Christian and Non-Christian Mystics of the West...

CHRISTIAN MYSTICS AND MOVEMENTS
(1) Early Church

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35-c.107): Christocentric mystic. For him Christ's death
and resurrection take on mystical significance.

St. Polycarp (c.69-c.155): Had a mystical vision which foretold his martyrdom by
fire.

Justin Martyr (c.105-c.165): First Apology. Used Greek philosophy as the
stepping-stone to Christian theology. The mystical conclusions that some Greeks
arrived at, pointed to Christ. Influences: Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus,
Aristotle, Stoicism.

Irenaeus (c.125-c.202): Revolution and Overthrow of False Knowledge (or Against
Heresies). Irenaeus' work was directed against Gnosticism. He emphasized John's
gospel, particularly the Logos, which became the voice of God that revealed
itself to all people.

Tertullian (c.155-c.222): To Martyrs, Apology, Against the Valentinians, Against
Marcion, On the Soul. Emphasized a faith that was a contradiction to reason. "I
believe because it is absurd." First to use trinitarian (three-in-one)
formulation for God.

Origen (c.185-254): On Principles, Against Celsus. Studied under Clement of
Alexandria, and probably also Ammonius Saccus (Plotinus' teacher). He
Christianized and theologized neo-Platonism. Each soul has individually fallen
(emanation), and must find its way back to God (return) through the help of the
Logos, Christ. Origen looks quite Gnostic at times.

St. Antony (c.251-356): The Letters of St. Antony the Great. Early hermit or
solitary monk, and a model for later monasticism, particularly of his eremetical
type.

St. Athanasius (c.296-373): Against the Gentiles, Apology Against the Arians.
Bishop of Alexandria (328-73), wrote a Life of Antony, and was an influence on
later Eastern Orthodox mysticism.

Gregory of Nazianzus (329-389): Forty-five Sermons. One of the Cappadocians,
early church fathers.

Basil the Great (c.330-379): Longer Rules, Liturgy of St. Basil. One of the
Cappadocians, early church fathers. He gave a mystical orientation to the
monastic movement.

Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-c.398): Dialogue with his Sister Macrina concerning the
Resurrection. Believed that the universe existed as a harmonious order emanating
from God. One of the Cappadocians.

Augustine (354-430): De Trinitate, Confessions. Important source for much
mediaeval mysticism. Brings Platonism and Christianity together. He emphasizes
the soul's search for God, made possible by the illumination of the mind of God.
Influences: Plato, Plotinus.

(2) Mediaeval (Catholic and Orthodox) Church

Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (writing c.500): The Celestial Hierarchy, the
Mystical Theology, and The Divine Names. Originates the distinction between
kataphatic and apophatic theology. Influences: Plotinus.

John Scotus Eriugena (c.810-c.877): Periphyseon. Eriugena translated
Pseudo-Dionysius from Greek into Latin. He holds that humans are a microcosm of
the universe. That which is shared, the essence of all things, is God.
Influences: Plotinus, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius.

Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153): Sermons, De diligendo Deo, On the Love of God.
Cistercian mystic. Promoted a mystical vision of rhapsodic love, in which the
Church is described in erotic terms as the bride of Christ. His love-mysticism
had the tendency to be anti-intellectual, as in his disputes with Abelard.

William of St.-Thierry (c.1085-1148): Golden Letter, On the Contemplation of
God, On the Nature and Dignity of Love. A Cistercian contemporary of Bernard's,
William also emphasized love-mysticism, but with subtle differences from Bernard
in his use of Augustine.

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179): Scivias, The Book of Divine Works, Letters.
Early German speculative mystic, reminiscent of Isaiah or Ezekiel at times. She
was greatly respected in her time, both for her writings as well as for her
music and art. Influences: Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux.

Victorines: Hugh of St. Victor (c.1096-c.1142), Richard of St. Victor (d. 1173):
On Sacraments. Hugh is the more important of the two. He argues for a close tie
between reason and mysticism.

Francis of Assisi (John Bernardone) (1182-1226): Canticle of the Sun. Founder of
the Franciscan order, which emphasized self-renunciation and poverty. Francis
approaches nature mysticism at times, particularly when he sees God in all
living things.

Albertus Magnus (1206-1280): The teacher of Thomas Aquinas. In the tradition of
Pythagoras, emphasized the essential unity of science and mysticism. Influences:
Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius.

Beatrice of Nazareth (1200-1268): The Seven modes of Sacred Love. Belgian
Cistercian mystic. Associated with the Beguines. Influences: Augustine.

Mechthild of Magdeburg (1207-1282): The Flowing Light of the Godhead. Strongly
feminine images in mysticism. Devotional mystic. Associated with the Beguines.
Influences: Bernard of Clairvaux, Hildegard, Gregory the Great.

Bonaventure (John Fidanza) (1217-1274): The Mind's Road to God, The Tree of
Life, The Life of St. Francis. Franciscan monk, and the architect of the
philosophical, theological, and mystical side of Francis' thought. Mysticism in
the Augustinian tradition. Influences: Augustine, St. Francis of Assisi,
Victorines.

St. Thomas Aquinas (1224-1275): Summa Theologica, De Anima, many others.
Dominican monk and the greatest Catholic theologian and philosopher. Late in
life, he had a mystical experience which caused him to question his scholastic
past. Influences: Aristotle, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, Eriugena.

Ramon Llull (c.1235-1315): Great Art, The Book of the Lover and the Beloved.
Franciscan. Legend has it that Llull wrote 200 works, was an alchemist and a
magician. He also worked on the logic of science. The "Great Art" is the
scientific and mystical calculation of the interrelations of all things.
Influences: Bonaventure.

Angela of Foligno (c.1248-1309): The Book of Divine Consolations of the Blessed
Angela of Foligno. Mysticism is based on the facts of Christ's life and death.
Influences: Francis of Assisi, Bonaventure.

Marguerite Porete (d. 1310): The Mirror of Simple Souls.

Meister Eckhart (1260-1327/8): Sermons, Parisian Questions and Prologues. [Some
English-language selections from his writings are available.] Dominican monk.
One of the most important early German speculative mystics. Eckhart is the first
of the so-called "Rhineland" mystics. The Sermons were in German, the academic
works in Latin. Influences: Pseudo-Dionysius.

Hadewijch (Adelwip) of Brabant/Antwerp (13th century): Letters, Poems in
Stanzas, Visions, Poems in Couplets. Belgian Beguine. One of the greatest
exponents of love mysticism. Influences: Plato, Plotinus, Pseudo-Dionysius,
Gregory of Nyssa, Richard of St. Victor.

Jan van Ruysbroeck (1293-1381): The Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage
(Spiritual Espousals), The Sparkling Stone, The Book of Supreme Truth. Flemish
mystic, sometimes considered one of the Rhineland mystics. Outlines the stages
of the mystical life. Influences: Eckhart, Hadewijch.

Henry Suso (1295-1366): The Little Book of Truth, The Little Book of Wisdom
(Horologium Sapientiae). A Rhineland mystic. Influences: Eckhart.

Gregory Palamas (1296-1359): Eastern Orthodox mystic. Influences:
Pseudo-Dionysius, Athanasius.

Johannes Tauler (1300-1361): Sermons. Rhineland mystic and Dominican. Tauler
emphasized the inner person rather than outer works, and because of this became
popular in Protestant circles in the Reformation, and later Pietism and
Romanticism. He was part of the same community that produced the Theologia
Germanica. Influences: Eckhart, Mechthild of Magdeburg.

Anonymous (c.1350-1400): Theologia Germanica or Theologia Deutsch. Important
influence in the German mystical tradition. Luther rediscovered and popularized
it. Influences: Augustine, Eckhart, Tauler.

Richard Rolle (1300-1349): The Fire of Love. Part of the "English school" of
late mediaeval mysticism. Emphasizes the "physicality" of the mystical
experience (feeling heat, seeing colours, etc.).

Birgitta (Brigida) Suecica of Sweden (1302-1373): Ascetic mystic. Heavily
involved in political activity. Influences: St. Francis of Assisi.

Anonymous (c.1349-c.1395): The Cloud of Unknowing, [as modernized, see also
early text] The Book of Privy Council. Part of the "English school" of late
mediaeval mysticism. The emphasis on "unknowing" God is part of
Pseudo-Dionysius' apophatic theology. Influences: Pseudo-Dionysius.

Walter Hilton (d. 1395): The Scale (Ladder) of Perfection, Epistle to a Devout
Man. An Augustinian monk, Hilton was an English mystic.

Julian of Norwich (1342-1413?): Showings or Revelations of Divine Love. Julian
was part of the "English school" of late mediaeval mysticism. Mystical
experience that came at the point of death. The experience came with healing,
and she devoted her life to understanding her vision. Influences:
Pseudo-Dionysius, Aquinas (?).

Margery Kempe (c.1413): Mainly known as the biographer of Julian of Norwich.

Catherine of Siena (1347-1380): Il Dialogo. Italian. Mystic; advisor to Pope
Gregory XI. Influences: Augustine.

Thomas à Kempis (c.1380-1471): The Imitation of Christ. Augustinian monk. Finest
expression of devotio moderna, modern spirituality, which downplays the
Rhineland mystics' concern with contemplation and speculative theology, and
stresses the practice of simple piety and asceticism. Influences: Eckhart.

Nicolaus of Cusa (Cusanus, Nikolaus Krebs) (1401-1464): The Vision of God
(1453), De Docta Ignorantia. German mystic. Part of the revival of Platonism in
the Renaissance. Cusanus was a speculative mystic who emphasized the
incomprehensibility and paradoxicality of God. Influences: Plotinus,
Pseudo-Dionysius, Eckhart.

St. Catherine of Genoa (1447-1510): Life and Doctrines, Treatise on Purgatory.
Mysticism spurred in part by the abuse and neglect by her husband. Her trauma
becomes mystical as she argues that purgatory is a stage on the mystical path,
the final purification of the effects of self-love.

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582): Life, by Herself; The Way of Perfection; The
Interior Castle. Spanish Carmelite nun. Formed the Discalced (Barefoot)
Carmelites, with St. John of the Cross. Is very important for describing the
stages of the mystical journey. Influences: Augustine.

St. John of the Cross (Juan de Yepes) (1542-1591): Dark Night of the Soul and
Ascent of Mt. Carmel. Spanish mystic. (Discalced Carmelite) Both John and Teresa
emphasize mysticism as union with God, attainable only in the denial of the
self. Influences: Teresa of Avila.

Giordano Bruno (1548-1600): Hermetic philosopher, one of the most important
philosophers of the Renaissance. Bruno advocated a kind of nature mysticism
which had a strong scientific component to it.

St. Francois de Sales (1567-1622): The Introduction to the Devout Life
(Philothea), Treatise on the Love of God. French mystic. Devout Life is a
classic of French spirituality.

Louis Claude de Saint Martin (1743-1803): Theosophic Correspondence. While
technically Catholic, St. Martin's mysticism follows much closer in the
tradition of Boehme and other nature mystics. Influences: Boehme, Swedenborg,
Weigel, Law.

(3) Non-Catholic Christian Mystics (16th-18th century)

Martin Luther (1483-1546): While Luther had a well-known antipathy to mystics,
it is also true that there is the foundation of mystical life in his theology of
the heart, particularly in his early thought. Influences: Augustine, Theologica
Germanica.

Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim (1486-1535): De Occulta Philosophia
(1533). It is not clear whether to call Agrippa Catholic or not. He did not
embrace the Reformation, yet many of his themes are much closer to Weigel and
Boehme than to any Catholic mystic. His was a speculative mysticism, as much
interested in magic and alchemy as in spiritual life.

Paracelsus (Phillipus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim)
(1493-1541): Another speculative mystic more interested in medical alchemy,
astronomy, and natural philosophy.

Valentin Weigel (1533-1588): Know Thyself (1572). Weigel begins in the tradition
of Rhineland mysticism, and moves to the speculative nature mysticism of
Paracelsus. Influences: Eckhart, Tauler, Theologica Germanica, Paracelsus.

Jacob Boehme (1575-1624): Aurora (1612) [in German], Mysterium Pansophicum
(1620), Signature Rerum (1622), Mysterium Magnum (1623). Lusatian Lutheran. A
major figure in German mysticism. Influences: Eckhart, the Jewish Kabbalah,
Valentin Weigel, Renaissance alchemy, Paracelsus.

Christian Knorr von Rosenroth (1636-1689): Kabbala Denudata: The Kabbalah
Uncovered. A Christian Kabbalist. Influenced by the Kabbalah, Jacob Boehme.

Angelus Silesius (Johannes Scheffler 1624-1677): The Cherubic Wanderer
[Hungarian version] (1657-on). Mysticism in epigrammatic couplets.

George Fox (1624-1691): Founder of the Quakers. Influences: Boehme.

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz (1646-1716): Monadology. Usually thought of as a
rationalist philosopher rather than a mystic. However, while it may be too much
to call him a mystic, it is certainly possible to see the affinities between his
thought and that of Cusanus, Weigel, Boehme, and other nature mystics. His most
important contribution is to blend inner life with rationality; most Pietists
(and most scientists) assumed them to be mutually exclusive.

William Law (1686-1761): The Spirit of Love (1752-1754). English mystic. Law is
most famous for his devotional works (like A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy
Life), but later in his life he became interested in Jacob Boehme, and wrote
several mystical treatises.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772): Many works, including Arcana Coelestia, Heaven
and Hell, The Heavenly City, Divine Love and Wisdom, etc. Swedenborg worked out
a detailed understanding of nature mysticism, applying it to everything from the
animal world to the spiritual world. He is one of the few mystics to have an
active following to the present.

Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702-1782): Nature mystic, Pietist. Influences:
Boehme, Weigel, Swedenborg.

Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803): Another person who is often not counted as
a mystic, but who followed Leibnitz in attempting to blend science and mysticism
into a kind of vitalism. Influences: Cusanus, Boehme, Leibnitz.

NOTE: After the 18th century, the influence of mysticism explodes in the
Romanticism of Germany, England, and America. True mystics, however, remain few.

JEWISH MYSTICS AND MYSTICISM

Kabbalah [See also links maintained by Colin Low.]

Abraham ben Samuel Abulafia (1240-1291): One of the founders of the Spanish
Kabbalah.

Moses ben Shem Tob de Leon (1250-1305): Zohar (The Book of Splendor). The most
important writer of the most important Kabbalist document.

Moses Cordovero (1522-1570): Pardes Rimmonim, Elimah Rabbati, Palmtree of
Deborah. Spanish Kabbalist. Cordovero laid the groundwork for the Kabbalist
ethical literature that proliferated in the 16th-18th centuries.

Isaac Luria (1534-1572): Founder of the Lurianic Kabbalah, which is the modern
version. Most modern Kabbalists follow Luria's version.

Hasidism

Israel ben Eliezer, Ba'al Shem Tov (Besht) (1700-1760): Founder of the Hasidim,
the sect appearing during the final stages of the Kabbalah's development.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in the Ukraine (1772-1810): Martin Buber, the author of
I and Thou (Ich und Du), calls him the last Jewish mystic.

ISLAMIC MYSTICS AND MYSTICISM

Sufism has sources in sacred texts, the remembrance of Allah, and respect for
those who exemplify the straight path of Islam through and beyond explicit
injunctions of the law.

Hasan of Basra (d. 728): Early advocate of ascetic piety. Hasan emphasized the
Koran or Qur'an as the standard of right and wrong, which in turn emphasized the
fear of God.

al Hallaj (d. 922): The Ta wa-sin Tried and executed for claiming that God had
come to dwell in him.

al Farabi (ca. 873-950): Important philosopher as well as a mystic. Influences:
Plotinus.

al Ghazali (d. 1111): First-rate Aristotelean philosopher, who extended
Aristotle's theory of perception to argue for a kind of mystical perception that
goes beyond reason. Influences: Aristotle.

ADDENDUM: TERMS, TRENDS, AND MOVEMENTS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT

Alchemy: Alchemy, as often as not, assumes a Hermetic world view. Most people
know alchemy as the search for the principle of transmutation of baser metals
into higher (e.g., lead into gold). It is really broader, and represents the
attempt to understand the connections in the world. Paracelsus practiced a
medical alchemy, in which the body was a collection of balancing principles, and
illness meant that the balance was off. If you take away the spiritual
assumptions behind the alchemical forces, you have something remarkably close to
Newtonian physics.

Beghards: male counterparts to the Beguines. Fewer, and less of an issue for the
church at the time.

Beguines: group of female contemplatives, some of whom were mystics. They were
condemned as heretics because they represented a challenge to the church's
authority. Many important female mystics were associated with the Beguines,
although the group was not necessarily mystical (some thought that mystical
visions got in the way of practical life).

Gnosticism: Derived from Greek gnosis, knowledge. The Gnostic is one who claims
esoteric knowledge about God and the metaphysical structure of the universe.
There is a strong distinction between spirit and matter, God and the world. This
position sometimes resulted in asceticism (the spirit must be liberated from the
bonds of the flesh), and sometimes antinomianism (the material world is
inconsequential, so there is no point in resisting carnal impulses). Some later
mysticism (e.g. quietism) has the world-denying aspects of gnosticism.

Hermeticism: Followers of the legendary figure Hermes Trismegistus, or
thrice-great Hermes, reputed to be an Egyptian writer. Much nature mysticism of
the Renaissance found hermetic thought useful, because both understood the world
to be intrinsically interconnected, and only understandable once those
connections were understood. Hermes mixed with Pseudo-Dionysius was common fare
in Renaissance Italy, until Isaac Casaubon showed that Hermes was not who he
said he was.

Kabbalah: Jewish mysticism that has its roots earlier than Christianity, but
which flourishes in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Kabbalah struggles with
the problem of how the human person can relate to a God who is totally other,
and how that God relates to creation.

Monasticism: Although the tendency to live apart for spiritual devotion has a
long history, it is closely tied to mysticism in the Middle Ages. The
disciplines associated with mysticism have their most rigorous application
there. The most famous orders are the Franciscans (St. Francis of Assisi,
Bonaventure), the Dominicans (Thomas Aquinas, Meister Eckhart), the Carmelites
(Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross), the Benedictines (St. Benedict), and
the Jesuits (St. Ignatius of Loyola). The orders exist to this day, and continue
to be places that encourage mysticism and contemplation (Thomas Merton was a
Trappist monk, for instance).

Rhineland Mysticism: The Rhineland mystics were German mystics that follow the
influence of Meister Eckhart. They tend to emphasize the search for the inner
ground of the soul.

Sufism: The mystical bent in Islam is supported by passages from the Koran (or
Qur'an) and is represented by the Sufis. Because there is a dominant emphasis on
prophetic activism and legalism in Islam, Muslim tradition may be misunderstood
as entirely inhospitable to mysticism. But the Sufi way, mainly transmitted
through "lay orders" that trace their origin to some influential spiritual
teacher, preserve a distinctively Islamic mysticism. Among these Sufi
subtraditions are the Naqshbandi and the Nimatullahi, but there are several
others. A few modern organizations (such as the International Sufi Movement led
by Hidayat Inayat Khan) claim descent from traditional Sufis but do not require
their followers to be Muslims. And recently the great Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi
has been rediscovered as a source of inspiration by poets Robert Bly and Coleman
Barks. However, most practicing Sufis affirm that they are Muslims.

IMPORTANT SECONDARY SOURCES

The secondary sources in mysticism are quite varied. Sometimes whole works are
devoted to the subject; sometimes chapters of quite unexpected works will be on
mysticism. More general reflections on mysticism can be found as introductions
or appendices to works on particular mystics or chapters in philosophies or
psychologies of religion. And, many works on mysticism that seem to be
reflections on the nature of mysticism turn out to be anthologies of writings of
various mystics. Compounding the problem is the fact that the word "mysticism"
has been used for all sorts of experiences, philosophical positions, personality
types, writings, or whatever. Where to go?

Well, here are my favorites. Of course, this is highly selective, not to mention
somewhat idiosyncratic. I will start with the good general bibliographies first
-- consulting these will lead you to other things. You will have to find
bibliographies for individual mystics yourself (come see me on this; I might be
able to help). In the "General Secondary Sources" section, I have not included
several fine works that reflect on mysticism in general from the point of view
of a particular mystic (except for von Huegel's work, that is). Most of these
you can find by looking for the particular mystic.

(1) Bibliographies

Bowman, Mary Ann. Western mysticism: A guide to the basic works. Chicago:
American Library Association, 1978. ~~ A very good work, to 1978. It is well
organized, and has a good index. It is better than Sharma & Arndt, although both
are quite old.

CD-ROM Indices -- Modern Languages Association (MLA) Index, Philosopher's Index,
PsychLit Index, Religion Index. ~~ All of these will produce more references
than you can use, if you look either under "mysticism" or under a particular
mystic's name, or under the name of a movement (e.g. "Beguine"). These indices
have the virtue of also giving you abstracts. . . .

Jones, C., Wainwright, G., Yarnold, E., eds. The study of spirituality. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1986. ~~ Each entry comes with a short bibliography.
This is a good place to start if you want information on a particular
individual.

McGinn, Bernard. The foundations of mysticism. New York: Crossroad Press, 1991.
~~ McGinn has a great bibliography in the back of this book. More on McGinn
later.

Sharma, Umesh and Arndt, John. Mysticism: A select bibliography. Waterloo, Ont.:
Waterloo Lutheran University, 1973. ~~ This bibliography goes well beyond
Western mysticism. At over 1500 entries, it is quite good (although of course,
still selective, given the immense amount of material they could have included).
There are only two real drawbacks: it is hard to find . . . , and it is over 20
years old (a lot has happened in theory of mysticism since 1973). While the
entries are not organized under headings, there is an index at the back. A good
resource.

Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism, 12th edition. New York: Meridian Books, 1955. ~~
Underhill lists texts, translations, and studies for many different mystics,
quite a number not included in my list.

(2) Biographies

Encyclopedia of philosophy, Macmillan and Free Press, 1967. ~~ It will not have
all the mystics listed above, but only those that are clearly philosophically
significant. However, what it does have is well done.

Ferguson, John. An illustrated encyclopedia of mysticism and the mystery
religions. New York: Seabury Press, 1977. ~~ Although sometimes a bit sloppy
about its characterizations (I think it buys into the hype a bit too much), this
is a good quick reference for people, movements, and ideas.

Jones, C., Wainwright, G., Yarnold, E., eds. The study of spirituality. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1986. ~~ A good resource on the history of
spirituality, with dozens of entries by major writers on important people,
movements, and concepts.

Reese, W. L., Dictionary of philosophy and religion. Humanities Press, 1980. ~~
Very brief entries on virtually all the people mentioned here.

(3) General Secondary Sources

Almond, Philip. Mystical experience and religious doctrine: An investigation of
the study of mysticism in world religions. Berlin and New York: Mouton, 1982. ~~
Almond focusses on the interpretation of mystical experience, and does a good
critique of different thinkers.

Bynum, Caroline Walker. Jesus as mother. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1982. ~~ A classic on mysticism and women in the High Middle Ages.

Carmody, Denise L. & John T. Carmody. Mysticism: Holiness east and west. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996. ~~ A breezy overview of mysticism around the
world. As with most works of this sort, the further the term mysticism is
extended, the harder it is to maintain the commonalities. Still, not a bad
introduction.

Certeau, Michel de. The mystic fable. Volume 1: The 16th and 17th Centuries.
Chicago: University of Chicago, 1992. ~~ de Certeau is chiefly known for his
work in post-modern and post-colonial circles, mainly on embodiment. This is one
of his final works, and is an excellent rethinking of early modern mysticism as
the "attempt to represent the unrepresentable."

Ellwood, Robert. Mysticism and religion. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall,
1980. ~~ Long used as a basic introduction to mysticism in religion departments.
Also available in a slightly revised second edition ~ New York: Seven Bridges
Press, 1998.

Evans, Donald. Spirituality and human nature. Albany, New York: SUNY Press,
1992. ~~ A philosopher/mystic teaching at the University of Toronto gives a
defense of the rationality and respectability of mystical experience.

Forman, Robert K. C., ed. The problem of pure consciousness: Mysticism and
philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990. ~~ A good compilation of
essays on the debate between perennialists and constructivists, as Forman calls
them, or those who regard mystical experience as pure, and those that argue that
it is mediated through language, tradition, culture, religion, and other
factors.

Happold, F. C. Mysticism: A study and an anthology. London, England: Penguin,
1963. ~~ One of the first attempts to place mysticism in the modern world.

Horne, James. Beyond mysticism (1978). The moral mystic (1983). Waterloo,
Ontario: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ~~ Both these books deserve more
attention than they receive. Horne identifies and tackles several issues in
philosophy and mysticism.

Huegel, F. von. The mystical element of religion. 2 vols., London: Dent, 1908;
New York: Dutton, 1923. ~~ The grand-daddy of modern scholarship on mysticism.
Working from the writings of Catherine of Genoa, Huegel concludes that the
mystical or experiential element is an essential component of true religion.

Idel, Moshe. Kabbalah: New perspectives. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 1988. ~~ The best recent discussion of the Kabbalah.

Idel, Moshe & Bernard McGinn, eds. Mystical union and monotheistic faith: An
ecumenical dialogue. New York: MacMillan, 1989. ~~ An investigation of the unio
mystica in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. ~ Reprinted as Mystical Union in
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam : An Ecumenical Dialogue. New York: Continuum,
1996.

James, William. The varieties of religious experience. New York: Mentor Books,
1958. ~~ One of the first Gifford Lectures ever given (1901-1902), James' book
has a long section in which he gives examples of mystical experience and
outlines a rudimentary phenomenology of mysticism. This is the starting point
for many later writers. His (1897) essay "The will to believe" raises questions
that complement rather than contribute directly to the study of mysticism.

Jones, Richard. Mysticism examined. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1993. ~~ A
collection of Jones' essays from the previous 15 years, he takes an analytic
philosophical approach to the questions of mysticism.

Katz, Steven, ed. Mysticism and philosophical analysis (1978). London and New
York: Oxford University Press.
___________, ed. Mysticism and religious traditions (1983). London and New York:
Oxford University Press.
___________, ed. Mysticism and language (1992). London and New York: Oxford
University Press.
All these volumes have important essays in them, not the least of which is Katz'
own "Language, Epistemology, and Mysticism" in the first book. That essay set
the stage for a debate over the nature of mystical experience that continues
today.

Louth, Andrew. The origins of the Christian mystical tradition. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1981. ~~ Just about anything Louth writes is worth reading (he
also did a very good introduction to Pseudo-Dionysius, called Denis the
Areopagite, and several essays on patristic-age mystics); this was the best on
this topic before McGinn's work.

McGinn, Bernard. The foundations of mysticism. New York: Crossroad Press, 1991.
~~ The first of a promised 4-volume series on the history and theory of
mysticism, this is a spectacular beginning. It is wide-ranging, sympathetic to
mysticism without being blind to its problems, very well researched, and easy to
read. Besides that, it gives intelligent critiques of many other recent writers
on mysticism. It is already orders of magnitude better than anything else out
there. (Do I sound enthusiastic?). Volume II, The growth of mysticism, continues
the strong tradition of scholarship. It covers the period from Gregory the Great
to the 12th century.

Otto, Rudolf. The idea of the holy. London: Oxford University Press, 1958. ~~ As
the subtitle says, "an inquiry into the non-rational factor in the idea of the
divine and its relation to the rational." Technically not mysticism, but Otto
(1869-1937) has major implications for mysticism. His later book, Mysticism east
and west, which may from the title seem more relevant to a discussion of
mysticism, is a seriously flawed attempt to compare Meister Eckhart and Acharya
Sankara.

Scholem, Gershom. Major trends in Jewish mysticism. New York: Schocken Books,
1961. (First published in 1941.) ~~ Scholem is the most famous modern
interpreter of Jewish mysticism. This provides a good, if somewhat breezy
overview.

Scholem, Gershom. Kabbalah. New York: Dorset Books, 1974. ~~ Much more indepth
on this important type of Jewish mysticism, although Idel's book is more
scholarly.

Staal, Frits. Exploring mysticism. London, England: Penguin, 1975. ~~ Staal
argues that mystical experience can be studied in the same way that we would
study any other object of scientific investigation, as long as there is some way
of inducing actual mystical states in the researcher.

Stace, W. T. Mysticism and philosophy. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippencott, 1960. ~~
Stace makes some classic distinctions here that have become part of the language
of theory of mysticism.

Underhill, Evelyn. Mysticism, 12th edition. New York: Meridian Books, 1955. ~~
First published in 1910, Underhill tries to consider mysticism from both the
outside and the inside. This is an old classic, and worth consulting, even
though later works fulfill this project better.

Underhill, Evelyn. Practical mysticism. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1915. ~~ Despite
the odd title, this is a good introduction to the life and practice of
mysticism. Underhill intends this as a kind of primer to the mystical life.

Weeks, Andrew. German mysticism. Albany, New York: SUNY Press, 1993. ~~ After
work on Jacob Boehme, Weeks provides solid treatment of mysticism through about
800 years of German history. Weeks is an historian, and as such contextualizes
mysticism in the political, social, and intellectual worlds very well.

Woods, Richard, ed. Understanding mysticism. New York: Image Books, 1980. ~~ A
very good collection of essays on mysticism, from a variety of points of view
and disciplinary commitments.

Zaehner, R. C. Mysticism: Sacred and profane. London: Oxford, 1961. ~~ Zaehner
argues for a difference between theistic and monistic (nature) mysticism, the
latter of which is induced by (among other things) drugs.