mission as a way of helping ordinary Christians "to

understand that their life... is a way of holiness and
evangelization... And to those who grasp this ideal of
holiness, the Work offers the spiritual assistance and training
they need to put it into practice."[31]
Initially, Opus Dei was open only to men, but in 1930, Escrivá
started to admit women, based on what he believed to be a
communication from God.[7] In 1936, the organisation
suffered a temporary setback with the outbreak of the
Spanish Civil War, as many Catholic priests and religious
figures, including Escrivá, were forced into hiding (the
Catholic Church actively supported the Nationalist rebels).
The many atrocities committed during the civil war included
the murder and rape of religious figures by anti-Franco
Anarchists.[32] After the civil war was won by General
Francisco Franco, Escrivá was able to return to Madrid.[33]
Escriva himself recounted that it was in Spain where Opus
Dei found "the greatest difficulties" because of traditionalists
who he felt misunderstood Opus Dei's ideas.[34] Despite this,
Opus Dei flourished during the years of the Franquismo,
spreading first throughout Spain, and after 1945, expanding
internationally.[7]
In 1939, Escrivá published The Way, a collection of 999

maxims concerning spirituality.[35] In the 1940s, Opus Dei
found an early critic in the Jesuit Superior General Wlodimir
Ledochowski, who told the Vatican that he considered Opus
Dei "very dangerous for the Church in Spain," citing its
126
"secretive character" and calling it "a form of Christian

Masonry."[36]
In 1946, Escrivá moved the organization's headquarters to

Rome.[7] In 1950, Pope Pius XII granted definitive approval to
Opus Dei, thereby allowing married people to join the
organisation.[7]
Post-foundational years
In 1975, Escriva died and was succeeded by Álvaro del

Portillo. In 1982, Opus Dei was made into a personal
prelature. This means that Opus Dei is part of the universal
Church, and the apostolate of the members falls under the
direct jurisdiction of the Prelate of Opus Dei wherever they
are. As to "what the law lays down for all the ordinary
faithful", the lay members of Opus Dei, being no different
from other Catholics, "continue to be ... under the
jurisdiction of the diocesan bishop", in the words of John
Paul II's Ut Sit.[37] In 1994, Javier Echevarria became Prelate
upon the death of his predecessor.
History of the spread of Opus Dei by country
One-third of the world's bishops sent letters petitioning for

the canonization of Escrivá.[38] Escriva was beatified in 1992
in the midst of controversy prompted by questions about
Escriva's suitability for sainthood. In 2002, approximately
300,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square on the day
Pope John Paul II canonised Josemaría Escrivá.[39][40]
127
According to one author, "Escrivá is... venerated by

millions".[8]
There are other members whose process of beatification has

been opened: Ernesto Cofiño, a father of five children and a
pioneer in paediatric research in Guatemala; Montserrat
Grases, a teenage Catalan student who died of cancer; Toni
Zweifel, a Swiss engineer; Tomás Alvira and wife, Paquita
Domínguez, a Spanish married couple;[41] Father José Luis
Múzquiz de Miguel, and Bishop Álvaro del Portillo, declared
Venerable or with "heroic virtues" by Pope Benedict XVI on
28 June 2012.[42]
During the pontificate of John Paul II, two members of Opus

Dei, Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne and Julián Herranz Casado,
were made cardinals.[43]
In September 2005, Pope Benedict XVI blessed a newly

installed statue of Josemaria Escriva placed in an outside wall
niche of St Peter's Basilica, a place for founders of Catholic
organisations.[44]
During that same year, Opus Dei received some unwanted

attention due to the extraordinary success of the novel The
Da Vinci Code, in which both Opus Dei and the Catholic
Church itself are depicted negatively. The film version was
released globally in May 2006, further polarising views on the
organisation.
128
Opus Dei is an organisation of the Catholic Church. As such, it

shares the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
Opus Dei places special emphasis on certain aspects of

Catholic doctrine. A central feature of Opus Dei's theology is
its focus on the lives of the ordinary Catholics who are
neither priests nor monks.[45][46][47] Opus Dei emphasises
the "universal call to holiness": the belief that everyone
should aspire to be a saint, as per Jesus' greatest
commandment to "Love God with all your heart" (Matthew
22:37) and "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
(Matthew 5:48) Opus Dei also teaches that sanctity is within
the reach of everyone, not just a few special individuals,
given Jesus' teaching that his demands are "easy" and "light,"
as his divine assistance is assured. (Matthew 11:28-
30)[48][49]
Opus Dei does not have monks or nuns, and only a minority
of its members are part of the priesthood.[50] Opus Dei
emphasizes uniting spiritual life with professional, social, and
family life. Members of Opus Dei lead ordinary lives, with
traditional families and secular careers,[51] and strive to
"sanctify ordinary life". Indeed, Pope John Paul II called
Escrivá "the saint of ordinary life".[52]
Similarly, Opus Dei stresses the importance of work and

professional competence.[53][54] While some religious
institutes encourage their members to withdraw from the
material world, Opus Dei exhorts its members and all lay
Catholics to "find God in daily life" and to perform their work
129
excellently as a service to society and as a fitting offering to

God.[55][56] Opus Dei teaches that work not only
contributes to social progress but is "a path to holiness",[57]
and its founder advised people to: "Sanctify your work.
Sanctify yourself in your work. Sanctify others through your
work."[58]
The biblical roots of this Catholic doctrine, according to the

founder, are in the phrase "God created man to work" (Gen
2:15) and Jesus's long life as an ordinary carpenter in a small
town.[59] Escrivá, who stressed the Christian's duty to follow
Christ's example, also points to the gospel account that Jesus
"has done everything well" (Mk 7:37).[60]
The foundation of the Christian life, stressed Escrivá, is

divine filiation: Christians are children of God, identified with
Christ's life and mission. Other main features of Opus Dei,
according to its official literature, are: freedom, respecting
choice and taking personal responsibility; and charity, love of
God above all and love of others.[51]
At the bottom of Escrivá's understanding of the “universal

call to holiness” are two dimensions, subjective and
objective, according to Fernando Ocariz, a Catholic
theologian and Vicar General of Opus Dei. The subjective is
the call given to each person to become a saint, regardless of
his place in society. The objective refers to what Escrivá calls
Christian materialism: all of creation, even the most material
situation, is a meeting place with God, and leads to union
with Him.[8]
130
Different qualifiers have been used to describe Opus Dei's

doctrine: radical,[61] reactionary,[62] faithful,[29]
revolutionary,[61] ultraconservative,[63] most modern,[64]
conservative.[65][66] and liberal.[67]
Prayers
See also: Interior life (Catholic theology)
All members – whether married or unmarried, priests or

laypeople – are trained to follow a 'plan of life', or 'the norms
of piety', which are some traditional Catholic devotions. This
is meant to follow the teaching of the Catholic Catechism:
"pray at specific times...to nourish continual prayer,"[68]
which in turn is based on Jesus' "pray at all times" (Luke
18:1), echoed by St. Paul's "pray without ceasing" (1
Thessalonians 5:17). According to Escriva, the vocation to
Opus Dei is a calling to be a "contemplative in the middle of
the world," who converts work and daily life into prayer.
Daily norms:
Heroic minute, waking up punctually and saying "Serviam!"

(Latin: I will serve)
Morning offering, fixing one's intentions to do everything for

the glory of God
Spiritual reading and reading the New Testament, a practice

recommended by St. Paul and other saints
131
Mental prayer, conversation with God
Mass, Communion and Thanksgiving after Communion
St. Mary of the Angels' Church in Chicago is run by the clergy

of Opus Dei Rosary, a traditional Catholic devotion to Christ
and to Mary
The Preces (the common prayer of Opus Dei)
Angelus, a Marian prayer which recalls Christian belief in

God's becoming man
Memorare prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary offered for the

Opus Dei member in most need at that exact moment
Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, a Catholic practice of

greeting Jesus in the Eucharist
Examination of conscience at the end of the day
Three Hail Marys before bed to pray for the virtue of purity
Short, spontaneous prayers throughout the day, offering up

to God one's work, sufferings etc.
Weekly norms:
Confession, in pursuit of the Catholic recommendation on

frequent confession
a group meeting of spiritual formation ("the Circle")
132
the praying of a Marian antiphon on Saturdays
taking Psalm 2 as the basis of mental prayer on Tuesdays
Additionally, members should participate yearly in a spiritual

retreat; a three-week seminar every year is obligatory for
numeraries, and a one-week seminar for supernumeraries.
Also members are expected to make a day-trip pilgrimage
where they recite 3 5-decade rosaries on the month of May
in honour of Mary.
Mortification
See also: Mortification of the flesh
Much public attention has focused on Opus Dei's

practice of mortification — the voluntary offering up
of discomfort or pain to God; this includes fasting, or
in some circumstances self-inflicted pain such as self-
flagellation. Mortification has a long history in many
world religions, including the Catholic Church. Popes
as a way of following Christ, who died in a bloody
crucifixion and who gave this advice, have endorsed
it: "let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and
follow me." (Lk 9:23)[69] Supporters say that
opposition to mortification is rooted in having lost (1)
the "sense of the enormity of sin" or offense against
God, and the consequent penance, both interior and
exterior, (2) the notions of "wounded human nature"
and of concupiscence or inclination to sin, and thus
the need for "spiritual battle,"[70] and (3) a spirit of
133
sacrifice for love and "supernatural ends," and not

only for physical enhancement. Critics claim, "due to
modern psychology and thinking, the practices which
inflict pain are sometimes considered to be
counterproductive to one's spiritual development, as
they can easily lead to pride and an unhealthy
attitude toward one's body."[21]
As spirituality for ordinary people, Opus Dei focuses on

performing sacrifices pertaining to normal duties and to its
emphasis on charity and cheerfulness. Additionally, Opus Dei
celibate members practise "corporal mortifications" such as
sleeping without a pillow or sleeping on the floor, fasting or
remaining silent for certain hours during the day.[21][66]
Organization and activities
Governance
Personal prelature
Javier Echevarria, the current Prelate of Opus Dei
In Pope John Paul II's 1982 decree known as the Apostolic

constitution Ut Sit, Opus Dei was established as a personal
prelature, a new official structure of the Catholic Church,
similar to a diocese in that it contains lay people and secular
priests who are led by a bishop. However, whereas a bishop
normally has a territory or diocese, the prelate of Opus Dei is
134
pastor to the members and priests of Opus Dei worldwide,

no matter what diocese they are in. To date, Opus Dei is the
only personal prelature in existence. In addition to being
governed by Ut Sit and by the Catholic Church's general law,
Opus Dei is governed by the Church's Particular Law
concerning Opus Dei, otherwise known as Opus Dei's
statutes. This specifies the objectives and workings of the
prelature. The prelature is under the Congregation for
Bishops.[2][71]
The head of the Opus Dei prelature is known as the

Prelate.[2] The Prelate is the primary governing authority and
is assisted by two councils — the General Council (made up
of men) and the Central Advisory (made up of
women).[72][73] The Prelate holds his position for life. The
current prelate of Opus Dei is Javier Echevarria Rodriguez,
who became the second Prelate of Opus Dei in 1994.[74] The
first Prelate of Opus Dei was Álvaro del Portillo, who held the
position from 1982 until his death in 1994.[74]
Opus Dei's highest assembled bodies are the General

Congresses, which are usually convened once every eight
years. There are separate congresses for the men and
women's branch of Opus Dei. The General Congresses are
made up of members appointed by the Prelate, and are
responsible for advising him about the prelature's future. The
men's General Congress also elects the Prelate from a list of
candidates chosen by their female counterparts.[75] After
the death of a Prelate, a special elective General Congress is
convened. The women nominate their preferred candidates
135
for the prelate and is voted upon by the men to become the
next Prelate — an appointment that must be confirmed by
the Pope.[75]
Membership
Types of membership of Opus Dei
Based on the language of Catholic Church law and theology,

the prelature calls the people under the pastoral care of the
prelate as "faithful of the prelature", since the term member
connotes an association rather than a hierarchical structure
such as a prelature or a diocese.
As of 2010, the faithful of the Opus Dei Prelature numbered

90,260, of which 88,245 are lay persons, men and women,
and 2015 priests.[1] These figures do not include the priest
members of Opus Dei's Priestly Society of the Holy Cross,
estimated to number 2000 in the year 2005.[8]
About 60% of Opus Dei faithful reside in Europe, and 35%

reside in the Americas.[76] For the most part, Opus Dei
faithful belong to the middle-to-low levels in society, in terms
of education, income, and social status.[13]
Opus Dei is made up of several different types of faithful:[9]
Supernumeraries, the largest type, currently account for

about 70% of the total membership.[77] Typically,
supernumeraries are married men and women with careers.
Supernumeraries devote a portion of their day to prayer, in
136
addition to attending regular meetings and taking part in

activities such as retreats. Due to their career and family
obligations, supernumeraries are not as available to the
organisation as the other types of faithful, but they typically
contribute financially to Opus Dei, and they lend other types
of assistance as their circumstances permit.
Numeraries, the second largest type of the faithful of Opus

Dei, comprise about 20% of total membership.[77]
Numeraries are celibate members who usually live in special
centers run by Opus Dei. Both men and women may become
numeraries, although the centers are strictly gender-
segregated.[65] Numeraries generally have careers and
devote the bulk of their income to the organisation.[78]
Numerary assistants are unmarried, celibate female faithful

of Opus Dei. They live in special centres run by Opus Dei but
do not have jobs outside the centres — instead, their
professional life is dedicated to looking after the domestic
needs of the centers and their residents.
Associates are unmarried, celibate faithful who typically

have family or professional obligations.[78] Unlike
numeraries and numerary assistants, the associates do not
live in Opus Dei centres.[79]
The Clergy of the Opus Dei Prelature are priests who are
under the jurisdiction of the Prelate of Opus Dei. They are a
minority in Opus Dei— only about 2% of Opus Dei members
137
are part of the clergy.[77] Typically, they are numeraries or

associates who ultimately joined the priesthood.
The Priestly Society of the Holy Cross consists of priests

associated with Opus Dei. Part of the society is made up of
the clergy of the Opus Dei prelature — priests who fall under
the jurisdiction of the Opus Dei prelature are automatically
members of the Priestly Society. Other members in the
society are diocesan priests — clergymen who remain under
the jurisdiction of a geographically defined diocese. These
priests are considered full members of Opus Dei who are
given its spiritual training. They do not however report to the
Opus Dei Prelate but to their own diocesan bishop. [80] As of
2005, there were roughly two thousands of these priests. [8]
The Cooperators of Opus Dei are non-members who

collaborate in some way with Opus Dei — usually through
praying, charitable contributions, or by providing some other
assistance. Cooperators are not required to be celibate or to
adhere to any other special requirements. Indeed,
cooperators are not even required to be Christian. [80] There
were 164,000 cooperators in the year 2005. [8]
In accordance with Catholic theology, membership is

granted when a vocation or divine calling is presumed to
have occurred.
138
139
Chapter Nine
Stigmata
Stigmata (singular stigma) are bodily marks, sores, or

sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the
crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ, such as the hands and
feet. In some cases, rope marks on the wrists have
accompanied the wounds on the hands.
The term originates from the line at the end of Saint Paul's
Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the
marks of Jesus." Stigmata is the plural of the Greek word
στίγμα stigma, meaning a mark, tattoo [1], or brand such as
might have been used for identification of an animal or slave.
An individual bearing stigmata is referred to as a stigmatic or
a stigmatist.
Stigmata are primarily associated with the Roman Catholic

faith. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic
religious orders.[2] St. Francis of Assisi was the first recorded
stigmatic in Christian history. For over fifty years Padre Pio of
Pietrelcina of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin reported
stigmata which were studied by several 20th century
physicians, whose independence from the Church is not
140
known. The observations were reportedly unexplainable and

the wounds never became infected.
A high percentage (perhaps over 80%) of all stigmatics are

women.[3] In his Stigmata: A Medieval Phenomenon in a
Modern Age, Edward Harrison suggests that there is no single
mechanism whereby the marks of stigmata were produced.
St. Francis considered stigmata part of the imitation of

Christ.[4][5]
Reported cases of stigmata take various forms. Many show

some or all of five Holy Wounds that were, according to the
Bible, inflicted on Jesus during his crucifixion: wounds in the
wrists and feet, from nails, and in the side, from a lance.
Some stigmatics display wounds to the forehead similar to
those caused by the Crown of Thorns.[3] Stigmata as crown
of thorns appearing in the 20th century, e.g. on Marie Rose
Ferron have been repeatedly photographed.[6][7][8] Other
reported forms include tears of blood or sweating blood, and
wounds to the back as from scourging.
Many stigmata show recurring bleeding that stops and then

starts, at times after receiving Holy Communion and a large
percentage of stigmatics have shown a high desire to
frequently receive Holy Communion.[3] A relatively high
percentage of stigmatics also exhibit Inedia, living with
minimal (or no) food or water for long periods of time,
except for the Holy Eucharist, and some exhibit loss of
weight.[3]
141
The ecstasy and sufferings usually began for the Saints who
suffered stigmata starting on Thursday and ending on Friday
afternoon around 3 or 4 o' clock. All the recipients of this
mystical wounding suffered dreadfully. Many of the
stigmatics experienced cruel rejection and suspicion before
their wounds were authenticated. Saints who suffered
stigmata were carefully watched day and night so that
tampering with the wounds could not be performed. When
these methods were used, a number of false stigmatics were
exposed. Sometimes this stigmata became invisible on
express request and prayers by the Saints who suffered
them.[9]
Some stigmatics claim to feel the pain of wounds with no

external marks; these are referred to as invisible stigmata. In
other claims, stigmata are accompanied by extreme pain.
Some stigmatics' wounds do not appear to clot, and stay
fresh and uninfected. The blood from the wounds is said, in
some cases, to have a pleasant, perfumed odor, known as
the Odour of Sanctity.
Individuals who have obtained the stigmata are many times

described as ecstatics. At the time of receiving the stigmata
they are overwhelmed with emotions.
142
No case of stigmata is known to have occurred before the

thirteenth century, when the depiction of the crucified Jesus
in Western Christendom emphasized his humanity.[10]
In his paper Hospitality and Pain, Christian theologian Ivan

Illich states: "Compassion with Christ... is faith so strong and
so deeply incarnate that it leads to the individual
embodiment of the contemplated pain." His thesis is that
stigmata result from exceptional poignancy of religious faith
and desire to associate oneself with the suffering Messiah.
Specific cases
St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi is the first recorded stigmatic in Christian

history.[11] In 1224, two years before his death, he
embarked on a journey to Mt. La Verna for a forty day fast.
One morning near the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, a
six winged angel allegedly appeared to Francis while he
prayed. As the angel approached, Francis could see that the
angel was crucified. He was humbled by the sight, and his
heart was filled with elation joined by pain and suffering.
When the angel departed, Francis was purportedly left with
wounds in his hands, feet, and side as if caused by the same
lance that pierced Christ’s side. The image of nails
immediately appeared in his hands and feet, and the wound
in his side often seeped blood.[12]
143
St. Francis' first biographer, Thomas of Celano, reports the

event as follows in his 1230 First Life of St. Francis:
"When the blessed servant of God saw these things he was

filled with wonder, but he did not know what the vision
meant. He rejoiced greatly in the benign and gracious
expression with which he saw himself regarded by the
seraph, whose beauty was indescribable; yet he was alarmed
by the fact that the seraph was affixed to the cross and was
suffering terribly. Thus Francis rose, one might say, sad and
happy, joy and grief alternating in him. He wondered
anxiously what this vision could mean, and his soul was
uneasy as it searched for understanding. And as his
understanding sought in vain for an explanation and his heart
was filled with perplexity at the great novelty of this vision,
the marks of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, just
as he had seen them slightly earlier in the crucified man
above him. His wrists and feet seemed to be pierced by nails,
with the heads of the nails appearing on his wrists and on the
upper sides of his feet, the points appearing on the other
side. The marks were round on the palm of each hand but
elongated on the other side, and small pieces of flesh jutting
out from the rest took on the appearance of the nail-ends,
bent and driven back. In the same way the marks of nails
were impressed on his feet and projected beyond the rest of
the flesh. Moreover, his right side had a large wound as if it
had been pierced with a spear, and it often bled so that his
tunic and trousers were soaked with his sacred blood." [13]
144
Pio of Pietrelcina
For over fifty years, Padre Pio of Pietrelcina reported

stigmata which were studied by several 20th century
physicians, whose independence from the Church is not
known.[14] [15][16] The observations were reportedly
unexplainable and the wounds never became
infected.[14][15][17] His wounds healed once, but
reappeared.[18] The wounds were examined by Luigi
Romanelli, chief physician of the City Hospital of Barletta, for
about one year. Dr. Giorgio Festa, a private practitioner, also
examined them in 1920 and 1925. Professor Giuseppe
Bastianelli, physician to Pope Benedict XV, agreed that the
wounds existed but made no other comment. Pathologist Dr.
Amico Bignami of the University of Rome also observed the
wounds, but could make no diagnosis.[19] Both Bignami and
Dr. Giuseppe Sala commented on the unusually smooth
edges of the wounds and lack of edema. Dr. Alberto Caserta
took X-rays of the hands in 1954 and found no abnormality in
the bone structure.[20]
Scientific research
Some modern research has indicated stigmata are of

hysterical origin,[21] or linked to dissociative identity
disorders,[22] especially the link between dietary constriction
by self-starvation, dissociative mental states and self-
mutilation, in the context of a religious belief.[23] Anorexia
nervosa cases often display self-mutilation similar to stigmata
as part of a ritualistic, obsessive compulsive disorder. A
145
relationship between starvation and self-mutilation has been

reported amongst prisoners of war and during
famines.[24][25][26] A psychoanalytic study of stigmatic
Therese Neumann has suggested that her stigmata resulted
from post-traumatic stress symptoms expressed in
unconscious self-mutilation through abnormal
autosuggestibility.[27]
In his Stigmata: A Medieval Phenomenon in a Modern Age,

Edward Harrison suggests that there is no single mechanism
whereby the marks of stigmata were produced. Harrison
found no evidence from a study of contemporary cases that
the marks were supernatural in origin. He concluded,
however, that marks of natural origin need not be hoaxes.
Some stigmatics marked themselves in attempt to suffer with
Christ as a form of piety. Others marked themselves
accidentally and their marks were noted as stigmata by
witnesses. Often marks of human origin produced profound
and genuine religious responses. Harrison also noted that the
male-to-female ratio of stigmatics, which for many centuries
had been of the order of 7 to 1, had changed over the last
100 years to a ratio of 5:4. Appearance of stigmata frequently
coincided with times when issue of authority loomed large in
the Church. What was significant about stigmatics was not
that they were predominantly men, but that they were non-
ordained. Having stigmata gave them direct access to the
body of Christ without requiring the permission of the Church
through the Eucharist. Only in the last century have priests
been stigmatized.[28]
146
From the records of St. Francis’ physical ailments and

symptoms, Dr. Edward Hartung concluded in 1935 that he
knew what health problems plagued the holy man. Hartung
believed that he had an eye ailment known as trachoma, but
also had quartan malaria. Quartan malaria infects the liver,
spleen, and stomach, causing the victim intense pain. One
complication of quartan malaria occasionally seen around
Francis’s time is known as purpura, a purple hemorrhage of
blood into the skin. Purpuras usually occur symmetrically, so
each hand and foot would have been affected equally. If this
were the case of St. Francis, he would have been afflicted by
ecchymoses, an exceedingly large purpura. The purple spots
of blood may have been punctured while in the wilderness
and therefore appear as an open wound like that of
Christ.[29]
Non-Christian stigmata
Among the Warao of the Orinoco Delta, a contemplator of

tutelary spirits may mystically induce the development of
"openings in the palms of his hands."[30] That these tutelary
spirits are presented by the "itiriti snake" makes for a close
analogue with the Seraph who endowed Francis of Assisi
with his stigmata.
Buddhist "stigmata"[31][32] are regularly indicated in

Buddhist art.
147
Notable stigmatics
Saint Paul the Apostle
Blessed Lucia Brocadelli of Narni
Saint Catherine of Ricci
Saint Catherine of Siena
Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich
Saint Francesco di Assisi
Saint Gemma Galgani
Saint Veronica Giuliani
Saint John of God
Saint Faustina Kowalska
Saint Marie of the Incarnation
Marie Rose Ferron
Marcelline Pauper, member of the Sisters of Charity of

Nevers
Marthe Robin
Therese Neumann
148
Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Saint Rita of Cascia
Zlatko Sudac
Natuzza Evolo
149
150
Chapter Ten
Eucharistic Miracles
In Christianity and in particular Catholicism a Eucharistic

miracle is any miracle involving the Eucharist. An example of
a eucharistic miracle is the invisible transformation of bread
into the body and wine into the blood of Jesus Christ during a
Catholic Mass or Orthodox Liturgy. However, other forms of
Eucharistic miracle have also been reported such as
consecrated Hosts being preserved over 250 years or
surviving being thrown into fire. Some, but not all, reported
miracles are accepted as such by religious authorities.
Reported and accepted miracles are believed by some
people, but not generally accepted as factual.[1]
Transubstantiation
Catholic Eucharistic Doctrine hinges on a quasi-Aristotelian

understanding of reality,[2] in which the core substance or
essential reality of a given thing is bound to, but not
equivalent with, its sensible realities or accidents. In the
celebration of the Eucharist, by means of the consecratory
Eucharistic Prayer, the actual substance of the bread and
wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. This
change in substance is not, however, a physical change; the
physical aspects or outward appearances of the bread and
wine—their accidents—remain as before. This substantial
151
change is called transubstantiation, a term reserved to

describe the change itself. This differs from most Protestant
Eucharistic theologies, which believe that the substance of
the sacramental elements do not undergo such a change.
Protestant views on the fact of Christ's presence in the
Eucharist vary significantly from one denomination to
another: while many agree with Roman Catholics that Christ
is really present in the Eucharist, few would acknowledge
that the nature of that presence comes about by a
substantial change or transubstantiation.[3]
According to Thomas Aquinas, in the case of extraordinary

Eucharistic Miracles in which the appearance of the accidents
are altered, this further alteration is not considered to be
transubstantiation, but is a subsequent miracle that takes
place for the building up of faith. Nor does the extraordinary
manifestation alter or heighten the presence of Christ in the
Eucharist, as the miracle does not manifest the physical
presence of Christ: "in apparitions of this sort. . . the proper
species [actual flesh and blood] of Christ is not seen, but a
species formed miraculously either in the eyes of the
viewers, or in the sacramental dimensions themselves...."[4]
Types of Eucharistic miracles
The rarest reported type of Eucharistic miracle is where the

Eucharist becomes human flesh as in the miracle of Lanciano
152
which some Catholics believe occurred at Lanciano, Italy, in

the 8th century A.D. In fact, Lanciano is only one of the
reported cases of Eucharistic miracles where the host has
been transformed into human flesh[citation needed].
However, a Eucharistic miracle more commonly reported by
Catholics is that of the Bleeding Host, where blood starts to
trickle from a consecrated host, the bread consecrated
during Mass. Some claim to have recorded this occurrence in
photos or videos, like in a case in the Sanctuary of the Virgin
of Guadalupe (Mexico).[citation needed] Other types of
purported miracles include consecrated hosts being
preserved for hundreds of years, a consecrated host passing
through a fire unscathed, stolen consecrated hosts vanishing
and turning up in churches, and levitating consecrated hosts.
Eucharistic miracles happen about every 50 years.[citation
needed]
Other Eucharistic miracles
There have been numerous other alleged miracles involving

consecrated Hosts. Several of these are described below.
A story [5] from Amsterdam, 1345, claims that a priest was

called to administer Viaticum to a dying man. He told the
family that if the man threw up, they were to take the
contents and throw it in the fire. The man threw up, and the
family did what the priest had advised them to do. The next
morning, one of the women went to rake the fire and noticed
the Host sitting on the grate, unscathed and surrounded by a
light. It has apparently passed through both the man's
153
digestive system and the fire unscathed. The story is

commemorated with an annual silent procession through
central Amsterdam.[citation needed]
According to another story, a farmer in Bavaria took a

consecrated Host from Mass to his house, believing that it
would give him and his family good fortune. However he was
plagued by the feeling that what he had done was very
wrong and turned to go back to the church to confess his sin.
As he turned, the Host flew from his hand, floated in the air
and landed on the ground. He searched for it, but he could
not see it. He went back, accompanied by many villagers and
the priest, who bent to pick up the Host, having seen it from
some distance off. It again flew up into the air, floated, and
fell to the ground and disappeared. The Bishop was informed
and he came to the site and bent to pick up the Host. Again it
flew into the air, remained suspended for an extended time,
fell to the ground and disappeared.[citation needed]
Another claim states that a church in the village of Exilles,

Italy, was plundered by a soldier and the monstrance (with
the host still inside) was taken. The sack with the monstrance
fell off the soldier's donkey and the monstrance fell out. It
immediately rose up into the air and was suspended ten feet
above the ground. The Bishop was notified and immediately
came to view the miracle. When he arrived, the monstrance
opened and fell to the ground, leaving the Host still
suspended in the air and surrounded by a radiant
light.[citation needed]
154
Caesarius of Heisterbach also recounts various tales of

Eucharistic Miracles in his book, Dialogue on Miracles;
however, most of the stories he tells are from word of
mouth. These stories include Gotteschalk of Volmarstein who
saw an infant in the Eucharist, a priest from Wickindisburg
who saw the host turn into raw flesh, and a man from
Hemmenrode who saw an image of a crucified Jesus and
blood dripping from the host. All of these images, however,
eventually reverted back into the host. He also recounts
more extraordinary tales, such as bees creating a shrine to
Jesus after a piece of the Eucharist was placed in a beehive, a
church that was burnt to ashes while the pyx containing the
Eucharist was still intact, and a woman who found the host
transformed into congealed blood after she stored it in a
box.[6]
Other sites for which Eucharistic Miracles have been claimed

include:
Eucharistic Miracle of Santarém; Santarém, Portugal
Eucharistic Miracle of Betania; Los Teques, Venezuela
Eucharistic Miracle of Sousa; Sousa, Paraíba, Brazil (1814)
Eucharistic Miracle of Ludbreg; Croatia, Ludbreg, Croatia
155
156
Chapter Eleven
Mystical Theology
Mystical theology is the science which treats of acts and

experiences or states of the soul which cannot be produced
by human effort or industry even with the ordinary aid of
Divine grace. It comprises among its subjects all
extraordinary forms of prayer, the higher forms of
contemplation in all their varieties or gradations, private
revelations, visions, and the union growing out of these
between God and the soul, known as the mystical union. As
the science of all that is extraordinary in the relations
between the Divinity and the human spirit, mystical theology
is the complement of ascetical, which treats of Christian
perfection and of its acquisition by the practice of virtue,
particularly by the observance of the counsels. The contents
of mystical theology are doctrinal as well as experimental, as
it not only records the experiences of souls mystically
favoured, but also lays down rules for their guidance, which
are based on the authority of the Scriptures, on the teachings
of the Fathers of the Church, and on the explanations of
theologians, many of them eminent as mystics. Its rules and
precepts are usually framed for the special use of those who
have occasion to direct souls in the ways of mysticism, so as
to preserve them from error while facilitating their
advancement. It must therefore take note of the erroneous
157
systems of prayer, like Quietism or Semiquietism, and of the

self-illusion or deception of souls that mistake the powers of
darkness for those of light or the promptings of their own
self-seeking for Divine communications. It is this part of the
science that necessitates inquiry into various phases of
occultism, diabolism, etc., into which writers like Görres have
gone so extensively. Mystical theology has a nomenclature all
its own, seeking to express acts or states that are for the
most part purely spiritual in terms denoting analogous
experiences in the material order. Usually it does not form
part of the ordinary class-room studies, but is imparted by
spiritual masters in their personal direction of souls, or
inculcated, as in seminaries and novitiates, by special
conferences and courses of spiritual reading. Preliminary to
the study of mystical theology is a knowledge of the four
ordinary forms of prayer: vocal, mental, affective, and the
prayer of simplicity (see PRAYER). The last two, notably the
prayer of simplicity, border on the mystical. Prayer is often
called active or acquired contemplation to distinguish it from
passive or higher contemplation, in which mystical union
really consists.
Mystical theology begins by reviewing the various

descriptions of extraordinary contemplation, contained in
the works of mystics and of writers on mystical subjects, and
the divisions which help to describe its various phases,
indicating chiefly whether it consists of an enlargement or
elevation of knowledge, or of absorption in the Divine vision,
158
or, again, whether the cherubic, i.e., intellectual, or seraphic,

i.e., affective, element predominates. The objects of
contemplation are set forth: God, His Attributes, the
Incarnation, and all the Sacred Mysteries of the Life of Christ;
His presence in the Eucharist; the supernatural order; every
creature of God in the natural order, animate or inanimate,
particularly the Blessed Virgin, the angels, the saints,
Providence, the Church. In analyzing the causes of
contemplation, what may be called its psychology next
comes up for consideration, in so far as it necessitates the
ordinary or exceptional use of any human faculty, of the
senses of the body, or of the powers of the soul. On God's
part, grace must be considered as a principle, or cause, of
contemplation, the special or unusual graces (gratis datoe) as
well as ordinary graces, the virtues, theological as well as
moral, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. The closing chapter in this
part of the science dwells on the fruits of contemplation,
especially the elevation of spirit, joy, charity, zeal; on the
influences that may contribute to its duration, interruption,
or cessation. Here some theologians treat in detail of the
preliminary or preparatory dispositions for contemplation, of
natural or moral aptitude, solitude, prayer, mortification or
self-denial, corporal and spiritual, as a means of soul-
purification; these topics, however, belong more properly to
the domain of ascetical theology.
What strictly comes within the province of mystical theology

is the study of the processes of active and passive
159
purification through which a soul must pass to reach the

mystical union. Although the active processes are also
treated to some extent in ascetical theology, they require
special study inasmuch as they lead to contemplation. They
comprise: purity of conscience, or aversion even to the
slightest sin; purity of heart, the heart being taken as the
symbol of the affections, which to be pure must be free of
attachments to anything that does not lead to God; purity of
the spirit, i.e. of the imagination and memory; and purity of
action. It is to these processes that the well-known term
"night" is applied by St. John of the Cross, since they imply
three things which are as night to the soul in so far as they
are beyond or contrary to its own lights, viz., the privation of
pleasure, faith as substituted for human knowledge, and God
as incomprehensible, or darkness, to the unaided soul.
Passive purifications are the trials encountered by souls in
preparation for contemplation, known as desolation, or
dryness, and weariness. As they proceed sometimes from
God and sometimes may be produced by the Evil Spirit, rules
for the discernment of spirits are set down to enable
directors to determine their source and to apply proper
means of relief, especially should it happen that the action of
the Evil One tends to possession or obsession.
These passive purifications affect the soul when every other

object of contemplation is withdrawn from it, except its own
sins, defects, frailties, which are revealed to it in all their
enormity. They put the soul in the "obscure night", as St.
160
John of the Cross calls it, or in the "great desolation", to use

the phrase of Father Baker. In this state the soul experiences
many trials and temptations, even to infidelity and despair,
all of which are expressed in the peculiar terminology of
writers on mystical theology, as well as the fruits derived
from resisting them. Chief among these fruits is the
purification of love, until the soul is so inflamed with love of
God that it feels as if wounded and languishes with the desire
to love Him still more intensely. The first difficulty mystical
writers encounter in their treatises on contemplation is the
proper terminology for its degrees, or the classification of the
experiences of the soul as it advances in the mystical union
with God effected by this extraordinary form of prayer. Ribet
in "La Mystique Divine" has a chapter (x) on this subject, and
the present writer treats it in chapter xxix of his "Grace of
Interior Prayer" (tr. of the sixth edition). Scaramelli follows
this order: the prayer of recollection; the prayer of spiritual
silence; the prayer of quiet; the inebriation of love; the
spiritual sleep; the anguish of love; the mystical union of
love, and its degrees from simple to perfect union and
spiritual marriage. In this union the soul experiences various
spiritual impressions, which mystical writers try to describe in
the terminology used to describe sense impressions, as if the
soul could see, hear, touch, or enjoy the savour or odour of
the Divinity. Ecstatic union with God is a further degree of
prayer. This and the state of rapture require careful
observation to be sure that the Evil One has no share in
them. Here again mystical writers treat at length the deceits,
snares, and other arts practised by the Evil One to lead souls
161
astray in the quest for the mystical union. Finally,

contemplation leads to a union so intimate and so strong
that it can be expressed only by the terms "spiritual
marriage". The article on contemplation describes the
characteristics of the mystical union effected by
contemplation. No treatise of mystical theology is complete
without chapters on miracles, prophecies, revelations,
visions, all of which have been treated under their respective
headings.
As for the history or development of mysticism, it is as

difficult to record as a history of the experiences of the
human soul. The most that can be done is to follow its
literature, mindful that the most extraordinary mystical
experiences defy expression in human speech, and that God,
the Author of mystical states, acts upon souls when and as
He wills, so that there can be no question of what we could
consider a logical or chronological development of mysticism
as a science. Still, it is possible to review what mystical
writers have said at certain periods, and especially what St.
Teresa did to treat for the first time mystical phenomena as a
science. Before her, mystics were concerned principally with
ecstasies, visions, and revelations; she was the first to
attempt a scientific analysis of the process of mystical union
brought about by contemplation. As the contribution to the
science and history of mystical theology by each of the
writers in the following list has been sufficiently noted in the
162
articles on them, it will suffice here to mention the titles of

some of their characteristic works.
163
164
Chapter Twelve
Contemplative Prayer
In Christian mysticism, contemplative prayer or

contemplation, for which the Greek term theoria (θεωρία) is
also used,[1] is a form of prayer distinct from vocal prayer
(recitation of words) and from meditation in the strict sense
(a form of mental prayer, also called methodical prayer,
based on discursive reflection on various considerations).[2]
Christian meditation and Christian contemplation
Saint John of the Cross
In discursive meditation, mind and imagination and other

faculties are actively employed in an effort to understand our
relationship with God.[3][4] In contemplative prayer, this
activity is curtailed, so that contemplation has been
described as "a gaze of faith", "a silent love".[5]
John of the Cross described the difference between

discursive meditation and contemplation by saying: "The
difference between these two conditions of the soul is like
the difference between working, and enjoyment of the fruit
of our work; between receiving a gift, and profiting by it;
between the toil of travelling and the rest of our journey's
end".[6][7]
165
An Oriental Orthodox expert on prayer says: "Meditation is

an activity of one's spirit by reading or otherwise, while
contemplation is a spontaneous activity of that spirit. In
meditation, man's imaginative and thinking power exert
some effort. Contemplation then follows to relieve man of all
effort. Contemplation is the soul's inward vision and the
heart's simple repose in God."[8]
There is no clear-cut boundary between Christian meditation

and Christian contemplation, and they sometimes overlap.
Meditation serves as a foundation on which the
contemplative life stands, the practice by which someone
begins the state of contemplation.[8]
A distinction is made between acquired or natural

contemplation and infused or supernatural contemplation.[9]
Acquired contemplation
Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori
Natural or acquired contemplation, which is also called

prayer of the heart, has been compared to the attitude of a
mother watching over the cradle of her child: she thinks
lovingly of the child without reflection and amid
interruptions. In the words of Saint Alphonsus Maria de
Liguori, acquired contemplation "consists in seeing at a
simple glance the truths which could previously be
discovered only through prolonged discourse": reasoning is
166
largely replaced by intuition and affections and resolutions,

though not absent, are only slightly varied and expressed in a
few words. Especially in its higher form, known as the prayer
of simplicity or of simple gaze, there is one dominant thought
or sentiment which recurs constantly and easily (although
with little or no development) amid many other thoughts,
beneficial or otherwise. The prayer of simplicity often has a
tendency to simplify itself even in respect to its object,
leading one to think chiefly of God and of his presence, but in
a confused manner.[9]
Definitions similar to that of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

are given by Adolphe Tanquerey ("a simple gaze on God and
divine things proceeding from love and tending thereto") and
Saint Francis de Sales ("a loving, simple and permanent
attentiveness of the mind to divine things").[1]
"Over the centuries, this prayer has been called by

various names such as the Prayer of Faith, Prayer of
the Heart, Prayer of Simplicity, Prayer of Simple
Regard, Active Recollection, Active Quiet and
Acquired Contemplation"[10]
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "What is

contemplative prayer? St. Teresa answers: 'Contemplative
167
prayer [oración mental] in my opinion is nothing else than a

close sharing between friends; it means taking time
frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.'
Contemplative prayer seeks him 'whom my soul loves'. It is
Jesus, and in him, the Father. We seek him, because to desire
him is always the beginning of love, and we seek him in that
pure faith which causes us to be born of him and to live in
him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our
attention is fixed on the Lord himself."[11]
A person is known to be called to natural contemplation

because of succeeding in it with ease, and benefitting from it.
This is especially so, if the person has a persistent attraction
to this kind of prayer together with difficulty and distaste for
discursive meditation. Accordingly, when, during prayer, one
feels neither a relish nor facility for certain acts it is advisable
not to force oneself to produce them, but to be content with
affective prayer or the prayer of simplicity. If, on the
contrary, during prayer, one feels the facility for certain acts,
one should yield to this inclination instead of obstinately
striving to remain immovable like the Quietists.[9]
Infused contemplation or mystical union
Infused or higher contemplation, also called intuitive,

passive or extraordinary, is a supernatural gift by which a
person's mind and will become totally centered on God.[12]
It is a form of mystical union with God, a union characterized
168
by the fact that it is God, and God only, who manifests

himself.[9] Under this influence of God, which assumes the
free cooperation of the human will, the intellect receives
special insights into things of the spirit, and the affections are
extraordinarily animated with divine love.[12] This union that
it entails may be linked with manifestations of a created
object, as, for example, visions of the humanity of Christ or
an angel or revelations of a future event, etc. They include
miraculous bodily phenomena sometimes observed in
ecstatics.[9]
Bernhard Häring wrote:
The dialogical character of prayer is most fully realized in the

so-called passive or mystical prayer, in which the divine
motion is in the foreground of consciousness and divine love
stirs the heart, and the loving majesty of God manifests itself
in infused contemplation. Though the prayer is called
passive, man is not purely passive in it. On the contrary, one
is never so completely and utterly active as when God moves
him by the graces of mystical prayer. But in this mystical
experience the "divine partner in the dialogue" is in the
foreground rather than the human response. In mystical
prayer, the soul experiences the life in grace and from grace
as a gift of divine love. It is the experience of faith in its most
exalted realization.[13]
Infused contemplation, described as a "divinely originated,

general, non-conceptual, loving awareness of God", is,
according to Thomas Dubay, the normal, ordinary
169
development of discursive prayer, which it gradually

replaces.[14] He writes:
It is a wordless awareness and love that we of ourselves

cannot initiate or prolong. The beginnings of this
contemplation are brief and frequently interrupted by
distractions. The reality is so unimposing that one who lacks
instruction can fail to appreciate what exactly is taking place.
Initial infused prayer is so ordinary and unspectacular in the
early stages that many fail to recognize it for what it is. Yet
with generous people, that is, with those who try to live the
whole Gospel wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest
prayer life, it is common.[14]
The Christian Contemplative prayer is discipleship with

Jesus. Hans Urs von Balthasar explains that it does not arise
out of a psychological strength but out of the strength to
respond to love:
The word contemplative can, of course, be misunderstood in

a gnostic sense (as giving us special or esoteric knowledge)
but it really means the life which Jesus praised, the life of
Mary at his feet. Prayer, ecclesiastical and personal, comes
before action. It is not primarily a source of psychological
strength, an opportunity for 'refueling' as it were. It is an act
in perfect harmony with love, an act of worship and
glorification in which the person loved attempts to make a
complete and selfless answer, in order to show that he has
understood the divine message.[15]
170
Dubay considers infused contemplation as common only

among "those who try to live the whole Gospel
wholeheartedly and who engage in an earnest prayer life".
Other writers view contemplative prayer in its infused
supernatural form as far from common. John Baptist
Scaramelli, reacting in the 17th century against quietism,
taught that asceticism and mysticism are two distinct paths
to perfection, the former being the normal, ordinary end of
the Christian life, and the latter something extraordinary and
very rare.[16] Jordan Aumann considered that this idea of
the two paths was "an innovation in spiritual theology and a
departure from the traditional Catholic teaching".[17] And
Jacques Maritain proposed that one should not say that
every mystic necessarily enjoys habitual infused
contemplation in the mystical state, since the gifts of the
Holy Spirit are not limited to intellectual operations.[18]
Stages of infused contemplative prayer
Saint Teresa of Ávila
Saint Teresa of Avila described four degrees or stages of

mystical union:
1.incomplete mystical union, or the prayer of quiet or

supernatural recollection, when the action of God is not
strong enough to prevent distractions, and the imagination
still retains a certain liberty;
171
2.full or semi-ecstatic union, when the strength of the divine

action keeps the person fully occupied but the senses
continue to act, so that by making an effort, the person can
cease from prayer;
3.ecstatic union, or ecstasy, when communications with the

external world are severed or nearly so, and one can no
longer at will move from that state; and
4.transforming or deifying union, or spiritual marriage

(properly) of the soul with God.
The first three are weak, medium, and the energetic states
of the same grace. The transforming union differs from them
specifically and not merely in intensity. It consists in the
habitual consciousness of a mysterious grace which all shall
possess in heaven: the anticipation of the Divine nature. The
soul is conscious of the Divine assistance in its superior
supernatural operations, those of the intellect and the will.
Spiritual marriage differs from spiritual espousals inasmuch
as the first of these states is permanent and the second only
transitory.[9]
In all forms of mystical union God is not merely conceived

with the mind but perceived through an experimental
knowledge of God and his presence, a knowledge inferior,
however, to the way in which God will be manifested to
those in heaven. Generally, it can be spoken of as seeing God
only when the mystical union reaches the degree of ecstasy.
What is common to all degrees is that the presence of God is
172
manifested in the way of an interior something with which

the soul is penetrated; a sensation of absorption, of fusion, of
immersion. It has been compared with the way that we feel
the presence of our body when we remain perfectly
immobile and close our eyes. If we know that our body is
present, it is not because we see it or have been told of the
fact. It is the result of a special sensation, an interior
impression, very simple and yet impossible to analyse. Thus it
is that in mystical union we feel God within us and in a very
simple way. The soul absorbed in mystical union that is not
too elevated may be said to resemble a man placed near one
of his friends in an impenetrably dark place and in utter
silence He neither sees nor hears his friend whose hand he
holds within his own, but through means of touch, he feels
his presence. He thus remains thinking of his friend and
loving him, although amid distractions.[9]
173
174
References and Notes
1.^ a b c Bernard McGinn (2006). "Introduction". In Bernard

McGinn. The Essential Writings of Christian Mysticism. New
York: Modern Library.
2.^ Bynum, Caroline Walker (1988). Holy feast and holy fast:
the religious significance of food to medieval women. U of
California Press. pp. 64,253. ISBN 978-0-520-06329-7.
3.^ Gospel of John 14:6 NKJV "I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
4.^ John 17.22–23: "they may be one as we are one—I in

them and you in me—so that they may be brought to
complete unity..." (emphasis added).
5.^ John Barton, "The Old Testament", in The Study of

Spirituality, ed. Cheslyn Jones, et al., Oxford University Press,
1986. pp. 47-57.
6.^ see Barton and Holmes
7.^ Holmes pp.15
8.^ Holmes p.16
9.^ Holmes p.14-16
10.^ Holmes p.17
175
11.^ Holmes pp.19-20
13.^ See Vladimir Lossky, The Mystical Theology of The

Eastern Church
14.^ Healey p.2
15.^ Healey p.8-9; Holmes pp.20-21
16.^ Healey pp. 3-4; Holmes p. 21
17.^ Healey pp.4-6
18.^ Holmes p. 22
20.^ Holmes 26-28
21.^ Holmes pp. 23-25
22.^ Holmes pp. 29-31
23.^ Holmes 125-127
24.^ Holmes 127-128
25.^ Holmes pp. 94-97
27.^ Holmes pp.99-102
176
28.^ Holmes pp. 136-137
29.^ Holmes pp. 136-138
30.^ Holmes pp. 138-139
31.^ Holmes pp. 139, 140
32.^ Holmes pp. 143-144
33.^ Literally, "God became man so that man might become

god." Here, man is understood as human and no debate
exists within the Church concerning a contrary
interpretation.
34.^ Holmes p.37
35.^ Evelyn Underhill,"Mysticism:a study in the nature and

development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness",1911, Part II
chapter 3
36.^ Mysticism: A Study in Nature and Development of

Spiritual Consciousness by Evelyn Underhill (Public Domain)
37.^ a b Lehodey, “The Ways of Mental Prayer”, 1960
38.^ Theologia Germanica, public domain
39.^ Greene, Dana, "Adhering to God: The Message of

Evelyn Underhill for Our Times", Spirituality Today, Spring
1987, Vol. 39, pp. 22–38
177
40.^ McBrian, Richard P., Sheldrake, Philip, eds., The

HarperCollins Encyclopedia of Catholicism: Mysticism, Harper
Collins, San Francisco, 1995, p. 901.
41.^ B.P. Holt Thirst for God: A brief History of Christian

Spirituality, Fortress Press, 2005, p 75
42.^ Holmes pp.4–5.
43.^ (World English Bible, Mark 9:2-8)
44.^ (II Cor. 12:2-6)
45.^ Professor Bruce B. Janz in his work Who's Who in the

History of Western Mysticism
46.^ http://norprov.org/spirituality/lifeofignatius.htm
47.^ http://www.loyolajesuit.org/st_ignatius.htm
[edit] Bibliography
Bernard McGinn: The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to

the Fifth Century, 1991, reprint 1994, ISBN 0-8245-1404-1
Bernard McGinn: The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the

Great through the 12th Century, 1994, paperback ed. 1996,
ISBN 0-8245-1628-1
178
Evelyn Underhill: Mysticism: A Study in Nature and

Development of Spiritual Consciousness, 1911, reprint 1999,
ISBN 1-85168-196-5 online edition
Tito Colliander: Way of the Ascetics, 1981, ISBN 0-06-

061526-5
Charles J. Healey: Christian Spirituality: An Introduction to

the Heritage, St. Paul's, 1999, ISBN 0-8189-0820-3
Urban T. Holmes, III: A History of Christian Spirituality: An

Analytical Introduction, Seabury, 1980, ISBN 0-86683-890-2
Cheslyn Jones, Geoffrey Wainwright and Edward Yarnold,

eds.: The Study of Spirituality, Oxford University Press, 1986,
ISBN 0-19-504170-4
Tarjei Park, The English Mystics, SPCK, 1998, ISBN 0-281-

05110-0
Thomas E. Powers: Invitation to a Great Experiment:

Exploring the Possibility that God can be Known, 1979, ISBN
0-385-14187-4
Richard Foster: Celebration of Discipline: The Path to

Spiritual Growth, 1978, ISBN 0-06-062831-6
179

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THE HISTORY AND BELIEFS OF CHRISTIAN MYSITICISM

Today modern Christian ministers, pastors and teachers

1 Definitions and beliefs / 7

2 Mysticism in the early Church /19

4 Mystical practices /60

5 Evelyn Underhill /69

6 Type Meditation /100

7 Religious Ectasy /116

8 Opus Dei (Work of God) /123

10 Eucharistic Miracles /151

11 Mystical Theology /157

12 Contemplative Prayer / 165

Definition and beliefs

As described by scholar Bernard McGinn, Christian mysticism

McGinn raises several points about his choice of words: He

both on the mystic's part and—especially—on the part of

Another consideration to be made is that mystical

Christ's disciples have been considered by some to be the

heaven and as the true vine (both of which suggest types of

In subsequent centuries, especially as Christian apologetics

Jewish spirituality in the period before Jesus was highly

often recalled historical events just as much as they recalled

Of special importance are the following concepts:[6]

Da'at (knowledge) and Chokhmah (wisdom), which come

Shekhinah, the presence of God in our daily lives, the

the hiddenness of God, which comes from our inability to

"Torah-mysticism", a view of God's laws as the central

poverty, an ascetic value, based on the apocalyptic

In Christian mysticism, Shekhinah became mystery, Da'at

Philo of Alexandria was a Jewish Hellenistic philosopher who

Jesus and the Apostles

The Christian scriptures, insofar as they are the founding

images for meditation. Moreover, many of the Christian texts

But different writers present different images and ideas. The

The Gospel of John focuses on God's glory in his use of light

In his letters, Paul also focuses on mental activities, but not in

Inspired by Christ's teaching and example men and women

emphasis in its theology[13] and retains a tradition of

The practice of Lectio Divina, a form of prayer that centers

As part of the Protestant Reformation, theologians turned

In Roman Catholic teaching, such states do not come about

What strictly comes within the province of mystical theology

human knowledge, and God as incomprehensible, or

These passive purifications affect the soul when every other

the present writer treats it in chapter xxix of his "Grace of

Mysticism in the early church

The texts attributed to the Apostolic Fathers, the earliest

practice.[17] Martyrdom could also be seen as symbolic in its

The Alexandrian contribution to Christian mysticism centers

The Eastern church then saw the development of

Monasticism eventually made its way to the West and was

The Early Middle Ages in the West includes the work of

The High Middle Ages saw a flourishing of mystical practice

The Late Middle Ages saw the growth of groups of mystics

See also: French school of spirituality and Spanish mystics

With the Renaissance came the Protestant Reformation,

But the Reformation brought about the Counter-

The Spanish had Ignatius Loyola, whose Spiritual Exercises

experiences of spiritual consolation and desolation;[25]

Italian piety of the day. Molinos died in prison in 1696 or

The Italians had Lorenzo Scupoli;

The French had Francis de Sales, Jeanne Guyon, François

Meanwhile, the English had a denominational mix, from